Agenda item

The HR and Organisational Development Manager introduced the next stage of the Corporate Services and Partnerships Policy Overview Committee review into Employee Retention and Induction. It was confirmed that unfortunately the internal witness for the review was unable to attend the meeting and that the witness session would now be re-arranged for the next Committee meeting.

Members were informed that this meeting would now focus on what happens when a new employee joins the Council.

The HR and Organisational Development Manager commented that an induction checklist is used to help ensure that all the induction actions are taken consistently across the organisation, some of which take place before the employee's start date. In addition to the hard copy of the checklist, there are a number of eLearning modules which the employee must also complete.

The Committee heard that the eLearning system has recently been updated and were shown a series of the pages used in the new system, which included Hillingdon-specific information and facts regarding the Council and its vision, as well as the residents it represents. It was confirmed that the sessions to meet both the Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive require staff to book a place, and that there were currently plans for a specific "Meet the Leader" session for a number of apprenticeships who have recently joined the Council. Further links to Google Training and online Google sessions were also included in the new eLearning system, as well as a number of eLearning modules and short tests to ensure employees had suitable levels of understanding for relevant subjects.

Members agreed that the new system was visually much more appealing and engaging than the previous eLearning system, and the HR and Organisational Development Manager confirmed that the site can still be edited and improved internally where required, as it has been over the past two years.

Councillors believed that the system was moving in the right direction, and asked whether there was a possibility to keep a record of feedback for the system to ensure the eLearning modules continues to improve. The Committee also commented that a number of the eLearning modules provided for staff members were not provided for Members, and questioned whether there should be content available for Councillors as well, to ensure that their training was in keeping with Council employees.

Responding to questioning, the HR and Organisational Development Manager confirmed that some modules could only be completed once employees had answers questions related to the topic. One example of this was the Data Protection Training. Should employees fail to correctly answer 80% of the questions following the eLearning module, they would get a second chance. If they did not reach the pass mark on the second occasion, then a further training session would be arranged on the subject. It was also confirmed that the "buddy system" remains in use, as it gives a new employee the opportunity to build a relationship with a peer, and also means the new starter can ask for help from a colleague that is not a manager.

The Committee thanked the HR and Organisational Development Manager for his time, and the Chairman commented that the witness sessions would take place at the September meeting. Potential witnesses were suggested at the previous meeting, but Members reiterated that they would like a new employee of the Council, in addition to another Civil Servant and a private sector employee.

RESOLVED: That the information on the Council's eLearning module was noted.