3HRC
1.1
Wiltshire Council’s purpose is to provide a broad range of services to the population of Wiltshire (435,000 residents). Wiltshire is a unitary authority and is responsible for schools, social services, rubbish collection and disposal, county roads, planning, and leisure services, among other things. Wiltshire Council is also the biggest employer within Wiltshire.
Wiltshire Council has set out their goals in a business plan for the next four years 2013 – 2017. The goals include: * To protect those who are most vulnerable * To boost the local economy; and, * To bring communities together to enable and support them to do more for themselves
These priorities will help to deliver their vision to create stronger and more resilient communities and make Wiltshire an even better place to live, work and visit.
The plan will include investment in highway maintenance, creation of a campus opportunity in each community area, economic growth stimulation and provision of opportunities for every child and young person to improve their attainment and achieve their full potential.

1.2
Wiltshire Council offers services to all members of the local community so thereby have a huge range of ‘customers’. Some of the services the council provides are ‘free’ at source although they are funded through council tax and government grants which provide a full range of services to customers, some of whom are unable to pay directly for them. The services provided by the Council include schools, social services, rubbish collection and disposal, county roads which are mainly free at source (although paid for by Council taxes). There are services which do attract some financial contributions from customers including libraries, leisure, planning and some learning and development programs or courses. In summary all residents of Wiltshire are customers of Wiltshire Council and in addition some who live outside of Wiltshire but who visit our leisure centres, libraries or use our roads.

1.3
We can use the PESTLE analysis to indicate external factors which influence Wiltshire Council (and in fact any organisation). See diagram on next page
Economic Factors
The main factors which influence the council and the services they are able to provide is the economy. In times where the government are not able to access funds through taxes paid with the population in high employment, this affects budgets in two ways. The first being the amount of tax collected is reduced and impacts on budgets available for grants to local government. The second factor being that in times of high unemployment, more services may be needed to be provided to the public such as training programs, in order to get people back into work.
Social Factors
Another significant factor influencing the council would be the age of the population. An aging population would necessitate increased services and the social care budget will reflect this by being higher as this age group needs more services to keep them living well. In a similar way a high proportion of children will impact on the council’s budget. More school places will be needed and other services for young people who have no money of their own.
Environmental Factors
Adverse weather would have an impact on the council which can necessitate increased provision of highway services such as road gritting in cold weather and more repairs to roads needed in wet or freezing weather.
Political Factors
Political factors influence the council as the council cabinet is made up of elected members who represent particular political parties. The majority of the cabinet are Conservative with a significant Liberal Democrat representation and minimal representation of other parties. However if this was to change and the political representation was to sway in another direction this would influence the way the council provides its services to the public in that different parties would lean towards different priorities.

2.1 Please see annex 1 for structure chart
Wiltshire Council has a leader who oversees the whole council. It is then divided into 3 Corporate Directors who each oversee several business areas within the council. These broadly represent Adult Social Services and Public Health, Children’s Services and the Statutory role of Returning Officer and Electoral Registration Officer. Following down from these corporate roles there are other significant roles which include service directors, associate directors and consultants in their particular areas of expertise. This type of arrangement is described as ‘Divisional’
A divisional organisation structure consists of several parallel teams focusing on a single product or service line as in Wiltshire Council. Unlike departments, divisions are more autonomous, each with its own head of service who manages their own staff, budgeting and business.
Advantages
Divisions can work well because they allow a team to focus upon a single area of service, with a leadership structure that supports its major strategic objectives. Head’s of Service must ensure it receives the resources it needs. Also this structure can help build a common culture that contributes to higher morale and a better knowledge of their own service areas.
Disadvantages
A divisional structure also has weaknesses. Divisions may allow office politics instead of sound strategic thinking to affect its view on matters such as allocation of resources. It may also lead to duplication in some areas making it inefficient in places.
2.2
There is some crossover in that some departments cover work for other departments. Examples of this are our ICT department which provide a service to all the other departments helping them with their technology, solving IT problems.
Human Resources are another good example of this in that they cover all departments providing a service to managers advising on HR matters and helping managers to solve issues which occur in the course of council business.
The communications team is here to help the council to become the best in the country. Our Comms (communications) department aim to help everyone in the council communicate effectively with our customers and staff, and make sure they are able to easily talk with us. Comms work hard to protect and enhance the reputation of Wiltshire Council and to promote the work done in collaboration with our partners and the place we live.
The communications team provides a range of services that stretches from media relations to branding and from printing to marketing. Comms are also working to ensure all staff are aware of current issues, policies and procedures and are responsible for our internal website which offers a wealth of information to staff working in the council. It helps information to be continually available to all staff wherever they are based or working. It also shares information about current events and training opportunities for staff. This links into our Learning and Development department which again crosses all departments within the council sharing opportunities for learning and development, helping staff to progress in their careers, enabling them to access the qualifications they need. This supports the council’s vision and provides excellent services to the people we employ to ensure they are skilled, trained and motivated and are able to meet the changing needs of Wiltshire Council. There is a direct link between an organisation’s investment in its people and how well the organisation performs. Wiltshire Council believe its employees are the key to the council’s success

