Professional Documents
Culture Documents
We are committed to providing high quality services which are safe and effective. Our staff are key to
this: we need to be able to recruit, engage and retain skilled and committed staff who have the
competencies needed to empower clients and address the often challenging issues that arise in our
services
The strategy also emphasises the vital importance of our volunteers to the achievement of our goals
and client ambitions.
Since the new St Mungos was created as a result of the merger on 1 April 2014 of St Mungos and
Broadway, we have already laid the solid foundations which will enable us to realise the intentions set
out above. In particular we have:
Boosted the relevance and impact of our core training programmes by introducing an annual cycle
of face-to-face team-based learning needs analysis.
Introduced new HR policies as a framework for the fair and consistent management and support
of our people.
Introduced a consistent and fair flexible working hours and TOIL scheme which enables staff to
balance work with their outside commitments and interests.
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Established a rolling modular leadership and management development programme to ensure
that all our line managers are properly trained to empower staff to achieve their highest potential.
Invested in a major project to reduce our expenditure on while increasing the quality of the agency
and locum staff upon whom we rely to provide temporary staffing cover
Grown and improved support for our volunteering programmes, our apprenticeship and training
schemes for people with lived experience of homelessness and our scheme for hosting
placements for student social workers and nurses.
Recognised and certificated as a Recognised Provider of learning by Skills for Care, the national
skills council for the social care sector.
Developed and implemented a diversity strategy with clear and inspiring goals, and reviewed and
refreshed our staff Diversity Networks to focus their efforts on the achievement of the goals.
Radically transformed the model and staffing of HR support provided by our HR Business Partner
and HR Admin teams to make these functions better skilled and more customer focused.
Introduced a new HR database and information system Cascade enabling us to deliver more
efficient workflows, better data, and an evidence-based approach to HR planning and
management.
After a rocky start with industrial action during the first 6 months after the merger, we have done a
great deal of work to ensure our staff are consulted on major changes and that senior managers
are visible and accessible. In particular we have set up a rolling programme of visits of Executive
Team members to all teams, and we engaged all staff in the development of our new corporate
strategy and values through a series of mini-conferences and follow-up surveys.
Our Real People social enterprise HR consultancy has grown from strength to strength, growing
its customer base and exceeding its annual income targets.
2. What next?
This new People Strategy sets out the objectives we will pursue over the next three years to ensure
that the ways in which we recruit, support, engage and develop our staff and volunteers supports the
achievement of St Mungos corporate goals and embodies our values.
St Mungos values
Empowering
Inclusive
Committed
Creative
Accountable
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Challenges facing St Mungos
St Mungos faces a number of very significant challenges in achieving our goals. Our people strategy
has to also support the organisation in addressing these challenges. In particular:
The downward pressure on our finances as identified in our five year financial forecast, and the
requirement for us to demonstrate improved governance and value for money.
The requirement for good governance, risk management and efficient implementation of strategy
and plans means we must achieve high levels of compliance with agreed protocols and ways of
doing things
We need a unified, engaged staff group who are highly effective in working together, across
functional boundaries internally and in partnerships with external bodies to achieve better
outcomes for clients.
We need good internal processes, and excellent customer care from central services supporting
those staff, managers and volunteers who are directly engaged in service delivery to clients.
We recognise that our success in supporting the recovery of our clients against the backdrop of these
challenges depends fundamentally on the skill, commitment and engagement of our staff and
volunteers. This People Strategy and the steps we take to implement it will be fully informed by our
people:
All staff will have the opportunity at team-based briefings to be consulted on:
o the Themes and Objective for our People Strategy, our Undertaking to staff and
Core Competencies (below)
o an action plan on implementing improvements to areas identified by our last staff
survey and further surveys which run within the lifespan of this strategy.
Our Staff Advisory Group will be consulted on the full version of the strategy
Clients will be consulted on the strategy via Outside In.
