Balancing Act
HELD AT CWMBRAN STADIUM, CWMBRAN
25 NOVEMBER 2003
Conference Report
Speakers/Panel Members:
Councillor Bob Wellington Deputy Leader of the Council
Peter Durkin Acting Chief Executive
Alison Ward Assistant Chief Executive (Customer Focus & Relationships)
Chief Superintendent Joy Lott - Divisional Commander B Division
Professor Teresa Rees, CBE Cardiff University
Councillor Yvonne Warren
Councillor Maurice H Morgan
Anna Freeman Head of Employment, WLGA
Welcome & Introduction to the Day
Councillor R G Wellington, Deputy Leader of the Council opened the conference and welcomed over 100 employees of Torfaen County Borough Council. He also gave a warm welcome to the guest speakers.
Councillor Wellington referenced the conference as a ground breaking technique in looking at gender equality issues and invited the Council's most precious asset the staff to shine a torch on the organisational culture and examine if it was really signed up to growing the equalities agenda. The title of the conference encapsulated the many facets of equalities and Councillor Wellington also introduced his own strap line which was 'Do you care that its not Fair?' After quoting the organisation statistics in this area it was acknowledged that the Council had taken the first steps on the road to change.
The Gender Mapping exercise undertaken for the Council by Praxis Consultancy had been published earlier in the year and subsequently set the scene of the conference. Councillor Wellington referred to the need to open up the findings and think about what needed to be done to address some of the issues raised.
It was acknowledged that the Council needed to be determined and focused in its efforts but at the same time realistic about how difficult and challenging it would be to bring about radical change in culture.
The gender mapping exercise also highlighted positive aspects about working for Torfaen and Councillor Wellington urged the delegates to use the positive energy to make real progress towards building a fairer and more equal workplace.
Setting The Torfaen Context Within The National Picture
- Professor Teresa Rees CBE, Cardiff University.
Professor Rees began her session by reminding the audience that work life balance is not just a woman issue, it affects men too. She compared the situation in this country with other European countries and the move towards balancing work, families and other aspects of life such as community or leisure activities.
She then went on to describe a recent experience in Malta where senior public servants were identifying similar issues to those raised within the Gender Mapping exercise in Torfaen.
The business case for work life balance was described and it was highlighted that amongst other things employees were increasingly rejecting their parents 'workaholic' ways of working.
This meant employers needed to rethink patterns of work organisation whilst appreciating that one size does not fit all. Modern organisations will have good policies on childcare, flexibility, working from home, teleworking, sabbaticals, part-time hours, compressed hours and job sharing. In Professor Rees' view the emphasis should be on generating a climate of trusting people to do the job, rather than policing their presence at a desk. Productivity, not presenteeism.
Morning Group Session Formulating A Question For The Panel
All attendees then divided into prearranged work groups. Some of the workgroups were service specific but others were mixed. The aim of the first group session was to act as an ice breaker whilst getting the participants to begin focussing on the impact that current behaviours and working practices has on them. It was envisaged that by formulating a question for the panel, this would help to establish what the primary areas of concern or priority were for our employees.
The Business Case For Equality -
Chief Superintendent Joy Lott, Diversional Commander B Division
Chief Superintendent Joy Lott began by outlining her experience of the business case for Equality. She reminded the audience that there were not many jobs for life these days and that in order to quantify the benefit of keeping good staff there was a benefit in analysing how much it costs to lose a member of staff.
She touched upon the benefit of some of the softer skills women bring to the workplace and how this can complement mixed teams. Recalling her own experiences, Chief Superintendent Lott made reference to the value of networking and the need to make conscious efforts to do this.
Gwent Police has a Women's Officer Network Group. It has been in place for four years had has been very successful in giving women the opportunity to talk about issues within the workplace. It was recognised that women in senior positions have found this difficult.
Equal opportunities to access development and training opportunities were vital to organisational performance and to accommodate individual needs.
Ask The Panel
- Comprising Professor Teresa Rees, Ch. Supt. Joy Lott, Councillor Maurice Morgan, Councillor Yvonne Warren, Peter Durkin Acting Chief Executive, Alison Ward Assistant Chief Executive (Customer Focus & Relationships)
This session was question and answer where the questions were put from the earlier workgroups and the panel were unaware of their content until this time.
