Hello PPMA members and friends

Earlier this month, our President Pam Parkes shared her thoughts on the impact for HR and local government following the election. In this new post we hear from Terry McDougall, Group Director at Solace about the work they are undertaking, particularly around workforce issues.

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As Elections teams up and down the country have a short respite from the pressures of running and delivering elections, they and other colleagues are already responding and gearing up to whatever the new government can offer and expect of Local Government.

The King’s Speech and early government announcements have given the local government sector a renewed hope that it may feature more on the government’s forward agenda. Early indications are positive. A recent LGA meeting saw Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Angela Rayner MP in attendance, where she said “You have  from me an absolute commitment to reset the relationship between central and local government.”  

A promising start. Whatever materialises in terms of additional resources and/or freedoms and powers that may be bestowed on councils in the future, it is clear that we will need a skilled workforce to deliver effectively for our communities.

At Solace, we have been actively engaging with our membership for some time to understand and articulate the sector’s concerns about the Local Government workforce of today and tomorrow. Our ‘Voice Surveys’ have played a key part of our engagement strategy, with the findings featured in a series of three reports published as part of Solace’s 50^th Anniversary celebrations – Rewind, Play and Fast Forward (the latter to be published in Autumn 2024).

The latest report – Play – takes a snapshot at the here and now and has some clear findings on the current local government workforce picture, including:

• An aging workforce where 11% of respondents see themselves retiring in the next 2 years.
• Public sector pay not competitive with the private sector, with 76% of respondents telling us that this is problem when recruiting, while 36% say it’s also an issue with retaining staff.
• Shortages of skilled candidates in key technical professions such as social care, finance, legal, housing, planning, environment, and technology.
• Lack of support for training and development of local government staff.
• Low profile of the local government sector as an employer of choice.

You can read the full report, along with our recommendations to Government here.

So, what can be done?

Solace have been delivering a number of leadership programs for many years now, whether as standalone or in partnership with the LGA and Collaborate. We are proud and excited to share that the most recent development has been that of a new Chief Executive program (in partnership with LGA). But we’re not stopping there.  We must ensure that the talent pipeline into a number of other roles and professions is also a priority. From apprentices, Heads of Service and beyond, developing and retaining good people is the heart of how local government delivers its services to our communities. More attention and investments also needs to be had around developing a more diverse workforce . Solaces Amplify programmes aimed at staff form diverse backgrounds is only one of many needed initiatives .

HR colleagues throughout local Government have developed workforce strategies, aiming at addressing ‘pipeline and talent management’ gaps. Creative recruitment initiatives and good employee benefits can only go so far. The importance of identifying in-house talent, nurturing it and growing an in-house talent pipeline has never been more important. To achieve this, there is clearly a need for more resources for effective and impactful training and development akin to that of other Public Sector workers. As part of our recommendations to Government, we are proposing that both Central and Local Government work together to co-produce a national Workforce Strategy, including career frameworks for key professional disciplines.

As the workforce crisis for Local Government risks getting worse, a proactive set of measures that seek to provide well resourced, joined up and impactful interventions will be critical if we are to ensure we attract and retain the best talent. Our communities deserve nothing less.

Terry McDougall, Group Director, Solace in Business

Hello PPMA members and friends

June is Pride Month and is recognised and celebrated by people around the country. We wanted to share with you some of the ways in which our members are celebrating throughout the month. Our first post is from colleagues and PPMA members at North East & North Cumbria ICB. Despite budget restraints this year, Hamid Motraghi, Director of Health Equity and Inclusion is leading a campaign that focuses on information and education. Each week during the month they are posting regular bulletins on different elements of what Pride is, it’s impact and even some real life stories from members of staff. The post below is their ‘week 2’ communication and is about health inequalities and LGBT+ identity. It also includes an excellent description of the history and meaning of the different pride flags.

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Pride Month – Week 2 Comms –Health Inequalities and LGBT+ Identity

It’s the second week of Pride Month and we would like to focus on LGBT+ Health Inequalities and Identity.

