Purpose
The strategic grouping of Organisational Transformation includes Business & Digital Change, Procurement, Strategic Commissioning Team, Human Resources & Organisational Development and Health & Safety with a number of statutory duties provided within the functional areas.
Organisational Transformation teams provide strategic, operational and transactional services to all strategic services within the Council and HSCP. The purpose of which is to maximise organisational and people performance and ensure that the Council and HSCP has the capability to respond to future challenges and customer requirements.
A core purpose is to provide leadership of digital and organisational transformation to embrace the possibilities of innovation, new technologies and associated service redesign. The development of transformation opportunities to meet medium and longer term organisational and financial challenges are at the heart of delivery. With legislative provision and organisational transformation at the core of our Procurement Governance framework, providing a clear framework to deliver organisational objectives.
With our workforce at the centre of achieving strategic ambitions and a strong commitment to development of our culture, leadership, succession planning, and performance, we will ensure that organisational arrangements deliver high performance and customer satisfaction. Responsibility for ensuring that we adopt and embed fair and equitable employment practices where people feel engaged and empowered in their role.
Strategic Priorities
The Organisational Transformation strategic priorities are informed by the Local Outcome Improvement Plan 2017 – 2027 (LOIP) for East Dunbartonshire, the national priorities for digital transformation, ensuring we deliver services in line with Best Value and in response to Audit Scotland and HSE feedback.
In order to deliver the LOIP and the principles of best value, we will act as an enabler to support all strategic services in the delivery of services to the public by:
- Redesigning services through innovative transformation in response to the financial context using data to inform the design of sustainable service delivery models.
- Maximising benefits through digital transformation by setting longer term priorities to embrace opportunities.
- Ensuring sustained organisational performance improvement through service redesign.
- Equipping our workforce for digital transformation opportunities by embedding digital champions and bridging the digital skills gap.
- Leading and supporting a culture centred around Health & Safety standards taking account of priority areas, emerging responses and standards of compliance
- Aligning recruitment and talent attraction strategies to workforce planning, ensuring that we have the right people, doing the right job, at the right time.
- Championing employee engagement strategies to enhance employee satisfaction, morale and performance.
- Enabling and equipping our leaders aligned to the Leadership Competency Map by instilling confidence and capability to deliver their strategic accountabilities.
- Embedding Procurement Governance and best practice across all Strategic areas through established principles, monitoring and reporting protocols.
- Effectively managing the contract management stages of the procurement process to challenge in the context of best value and possible efficiencies.
- Continually improving service delivery and the performance of Procurement whilst minimising financial, reputational, and commercial risk.
- Informing and supporting the progression of the HSCP’s strategic commissioning priorities and transformation agenda.
- Following emergence from the pandemic, supporting the commissioned market to develop innovative and flexible service delivery models that build resilience and strengthen the market’s longer-term sustainability and viability.
- Building upon and strengthening a collaborative commissioning approach across the sector.
- Improving and streamlining transactional HR processes to better support self-service, reducing duplication and enhancing the customer experience.
- Enhancing our Equality Duty through effective processes.
- Supporting the EDACT Agenda to embed a Trauma informed workforce in the design and delivery of our services.
- Additionally, our strategic priorities are informed by national agenda for change in relation to digital transformation. In order to deliver on the national agenda, we will:
- Continue to collaborate at a national level to maximise Digital development opportunities through participation in the Scottish Local Government Digital Partnership
- Identify and facilitate collaborative relationships internally and externally with public and private sector organisations to support innovation, contract opportunities and transformation
- Maximise opportunities for workforce planning solutions through partnership working
- Lead workstreams around Leadership and Digital Skills to further enhance the benefits of partnerships for the Council and its wider workforce
- Work collaboratively through Scottish Society of Personnel & Development networks to continue to identify opportunities for sharing
In response to Audit Scotland reports, we will:
- Maximise performance through effective Workforce Planning linked to organisational, team and individual performance.
- Continue to progress measures to generate sustained improvements in absence and demonstrate trends of assurance in achieving this
- Develop and implement programme management delivery principles based on the National “Audit Scotland: Principles for a digital future report” for the governance of the Transformation Programme.
- Take account of findings, recommendations and opportunities as identified within ‘Digital Progress in Local Government’
In meeting our legal obligations, we will:
- Ensure that the Council provides a safe and healthy working environment for all employees.
