Agenda item

Approved the following 12 recommendations to be built into the Council’s wider Recovery Plan:

·  Recommendation 1:  Cabinet will commit to ongoing, facilitated leadership development as a collective.

·  Recommendation 2:  In addition, each Lead Member will have their own tailored development plan, so that they are empowered to fulfil the Executive roles properly.

·  Recommendation 3:  Commitment to re-statement and regular communication on priorities within the organisation and outside - clearly outlining what is going well, not so well and what has changed as a result of the intervention.

·  Recommendation 4:  Commitments to diversity and how the members will obtain tangible evidence to show change has happened.

Cabinet noted the intention of the Chief Executive to ensure the following:

·  Recommendation 5: The CLT will commit to ongoing, facilitated leadership development as a collective.

·  Recommendation 6: Regular staff surveys will be undertaken and will include a section on CLT leadership. Any shortcomings will be addressed and fed back to staff.

·  Recommendation 7: Visibility of officer senior leadership –improvements to include Chief Executive/ Executive Director visits to departments, unscheduled walkabouts, use of technology to communicate and obtain feedback, weekly blog from Chief Executive and attendance at induction programme or key message video.

·  Recommendation 8: Recruitment and Retention of staff will be fundamental to the Council’s recovery. The Council will publish a workforce strategy to address

·  Recommendation 9: A working group is established involving staff from across the organisation to propose a set of organisation values and behaviours. Once adopted, these will form a key part of the employer brand and will be used in recruitment, professional development and performance management 

·  Recommendation 10: An annual staff survey (with intra year thematic polling) will be undertaken. Results will be published and scrutinised. Any response action will be published and reported back to the organisation

·  Recommendation 11: Bi-annual “Leader and CEO roadshows “will be undertaken, supported by smaller informal sessions with groups of staff. Where staff will have the opportunity to be updated on issues affecting the Council and where they will have the opportunity to interact with senior leaders

·  Recommendation 12: The Council should monitor and publish its staff diversity figures and create opportunities through its recruitment and staff development for people from diverse backgrounds to join and advance within the organisation.

The Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive introduced a report which focused on the steps to improve leadership and culture at the Council to ensure the recovery programme was built on solid foundations.

The report highlighted that the Council was under formal Government intervention and the root cause of organisation failure of the scale in Slough was a failure of leadership at both officer and Member level.  Improving leadership across the Council was therefore central to the delivery of the recovery plans and the report set out the approach and some of the practical ways that this would be addressed.  The recommendations included specific steps for the Cabinet and Corporate Leadership Team (CLT) which included leadership development and tailored development plans for each Lead Member and CLT committing to providing collective leadership, involving staff in the process of change and developing a new workforce strategy.

Lead Members welcomed the proposals, particularly the specific measures to improve engagement across the Council such as roadshows and stronger internal mechanisms in areas such as whistleblowing.  It was recognised that as a democratic body the relations between Members and officers was a key priority and developing a culture of constructive challenge, trust and collaborative working was important.

At the conclusion of the discussion the recommendations were agreed.

Resolved –

That it be approved that the following 12 recommendations be built into the Council’s wider Recovery Plan:

·  Recommendation 1:  Cabinet will commit to ongoing, facilitated leadership development as a collective.

·  Recommendation 2:  In addition, each Lead Member will have their own tailored development plan, so that they are empowered to fulfil the Executive roles properly.

·  Recommendation 3:  Commitment to re-statement and regular communication on priorities within the organisation and outside - clearly outlining what is going well, not so well and what has changed as a result of the intervention.

·  Recommendation 4:  Commitments to diversity and how the members will obtain tangible evidence to show change has happened.

Cabinet noted the intention of the Chief Executive to ensure the following:

·  Recommendation 5: The CLT will commit to ongoing, facilitated leadership development as a collective.

·  Recommendation 6: Regular staff surveys will be undertaken and will include a section on CLT leadership. Any shortcomings will be addressed and fed back to staff.

·  Recommendation 7: Visibility of officer senior leadership –improvements to include Chief Executive/ Executive Director visits to departments, unscheduled walkabouts, use of technology to communicate and obtain feedback, weekly blog from Chief Executive and attendance at induction programme or key message video.

·  Recommendation 8: Recruitment and Retention of staff will be fundamental to the Council’s recovery. The Council will publish a workforce strategy to address

·  Recommendation 9: A working group is established involving staff from across the organisation to propose a set of organisation values and behaviours. Once adopted, these will form a key part of the employer brand and will be used in recruitment, professional development and performance management 

·  Recommendation 10: An annual staff survey (with intra year thematic polling) will be undertaken. Results will be published and scrutinised. Any response action will be published and reported back to the organisation

·  Recommendation 11: Bi-annual “Leader and CEO roadshows “will be undertaken, supported by smaller informal sessions with groups of staff. Where staff will have the opportunity to be updated on issues affecting the Council and where they will have the opportunity to interact with senior leaders

·  Recommendation 12: The Council should monitor and publish its staff diversity figures and create opportunities through its recruitment and staff development for people from diverse backgrounds to join and advance within the organisation.