Case study - Merton City Council
Case study - Merton City Council
Solving staff recruitment, retention and sickness
'We had recruitment problems, high levels of sickness and high staff turnover and there was a general feeling that staff morale was low. We felt we needed to do something pro-active.'
Keith Davis, Assistant Chief Executive, London Borough of Merton
At the suggestion of the staff union, UNISON , the Council applied for, and received, a £45,000 grant from the government's Challenge Fund to pilot a work-life balance scheme in the housing lettings and benefits departments.
Typical of the problems reported by staff was the experience of housing benefit officer, Carol Wyatt who had to care for her elderly mother every morning before coping with the rush hour to be at her desk when phone lines opened at 9am.
'I used to get quite stressed sitting on the bus, hardly moving, knowing there was nothing I could do about it.'
Carol told her line manager she wanted to leave.
In lettings there was already a flexitime scheme but it was very limited. Focus groups were run for staff and managers along with a council-wide attitude survey and it was agreed to pilot new options:
- Flexi hours from 7am to 7pm
- A 12am-3pm lunch period
- Core hours from 11am to 3pm
- Two days flexi-leave each month
- Ability to take leave for a couple of hours rather than whole or half days
- The option of homeworking for the management team
Management, staff and union agreed ground rules:
- Joint staff and management responsibility for problem solving
- Mutual flexibility
- An open-minded approach
- Respect for diversity of individual needs
- Schemes are voluntary - individuals may withdraw from them
Team working, introduced to empower staff and support management, has been so successful that core hours have been dispensed with in favour of a commitment to necessary cover to provide a viable service to customers. The next agreed goal is the introduction of a nine-day fortnight.
Carol Wyatt has stayed at her job:
'It has made all the difference, it really does make you feel you've got more control over your life. It gives me a chance to organise my working time around my other needs.'
The benefits are:
For staff - 'The main thing is that it empowers staff. Although a manager can still say "No", now they have to justify their decision, rather than staff having to justify why they should be allowed time off.'
Sean Cunisse, UNISON Branch Secretary
For the employer- 'Now we're asking: 'Why can't it work?' rather than just saying: 'It can't work'. The only thing that could stifle it is lack of imagination."
Keith Davis, Assistant Chief Executive
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