Human Resources

Sligo County Council, with 463 staff at December 2003, is one of the largest employers in the North West Region.

The Council recognises the importance of its workforce, and the Human Resources Section endeavours to recruit qualified staff and provide appropriate incentives and a suitable work environment to retain these staff. Benefits offered include flexible working hours, a contributory pension scheme, generous annual leave, work-sharing, training and development and promotional opportunities.

Sligo County Council’s H.R. Section is responsible for recruitment both for the Council and for Sligo Borough Council. In 2003, 39 Interview Boards were set up to interview candidates to fill temporary and permanent vacancies in both local authorities. These independent interview boards were selected by the County Manager to recommend the most suitable candidates for employment or promotion in accordance with national regulations. 350 candidates were interviewed with 58 appointments being made in the course of the year.

During 2003 Sligo County Council continued its operation of a Work Placement Scheme for students in schools and colleges with 19 students being given the opportunity to work in various areas of the Sligo local authorities. This scheme is very beneficial to the students as they are obliged, as part of their course to gain some work experience in an office-working environment. In addition, 15 students pursuing engineering/planning qualifications availed of work experience programmes during the summer months.
 
The Human Resources Section also carries out the following functions:

• Industrial Relations
• Development and implementation of staff training
• Staff Welfare

Industrial Relations

During 2003 Sligo County Council continued to work with Unions and staff representatives to achieve good working relationships and to reconcile conflicting demands with the minimum of conflict. This was maintained by

• Processing/negotiation of Union Claims,
• Implementing nationally negotiated or local agreements on pay and conditions of employment,
• Preparing cases for the Labour Relations Commission, Labour Court, Rights Commissioners or other statutory appeal tribunal hearings

Staff Welfare

As worksharing in the Public Sector is now part of Government Policy in respect of work/life balance initiatives, it was decided to introduce such a scheme in the Local Authority Sector in January 2003. The scheme expanded the scope of the existing jobsharing scheme by providing for a wider range of attendance patterns. This scheme has proved very successful with 20 staff availing of it during the year.

A Term-time Leave Scheme was also introduced in January 2003. This scheme provides for unpaid leave for the purpose of allowing working parents or carers match their working arrangements to the main summer holidays of their children or to care for a family member who has a disability that gives rise to the need for care on a continuing or frequent basis. 3 staff availed of this scheme in 2003.

Sligo County Council Human Resources Section has developed and put in place a Dignity at Work Policy, which provides a procedure for addressing the issues of Harassment, Sexual Harassment, and Bullying in the workplace.

An Equal Opportunities Policy is also in place which outlines the Council’s commitment to treat and develop all its staff equally irrespective of sex, martial status, family status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, colour, race, nationality or membership of the travelling community.

The Human Resource Section in 2003 has continued to work with the Equality Action Team to deal with all equality issues in a fair and impartial manner.

Training and Development

It is widely accepted that Training and Development are the keys to any successful organisation. Sligo Local Authorities recognise the importance of Training and Development and during the year a training plan was developed which focused on assisting staff to satisfy personal and organisational goals through their work. During the course of the year a total of 3044 training days were delivered with particular emphasis placed on the training needs of the Outdoor staff. This was reflected in programmes such as:

• Introduction to Computers (level 1 & level 2)

  84 staff members from the Sligo Local Authorities completed the Level 1 programme in the early part of the year. 30 Staff completed an advanced programme in November/December of the year. In 2004 the full ECDL (European Computer Driving Licence) Programme by Distance Learning will be offered to these students.

• Supervisory Skills Development

  18 members of staff completed this 8-day FAS certified programme during the year.

• Non National Roads Training Programme

  Staff attended courses on Signing, Lighting and Guarding at Roadworks, Winter Maintenance and Safepass Training

• Retirement Planning

  A successful 2-day seminar was held to assist staff in planning for their retirement. Topics covered included Health, Diet and Exercise, Legal Matters and Personal taxation.

• Waterworks Caretakers

  10 staff completed this programme during the year, which gave an over-view of the sanitary services function.