2.3 Culture of the organisation
Wiltshire Council’s main culture is that of customer service and its strategic aim is to embed the Behaviours Framework, corporate values and systems thinking in to all we do. Achieving this aim ensures staff are customer focused at all times which is one of Wiltshire Council’s values.
Within the council the organisation aims to embrace change and continuous improvement for the benefit of all its customers and communities. This affects our operations by making staff targets to achieve ‘excellence’ in all they do as standard which is reflected in our performance and the standard of service offered to our customers.
Wiltshire Council ensures staff take the corporate values to heart and demonstrate the expected behaviours to ensure our customers and colleagues alike are treated with dignity and respect, through our Behaviours Framework. This helps staff to feel empowered to make changes, using systems thinking and ensuring our services add value and achieve positive results.
Wiltshire Council aims to be a fulfilling and enjoyable place to work; there is an awareness that this enthusiasm rubs off on our residents and customers, and recognises the crucial role each and every member of staff plays in helping to achieve our goals. By demonstrating the attitudes and behaviours, Wiltshire Council aim to be an effective, positive and collaborative place to work.

This chart from our Behaviours Framework shows how the vision and goals link with values and behaviours to bring about a positive culture of customer service and performance.

3.1

In order to support the council’s strategy and provide excellent services to the community Wiltshire Council need to ensure that their employees are supported by an effective HR department who are skilled in all areas of HR. The HR department role can be split into different functions providing services to both employees and managers.

* Staff objectives – HR needs to focus mainly on ensuring the organisation is properly staffed. This can involve the design of an organisational structure and identification of types of contracts different groups of employees will work under. This means recruiting the right people and developing them so that they can best assist towards meeting the goals and objectives of the organisation.

* Performance Objectives – when the employees are in place, HR needs to ensure that they are well motivated so as to maximise their performance. They need to use a variety of motivational techniques, eg promotion, benefits, or performance related pay. It is also vital that employees are trained and developed to the level for them to achieve good performance. Any matters of poor performance or conduct issues also need to be addressed before they impact too heavily on the rest of the organisation.

* Administration Objectives – Hr have a responsibility to facilitate the smooth operation of the organisation. This would include retaining accurate data on individual employees, eg appraisals, terms and conditions, training, attendance as well as personal details. This is essential to ensure an organisation complies with legal regulations eg National Minimum Wage.

3.2
HR can help line managers in a number of ways: * Developing the right culture and behaviours
HR has a crucial role to play in coaching and working with line managers to help them to better understand the range of measures at their disposal to help develop and retain talent. This may include performance measures to clearly defining job roles. It is essential that the organisation adopts the right culture and behaviours and is not merely about functional skills.

* Build effective relationships
When HR is working with line managers, one of the first challenges is the ability of HR to build effective relationships. This enables HR to communicate the business objectives in a way that both managers and employees understand. Only then can the relationship be built on a platform of mutual respect and trust where both sides work as a team.

* Make line managers aware of available support
HR needs to make line managers aware of the support that is available to help them to develop and retain their employees. HR is hugely valuable in terms of what they can offer and bring to an organisation rather than waiting to be asked and invited in. There is a vast amount of HR information on our internal website including all the policies and procedures so that managers can ensure they adhere to these. They are also very helpful for managers to access when they have queries or questions about members of staff

Annex 1

References

www.wiltshire.gov.uk www.businessdirectory.com www.changeboard.com