- Continually review advice, practice and guidance to ensure legislative compliance and response.
- Ensure compliance to Procurement legislative requirements whilst supporting the achievement of Best Value.
- Undertake necessary monitoring and reporting to ensure that equality proofing and future proofing within pay and conditions is maintained
Work of the Teams
Business & Digital Change Team
The Business & Digital Change Team brings together two key services: Business Systems and Project & Change Management. These multi-disciplinary teams drive transformation, change and modernisation across all services within the Council, influencing and leading a culture of innovation and collaboration.
The Business Systems team ensures the effective and efficient development, deployment, management and support of the Council’s Business Systems across all Council services.
The Project Management & Change team manages the successful delivery of a range of multi-disciplinary and cross functional projects; ensuring the effective provision of project and change management integral to the Council’s Digital Development programme. It also supports development of long-term innovation to maximise opportunities for transforming services across the Council. The team also includes the remit of project governance, ensuring best practice is deployed in all aspects of programme/project delivery
Human Resources & Organisational Development
The HR & OD Team is responsible for the provision of all aspects of people related support to the strategic teams including the review and development of the employment policy base ensuring compliance and best practice
HR Business Partners support services to resolve business challenges and/or risks by identifying opportunities to ensure the best deployment of people resources. The team supports with the implementation of council priorities, including the implementation of Service re-design processes and support for cultural change and embedding of Organisational Development initiatives. Following Council decisions, a transformative approach will be adopted to review and align services on a locality based model to fulfil community priorities and implement the Workforce of the Future. A key priority of the team is to support workforce and succession planning across all strategic services by working with the leadership team, working in partnership with the People Development Function of OD to source and develop learning solutions to meet service needs, utilising and developing the new eLearning platform.
Operationally, support is provided to managers and employees through HR Case Advisers who provide advice and guidance on discipline, grievance, performance improvement and absence cases to ensure legal compliance and mitigation of risk. This approach is underpinned by the principles of early resolution, intervention and prevention of employee relations matters.
The Employee Services and Payroll team is responsible for all elements of transactional HR and Payroll activities. This also includes ensuring appropriate application of key terms and conditions with controls, processing and reconciliation activities are performed in line with established Council financial and structural approvals as well as national directives.
The Job Evaluation and Job sizing activities are taken forward through the established frameworks and governance for the respective schemes. The Council has positively achieved the delivery of real time Job Evaluation.
Health & Safety
The Council’s Health & Safety function performs a strategic role across all services including the HSCP and EDLCT. It is an integral part of the Council’s culture, of its values and performance standards.
Governance frameworks with robust systems of internal control, support the regular engagement, review, reflection and refresh of Health & Safety standards and practice through the Plan, Do, Check, Act process and the H&S tiered system committees. The strategic nature of the frameworks translates to operational implementation, technical support and compliance in the structured processes designed to eliminate, reduce, isolate or control risk of harm for employees and any other persons affected by the Council’s activities.
This is achieved through a Health and Safety management system which includes policies, procedures and forms, used systematically across the organisation to ensure risks are dealt with sensibly, responsibly and proportionately.
Fire Safety Risk Management for council’s premises is included in the Health and Safety function and supports the effective implementation of its fire risk prevention strategy.
Health and Safety goes beyond achieving compliance and help realise efficient, proactive and pragmatic ways of delivering activities and services in a safe and healthy environment for employees supported by safe systems of work.
A strong health and safety culture across the Council is nourished through training delivery enabling competence and a comprehensive Health Surveillance program.
The role of the team is pivotal to take forward proactive initiatives and achieve a more efficient and dynamic way to protect the safety of all persons and the interests of the council.
Delivery of the Health & Safety functions work in partnership with Strategic services and Trades Union colleagues to offer improvements and sustain governance, correlating efforts to maintain a safe and compliant workplace with growth in productivity and service quality and a reduction in costs arising from poor health and safety practice.
Procurement
The Technical Procurement Team supports the delivery of Procurement related legislative requirements, best practice, Transformation and Capital programme delivery (including the City Deal), to meet legal Procurement obligations and deliver strategic priorities. This includes providing guidance, advice, training and skill development to ensure an embedded procurement governance approach.
Annual Procurement Strategies and reports, in line with the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act, are facilitated by the Procurement Team, ensuring alignment to organisational objectives, national policy, and legislative drivers. These set out how we intend to carry out our regulated procurements and retrospectively how we complied. Publication is driven by completion of internal reporting and governance processes.