LGBT+ Health Inequalities

Within the NHS, many members of the LGBT+ community still face health inequalities and barriers to care. In addition to patients, many LGBT+ colleagues within the NHS also face discriminatory behaviour. We have shared multiple articles before on the health inequalities members of this community face, from the impacts on mental health, to access to care, to discriminatory remarks and unequal access to services and treatment,

Many of the issues faced can be placed down to either lack of knowledge, unconscious biases and systematic issues or discriminatory processes. It is how we manage bias and the work we do to further our knowledge and understanding that will improve the care we deliver and further inclusion within our services and workplaces. As such, it is important to understand that everyone’s experience is different. Our own experiences might limit our perceptions of the world around us, but it’s important to remember that our perception is not fact, that other experiences exist and are valid. With this in mind we would like to further your knowledge by exploring different facets of the LGBT+ community.

Representation

Numerous flags have been created to represent each facet of the LGBT+ community. This is because representation is important. In a community that has been historically subjected to persecution and discrimination for merely existing, it is important for diverse groups to feel safe and comfortable to express who they are. It is also important that we as health care providers are able to support individuals in feeling safe to come to us with their issues and health concerns and we tailor their care to their needs and who they are as individuals.

For this reason, the NHS rainbow badge is a great tool of indicating you are someone safe who can be approached by LGBT+ colleagues and service users. In addition, we have created a number of different resources this month utilising the Pride Progress Flag, which you can access below and use to show your support for this important cause.

The Pride Progress flag has a long history of development, first beginning with the Gilbert Baker Pride Flag in 1978.

The Gilbert Baker Pride Flag is the original Pride Flag and it was created in 1978 after Harvey Milk asked the artist Gilbert Baker to design a symbol for gay pride. Each colour represented a different part of the LGBT+ community with hot pink representing sex, red life, orange healing, yellow sunlight, green nature, turquoise magic and art, indigo serenity and violet the spirit of LGBT+ community.

Next came the Traditional Pride Flag, which was created after the assassination of Harvey Milk, with the pink stripe removed because of manufacturing issues and the turquoise removed by Gilbert Baker, the six colour pride flag has represented the LGBT+ community for over 40years and is one of the most commonly recognised and used symbols.

In 2017 the Philadelphia Pride Flag was unveiled. It was commissioned to incorporate queer communities of colour that has been overlooked by the mainstream LGBT+ movement and it included the addition of black and brown stripes to symbolise ethnically diverse groups and the contributions to the LGBT+ rights movements over the years.

Daniel Quasar then further developed the Philadelphia Pride Flag and created the Progress Pride Flag, which utilised a white, pink and light blue stripe to represent Trans Communities. While the black and brown stripes still represent ethnically diverse groups, the black stripe also represents the community lost during the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 80s and 90s.

Finally, the Progress Pride Flag has further evolved to form the Intersex Inclusive Progress Pride Flag, which was first shared in 2021 and created by Valentino Vecchietti of Intersex Equality Rights UK. It is the most up to date version of the pride flag and is seen to best represent the diverse communities and groups within the LGBT+ umbrella.

If you would like to find out more about the work being done at the ICB or are interested in looking at ways to collaborate then contact Hamid at hamid.motraghi@nhs.net

Hamid Motraghi MBE -FCIPD FCMI, D/Director of Health, Equity and Inclusion, North East and North Cumbria ICB

The PPMA Conference starts this week and Ritika Wadhwa, Chief Officer at Prabhaav Global is one of our speakers. She is on a mission to bring inclusion and innovation to the heart of organisations, and she believes that Cultural Intelligence (CQ) is a capability which can do that. Her session – CQ Master Class is on Thursday 25th 12:00 until 13:00 and here’s a taster of what’s in store. If you’d like to see her session and all of our other brilliant speakers then find out more and book

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Unless we maximise the human experience, we fail to optimise human performance.

Cultural Intelligence is that secret sauce which helps people leaders to maximise the human experience. It helps us to take away the relationship conflict so we can get down to the task conflict; the good part that helps us become innovative and creative.

Cultural Intelligence is defined as the ability to work and relate effectively in multicultural situations.

During her interactive 60-minute Masterclass , Ritika will:

• Dive into a contextual understanding of ‘culture’. Culture isn’t just nationality it is everything that we are all and all that we embody.
• Share the importance of developing this skill and how we can do that.
• Introduce the Cultural Intelligence framework while contextualizing it with real world examples.
• Touch upon the relevance of cultural value and the importance of being aware of them, especially to better understand team dynamics.
• Share practical tips for culturally intelligent interactions.

