From Pilot to Practice Empowering the Workforce

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From Pilot to Practice - Empowering the
Workforce

• Working Families
• Employer of the Year Masterclass
• 20 June 2006

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Who we are

• Non-departmental public body (funded by Scottish
  Executive) managing legal aid in Scotland
• Approx 330 employees
• Central Edinburgh office base

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Our people

• Profile
• 64 female
• 19 part time
• Job levels
• 74 Administrative Officers Assistants
• Senior Admin Junior supervisory roles
• 26 Specialists Assistant Managers
• Managers Solicitors Directors etc.

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Background 2001

• flexi-time swipe card system
• employees liked flexitime
• Questions
• Core hours meet business requirements?
• Faceless system (managed by whom)?

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Other challenges and/or opportunities

• Overheated labour market (financial sector )
• High employee turnover
• Career advancement limitations and young
  workforce
• Accessibility of public services online service
• Equality and part-time working flexible working

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• Work-Life Balance Project

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The Deal

• If willing to
• With team colleagues plan cover needed and
  hours of work communicate plans compromise
  capture team measures monitor success of
  arrangements
• Then
• Existing rules around working hours and time
  capture abolished.
• NO HIDDEN AGENDA

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About our project Phase 1

• Our Principles agreed
• teams invited to submit proposals
• team surgeries
• implementation plans (features rules measures)
• 19 pilots (154 employees) established for 6
  months

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Lessons learned from Phase 1 - by 2002

• no single model that works for all
• empower teams keep fluid
• equal access same work patterns
• impossible to determine future solutions.
• But

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Phase 1 Outcomes - against baseline measures
from previous year

• Corporate
• Overtime costs - 50 less
• Self-Cert. sickness - 19 less
• Recruitment/agency costs - 72 less
• Employee turnover at junior grades reduced
• Recruitment time to fill reduced
• More part-time and over 40s
• More on these later

• Teams
• Productivity and morale gains in every team
• feel trusted
• I feel empowered
• This group of individuals is now a team
• more flexibility to meet deadlines

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• No magic solution
• Still needed to test
• - everyone doing it?
• - beyond the honeymoon period
• But
• No going back- great for employees great for
  business!
• ?
• PHASE 2 2003 -04

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By end of Phase 2 in 2004, also learned

• team-rostering real flexibility for real
  life
• alternative fixed patterns inflexibility
• flexibility cannot mean doing what feel like on
  any particular day.
• effective planning delivering on plans to be
  firm feature of flexibility deal (management
  role clearer)
• always need to review to keep fit-for-purpose.

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• What could we commit to beyond the project.
• What would be sustainable?
• How to define flexibility in contracts?

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Our Model

• Equality of Access avoidance of a two- tier
  workforce
• Contractual Core Hours
• Access to flexibility as a benefit in line with
  Boards guidance and procedures

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Journey continued.

• 2005 revised contracts roll-out of time
  planning and recording system
• ( external recognition for work done)
• 2006 launch cross functional project -greater
  flexibility in location of work to tie with new
  technologies and work processes

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Has it been worth it?

• for us as the employer?
• for our employees?

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Corporate Measures

• Overtime costs down by 12.8 wte or 144k
• In whole time equivalent deployed
• Baseline pre-phase 1 - 2001/2 17.9 wte
• After phase 1 - 2002/3 10.1 wte
• After phase 2 - 2003/4 5.1 wte
• 05/06 8 w.t.e.
• In total costs
• Baseline pre-phase 1 - 2001/2 231,756
• After phase 1 - 2002/3 126,425
• After phase 2 - 2003/4 87,023
• 05/06 134,629
• ( Civil Applications project)

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Corporate Measures 2

• Employee self-certified absence down
• Baseline pre-phase 1 - 2001/2 4.4 days per
  w.t.e.
• After phase 1 - 2002/3 3.7 days per w.t.e.
• After phase 2 - 2003/4 3.3 days per w.t.e.
• 05/06 2.9 days per w.t.e.
• Employee turnover lower by 6
• Baseline pre-phase 1 - 2001/2 16.4
• After phase 1 - 2002/3 14.8
• After phase 2 - 2003/4 9.8
• 05/06 12.7

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Corporate Measures 3

• Ability to attract part-time workers improved
• Baseline pre-phase 1 - 2001/2 13.0 part-time
• After phase 1 - 2002/3 16.3 part-time
• After phase 2 - 2003/4 19.4 part-time
  05/06 18
• Ability to attract more mature staff improved
• Baseline pre-phase 1 - 2001/2 19 aged over 40
• After phase 1 - 2002/3 31 aged over 40
• After phase 2 - 2003/4 29 aged over 40
• 05/06 40

..and for our employees..
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General themes
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Individual stories
Hazel
Ed
Iain
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Some final key points

• no quick fix
• identify objectives framework measures
• empower trust
• give it time be patient
• support/facilitate - keep on track
• measure, analyse prove business case

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Moira Williamson williamsonmo_at_slab.org.uk