Issue - meetings

Workforce Data relating to Q1

Meeting: 14/12/2015 - Staffing and Remuneration Committee (Item 127)

127 Monitoring Success of Workforce Health and Wellbeing Strategy pdf icon PDF 471 KB

Report of the Assistant Director, Public Health, to discuss and endorse proposed measures and targets set for the Workforce Health and Wellbeing Strategy implementation over the next three years.

Minutes:

The Committee considered the report on monitoring the success of the Workforce Health and Wellbeing Strategy, presented by Tamara Djuretic, Assistant Director of Public Health. The report gave details of the three proposed overall outcomes measures: overall reduction in sickness absence, reduction in work related injuries and illnesses and improved mental health and wellbeing of all staff.

 

The Committee asked how confident the Council could be in the findings from the stress assessment tool, given the low response rate, in response to which the Assistant Director of Public Health advised that the information reflected broader trends, and was felt to reflect the current situation reasonably accurately. It was noted that the response rate was in line with other organisations.

 

The Committee felt that incorporating the Warwick Edinburgh Wellbeing survey question as part of the wider staff survey would be a useful exercise, but also requested the inclusion of an additional question relating to how well management supported staff in relation to mental health issues. The Committee also felt that it would be useful to analyse the results of these questions in the survey by service area in order to identify areas where there may be specific issues that needed to be addressed. It was agreed that this would be useful, however there was a need to be careful in respect of confidentiality where service areas were very small, and this would need to be taken into consideration.

 

The Assistant Director of Public Health gave an overview of the mental health awareness training provided for managers, which was followed up with group therapy where a specific need was identified. In response to a question from the Committee it was confirmed that the management training was not compulsory, but was being promoted by the Chief Operating Officer. 

 

In response to a question from the Committee, it was confirmed that the Workforce Health and Wellbeing Strategy covered all staff working on the Council’s behalf, including Homes for Haringey, and those working for external contractors under a TUPE arrangement. It was reported that the Council was working to ensure that all of those staff had access to the same training and services as those staff directly employed by the Council. The Committee agreed that this was an important issue, and the Assistant Director of Human Resources agreed that this would be taken into consideration as part of future TUPE agreements.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the proposed measures and targets set for the Workforce Health and Wellbeing Strategy implementation over the next three years be endorsed, with the inclusion of a separate question in the staff survey around management support of mental health issues.