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3. Themes and Objectives for our People Strategy
THEMES OBJECTIVES
Resourcing Getting the right people from diverse backgrounds in the right jobs at the
right time
Designing structures and jobs that support the changing needs of our clients
and provision of services
Managing rotas and temporary staffing cover efficiently and improving the
skills of locums and agency staff
Having clear routes of entry, development and progression
Commitment to employing and developing people with lived experience
Taking a risk based approach to succession planning
Capability Channelling peoples enthusiasm, creativity and skills against clear
competency expectations, goals and standards
Valuing our people by ensuring they experience excellent line management,
a good working environment and the resources needed to do the job
Excellence in internal customer care to mirror excellence in client support
A variety of high quality and cost-effective learning and development
opportunities to enhance the skills needed to do the job and develop our
talent
Developing peoples potential
Promoting career progression for people of all backgrounds and with
different needs
Reward Fair and competitive pay and terms within our financial means
Non financial recognition (e.g. promoting achievements, employee awards)
linked to excellence in client and internal customer care
Unity Breaking down silos and promoting partnership working
Unifying the workforce, involving our people, and improving employee
engagement
Working with trade unions to build mutually positive relationships
Involving clients in strategy development, recruitment and selection, staff
appraisal and training
Promoting a culture of mutual respect, diversity and inclusion in the
workplace
Wellbeing Commitment to the health, safety and wellbeing of our people
Supporting people to attend work regularly and be safe and well at work
Promoting a positive work-life balance
Accountability Clear expectations, policies and guidance
Readily accessible and high quality advice on employment-related matters
Effective and user-friendly processes and systems that enable us to
measure compliance, outcomes and impact
Influencing Helping to influence and shape the effectiveness of organisations working
with homeless and other vulnerable people, for example:
o through the provision of high quality external HR consultancy and
training services;
o educating future health and social care professionals in the health
needs of our clients through our student placements scheme
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4. Organisational core competencies
We have reviewed our organisational competency framework to identify those core competencies that
our staff and managers at all levels will be required to demonstrate to a degree appropriate to their
level of responsibility in order to achieve our goals and promote our values.
Core competencies are used as the basis for recruitment and selection for staff, and for assessing
peoples strengths and development needs at their probationary and annual appraisals. The following
competency framework has an appendix setting out further example behaviours under each primary
indicator.
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5. Our vision
We want St Mungos to be the number one employer of choice in the homelessness and supported
housing sector. We ask all staff, managers and volunteers to contribute to a working environment
which embodies and reflects our values, which are:
To be
Empowering
Inclusive
Committed
Creative
Accountable
This People Strategy is designed to ensure we can promise and deliver to our people a clear deal as
follows.
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Appendix
RESOURCING
Objectives:
Getting the right people from diverse backgrounds in the right jobs at the right time
Designing structures and jobs that support the changing needs of our clients and
provision of services
Managing rotas and temporary staffing cover efficiently and improving the skills of locums
and agency staff
Having clear routes of entry, development and progression
Commitment to employing and developing people with lived experience of homelessness
We will:
Periodically review our management and staff structures to ensure alignment with stakeholder
and service needs within budget, while maintaining reasonable management spans to ensure
line managers have enough time to invest in their staff and service development
- demonstrate our core competencies at the right level for the role
- are committed to St Mungos goals and values
- are willing and able to learn in order to continuously improve their skills and
approach.
Seek the best and most diverse candidates by advertising the majority of roles openly, both
internally and externally.
Continue with our inclusive competency-based approach to recruiting people with strong
transferable skills rather than excessive requirements for previous experience
Operate an assessment-centre based approach to selection which gives all applicants a fair
range of activities to demonstrate their skills against person specifications.
Train all interviewers to use fair, transparent and effective selection methods to appoint the
best candidates for roles
Periodically review the specific tests we use for selection to ensure best fit for measuring the
skills and competencies we are seeking
Take an inclusive whole workforce approach to talent management. This means bringing in
people with the right competencies and attitudes, and providing structures, pathways and
development opportunities that enable us to grow our own self-selecting talent pool to fill a
significant proportion of our own front-line, specialist and managerial roles.
Further hone and refine our approach to growing and promoting our own talent, based on:
o Organisational structures and job design which best facilitate talent management, mobility
and career development.
o Review and development of our apprenticeship, trainee and other entry level schemes to
attract the highest potential candidates from all sections of the community.
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o Use of internal secondments to support the development of skills and potential.
o Identification and communication of clear career paths and development opportunities for
staff.
o Making line managers skilled and accountable for coaching their staff, and role modelling
professional managerial performance
o A clear and strategic approach to investment in staff and manager learning and
development.
Review succession plans annually, using a risk based approach to identify key roles and what
measures will be taken to ensure interim and permanent cover when postholders leave
Further develop the scale, reach and effectiveness of our volunteer programmes and student
placement schemes to enhance the depth and quality of support we can offer to clients.
Further refine and promote our employer brand to communicate effectively to prospective
candidates that we are the employer of choice for:
Seek to advertise vacancies as cost effectively as possible, and to recruit people as quickly as
possible without compromising due rigour in pre-employment screening.
Maximise the quality and minimise the costs of temporary cover including locums and
agency staff - for both ad hoc shifts and staffing vacancies
Maintain under review our job application processes in the light of available and affordable
technology in order to maximise accessibility of job opportunities and speed of recruitment
while reducing costs.
