About South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils

There is on-going coaching available at South Oxon, as well as a recent two-day refresher course run for all Managers. There is also an annual performance review and interim reviews for all Managers and Team Leaders. The targets that are set include behavioural ones and are linked to the organisation's vision and values. The appraisal paperwork is signed off by both parties and the Manager’s Manager. Progress against these targets is measured at the half yearly review and at documented monthly one to ones. The organisation also has team performance points. These are regular meetings where team performance is discussed. This may be in relation to budget spend, number of compulsory courses attended, the completion of inspection programmes or the progress of key projects. At least twice a year Senior Managers and councillors attend the performance point meetings to challenge progress against targets.

The GCC Global challenge has supported team working through team competition and rewards, as well as increasing staff activities and wellbeing. This is South Oxon’s third year in the challenge. In addition, the organisation’s annual staff awards scheme seeks to reward staff for outstanding performance across a number of categories, such as Unsung Hero, Customer Service, Manager of the year; Team of the year and Employee of the year.

South Oxon have an annualised hours scheme for the majority of their employees. This gives them greater flexibility to manage their workloads and to balance work and domestic responsibilities. They can start work earlier or finish later than in a traditional working pattern and potentially vary their hours each week. Both the organisation and the employee can benefit from individuals being able to increase their hours during busy periods and lower them during quieter times. The organisation have a budget per member of staff for each service area to facilitate team activities, such as away day visits to The Shard or The Houses of Parliament. Sport activities include archery, punting and team cricket matches, whilst the annual quiz night raises money for charity as well as improving team working across service areas in a fun way.