Councillors have approved a new pay and benefits package for officers despite concerns it could lead to “unconscious bias”.
The measures will see the introduction of a £1,000 performance bonus for the top 5% of staff at Lichfield District Council.
The proposals will also see the addition of private healthcare insurance for workers along with a referral bonus for those who help recruit new colleagues.
A meeting of the local authority was told that the cost of the new package was not expected to exceed £100,000.
Cllr Rob Strachan, cabinet member for finance, said the move was necessary in order to ensure the council remained an exciting proposition for existing and new staff.
“There was a time the public sector was an attractive and well remunerated place to work, but waves of regulation and pay policy shifting have eroded that.
“In turn that erosion of the way of life in the public sector means we are losing talented staff to the private sector.
“Public sector pay policy and equal pay means that wide ranging pay increases are very challenging to deliver and risk significantly backfiring – I was even cautious about this, but those fears have been allayed by checks and balances.
“The point of needing to retain staff is every bit as important as attracting staff.
“I have an aspiration to make Lichfield District Council a truly exceptional place to work. This proposal is a sector leading proposal. It is designed to retain staff, designed to attract staff and fill vacancies so aspiring young planners, for example, will want to work at a council where they are treated appropriately and fairly.
“This is more than just improving terms of employment – it’s about improving how the council treats staff, attracts staff and retains their staff.”
Cllr Rob Strachan
Liberal Democrat representative Cllr Miles Trent told the meeting that while looking after staff was important, checks needed to be in place to ensure the move did not have unintended consequences.
“On performance related bonuses, I think there’s a lot that is good about this and I have witnessed in my professional life difficulties finding and retaining talented staff in public sector roles.
“Bonuses can play their part in attracting and retaining talent, but there is a risk it may alienate good officers, so we should proceed with caution.”
Cllr Miles Trent
“Cultural fit”
Labour’s Cllr Claire Booker said she also had concerns over some aspects of the new pay proposals, including references to seeking a “cultural fit” for the organisation.
“We support the idea of bringing us head and shoulders above other councils, but the language used is a concern as well – this is not the private sector, it is the public sector.
“It [a performance bonus] can be very divisive if it is for just a set proportion. If just 5% of the workforce get it, then the the one person just below that quota doesn’t become very motivated.
“The language of ‘cultural fit’ also carries a risk of bringing in unconscious bias.
“When we see a good cultural fit it means that’s the sort of people we naturally gravitate to and we can end up unconsciously not having a diverse workforce.”
Cllr Claire Booker
Conservative member Cllr Thomas Marshall said councillors were overthinking concerns over the language used.
“I’m concerned at interpretation is being taken too literally. The term ‘cultural fit’ is nothing more than us looking at people of a similar ethos; like-minded people.
“The culture is talking about people having the same frame of mind in terms of promoting this council and doing the best job they can. Our culture is one of hard work and dedication.”
But Cllr Marshall’s comments drew criticism from Labour group leader Cllr Sue Woodward.
She said:
“The very fact he doesn’t see cultural fit can have many different interpretations does show evidence of unconscious bias.”
Cllr Sue Woodward
Cllr Woodward’s deputy, Cllr Dave Robertson added:
“It is absolutely vital we tackle scourge of unconscious bias – it is fundamental to making sure everyone working at Lichfield District Council is valued on the merit of their deeds not who they are.
“I’d advise Cllr Marshall to read literally anything that’s ever been written about unconscious bias.”
Cllr Dave Robertson
The proposal was approved despite the Labour group abstaining from the vote on the new pay policy statement.
So a grand for 1 in 20 workers, awarded through the subjective opinion of their manager. Can’t see how that will go wrong.
That’s sucks!!! give our council tax to provide private health care and bonuses for doing their jobs ? How about taking money off for not doing what they are paid for ? Many of us are struggling to cope with prices and the council are splashing out money on luxury’s !!!