Develop localised, tailored plans to recruit to hard to fill posts and areas where there are skills
shortages.
Prohibit automatic promotions and make the selection process for any internally advertised
vacancies, including secondments, as rigorous as external recruitment.
Involve clients in staff recruitment and selection in ways which promote better selection
decisions while offering clients meaningful opportunities for development of their skills and
confidence.
Actively encourage and promote the employment of people who have experienced
homelessness.
Maintain and periodically review our practice against the standards required of the Disability
Positive Two Ticks standard
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Operate rigorous pre-employment screening processes for all appointments to ensure that we
fully manage the potential risks to our clients and St Mungos of unsuitable appointments to
roles.
CAPABILITY
Objectives:
We will:
Require all line managers to agree with all staff clear expectations in respect of competencies,
performance and conduct standards and performance objectives.
Periodically review our performance management processes to ensure that they are
continuing to meet the outcomes required of them.
Maintain and improve 360 degree appraisal feedback processes, including upwards, peer,
client and stakeholder assessment of performance.
Promote an environment where people are aware of and take responsibility for their own
continuous professional development using the appraisal process as a tool for structured
personal development planning.
Ensure that:
o every individual staff member receives support from their line manager in assessing
and planning for their personal learning and development needs
o all staff have the best opportunity to develop the skills they need for current roles and
to develop the potential for future growth based on the match between their own
aspirations and capabilities.
Deliver and periodically review induction programmes and materials which engender full
employee understanding of and engagement in the aims, services and values of St Mungos
from the outset of their employment.
Take measures to improve the capability and quality of locums and agency staff through the
provision of appropriate management support and training.
Ensure that all training and development programmes and activities are based on regular and
accurate assessment of organisational and service needs.
Maintain under review the most cost effective means of delivering training programmes for
essential staff skills in:
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o St Mungos core competency requirements
Provide additional resources to support staff dealing with complex client issues, e.g. access to
reflective practice sessions.
Offer blended learning solutions, combining face-to-face and e-learning, and investigate and
apply the use of new technologies to reduce the time off job and travelling time in managing
and supporting performance and attending training.
Develop bite-sized ways of introducing, reinforcing and refreshing key learning points for staff
and managers.
Source and promote a variety of activities outside of training courses to enable staff to grow
their professional skills and compete successfully for career development opportunities within
St Mungos. For example: coaching, mentoring, working groups, team away-days, project
work, action learning, shadowing, job swaps and rotation, internal skills-sharing presentations
and workshops.
Develop positive action initiatives to support the development of any group(s) who our
monitoring show to be under-represented in access and promotions.
Identify and promote cross-organisational joint working opportunities which foster sharing of
knowledge and best practice across services.
Encourage and support staff to study for relevant professional qualifications through our
Sponsorship Scheme.
Deliver accredited qualification programmes for staff and managers in areas where the
qualification is compulsory and/or adds value.
Link our own service standards and competences to external qualification frameworks where
appropriate and useful.
Work with the Business Excellence Team to promote excellence in internal customer care by
establishing clear customer service standards and means of collating feedback to inform
continuous improvement.(e.g. of Customer Satisfaction Surveys for all internal services and ,
customer service standards). Achieve external accreditation to endorse this
Use a range of methods, including staff, manager and client feedback, to regularly evaluate
and review the contribution of our learning and development interventions to defined
outcomes, and to the achievement of the organisational goals set out in the corporate
strategy.
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REWARD
Objectives:
Fair and competitive pay and terms within our financial means
Non financial recognition (e.g. promoting achievements, employee awards) linked to
excellence in client and internal customer care
We will:
Review in consultation and negotiation with our recognised Trade Unions - our pay structure
and systems and the specific rates of pay and terms we offer to ensure they are:
Affordable
Consistent with our broader strategic objectives
Competitive, to facilitate effective recruitment and retention
Fair, equitable and transparent.
Continue to develop and promote staff understanding of our broader package incorporating a
range of non-financial factors such as work-life balance, empowering line management,
opportunities for growth and development.
Develop recognition schemes linked to our drive for organisational excellence in client and
customer care.
UNITY
Objectives:
We will:
Promote a culture which values diversity. Operate recruitment and employment policies and
practices designed to promote the principles of inclusion, diversity and fair treatment of all.
Monitor the consistency of their application and measure their impact in terms of diversity
profile and the experience of different groups of staff. Review policies and procedures in line
with changing legislation and any negative impact picked up through monitoring.
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Provide training to all staff and managers in welcoming and managing diversity and promoting
dignity at work.