Wider strategic support for projects and longer term capital and City Deal procurement workstreams are key deliverables and involve the Procurement Team working in partnership and delivering significant outcomes and investment.
Procurement plays a key role in building capacity and skills within Procurement activity across the Council, increasing internal and external collaboration, engaging proactively to support wider council transformation objectives and the local economy.
Working in partnership within the Organisational Transformation teams, Procurement will support the Corporate Contract and Supplier Management approach, identifying, securing and maximising contract opportunities to deliver better outcomes.
The Procurement Support Team is responsible for the transactional elements of invoice processing and systems support for day to day Procurement and purchasing activities in accordance with established Council Financial and structural approvals. The embedded financial controls and authorisation processes within
Iprocurement are also governed by the Procurement Support team, with the Technical Procurement team maintaining key contract information, reviewing essential spend, and directing contracted spend.
Strategic Commissioning Team
The Strategic Commissioning Team’s primary function is to support the HSCP to develop and deliver on its Strategic Commissioning Priorities and Transformation Agenda.
Support to the HSCP is provided within the context of the Commissioning Cycle and underpinning strategic commissioning activities that align strategic, financial and operational functions: Understanding & forecasting long term demand; Stimulating & facilitating change across the market ensuring there is diverse, appropriate and affordable provision available; strategic planning, procuring services through desired Self Directed Support route, Improving and modernising supports and services to achieve better outcomes; Encouraging innovation across all service providers; Strategic contract management, monitoring and audit /assurance activity, Achieving best value and greater efficiencies via better configuration of service delivery models, Agreeing where to invest, re-invest or de-invest funding and key interface with Providers, Regulatory Body, SSSC and other agencies
The Team manages the commissioned market and continues to support services as they navigate their way through COVID recovery, challenges around implementation of the living wage and other workforce issues, increasing demand pressures and the cost of living crisis and its impact on the sector and its workforce.
The Strategic Commissioning Team compliments and works jointly with the wider Transformational Team across cross cutting work streams and priorities.
Key Improvement Actions for 2023-2024
In order to facilitate effective PDR’s in is recommended that the following be undertaken:
- Review and streamlining of PDRs process to facilitate ease of undertaking;
- Emphasis is placed on the benefits to Managers in line with workforce plans;
- Training provided for Managers in undertaking effective PDR’s;
- Further work to embed PDR’s for Non-Teaching Education Staff in line with the academic year;
- Further develop projected training plans for Service areas linked to workforce strategy and service delivery objectives.
- Absence Improvement to continue work around the following :
- Ensure a Holistic Approach to Managing Absence and Employee Wellbeing
- Strengthen the Capability of Line Managers to implement the Wellbeing at Work Policy and Associated Procedures for Managing Short and Long-Term Absence
- Develop a framework for ensuing good mental health
- Data driven targeted improvement actions
- Support the workforce in the recovery from Covid-19
- Support the workforce in the operational implementation, technical advice and compliance in the structured processes designed to eliminate, reduce, isolate or control risk of harm for employees and any other persons affected by the Council’s activities.
- Statutory Health Surveillance Year 2 cycle to improve risk management of services, promote health at work and reduce personal injury claims against the council. The cycle will inform improvement changes to service risk management and target individual reassessments to further control employees’ health.
- Statutory Fire Safety Risk Assessments completed annually for high-risk premises and biannually for low risk. FSRAs are based on risk and requires ongoing assessment with action plan developed according to current status.
- Promote a robust safety and health culture and processes through planned training and on-site visits for inspection, audit and review to support the delivery of health and safety information, instruction and training to services and specifically high-risk activities.
- Embed Project Management approach
- Refresh the Digital Development programme reflecting the strategic priorities for the Council
Key Priority Performance indicators
- % of employees who have PDR conversations LGW & Chief Officers
- Sickness absence days per employee
- % of Planned Fire Risk Assessments completed to schedule
- % of Planned Health Surveillance undertaken
- % of Planned Health and Safety Training/on-site visits to support safety and health culture
- % Delivery of projects committed in the Digital Development programme within scheduled timescales
- Business Application Health Index, representing the health of the Council’s business applications in terms of version, supportability and maintainability where 100% represents all systems are up to date and supported.
- % of invoices paid within 30 days