Human Resources Strategy Committee - Minutes of meeting held on 18 September 2007
HRC members:
HRSC (alternate on this occasion only) |
Observers - AH, PS and DFID Abuja
Presenting: Apologies |
Agenda Item 1: Minutes of 10 July 2007
1. Agreed.
Agenda Item 2: HRSC Tracker
2. The HRSC noted that action was complete on most items and made the following point.
- The work on metrics is underway.
Agenda Item 3: Strategic Work force Planning
3. Ann Freckleton introduced this item. She sought comments on the process and emerging issues.
Discussion
4. The HRSC:
- asked for more clarity about how professional groupings will be managed ie both the frontline and corporate services;
- acknowledged that Staff Appointed In Country (SAIC) will be a key part of workforce planning and their role should be addressed including issues of, for example mobility;
- asked that HR provides clarity about what Divisions are being asked to do and why;
- suggested that DFID needed to grasp the mettle on compulsory redundancy and not rely solely on natural wastage;
- encouraged HR to do scenario planning particularly related to the external environment as well as undertaking stakeholder analysis;
- wanted confidence that work force planning will deliver in the next 12-18 months and not just in the longer term;
- suggested that HR gather evidence eg from the World Bank about whether work force planning had been effective; o suggested that Annex A be deleted as it is a repetition of the Corporate Plan;
- asked that HR avoid HR jargon.
Agenda item 4: Whitehall Skills
5. Liz Davis introduced this paper. There is a deficit in DFID’s current skills and experience for working in Whitehall and HR had been asked by the Management Board to solve the short term issues.
Discussion
6. The HRSC:
- acknowledged that parts of DFID already had excellent Whitehall skills;
- suggested that these parts of DFID should be showcased;
- noted that people did not need to work in London to achieve Whitehall skills;
- recognised that overseas staff can acquire the relevant skills by working closer with other government departments (OGD) overseas;
- suggested that there could be job swaps with OGDs during an overseas assignment eg during a 4 year posting spend 2 years with DFID and 2 years with FCO;
- asked if there were any barriers to terms and conditions of service, attitude and culture;
- suggested that HR look at what the rest of Whitehall are doing eg the Home Office and FCO ;
- noted that the paper is geared more to Home Civil Service (HCS) than SAIC and noted that SAIC would also require these skills;
noted the need for Whitehall skills to be built into objectives and personal development plans;
- suggested that buddies in OGDs could offer good support;
- suggested possible development attachments eg to the Treasury so that staff get experience of how other Departments operate;
- thought that the idea of bringing in fast streamers a good one particularly those who are on their second to fourth year posting.
Conclusion
7. All Directors to use the mid year review process to identify skills gaps and plan suitable interventions.
Agenda item 5: Leadership and Management
8. Chris Pontin introduced this paper. Chris asked the HRSC to agree to the recommendation in paragraph 17 about engaging a small group of managers from across DFID in training and coaching delivery roles.
Discussion
9. The HRSC accepted the proposals and:
- agreed that staff time should be limited to 10 days per year and ideally two staff per Division;
- noted that many staff are probably already providing coaching but not through formal schemes;
- acknowledged that the role should be recognised in staff objectives and that departments should support staff who undertake coaching;
- recognised that most coaching could be done by telephone.
Agenda item 6: Staff Security Review Update
10. Keith Mackiggan introduced this paper. He thanked Divisions for their input and confirmed that his final report would be shared in due course.
Discussion
11. The HRSC:
- acknowledged this was a good piece of work and the recommendations were right;
- said that SAIC security must also be considered; o agreed that it was an important issue and Directors should continue to raise awareness of the importance of security with their Heads of Office;
- agreed that better briefing for staff going on short term visits could be provided;
- noted that Directors should consider the concept of the fully devolved office and consider which routine jobs could be done from London and at lower cost;
- agreed that security is the responsibility of both parties – the visitor and the visiting office;
- agreed that there needs to be a balance between what is written and not written about security instructions;
- noted that there are differing safety concerns for different countries and these affect the league tables eg presentation of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the same group as Iraq and Afghanistan.
Agenda item 7: Language Capabilities and Guidance
12. Liz Davis introduced this paper. Liz noted that the International Development Committee (IDC) raised this issue last year and the paper intended to remind the HRSC of DFID’s position on languages.
Discussion
13. The HRSC agreed that:
- language training is particularly important in countries where knowledge and understanding of the local language makes working relationships more effective;
- there is currently a lack of guidance on what is available to staff and how they can access good quality language training;
- there is little support to help staff maintain their language skills particularly when they move back to the UK and the rewards are not clear;
- although we have the numbers of staff with language skills the level of competence is not clear;
- we may need to include language skills in our recruitment processes.
Any Other Business
14. None.
Item number 8: Closed Session
15. Liz Davis updated the Committee on the progress of the pay negotiations.
Connie Smillie
Secretary, Human Resources Strategy Committee