Learning Outcomes‌

• Increasing self-awareness of the impact of culture upon leading and driving change.
• Recognize how cultural values manifest at work.
• Apply actionable strategies for leveraging and bridging differences in teams.

Whatever it is that got us here is not enough to keep us here. Join this Masterclass to start developing this power skill required by 2026 to be successful in any context.

For further information please contact Ritika Wadhwa, CEO & Founder of Prabhaav Global at: contact@prabhaav-global.com

www.prabhaav-global.com

Hello PPMA members and friends

#PPMAHR24 is next week and to conclude our series of ‘teaser posts’ from some of our speakers, we hear from Bernadette Thompson OBE. Bernadette is a trailblazing leader in the field of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI), currently serving as the Director of EDI at Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and as an Associate Facilitator for the CQ Centre. With an impressive career spanning 23 years in the Civil Service, she has left an indelible mark on the inclusion landscape of various UK Government Departments and Agencies, including the Ministry of Justice, Home Office, HM Treasury, Legal Aid Agency, Cabinet Office, and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities. Below she gives us a little insight into what she will be covering in her session.

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Leaders of today are faced with a shifting landscape, where traditional skills alone are no longer sufficient. In addition to the conventional leadership attributes, embracing inclusion-focused values and traits is paramount in navigating diverse corporate environments. In this volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world, a high IQ alone doesn’t cut it. Leaders must possess a balanced blend of emotional intelligence and cultural intelligence to effectively lead and unite diverse teams.

During my talk, I will leverage the Deloitte framework – the six signature traits of inclusive leaders – to delve into the essential elements of fostering an inclusive culture. This session will encourage introspection among leaders, prompting them to contemplate actionable steps they can take to evolve into truly inclusive leaders. As leaders, it’s imperative to recognize the importance of cultural intelligence in bridging organizational, international, and professional cultures in the 21st century.

Expect an engaging, interactive and reflective session infused with humour as I guide PPPA conference attendees through a journey of self-discovery. I am eager to inspire attendees to explore how they can cultivate inclusivity within themselves and their leadership practices.

Bernadette’s session is on Wednesday 24th April at 15:45 to 16:30 and if you would like to join Bernadette and all of the other speakers at #PPMAHR24, then you can find out more and book here.

Bernadette Thompson OBE, Director of EDI at Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and keynote speaker at the PPMA Conference

Hello PPMA members and friends

The second in our series of ‘taster’ blog posts from some of the speakers at #PPMAHR24 is from Stella Chandler is Director at Focal Point – specialists in managing and preventing inappropriate behaviour at work. Her session, which is on Friday 26th April between 11:00 to 11:45 am, is about the effects of banter in the workplace. Below is a small taster of what she’ll be covering in her session.

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I am delighted to be speaking at this year’s conference. Banter is a topic that is seldom discussed and yet regularly leads to shocking headlines about inappropriate behaviour and associated resignations

At Focal Point we conducted a survey amongst over 700 people about the effects of banter at work and the results were shocking.

97% of respondents said they had been made to feel uncomfortable by banter at some point. 40% of people said when banter was aimed at them it affected how they felt about themselves and, critically, people made to feel uncomfortable about banter felt it had impacted their ability to speak to their manager about their mental health.

These stats are bad enough, but what we hadn’t expected and what is so important for our HR community to address is that HR was highlighted as not doing enough to address banter in their organisations and in some cases, that they were actually responsible for perpetuating inappropriate banter and behaviour. Free text comments which respondents gave included

• HR often make it worse
• I’m not sure what HR actually do; I feel I am at risk of losing my job if I make a fuss
• A senior manager did not know where to draw the line, but you couldn’t do anything because he was friends with the HR Director

While this is uncomfortable feedback for HR teams everywhere, it is vital we hold a mirror up to ourselves and ensure we get our own house in order, if we are to in any way tackle the wider issue across our organisations

I will be discussing how, as HR professionals, we can go beyond the policies and the set of values displayed on our websites, to ensure the day-to-day culture in our teams is respectful and inclusive – while still maintaining the fun. And critically that we are role modelling within our own teams.

While this is not an easy area to navigate, it is possible to bring clarity through discussion and use of practical tools, to keep banter the right side of the line.

I look forward to seeing you

Stella Chandler is Director at Focal Point – specialists in managing and preventing inappropriate behaviour at work.

If you’ve not yet booked to attend Stella’s session or the wider conference then check out our website for more information.