The questions were grouped into 8 key topic areas as follows:
(i) Many women in this workgroup had experienced sarcastic comments from mainly older women who had grown up children. For example, after coming in at 9.15am in the morning a comment like "good afternoon" might be made. What suggestions have the panel got to offer to change the culture and can they offer helpful suggestions on how the individual can cope with these comments.
(ii) How do women deal with the guilt?
Answer:
These questions were answered by many of the panel members and revolved around unacceptable behaviour. It was felt there was probably a training and development issue around specifying what is acceptable to the organisation and what is not acceptable. The audience were advised to challenge where they believed behaviour was not appropriate.
The experience of a single working parent on the panel reiterated the existence of these unacceptable comments/attitudes in other areas of employment.
In terms of dealing with the guilt, it was suggested that it should be turned back on others. Being confident in yourself with the full support of the organisation was advocated.
It was suggested there was a need to police presenteeism and celebrate productivity.
2. (i) Do you feel that you have had to make sacrifices to get where you are and have they been worth it? (Directed to Chief Superintendent Joy Lott)
Answer:
The initial response was that sacrifices were made as a result of choices. As a personal choice Chief Superintendent Lott felt that what she gained back from her job was worth any sacrifices made.
The Assistant Chief Executive (Customer Focus & Relationships) made reference to the 'breakthrough generation' who had made sacrifices in terms of relationships, children and home life. However it was acknowledged that sometimes you can't quantify what you've given up if you have never experienced an alternative.
3. (i) Are long hours a product of increasing workload and if so how will the Council educate managers (and elected Members) to manage their expectations?
Comment The Council should review the flexi hours system
(Directed to Peter Durkin & Elected Members)
Members have identified that there is a long hours culture and available all hours culture that stems from senior levels within the organisation. How would the panel encourage senior members & officers to set an example for change?
How would the panel suggest that we stop the long hours culture? If we reduce the long hours culture do we reduce productivity?
Answer:
It was acknowledged that there may be an element of increasing workload as a result of the long hours culture. However it was also felt there may have been a culture of habit which developed around the Local Government Reorganisation era and is still present in some areas.
The Acting Chief Executive gave his commitment to changing the culture with a view to major improvement in this area.
It was felt that managers needed to delegate and share issues more frequently and that training on time management was needed, as was a recognition that people had their limitations.
Smarter ways of working were promoted.
4. (i) How can employees balance individual employee requirements (eg. leave for childcare issues, Christmas holidays etc) with service delivery and the morale of remaining team members?
(ii) There is a trend in certain roles of dominant female workforce ie. catering, reception due to shift patterns governed by opening hours. What do you suggest that can be done to encourage equality of gender in these areas?
Answer:
The panel suggested that it would be beneficial to tie in staff requirements with providing access to Council services at non 9-5 hours. This way we could provide better service delivery whilst recognising staff needs.
It was stressed that everyone's time was important and that by consulting employees we could manage teams/individual needs within an overall framework. This could be by re-conceptualising time to fit with what our employees and customers want.
Equal pay for equal value was reiterated. A need to balance home, work and pay!
5. (i) How are we going to refine our flexible working time? How do we make our organisation more sensitive to the 'outside of work' needs of people?
(ii) Is it more difficult to arrange work time flexibility in a service oriented activity rather than a production activity? (given the example this morning about productivity being improved if work time was flexible)
Comment Must fit flexible working to the service & encourage and advertise that flexible working is available, e.g. provide flexible hours of working for the current car parking situation at Pontypool.
Answer:
Reference was made to the Police Service shift system and a scheme introduced in Merseyside where Officers chose their preferred shifts and the computer system analysed this to highlight any risk which arose from granting the requests.
It was acknowledged that the Council's system was dated and the recent experiential learning visit to Microsoft was mentioned. It was felt that Torfaen could adapt their systems to develop better working practices.
6. (i) What can the Authority do to improve careers prospects and choices to achieve diversity with departments when perceptions and expectations have already been decided? (Directed to Peter Durkin & Alison Ward)
(ii) How do you expect to meet goals of the organisation if there is insufficient training & flexibilities?