• Return to Learning

  The Return to Learning Project is a partnership initiative between the Local Authority National Partnership Advisory Group (LANPAG) and the Department of Education and Science (DES), supported by the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA). The project aims to give staff an opportunity to attend a workplace basic skills course. Participants benefit from the course by improvement of their literacy skills, increase in self-confidence and reawakening of an interest in learning. During 2003, twenty staff participated in the programme. Sligo County Council will continue to promote this initiative in 2004

In addition to the above training courses, funding was provided for a Scheme to support 4 No. General Operatives in obtaining the Category C Truck Licence. As part of the Council’s initiative to enhance Customer Services, the following training courses were held during the year:-

• 1 Day Customer Services Training for Newly Appointed Staff
• Effective Writing Skills
• Team-working for a Quality Customer Service (in Environment Section & Planning Section)

An emphasis was also placed on Health and Safety Training with 27 staff participating in a 1 day Introductory Course in First-Aid and a further 17 taking part in the 3 day Certified Course.

Excellence Through People

This is Ireland’s national standard for human resource development. Coordinated through FAS (Foras Aiseanna Saothair) it has been welcomed and supported by employers, their staff, trade unions and government.

Excellence through people is awarded to organisations in recognition of achieving and maintaining the operation of a human resource system, which strives to achieve excellence through the training, development and involvement of its most important resource, its staff. The two main objectives of the standard are:

• To encourage the development of employees to full potential so as to maximise their contribution to the specific needs of the organisation.
• To show recognition for organisations that have achieved this aim.

All types of organisations are eligible for Excellence Through People accreditation including manufacturing and service organisations, the voluntary sector and the public sector.

Up to December 2003 approximately 320 organisations in Ireland employing in excess of 75,000 people were accredited with Excellence Through People.

The standard has already been achieved by a number of local authorities, i.e. Clare, Mayo, Donegal, Waterford City Council and the Mechanical Division of Dublin City Council.

The Local Government Management Services Board has indicated that this standard gives a thorough “how to” when it comes to design and implementation of organisational training and development within Human Resources.

It is also worth noting that the standard for ’Excellence Through People´ has been included in the LANPAG Action Plan for ‘Sustaining Progress’, to be achieved by all local authorities by the end of 2004.

Feedback from organisations with Excellence Through People suggests that there are many benefits in both the process of applications for ETP and in having the ETP standard. From FÁS research some of these include:

• Independent recognition of Best-Practice Human Resource standards.
• Marketing - allows organisations differentiate on people skills.
• Demonstrates a public commitment to learning and better standards.
• Increased ability to attract and retain high calibre staff.
• Improved organisational performance.
• Provides a focus and a structure for HRD.
• Benchmarking the HR function.
• Increased contribution to bottom-line.

Applications for Excellence Through People are considered against the following criteria:

• Section One (150 points) Review of Organisation Plans and Objective
• Section Two (250 points) Preparation of Organisation Training Plan
• Section Three (120 points) Review of Training
• Section Four (240 points) Implementation of Training
• Section Five (40 points) Training and Development Records
• Section Six (200 points) Employee Communication and Involvement

In order to achieve ETP Certification, organisations must score a minimum 80% in each section and a minimum 80% overall. Certification is given for a period of one year during which time organisations are entitled to use the ETP logo for marketing or recruitment purposes.

In 2003 it was decided that The Directorate of Housing, Social, Cultural and Corporate Services would be a pilot for the rest of the Council and for Sligo Borough Council for Excellence Through People. The application was lodged on the 9th September 2003 and the award was presented at a function in the Great Northern Hotel, Bundoran, Co Donegal on the 31st October 2003.

The Management Team in line with the commitments entered into under ‘Sustaining Progress’ has decided to roll out the standard to staff in other Directorates and Sligo Borough Council on a phased basis. Link people have been nominated from Departments and a one-day training/awareness session will be provided for these staff members. In addition, information sessions for all staff will be facilitated by the Training and Development Officer over the coming months. As part of the process, a Training Needs Analysis will be conducted by Section Heads in each Directorate.