Strive for effective, accessible, responsive and accountable leadership by the Chief Executive,
the Executive Team and the Leadership Team.
Carry out meaningful consultation with staff on major changes and issues of organisational,
team, and individual concern. Identify and practice effective ways of closing the feedback
loop when staff put forward ideas or concerns.
Use a range of tools for monitoring staff perceptions of St Mungos leadership, people
management and communications processes and their levels of engagement, including staff
attitude surveys, exit interviews, upward appraisal feedback, Communicate the results to staff
and act on the findings.
Regularly review our information, consultation and involvement methods to ensure they are
genuinely two-way, effective and well-received.
Use team and project-based working methods which stimulate staff innovation and creativity in
strategy and in the continuous improvement of services.
Encourage the organisation and promotion of social and celebratory events of a diverse
nature to suit the diverse profile of our workforce. To include:
Foster effective and constructive working relationships with the recognised Trade Unions for
collective bargaining on terms and conditions of employment and related matters.
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WELLBEING
Objectives:
We will:
Deliver an in-house health and safety expert advice and guidance service, which will:
Regularly update policies, procedures and guidance notes in light of changing law and
best practice
Train managers to carry out their responsibilities in terms of risk assessments, fire risk
assessments and the development and implementation of action plans
Deliver health and training to permanent and locum staff
Carry out a rolling programme of regular safety inspections
Carry out investigations into significant accidents and incidents
Review and further and further enhance our approach to general staff wellbeing.
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Positively welcome, make all reasonable adjustments and offer support to employees with
disabilities, both mental and physical.
Train our managers to manage and support their staff well through regular structured
supervision.
Operate leave provisions and flexible working provisions which enable staff to strike a healthy
balance between work and their lives outside of work, and which will enable people with
special requirements e.g. related to dependants, religion, disability - to take up and maintain
employment with St Mungos.
Take effective measures for early identification of health-related problems and offer early
intervention and support for staff to attend work regularly and safely through:
ACCOUNTABILITY
Objectives:
We will:
Keep up to date with and take relevant action to ensure we meet our legal responsibilities as
an employer with reference to new and forthcoming European and domestic legislation and
changing case law.
Manage employment contracts diligently so that the contractual status of every employee is
clear and unambiguous and contractual obligations are fully met on both sides.
Maintain under continuous review our employment policies and procedures and provide high
quality guidance, training and support for managers and external customers in their
implementation.
Act as internal consultants and coaches, guiding and assisting line managers to manage and
develop staff effectively.
Provide efficient high quality and customer focused centralised administrative service to
manage staff contracts, pay and records.
Manage all redundancy, redeployment and TUPE situations carefully in accordance with legal
requirements and decently in terms of communication and consultation with affected staff.
Build effective and cost-effective relations with solicitors, insurers and other professional
advisers to minimise financial and other risks to St Mungos.
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Maximise the use of technology to ensure effective and user-friendly HR administration,
support and reporting.
Carry out annual internal surveys of customer (manager) satisfaction services provided by the
HR directorate
Regularly collect quantitative and qualitative data to measure the impact and effectiveness of
our HR strategy and practices and the return on our investment in HR staffing and other
resources. In particular we will seek to demonstrate the link between HR indicators of success
and achievement of corporate ambitions, goals and outcomes
Measure progress in the diversity profile of our workforce and benchmark against other
relevant organisations and publicly available data. Build on the value of quantitative
monitoring data by collecting information on staff experiences and perceptions of our
performance on diversity.
Use cost-effective means to collect benchmarking data with which to measure our
performance against comparative organisations and obtain best practice ideas for improving
our HR processes.
INFLUENCING
Objectives:
Helping to influence and shape the effectiveness of organisations working with homeless
and other vulnerable people, for example through the provision of high quality external HR
consultancy and training services; educating future health and social care professionals in
the health needs of our clients through our student placements scheme
We will:
Develop and deliver against a separate and clearly defined business plan for Real People,
with the aim of increasing its gift-aided contribution to St Mungos
Further build and disseminate Real Peoples reputation for expert practitioner advice and
excellent customer service at a competitive cost.
Continuously improve of the range and quality of services offered by Real People.
Continue to base the support, advice and training products offered on the empirical
experience of practices which have been trialled successfully with measurable results within
St Mungos.
Develop further our tools, materials and approaches for influencing the thinking and practice of
senior health and social care professionals via our student placements scheme
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St Mungos People Strategy
Measures of Success
Apprenticeship Scheme
Annual report on apprenticeship scheme
Number of clients accepted on scheme
with feedback from managers
Number of services offering
apprenticeships
Number of apprentices completing the
programme
Number of apprentices obtaining work
with St Mungos
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