Scrutiny panel on staff retention interim report

Internal Affairs for

Adactus500 Scrutiny Panel

Staff Retention: Interim Report

12 August 2015

Shehnaz Akhtar Page 2

Internal Affairs for Adactus500 Scrutiny Panel

Scrutiny Review: Staff Retention

Interim Report

The Project

Key risk from the Risk Register: Inability to retain good staff.

The Risk Register reflects an assessment of key risks facing the organisation which could impact on

operational capacity, effective service delivery, and the ability to maintain or improve performance.

Background

The inability to retain staff is a business risk; staff turnover can have a negative impact on the

business, especially if those leaving are key to its success and continuity.

Staff retention is an effort to target valuable, contributing employees in remaining with the

company. Employee retention policies are aimed at addressing the various needs of employees to

enhance their job satisfaction and reduce the substantial costs involved in recruiting and training

new staff. The aim is to decrease employee turnover, thereby decreasing training costs,

recruitment costs, and loss of talent and organisational knowledge.

What we wanted to know

• Does the Group have in place a structured staff management programme?

• Is the Group effective in minimising the risk of the inability to retain good staff?

• What are the factors affecting staff turnover?

What we looked at

• The effectiveness of controls to retain good staff (reward and incentive schemes).

• How information gathered through exit interviews is put to use in recruiting, selecting and

retaining employees.

• The arrangements for recruiting/providing cover when an employee leaves.

What we found

The Group employs a human resources team to provide managers with support in employment

administration and advice, recruitment of new staff, employee issues, and staff training.

The Group has six controls in place in order to minimise staff turnover:

1. Staff Retention Scheme



a. Financial incentives

• The first aspect of retaining employees involves providing equitable payment and benefits.

The HR department plays a part in ensuring employee retention by ensuring pay is

commensurate with salaries available in other housing associations and organisations. The

start salary for a new employee will be based on their educational background, level of work

experience, and skills.

• The Group operates a system of annual salary increments. Increments are awarded on

performance, which is determined by the line manager and/or the performance matrix

score for some staff for example, DLO staff in Asset Management.

b. Financial rewards

• A one-off payment of £150 and an invitation to lunch with the Chief Executive is made to

employees who achieve twenty five years continuous employment with the Group. Two

employees received this reward in the last financial year. Twenty-seven employees have

worked for the Group for twenty five years or more.

c. Bonus structure

• The Group does not operate a specific scheme where employees can earn an annual bonus

if they meet pre-specified performance goals. However, a Christmas goodwill gesture

payment is paid to employees in December on achievement of Group Business Plan

objectives. The amount of payment is determined by the employee’s length of service and

contractual hours.

2. Terms and Conditions:

a. Work/Life Balance

These benefits are designed to help staff to maintain a healthy work/life balance:

o Flexi-time (flexible working hours) - allowing employees to work earlier in the day or

later in the day – one hundred and eighty-four staff work full time flexi hours.

o Compressed hours - allowing an employee to work their full number of hours in four

days - sixty employees work compressed hours (excluding Group Directors).

o Part time – helps employees to balance work and life priorities for example,

collecting children from school – sixty-eight employees work part time.

o Job Share - Having two qualified employees share the duties and tasks of one

position. No recorded job share.

o Homeworking - allowing an employee to work from their home location instead of

work premises.

b. Annual leave

• Employees (working a five day working week) are entitled to twenty-four days annual leave

per annum plus bank holidays, and three concessionary days for the Christmas period. After



two years employment employees are awarded one extra day’s leave up to a maximum of

five service days.

• Adactus operates a flexible holiday scheme whereby employees can buy or sell one week of

their holiday entitlement on an annual basis in March. Ninety-seven requests to buy and sell

annual leave were actioned in the last financial year.

c. Sickness leave

• Employees receive two weeks full pay during their probation period and thirteen weeks full

pay after they have completed their probationary period.

• If employees are absent from work for more than thirteen weeks due to sickness, they can

make a claim under the Permanent Health Insurance. If the claim is accepted, employees

can receive up to half pay for the reminder of the time they are absent.

