A report by the Director of Law, HR and Asset Management served to assist Members in their considerations of the proposed performance appraisal and development framework.  This included the performance appraisal and development of the Chief Executive.

The Council’s current Key Issues Exchange (KIE) process had been in place since 2001.  Whilst it had delivered well in the past, recent return rates had indicated that a refreshed and updated approach was needed.  The Chief Executive informed the Committee that on his appointment he had wanted to improve how staff performance was measured and so, before the Corporate Governance Report had been published had commissioned work in this area which had resulted in the proposals in the report for staff performance and development.  The proposed performance appraisal framework replaced KIE at the senior level.  The Chief Executive sought the Committee’s guidance on how to move forward with this initiative in the light of the Council’s primary aim which was to improve corporate governance.

The Committee was informed that the Performance Improvement Framework illustrated how the Council’s vision and purpose, detailed in its Corporate Plan, was delivered through the Corporate Planning process and the Council’s Performance Information Management System (PIMS).

The delivery of the Council’s vision and purpose was supported by the Council’s expectations of its workforce in relation to Leadership and Management and Wirral’s Values and Behaviours.  Individual objectives had been agreed to deliver the Council’s objectives, Corporate Plan and Departmental Plan, meeting Leadership and Management expectations underpinned by the values and behaviours.  The proposed performance appraisal and development process included a personal development plan and 360 degree feedback for senior managers.  Interventions to improve performance could be accessed through the Council’s Training Programmes, Skills for Wirral: Managers and Skills for Wirral: Employees programmes.

The Committee noted that the outputs were the improved delivery of the Council’s corporate and departmental objectives, as well as individual employee’s objectives.  The outcome, therefore, was that the Council’s vision and purpose were delivered for the residents of Wirral.  The Performance Improvement Framework was attached to the report at Appendix One.

The Committee also noted that the Leadership and Management Expectations Framework set out the expectations for all managers.  The Expectations Framework articulated what was expected of managers in their role and would be used in setting objectives and in assessing performance.  It would form the basis of the Skills for a Wirral: Managers’ Training Programme, with modules for each of the key areas.  The proposed Leadership and Management Expectations Framework was attached to the report at Appendix Two.

The report informed Members that the Council’s current KIE process had identified corporate and leadership behaviours, which had been in place since 2001.  A new set of values and behaviours had been developed using feedback from Senior Managers and focus groups of staff, including Trade Unions.

The report proposed that new corporate values and behaviours be established as part of the performance management framework.  The purpose of values and behaviours was to define, not just what the Council wanted to do, but how it would do it.  This was an important part of developing the culture of the Organisation.  The proposed values and behaviours used the acronym ‘PERFORM’, and were based on the key messages from the Council’s Corporate Plan, input from Senior Manager’s briefings that were held in May 2011 and the Heads of Service Away Day and Employee Focus Groups held in June 2011.  The PERFORM values and behaviours were attached to the report at Appendix Three.

The Committee considered the proposals for staff performance appraisal and development in detail, including the Performance Improvement Framework, the Management Expectations Framework, supporting documentation and a roll out plan in detail and agreed that the Director had set out a good starting point, both in terms of appraisal and approach.  It was proposed that some training could commence, but in the knowledge that its content may change, in terms of what managers may be expected to do in the future, key priorities etc.  The Head of HR and Organisational Development could begin to plan some training now so that the core skills were imparted as part of the process of progressing the management framework.  This would facilitate what the Committee may want to do in the future, as the building blocks would be in place.  Improvements and adjustments would be made later as the Committee continued with its work.  Members agreed that this approach would not undermine progress but would be seen as a precursor to what was to come.  Therefore, proposals on how to take this work forward would be presented to the Committee in report form as soon as possible for its endorsement.

The Committee noted that initially performance appraisal would be paper based but that it was the intention for it to become electronic at some stage in the future, using a module of the new Selfserve system

RESOLVED : That

(1)  the content of the report be noted and performance management be considered holistically, along side the Council’s wider performance issues and concerns and in the context of the Committee’s work programme as a whole; and

(2)  the Director of Law, HR and Asset Management be requested to present a report to the next meeting informing of the preparatory work being undertaken, in the light of the discussions at this meeting, and setting out detailed proposals on how to move initial performance management and development training forward for the Committee’s consideration.