It’s disappointing that our council taxes are to be used to pay for private health care for council workers. Private health companies are not charities they operate, primarily, to generate profits for investors. They make profits by leaching on the NHS, using NHS trained staff and gaining over generous contracts from Government to help bail out the underfunded NHS. Most notoriously, they will not touch the most difficult to treat conditions and rely on the NHS to pick up the pieces in medical emergency situations.
I would have hoped at least some councillors would have challenged this element of the pay deal that represents the creeping development of the Government’s unspoken policy of promoting a ‘them and us’ two-tier health service.
Some of the narrative around this is deeply concerning, Cllr R. Strachan suggests a bonus is a way to “This is more than just improving terms of employment – it’s about improving how the council treats staff, attracts staff and retains their staff.”
Financial reward to the individual has nothing to do with achieving the improvements he so wants to see, that a function of staff management, objective setting, measurement and improvement plans. All delivered in a work environment that staff feel valued and what to achieve. To achieve that your need a leadership and management culture that provides that.
This proposal unmasks the true challenges LDC staff face in their work environment and probably in part explains that quality of the decisions they collectively make.
Money is not answer to staff motivation and performance.
This is so bad it is unthinkable. I know many administration workers who do not have contracts anything like this. Down the road it will come back to bite the council.
Where the council is concerned I would ask the Labour contingent what they are doing there? You were not elected to abstain on issues. If you do not agree with proposals you vote against them. It is a cheap cop out to sit on your hands and do nothing. If you haven’t got conviction then resign. We have waited long enough for challenge to a failing council. Show up or shove off!
If workers want private healthcare insurance, they can pay for it themselves. This should NOT be part of any package for public sector workers. How telling that the Council is happy to spend taxpayers’ money on opting out of NHS services for their own staff while at the same time failing to ensure there is adequate provision for the rest of us as they approve new housing developments across the district! Anyone would think they were part of some government plan to deliberately run down our National Health Service…
Genius. Pee off 95% of your workforce and still expect them to be motivated. A great way of retaining staff. What does “top 5%” mean? Is it those in the top jobs or will all staff be eligible for this bonus? And is this package, including private health insurance, just for “officers” or are all staff (including, e.g., cleaners and refuse collectors) considered “officers”? Why did labour abstain?
Having been part of the decision-making process many times for introducing private health in the private sector, the key benefit for the organisation is to reduce absenteeism by getting staff back to work quickly when they are ill, hence saving money on temps to fill their roles. Were any statistics on staff absence considered as part of the discussion? Were any KPIs set on the measurable impact of giving people private healthcare? Was the impact of the tax burden from the taxable benefit and the impact on take home pay considered, especially during a cost of living crisis? What happens is staff ‘opt out’? If this is just a scheme to attract and retain staff it feels like LDC is missing the point.
Lucky LDC staff!! I work in a local GP surgery. I am expected to give 100% while taking abuse from patients because they cannot get an appointment. Myself and my colleagues are paid minimum wage and no bonuses or private healthcare. I am obviously in the wrong job. You couldn’t make it up could you. Well done LDC for wasting our council tax
I always find it entertaining when people who don’t have certain perks, object to others having them. Are offended, even. This isn’t a race to the bottom/my job is awful – so yours should be too.
I think it is marvellous that ldc has so much of our money that they can give it away Willy nilly. No word of giving a rebate to the hard pressed wage payers. We pay their wages if they have too much give it back to the ones who shelled out in the first place.
We don’t need all of the council staff to be “like minded” people who fit in with everyone else’s ethos. We need staff who can, are prepared and are encouraged to think outside the box. We need staff who are prepared to challenge the ideas of councillors in a professional manner and who are respected for doing so. That is what will make the council “an exciting proposition” to work in. The performance bonus for the so called top 5% of staff could not be more divisive, de-motivating, unequal, bad management, incompetent or crass if our naive/ incompetent/crass councillors tried. The mind boggles, just when you thought the management of the council couldn’t get any worse our trusty political leadership manages to proudly sink us lower into the slough of despond that is their hallmark.