Chief Executive Blog - October 2015
Colleagues
I want to begin by saying what a pleasure it was, once again, to meet so many members of staff at the latest employee conference at Elgin Town Hall yesterday and to have the opportunity to discuss some of the issues that are of interest and concern to all of us within the council.
One area we were able to touch on were the early results from the employee survey which was carried out in June. Although the detail of the results is still being analysed, we already have sufficient feedback to show where staff believe we have shown improvement since the last survey and where work still needs to be done.
There are a number of key areas where improvements have been made and I find that very encouraging. Satisfaction with leadership and direction and with communication within the council, as well as improvement in training and development opportunities, have all shown a significant increase. On the other hand, I regret to say there has also been a rise in the number of employees who feel they have been subject to unacceptable behaviour or bullying.
A full report on the survey findings will be prepared for the policy and resources committee with a recommendation for an action plan to deal with the issues emerging from the survey.
I hope that you will all have seen the open letter published in the latest issue of Connect from the council’s workforce culture working group, which includes representation from the trade unions, and I can assure you that they, along with the corporate management team and elected members, are fully committed to its mission statement.
In addition to meeting staff from across the council at the conference, I also had the pleasure of meeting head teachers from our primary and secondary schools at Elgin High School and thanking them for the sterling work that they continue to do in helping to provide a high quality of education for our children and young people.
The past few weeks have also seen me attend a reception by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Board on the eve of its meeting at Moray College – the first time it has met in Elgin. I know that the board was delighted by the welcome it received and by the cross-section of local public bodies and organisations which were represented at the event.
I was also pleased to be able to attend some of the events during the Moray Book Festival which seems to go from strength to strength as evidenced by the presence of speakers of the calibre of Kirsty Wark. It was particularly gratifying to learn that some 1500 youngsters were involved in the festival over just a few days.
It has also been gratifying to see Moray companies doing so well of late at various business awards ceremonies. Also on the business front, I had the pleasure of a telephone chat the other day with Gavin Thomson, the Scottish senior vice-president of hi-tech company Atos who have a base at the Enterprise Park in Forres from where they create and provide software to a global market. I find these informal discussions invaluable in helping to give me an insight into the vast array of different work skills and the diversity of business that we have here in Moray.
Looking ahead, Moray is hosting the Convention of the Highlands and Islands at the Alexander Graham Bell Centre at Moray College on Monday which will be chaired by the Deputy First Minister, John Swinney, and I am looking forward to meeting senior figures from our neighbouring local authorities to the west and north to discuss issues of mutual interest.
Later next week Moray will welcome the Princess Royal when she attends the annual Moray College graduation ceremony, while on a personal notice I will be at Elgin Town Hall for the visit of Scottish Opera.
Finally, I am delighted to say that my stint as white van man is well and truly over after a series of shuttle runs to Aberdeen ferrying my student son’s kit to his flat in the city. Like any parent, there are mixed emotions now that he has flown the nest but at least it has confirmed that I was never cut out for the removals business.