Hello team,
We hope that September has been good to you! Here are a few things for you to know and highlight to those you manage...
Policy Updates
Over the past couple of months we have pulled together a policy review schedule to enable us to update our policies on a regular basis., once we update a policy we will let you know in Staff Matters. If there are some big changes which we need you to chat to your teams about we will communicate those in a different way (as you have seen recently with the Managing Absence Policy). With all that in mind, here are some links to policies which have been recently updated. Please do take some time to read through them and discuss them with members of your team as appropriate:
- Whistleblowing policy
- Annual Leave policy
- Managing Absence policy (as this has had a big overhaul we have given it it's own section below)
Managing Absence Policy
In the past couple of weeks you may have attended a training session regarding the new Managing Absence Policy. If you haven't managed to, please do catch up on the session here.
We now ask that you share the changes to this policy in your team meetings and in one to one conversations. We would ask that you highlight the removal of the Bradford Factor, ensure that you check people are aware of how to report a sickness, let them know that there are changes to the return to work process and tell them about the introduction of prompt points.
As you will have seen, the absence policy has now been shared with the whole staff team along with a video unpicking the main elements. You can view that here.
If you have any further questions on any of this, please do reach out to the People and Culture team.
One to One updates for CRCs and ESCs
As we worked through the changes to the roles that are now known as Church Relationships Coordinators (CRCs) and Engagement and Support Coordinators (ESCs) you will have been using an interim one to one form with your team members. We are pleased to say that now we are a few months into the changes, new forms have been developed to be able to aid you to ask the appropriate questions of people in those roles. You can view the forms here: CRCs and ESCs.
Leadership Development Programme and Line Manager Training.
We have received over 20 applications for the Leadership Development Programme this year and we are currently in the process of shortlisting those that will be able to take up one of the 12 places on the course. It was really encouraging to see so many people want to be involved in this programme and wanting to develop. Those who have been given a place on the course should hear back this week.
Some of the people who applied are already line managers and this has helped us to rethink what we do in terms of line manager training. Starting from October we will be re-launching our line manager training which will run for six sessions initially. The idea is that we will provide a piece of content (whether that be a video, podcast, piece of reading) to all line managers every other month and a week or so after that is released a member of SLT will host a learning lunch type session where line managers can join to discuss that particular content and what things we can adapt in our roles as line managers. These sessions will be open for any line managers to join and we would particularly encourage new line managers to join them. There will also be the option of mentoring sessions available for new line managers. More information to follow, watch this space!
Home working and DSE
We want to say a big thank you to you all for completing DSE assessments when new starters have joined your team and renewing these annually.
DSE assessments need to continue to be renewed annually so there are a few things to mention:
- When uploading a DSE assessment document to someone's profile, please set the expiry date for 12 months from the date of the meeting. This will then highlight to you when the DSE assessment needs renewing.
- If your team member is contracted to work from home, the People and Culture team will complete the initial DSE assessment as part of their welcome call and home risk assessment. After that, it will be your responsibility to complete this DSE assessment with your team member annually and this can be done over Slack.
Home working is a large part of how we work across the organisation. To help us all think through how we can work best at home we have created some guidance and a working from home checklist. These resources are designed to support all staff in working comfortably and productively from home. We encourage you and your team to revisit the guidance and checklist regularly throughout the year, and to take time to check in with those you line manage to ensure they feel supported when working from home.
Thanks so much for reading this, please do be sure to have a read through the edition which will go out to all staff in a few days time.