Answer:
Perceptions and expectations need to be changed. This is not something that is achieved overnight but events such as the Balancing Act Conference signal that change is in the air and need to be followed up by clear actions that confirm that the organisation values diversity and will help employees to accommodate domestic pressures where this can be achieved without reducing the quality of service delivered. No organisation can expect its goals to be met if it provides insufficient training and flexibilities for its employees. Training and flexibility are key to delivering high quality services. It is wrong to assume that flexibility for staff will mean a lower quality of service delivery. In fact we need more flexibility in order to tailor our service delivery to our customers modern lifestyles and increased expectations.
7. (i) This group looked primarily at issues of male attitudes to work, childcare and balance and the group was very impressed by the Finnish model referred to by Professor Rees. In the absence of UK legislation at this time what would you suggest can be done to address this as a quick win?
Answer:
Professor Rees made reference to a Gender Pay Review as a useful instrument to changing things in this area.
8. (i) Not all women have the drive to want to get to the very top, but how do you get a good wage, a reasonable standard of living and time to spend with the family and time for yourself?
Answer:
It was suggested that this was an issue of choice and expectations and that the gender issues should be stripped out of this. The cultural aspects of the organisation were again discussed and the value of diversity agreed upon. Getting to the top is not for everyone but not doing so does not indicate failure as long as you have become as good as you can be in your chosen role.
The session brought out some thought provoking issues and although the panel answered them well, given more time the issues could have been explored much further.
Afternoon Group Session - Commitment To Change
The session then broke into their original workgroups and were allocated a theme which came directly out of the Gender Mapping Exercise. They were given a list of real quotations in relation to this theme. The aim of this group session was to identify some clear action points which would result in changes to behaviours and/or working practices which directly impacted on the theme being discussed. The groups were asked to determine one action point for individuals, senior management and the Council as a service provider which would ensure change. These action points are recorded below.
THEME - The way we do things around here
Individual:
Individuals should speak out immediately and assertively.
Individuals being able to speak out and express opinions and ideas. Giving the option to individuals to take part in group discussion or on a one to one basis eg. monthly
Senior Managers:
Promote real communication through team building generally, equal opportunities, training for Members & Officers and building robust networks for advice.
Senior Managers to be receptive to ideas and problems that staff have. Look for ways in which to help and accommodate the individual needs.
Council:
A corporate commitment to equal opportunities by supporting management initiatives and a programme of equalities awareness training.
Further training/development eg. secondments within department & mentoring. Better communication with departments.
THEME - Open all hours
Individual:
Individuals to take personal responsibility for their own work practices and time management and to have the confidence to stand up for what they know to be reasonable in terms of own expectations.
Members are available to their constituents at all hours but must realise that it should not follow that this should transfer to staff so that they must be available all hours.
It is a personal responsibility delegate, maximise resources available, keep a diary of everything you actually do, ensure open communication with line manager.
Senior Mangers:
Managers to encourage staff to work reasonable hours. Managers not to give work that they know will result in excessive hours to be worked. Emphasis on work (quality & quantity) within normal working hours.
Senior Managers to delegate more & empower their staff to deal with a wide range of issues (including dealing with elected Members). They would then not have to work such long hours and this would help change the culture.
Workload analysis training which would allow managers to identify any cracks and look at different ways of doing the job.
Council:
Council to examine more flexible working arrangements changes to core hours.
Put the seminar recommendations on the Website as well as the questions relating to how the Council was going to address the issues. Use this as a framework to move forward and develop a strategy for work life balance.
Resources need to meet the commitment match the funding with the directives given.
THEME - Pulled in all directions?
Individual:1
Senior Managers:1
Council:1
1Unfortunately some of the feedback on these workgroups has been mislaid. We will endeavour to trace the information and update the report as soon as possible.
THEME - Live to work or work to live
Individual:
To continue their commitment to work/life balance all employees should be involved in any future developments.
Senior Managers:
Ensure support to staff at all times to ensure they remain fully motivated and do not take 'problems' home with them which impact on family life.
Council:
Ensure that when filling vacancies existing employees are given full consideration specifically where additional training and qualifications have been gained.
THEME - I didn't get where I am today by .
