Council first to reach new Investors in People standard

Stroud District Council has become the first council in the South West, and one of only three in the country, to achieve the new Health and Wellbeing Standard for Investors in People. It also retained the Investors in People standard for the eleventh year in a row.

Allison Sharpe, head of corporate services for the council, said:
‘An award for health and wellbeing may sound like we pamper our employees, but what it really means is that we have a workforce which is well-informed, motivated and focused on delivering the council’s objectives, and consequently the services our customers want. Our various initiatives have also contributed to a reduction in sickness absence of 28% between 2006 and 2010.’

Many areas of the council’s work were acknowledged, including:

• a recent revamp of its employee appraisal system, which was put together by managers and staff under the banner of ‘Work Positive’
• its flexible hours and home working policies
• its approach to personal support including staff counselling provision, occupational health and a dedicated sickness support line with nursing advice
• staff benefiting for regular presentations from the chief executive - known as ‘Proud of Stroud’ sessions

The council’s approach to ‘Systems Thinking’ was also praised. In its revenues and benefits team for instance, changes to how the service is delivered have brought down average claim processing times from 22.7 to 15 days and at the same time led to increased job satisfaction and morale. This ‘bottom up’ rather than ‘top down’ management approach is being extended across the authority.

Managing director of Recognising Excellence, David Tew, offered his congratulations to Stroud District Council for being the first organisation in the South West to achieve the Health and Wellbeing Good Practice Award.

He added: ‘Effective health and wellbeing programmes are key to delivering continued commitment, innovation and growth. The new Investors in People award supports this by being 'outcome-focussed', outlining what needs to be achieved while still allowing an organisation the freedom to decide how they go about this. Stroud District Council has demonstrated that it seeks to do this through positive leadership and consultation, discussion and the wide scale involvement of staff at all levels.’

Miss Sharpe added: ‘At a time when the public sector, and public sector employees in particular, are having to deal with a huge amount of upheaval, it is more important than ever to appreciate the value of our most important asset – our staff. We’re pleased that we have been recognised for ensuring that our people are dedicated and well-equipped to deal with the challenges and focused on providing services to our customers.’

December 2010