To receive a presentation from the Interim Director of Human Resources.

The Interim Director of HR gave an overview of the people update that had been circulated with the agenda. The Committee were informed that the HR team had continued to support teams across the Council as they recovered from the Covid 19 pandemic.

The Health and Safety Team were continuing to work closely with the Public Health and Policy Teams to ensure staff were provided with up-to-date guidance and support. Integration planning for the return to the office was proceeding well with arrangements being put in place to ensure staff felt safe within the workplace. The Council were introducing yellow lanyards for staff who wanted to maintain social distance and the waring of face coverings inside Council buildings would be optional.

A new desk and room booking system was due to be launched, which would aid staff in the move to a hybrid way of working. It was expected that staff would not be in Council buildings all week and would “touch down” in their designated areas, which had been communicated to staff through detailed floor plans. The Communications team would be sending out key messages to staff over the coming weeks to ensure staff were aware of the new approach to working.

A #StayEpicThisWinter scheme had been run to support staff in maintain their health and wellbeing and check in on others over the winter period. There had been a number of themes from December to February covering different aspects of health and wellbeing such as physical, mental, or financial wellbeing. The themes were communicated through articles, case studies, and videos provided by the communications team and staff members.

The EPIC Manager programme was going from strength to strength and was in its 18^th cohort. The programme helped managers to develop their management skills and adopt more of a coaching approach to leadership. This in turn was encouraging staff to develop and grow as part of Trafford’s grow our own strategy, which was one of the key strands of the Council’s People Strategy. Ten staff were undertaking a level five coaching apprenticeship and thirty-one had a coaching relationship with a qualifying coach. The Council was also promoting a coaching for managers service, which thirty-one staff members had accessed so far.

The Council were developing a working well passport following feedback from Staff Disability Steering Group. The working well passport was a document which detailed a staff members support needs and adjustments. If their manager changed the passport was passed along so the new manager was aware of the support and arrangements in place, avoiding the need for staff to tell their story multiple times.

The first Kickstarter cohort had graduated and six out of the nine had found ongoing employment within the Council. The other three members had either gained employment outside of the Council or gone into further education. The third cohort had started with ten members who would receive placements across the Council. There were a further six people who had received internships within the Council’s library services who would be working across services over the course of the year in partnership with UA92.

Following the overview, the Chair thanked the Interim Director for HR for the detailed report before giving Members the opportunity to ask questions.

Councillor Jarman noted the numbers of applicants to the Kickstarter Scheme had started to decrease and there had been some negative press nationally about the scheme. Councillor Jarman then asked the Interim Director of HR if she had any comments to add about Trafford’s experience with the scheme. The Interim Director of HR responded that the Council had struggled to get the same level of applicants for the second but there had been an increase for the third cohort with ten young people ready to start their placements. The Interim Director of HR added that the success of the scheme was down to the work of the employer and Trafford had invested a lot of time and resources to ensure the young people and the Council to get the most out of the scheme.

Councillor Acton asked when the Council would be utilising the Council Chamber for Council Meetings again. The Interim Director of HR responded that a report was being written detailing the next phase of reintegration following the changes to the rules from the 1^st of April.  The report would include detail how the Council would be using all of its building and facilities including the Council Chamber and Committee Rooms.

RESOLVED: That the update be noted.