During the process of achieving Excellence Through People in the pilot Directorate it was found that it:

• Provides support for one to one discussions with line managers and staff.
• Offers a feedback system which provides a focus on development needs.
• Ensures an annual sign off on Training & Development to be supported with regular review.
• Facilitates the linking of Training & Development to achieving goals set out in Operational & Corporate Plans.
• Ensures that a strong emphasis is in placed on Health & Safety.
• Ensures that the validation of Training & Development is regularly undertaken.
• Provides for regular Training Evaluation.
• Necessitates the systematic recording of Training & Development.
• Emphasises Employee involvement and communication.
• Allows the development of employee feedback mechanisms.
• Promotes team culture.
• Ensures structures and discipline for staff meetings, i.e. agendae and minutes.
• Encourages formal reviews of operational plans.
• Provides the benefit of receiving Quality Accreditation in recognition for good HR Practices.

Any queries regarding Excellence Through People should be directed to Joe Gethin, Training and Development Officer, email: jgethin@sligococo.ie or at (071) 9157484.

The Stranorlar Regional Training Centre

The establishment of the Regional Training Centre marks another step in the provision of a National Network of Training Centres to serve the training needs for staff working in both Sanitary Services and Roads Section of the Local Authority. The need was highlighted in 1993 and as a result the Water Services National Training Group was set up to examine the Training needs and to make recommendations on how to address these needs. Members of the group consist of representatives from Department of the Environment and Local Government, Local Authorities, FAS, the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Federation of Group Water Schemes.

Stranorlar Regional Training Centre began operation in November 1999. Since that time the Centre has proved to be an important resource for the Local Authorities of Cavan, Donegal, Monaghan and Sligo (County Council and Borough Council).

While initially the Centre was intended to cater for staff working in the area of Sanitary Services, there quickly developed a realisation of the need for training in other areas. The Department of Environment Heritage and Local Government established a Roads Training Programme, funded through Non National Roads and delivered through the Regional Training Centres. This complements the Water Services Training Programme which runs in parallel.

As the demands made on the Centre increased, so too have the services provided.

During 2003 the Training Centre delivered training to 210 staff in Sligo Local Authorities resulting in 474 training days. 90% of the training delivered was on an outreach basis in venues throughout the county. All courses have a practical element allowing each delegate to put theory into practice through practical exercise and assessments.

Looking forward to 2004 it is proposed to recruit a fulltime Trainer. The creation of this post is recognition of the important work being done in and by the Regional Training Centres. At present two members Sligo County Council’s engineering staff, John Owens and Val Baynes, deliver training on a part-time basis for the centre. An extension to the Centre is currently under construction with a completion date of the end of August 2004. These improved facilities will allow for a greater range of Technical courses to be delivered and will mark a substantial improvement in training delivery.

Non-National Roads Training Programme

The 2003 Non-National Road Grant Allocations provided for expenditure of €5.2m on the Non- National Roads Training Programme- €3.75m to upgrade the existing Regional Water Services Training Centres so as to enable them to also provide nonnational roads training and €1.455m to be allocated to individual local authorities as dedicated Training grants.

Sligo County Council received an allocation of €30,000 with Sligo Borough Council receiving €20,000

There are twenty three seperate modules in the Non- National Roads training programme. To attain FETAC (Further Education Training Awards Council) Certificate, participants must complete

• 4 Core Modules:
  
  • (1) Health and Safety Foundation Training (Safe Pass);
  • (2) Signing and lighting and guarding at Roadworks;
    plus any two from the following 5 modules
  • Trench Re-instatement and pothole repairs
  • Location of underground services
  • Road Strengthening
  • Surface dressing
  • Traffic calming
  and
• 5 other modules from the Non-National Roads Training Programme

Non-National Roads Training Programme - Modules

1. Abrasive Wheel Operation
2. Safe Operation of Small Dumpers/Equipment
3. Kerbs and Paving-Laying and Maintenance
4. Driver Training
5. Installation of Street Ironwork
6. Chainsaw Operation
7. First Aid
8. Concreting and Fencing
9. Highway Horticulture
10. General Services Supervisory Development
11. Basic Setting Out

The Modules available in 2003 are Safe Pass (Health and Safety), Signing, Guarding and Lighting at Road Works, Trench Restoration & Pothole Repair, Winter Maintenance, Surface Dressing, and Supervisory Skills.