Individual:
Better time management seek training opportunities. Apply pressure where inequalities are present, be proactive.
To be honest and confident to ask your line managers for training & development needs.
Senior Managers:
Value skills rather than time. Quality rather than quantity
To ensure diversity of training that is available through all scales. To be approachable to help empower the individual. To recognise that training can also be time management or stress management.
Council:
Offer all posts as a job share.
To utilise training resources. Invest in training. Separate training budget. Make training flexible.
THEME - Jobs for the boys or women's work?
Individual:
Make efforts to meet with other women on similar grades/at similar levels to share problems and solutions; form networks within own occupational area.
Commitment to change, to training and raising own awareness, responsibility to challenge the status (and change attitudes).
Take up any opportunities that break down barriers.
Senior Managers:
Encourage women at middle management and below to aim higher by senior managers making themselves more accessible, by communicating in more simplified ways and consulting widely on issues (making particular efforts to reach people at the lower levels).
Ensure that people are appointed on merit and that appointment procedures are fair and equal. ADI's are fully adopted & followed through ensuring that the correct information is passed to employees and resources made available.
Council:
Initiate the gender pay audit/review as suggested by Teresa Rees.
Review & revise flexi system (wide consultation). Mentoring role models in schools and workplaces.
Encourage networking between Departments to ensure best practice.
Feedback session
Six facilitators fed back the action points under each theme.
The Welsh Local Government Context
- Anna Freeman, Head of Employment, WLGA
Anna Freeman began by acknowledging the work being undertaken by Torfaen to address issues of gender inequality. Undertaking research and holding the conference to identify current experiences and needs of women within the organisation was pro-active and a positive responsive to concerns about representation. This work is, and continues to be, actively supported by senior managers. It involves women from across the organisation, many of who were at the Conference to participate and help shape the future agenda for Torfaen to achieve gender equality.
The WLGA is committed to supporting Welsh local authorities in improving their practices and mainstreaming equality considerations in all areas across the sphere of its work and business.
As an honest assessment of Welsh local government's performance, the situation is not very good. The Audit Commission might say, 'poor performance - but with promising prospects for improvement' and Torfaen are now in a quite unique position to drive this work forward.
The statistics on the representation and position of women within Welsh local government show us that there is a long way to go before we achieve equality in terms of fair representation at all levels but the signs and outlook are positive. Some of the opportunities available and opening up across Wales that will support this work are:
The WLGA have established an Equalities Unit to support local authorities make improvements in their equality practices
Chwarae Teg currently has a work-life balance pilot project working with 3 Welsh local authorities. The learning from these pilots will be widely disseminated through local authorities in Wales
The Joint Council for Wales, which is a body made up of HR professionals, trade unions and elected members, has established a Task and Finish group on work-life balance.
A joint campaign, involving the Assembly, Equal Opportunities Commission and TUC and called 'Close the Pay Gap' highlighted the profile and importance of equal pay in a seminar for local authorities.
The Equality Standard for Local Government is currently being pursued by local authorities.
In Wales there are good examples of positive action measures developed by local authorities to address the imbalance contained in their workforce structures.
Another authority has just begun its fourth year of a specially designed Women's Development Programme.
The need for organisational change is often talked about but who can change how organisations operate if not those who work within it? Each of us has a responsibility to raise awareness of the inequality that still faces women in the workplace we each need to challenge discrimination, harassment and disadvantage when we see it. We need to support our colleagues and employees, encouraging and nurturing their aspirations, developing their skills to enable them to progress and by setting an example that work life balance can be achieved.
Plenary & Close
- Peter Durkin, Acting Chief Executive
The Acting Chief Executive drew the conference to a close by summarising the opening presentations and making reference to the question & answer session which brought out some real issues.
He felt the key theme from the day was that there was a need for action and felt that the Council was in a unique position to drive this agenda forward at this point in time. There had been an opportunity to debate the issues openly and it was recognised that there was no room for complacency.
The commitment was to remain involved, write up the conference report and keep everyone involved as we develop the strategies which are needed to resolve the key themes from the Conference.
Sandra Harris
HEAD OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S OFFICE
10 December 2003
Last Updated 16 February 2004