• Employees without sickness leave in the last financial year are rewarded with an extra day’s

holiday in their entitlement for the following year. Two hundred and thirty employees (40%)

were awarded an extra day’s annual leave in April 2015.

d. Company Car

• Employees who are above a certain pay scale level qualify for a company car or cash

equivalent for example, directors and senior managers. As at July 2015 forty employees

were entitled to a company car, of those twenty one chose to have the cash equivalent and

nineteen opted for a company car.

e. Essential Car User Allowance

• Employees whose role requires them to use their own vehicle for business purposes for

example, to travel from one place of work to another, are entitled to an essential car user

allowance as per the rates set by Inland Revenue. As at July 2015 eighty-five employees

were entitled to this allowance.

f. Maternity/paternity leave

• Adactus pays both maternity and paternity leave. Thirteen employees had taken maternity

leave and thirteen had taken paternity leave in the last financial year. The total cost of

maternity leave was £137,958 and paternity leave was £14,795.

g. Pension/Life assurance

• Adactus operates a Defined Contribution pension scheme whereby employees can

contribute a minimum of three percent of their salary into a Pension Fund and Adactus will

also contribute three percent.

h. Career Break (Sabbatical)

• Employees have the opportunity to take a career break (without pay) after a minimum of

two years service. This can be for a minimum of three months to a maximum of twelve.



Two employees had taken a career break in the last financial year; one had three months

and the other twelve months.

i. Health and wellbeing:

• A free eye test is offered to all employees who use a computer, a hand held personal digital

assistance device (PDA), or drive a vehicle as part of their role. Fifteen employees claimed

the cost of an eye test in the last financial year totalling £289.45.

• Employees are also entitled to claim a contribution of up to £25 towards the purchase of

spectacles or contact lenses. Twenty-three employees claimed this contribution in the last

financial year totalling £575.00.

• Employees have access to a 24 hour helpline (Employee Assistance Program (EAP)) which

offers health, medical and legal advice as well as counselling. Twenty-nine employees used

this service in the last financial year.

• A free annual healthcare check facility is provided for employees. The assessment includes a

diabetes, cholesterol, and blood pressure check. At the end of the assessment employees

receive a report with medical information based on the results of the tests and guidance on

how to improve their health if necessary. Two hundred and ten employees received a health

check in the last financial year.

• Employees have access to ‘Best Doctors’ who can provide independent and objective advice

and recommendations. Best Doctors is a suite of services that enables them to draw on the

knowledge of medical experts to ensure the individual has the right diagnosis, treatment

and care. They can help:

o Confirm a diagnosis or treatment plan through a review of medical records.

o Get expert answers to questions about a medical condition.

o Get answers to basic medical questions from UK General Practitioners

• The Group provides free gym facilities at Turner House, Chorley, and the Miles Platting

offices to encourage the well being of employees.

• A Healthy Living Welfare Fund of £3,000 is set up for employees who can apply for a

contribution (up to a maximum of £100) towards regular and exercise based activities for

example, swimming.

• A ‘Simply Health’ cash plan provides employees with access to affordable private healthcare

and they can claim for dental, optician, and health treatment. Contributions to the scheme

are paid via salary.

j. Flexible benefits

• Childcare vouchers are a Government supported scheme designed to make childcare more

affordable for working parents. Adactus provides childcare vouchers through salary sacrifice

where employees can receive vouchers up to a maximum of £243 a month instead of part of

their salary. As at July 2015 thirty-eight members of staff were in receipt of childcare

vouchers.



• A cycle to work scheme is offered to all employees and works in the same way as childcare

vouchers. Employees can sacrifice an amount of their salary to pay for a bicycle over twelve

months. Six employees purchased a bicycle through this scheme in the last financial year.

• A free car parking facility is available at all offices however, at Turner House there are

limited spaces (some spaces are designated to employees based on their role) therefore

additional parking spaces are provided at Leigh Miners.

• Employees who use their own vehicle for business purposes and receive an Essential Car

User allowance are entitled to receive free RAC cover for their vehicle.

• The Group does not operate a salary sacrifice scheme for employees to get a car loan.

• The Group operates a discount scheme called ‘Adactus Pies’ (Perks in Employment) which

offers a wide variety of discounts and benefits ranging from cash back on holidays to weekly

shopping. Employees must register online to become a member of Adactus Pies in order to

take advantages of the benefits on offer. for example, a saving of 8.5% in store and online at

M&S, 15% at Evans Cycles, 10% on a reloadable card at Boots, and 5% on a reloadable card

at Morrison’s and Sainsbury’s. As at August 2015, members of Adactus Pies had saved an

annual average of £350 per member with over eight hundred live offers on the site.

