About Surrey County Council

All Managers have access to an internal and external coaching pool. Colleagues who have been previously trained on their own coaching programmes provide the internal coaching pool. This has been hugely successful in developing individual’s skills, gaining a broad view of the organisational challenges and breaking down internal barriers across teams and services. External coaches were appointed through a separate procurement process. Where there are issues relating to performance and conflict, Managers also have support from internally appointed ‘Fairness Champions’ and mediators, as well as restorative practitioners. The concept of Fairness Champions was introduced in January 2012 and has made a huge difference to the wellbeing of colleagues and the ability to resolve issues quickly. Coaching has been and continues to be very well received across the whole organisation and is embedded into the way SCC support Leaders and Managers in a range of issues, such as wellbeing, resilience, performance and career development. Performance of all Leaders and Managers is undertaken annually. SCC have introduced a new pay and reward process, which means pay and any increase is directly linked to individual performance. This is measured through the use of objectives and 360 feedback based on the organisational values and behaviours. Every individual is required to have an annual appraisal and the outcome of this is recorded and used for ongoing development and support. To assist with this process, the organisation have introduced moderation to ensure fairness and a consistent approach across the organisation. This is especially relevant for the use of the three appraisal outcomes of Developing, Successful and Exceeds Expectations. 

To support the health and wellbeing of all their staff, SCC are running an ongoing campaign called 'Stay Healthy - Stay Well'. As part of this initiative they have offered health checks throughout Surrey's local offices. To support with this scheme, the organisation have also introduced and supported a number of leisure activities, including walking and running clubs, choir, yoga, aerobics, religious groups and book clubs. Within SCC there is a team dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of residents and staff. The team have a dedicated website promoting relevant events and advice and have recently completed a ‘workplace challenge’ in September 2016. This involved colleagues recording their physical activity for one month with the aim of achieving as much physical activity as possible. This was recorded and shared, with the winners also being announced. SCC also promote the use of their partnered Employee Assistance Programme to help find solutions to personal problems which may affect employees inside or out of work. Their ‘Mywellbeing’ intranet site is framed against the areas that contribute to wellbeing - thrive, talk, learn and enjoy. Wellbeing is integrated into HR policies through appraisals, absence management, change management, OH referral forms and a safety, health and wellbeing strategy 2010. The organisation have specific training courses for Managers on how to resolve stress in teams. It is also integrated into training. They even have a variety of toolkits which Managers can use as e-learning modules to support resilience in teams, as well as a variety of professionals to support team working. SCC have used the results of their staff survey over the past 12 months to understand areas of workplace stress and to identify ways in which this can be managed and dealt with.

SCC have recently used an online collaboration tool – Yammer – to support the creation of a new partnership arrangement between Surrey and East Sussex County Council. This new partner arrangement has involved their business support functions, including HR, IT, Procurement, Finance and Property from both Surrey County Council and East Sussex County Councils working in partnership. The aim of this included establishing a centre of best practice, reducing duplication and waste and improving efficiency through volume transactions. Yammer has helped Surrey and East Sussex County Councils’ to be able to communicate across a diverse group of people and has improved their ability to work together. Over the past 18 months, SCC have supported the Leadership Challenge, run by the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst. The organisation have now sponsored 12 employees to attend the days’ leadership event. The participants join other individuals from organisations across the South-East to be instructed in key military leadership techniques, to compete against one another and be tested on a variety of exciting and thought-provoking scenarios. The different scenarios allow the participants to reflect on leadership and team building skills and apply these in their work environment. In February 2016, the organisation paid for 400 Managers to attend a development event called ‘Leading with Confidence’. The aim of the day was to equip Managers to engage with their teams and wider colleagues through the use of business story-telling. All attendees spent the day with colleagues from different areas of the organisation and had an opportunity to understand their vital role in the organisations’ vision and strategy.