Workforce plan: looking for shared solutions

Thursday, February 22, 2007

The public sector relies on temporary, agency or interim workers – some of whom are more permanent than the permanent staff. The Office of Government Commerce and Regional Centres of Excellence are focusing on how to make the best of employment procurement. David Allaby looks at local government’s call to action

How much does the public sector know about its workforce? How heavily, for instance, does it rely on temporary staff or consultants? How many temporary or agency staff stay around longer than the average permanent worker? What does this reveal about the state of human resource management and planning in the sector?

The public sector is a major player in the market with more than 15 per cent of the entire national spend on temporary agency staff. The prospect of reducing that total in the natural scheme of things is not improved by an ageing demographic in the sector’s permanent ranks. Research into local government puts two-thirds of staff aged 40-plus and 31 per cent at 50-plus.

“We need proper workforce planning so that we are not using quick-fix temporary staff that turns into permanent not-so-quick fixes,” says the Office of Government Commerce’s (OGC) Christine Morton, category manager for local government temporary labour.

At some councils, agency staff provide around 25 per cent of the entire establishment. The term “temporary” starts to become meaningless or at least it suggests a significant drift from any original plan when agency workers remain in place for extended periods. Uncovering evidence of temporary agency staff who have been in the same job at a council for 13 years, therefore, tends to send alarm bells jangling. There are also instances of gazumping when bidding for staff in hard-to-fill positions.

“It indicates we have serious problems to address on the permanent side,” says Morton. “We need to know more about the permanent and temporary workforce so that we can look at issues such as equality and diversity. Some entitlements are not usually budgeted for by authorities when dealing with temporary workers.”

Local authorities are at risk from claims for employee benefits and under anti-discrimination laws if they treat temps in other respects as though they were permanent. “It becomes a procurement, human resource and legal issue,” Morton says, “and we need to address all three.”

One response to tackle this is an OGC toolkit offering national guidance to councils – Transforming the Procurement of Temporary, Agency and Interim Staff – drawn up by the London Borough of Havering with funding from the London Centre of Excellence (LCE).

This has been followed up in January with another LCE-funded toolkit for the procurement of consultancy and professional services. While it recommends a structural approach to reviewing and engaging consultants, it encourages councils to make better use of their own resources first. The aim is to raise standards of staff management and to increase the productivity of HR and procurement professionals. There are estimated savings of more than £100m a year to be made on the temporary staff bill in local government alone. OGC stepped in with its backing which has extended to guidance for central government staff procurement.

“We are aiming for best practice in policy and workforce planning issues,” says Morton. “And we are still in the process of gathering knowledge. Local government says it offers local jobs for local people, but if we don’t analyse staff procurement we may be missing out on this.

“How much do we know about the diversity of temporary workers? Why does it sometimes take months to recruit staff? What are the issues preventing local authorities from finding younger permanent employees? We are still asking the questions and from here we can further challenge current practice.”

The OGC is working with decision-makers, the nine Regional Centres of Excellence, the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA), and other regional bodies, on a workforce strategy for the regions. Crucially, this will include regional collaboration and shared best practice on staffing matters. “We have seen gazumping, where staff have moved from one authority to a neighbouring authority because agencies were setting higher pay rates where there was obvious demand and little information was shared between councils,” says Morton.

“The temporary staff process can spiral out of control when trying to fill hard-to-recruit positions. There’s a risk of paying over the odds and it can disincentivise permanent recruitment.”

For the London region, the centre at Havering is pulling together a data-sharing model, an electronic knowledge exchange that will include information on worker numbers and pay rates.“We are watching London’s progress with interest,” says Morton, “while other regions are starting to get to grips with the procurement toolkit.”

Chairman of the Chief Executives’ Task Force Rob Sykes describes the toolkit as a landmark and an illustration of how the Regional Centres of Excellence are bringing real value to the national efficiency agenda: “It should go on to inspire local authorities to deliver better professional standards and substantial efficiency gains.”

Further guidance can be obtained by contacting tempstaff@ogc.gsi.gov.uk or from www.lcpe.gov.uk