• The Group does not operate a savings scheme for employees to set aside a sum of money

from their salary each month.

• Employees are permitted to take paid leave to complete charitable projects.

• Employees are allowed to take time off to attend jury service.

• Free refreshments are available at all offices.

• A Christmas party is held for all employees; this offers them the opportunity to interact with

colleagues from other departments.

• An annual ‘Away Day’ is held for employees where senior management provides an update

on business progress and employees are presented with awards nominated by fellow

employees. Four hundred and seventy-six employees attended the away day in 2014.

• In addition to the above, staff who are not office based have use of a company vehicle and

can opt to use the vehicle for personal use.

3. Training and Development

The Group offers a number of training initiatives as part of it's commitment towards developing

staff:

a. Training programme

• Role-specific skills are covered in induction for all new starters and ongoing training needs

are met through a range of in-house and external courses. The HR team produces a

quarterly training calendar listing the courses available for all employees such as:

o Word and Excel

o Health & Safety

o Equality & Diversity



o Management training for managers

• Employees are provided with necessary tools and equipment commensurate with their role.

b. Personal development

� All employees meet with their manager annually to discuss their personal development

plans for the forthcoming year and to identify any training needs. Managers support

employees in setting goals and personal objectives, and to provide growth opportunities

through development programmes.

� Adactus no longer has the Investors in People accreditation; instead, the Group supports

employees to achieve professional qualifications specific to their role which will benefit the

employee and the business. The following forms of training are considered:-

o Short courses and seminars

o Day release study

o Distance/Open learning

o College/University Courses

• Employees are entitled to paid time off to sit examinations related to the course of study for

which they have been granted day release and/or financial support.

• Six employees undertook studies for qualifications in the last financial year for example,

Inspection and Testing Certificate, BTEC Advanced Award in Neighbourhood Nuisance and

ASB, NEBOSH NCC, and National General Certificate in Health & Safety.

4. Staff Promotion

• When a position becomes vacant, an email is circulated to all employees informing them of

the vacancy and the opportunity to express an interest. Promotions are generally from

within the company unless a job requires skills that are not available internally. Whether

there is time for an internal candidate to get up-to-speed on the skills needed also plays a

role in whether an internal candidate is considered for a promotion.

5. Recruitment

• The recruitment process takes on average six weeks from receipt of notice from the leaving

employee to an offer of employment however, this varies depending on the role.

• The advertising of job vacancies depends on the role; they are usually advertised on-line, at

the job centre, on Adactus’ website, and in a variety of publications.

• There is no standard format for offering internal only opportunities, the decision to

advertise a job internal only, external only, or both rests with the departmental head based

on the department’s requirements and the job market at the time.

• The cover arrangement for an employee who leaves the Group depends on the role; the

duties may be distributed among existing staff for them to cover, or the department may

use agency staff.

6. Exit Interviews



• Exit interviews are interviews conducted with departing employees, just before they leave.

The aim of the exit interview is to learn reasons for the person's departure, on the basis that

criticism is a helpful driver for organisational improvement. The exit interview is carried out

by the HR department. Any material issues that arise from the interview are discussed with

the leaver’s line manager or the departmental Director so they can be addressed.

What we liked:

• Flexible working hours that help employees to maintain work/life balance.

• Terms and conditions of employment; opportunity for staff to sell/buy annual leave and

take a career break.

• Provision of a range of health and wellbeing facilities including; free eye test, 24 hour

helpline, annual health check, and free gym facilities.

• Good range of flexible benefits including; free car park, car user allowance, childcare

voucher scheme, cycle to work scheme, free refreshments, Christmas party, and away day.

• Provision of inhouse training and development programmes to improve job skills.

• Support with distance learning and professional qualifications.

• Staff promotions are from within the company whenever possible.

• Exit interviews carried out with a departing employee just before they leave.

What concerned us?

• There is no standard format for offering internal only opportunities.

What else could we look at?

• Review staff turnover by department

• Review of a sample of exit surveys completed over the last twelve months

• Review incidents of sickness per department

• Analyse results of employee satisfaction survey

• Review the impact of staff turnover on customer satisfaction

• Review the results of the Adactus500 survey.

Documents

Scrutiny panel on staff retention interim report