 

Hello PPMA members and friends

As we get closer to #PPMAHR24 in April, we’ve asked our speakers to share some thoughts about what you can expect from their sessions and we’ll be posting these over the coming weeks.

The first of these posts is from the fantastic Shonette Bason Wood, founder of Spread the Happiness. You may recall that Shonette went down a storm at at our 2019 conference, where she ran a highly entertaining session, giving everyone a cloak of invisibility and a magic wand to take home, as well as being a superb host for the Gala Awards Dinner.

She’s back this year as our Gala Dinner host and is also running a session on being happy at work. Here’s a sneak preview of what’s in store:

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What are you scared of? Recently I began to realise I’m scared of everything! It wasn’t fear of things like spiders or sharks but closer to home fears. Fear of saying the wrong thing at work, fear of going to events with friends and even fear of being too enthusiastic at work. (Wait till you hear that story!). Small fears to some, but my fears were literally stopping me from being the best version of me at work and in my own life.

Fear stops us all from being who we really want to be. I’m so fear-filled I scare myself! What I want for you is to be the best version of you, when was the last time you felt the best version of you? More than likely fear stops you. During my session ‘Permission to be Happy at Work’ at this years PPMA conference, I’ll be exploring fears through laughter, stories and no doubt I’ll be scaring you out of your comfort zone in order to shift you closer to being the best version of yourself. Proving once and for all happiness truly is an inside job.

Shonette’s session ‘Permission to be Happy at Work‘ is on Friday 26th April 11:00am to 11:45 and if you’ve not yet booked your place at #PPMAHR24 then find out more here

Shonette Bason Wood

Hello PPMA members and friends

Last year employee wellbeing was high on everyone’s agenda and our blog post this week has been written by Natalie Morrison, Wellbeing Specialist and Victoria Lee, Assistant Director of HR and Organisational Development, at Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, who’ve been doing some fantastic work across the Council to support their staff. Below they share their journey with us.

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At Sandwell we, like many councils, have provided our colleagues with a wealth of wellbeing support and have for many years led the way in flexible working. The Covid years saw society as a whole have a greater appreciation for the importance of wellbeing and, in turn, have greater expectations of their employers when it comes to their work.

We knew we had some great work from various departments across the council all playing a part in our wellbeing agenda but we recognised in 2022 that we needed a more joined-up approach to ensure our work was coordinated to benefit all of our 4,000 members of staff. Sandwell Council therefore invested in a dedicated wellbeing resource which made 2023 a year that truly put staff wellbeing at the heart of everything we do. Launching our physical wellbeing space was the first step and had a positive take up so further physical hubs have been created demonstrating that physical interaction is key especially with our return to the workplace.

Whilst we had wellbeing champions in the organisation, they were made up of predominantly desk-based employees from a small section of the organisation. 2023 saw the engagement in our champions increase immensely. Dedicated work to inform our colleagues of our wellbeing agenda and promote the support available to them has increased awareness and champion numbers have not only increased by 70%, but there is now representation from front line, ‘hard to reach’ staff from across the breadth of the council. This engaged, diverse group of volunteers is crucial in ensuring our wellbeing strategy is employee-led and is lived and breathed by all our colleagues. Increased inclusivity and employee engagement were also achieved at our first ever dedicated men’s health event.  We know from research around suicide rates, physical health prevention and mental health, that it is difficult to get men to participate in wellbeing initiatives yet this event saw our male colleagues not only attend in high numbers but also gain awareness, support and recognition.

Sandwell Council was one of the first organisations to have a menstruation and menopause policy in place to support staff. As we all know having something in place is very different to it being ‘lived’. Strides in our work with our Menstruation to Menopause Champions and dedicated menopause events have resulted in demonstratable increased awareness and evidence of reduction in isolation and increased retention of key talent within the council. Working in large, multi-faceted organisations, creating a cohesive narrative can be difficult but when our whole organisation is talking about the menopause; we know that our goal here was achieved.

Like all local authorities, we are working in a time of extremely tight public purses which means we are not at liberty to purchase the latest market-leading wellbeing solution but what we do know at Sandwell Council is that when we get the basics of employee voice, inclusivity, involvement and one team ethos right then we can achieve a lot.

Victoria Lee, Assistant Director HR and OD

Natalie Morrison, Wellbeing Specialist