Agenda item

[Sam Axtel, Consultation and Community Involvement Officer, to present report on progress made with the Employee Volunteering Scheme]

Cllr John Reynolds, Cabinet Member for City Economy, briefly outlined the background to the aims of the employee volunteering scheme. Cllr Reynolds commented on the benefits of volunteering to the individual and business objectives, and links to previous Government policy initiatives. Cllr Reynolds commented on the potential of volunteering to bring a range of benefits to the Council. For example, evidence suggesting the positive impact on employees volunteering, overall business performance and team building.

Sam Axtell, Consultation and Community Involvement Officer, updated the panel on progress of the scheme. Currently 14 people have taken part in the programme since the launch in April 2015. Consultation and Community Involvement Officer commented that concern was expressed by managers about the impact of the scheme and their willingness to release staff for up to two days a year, particular for teams with small teams.  In response to such concerns discussions have been had with managers and reassurance given that spaces could not be backfilled. Furthermore, a decision about releasing staff was subject to approval of the manager and due consideration will need to be given to the needs of the service. There was an expectation that managers would be willing to sign up to the scheme.

The panel queried of if there was an ideal target for the number of volunteers to be recruited in the first year and the work done to promote the scheme. Consultation and Community Involvement Officer referred to the report and range of work done to promote the scheme, for example, drop in sessions, meetings with teams. Discussions with staff provide an opportunity to develop ideas and respond to employee interest in the scheme.

Consultation and Community Involvement Officer welcomed ideas from the panel about what more could done to promote the scheme and encourage more employees to become volunteers.  Consultation and Community Involvement Officer explained that managers are being encouraged to discuss the opportunity for employees to get involved as part of the annual appraisal. Guidance and e-learning in relation to the annual appraisal process has been published for managers. In addition, a tab is to be added to the intranet system to provide a link to details about employee volunteering. The scheme has been promoted on the Council intranet, road shows and newsletters. A range of related work is being done to encourage employees to think of volunteering as part of their on-going learning and development

The panel commented on the impact of releasing employees on the Council and considered this needs to be handled carefully. The panel welcome the assurance that the schemes would not affect the delivery of frontline services.

The panel queried the benefit to voluntary sector groups of a scheme that would involve releasing council employees for only two days annually and also the response from the sector. The panel queried if consideration had been given to increasing the number of days, while accepting the need to ensure continued delivery of frontline services. The panel welcomed that a decision about releasing staff would be the line manager.

Consultation and Community Involvement Officer responded that there have been discussions with representatives of the voluntary sector about the scheme. The feedback from the sector has been positive about the scheme. Discussions had identified the gaps and skills – such as book keeping which a team could provide in a rolling programme of support to an organisation. Consultation and Community Involvement Officer gave an example of a team supporting Compton in the Park event. The support of volunteers received positive feedback from the charity.  Discussions are on-going with colleagues to build links with voluntary sector organisations.

The panel expressed disappointment about the small number involved in the scheme, when considering the size of the Council workforce. The panel queried the reasons for the low response and what work had been done to investigate this issue further.

Consultation and Community Involvement Officer acknowledged that increasing the number of volunteers was a challenge as the idea does not appeal to everyone. Consultation and Community Involvement Officer commented on the benefits volunteering and also that it will take time to build up numbers. The panel accepted the challenge to increasing numbers of volunteering at a time when services are working with reducing resources and therefore a need to set realistic targets. Consultation and Community Involvement Officer highlighted the benefits to employees joining the scheme. The panel discussed the wider benefits of volunteering to the Council and the City as a whole.

The panel discussed the possibility of using the staff awards scheme to recognise volunteers, as part of the long service award ceremony.

Resolved:

The review group to receive a progress report on the employee volunteering scheme to the panel meeting on 20.4.16.

The meeting closed at 18:41