Flexibility Is Vital But So Are Staffing Levels !
The purpose of this circular is to provide an update from the second week of the Turret pilot. There are a few problems reported but overall it is generally positive feedback from both members who work on turrets and Senior Management. Some issues that did arise were regarding lunches, afternoons and flexibility.
Lunches – Part-time staff that would normally eat at their desk are unable to do so whilst on a 2 hour lunchtime turret slot. Suggestions made were to split the lunchtime slots, or alternatively have longer slots which last 3 – 3½ hours, as this would include a 20 minute screen break. We will update you with progress on the issue.
Afternoons – These slots are still proving most difficult to fill, particularly 4-5pm (which is not surprising), but on the whole these were being filled by those staff preferring to work late. Suggestions were made that if the pilot were rolled-out, to consider opening up the 4-5pm slots to staff outside the individual HEO commands. As this would increase the chance of them being filled by staff who would normally work until that time.
Flexibility – As we said in the last circular on the pilot; PCS and Senior Management are committed to making the pilot a success. In order to make turret working as trouble-free as possible we need to continue to work together; with both line management and staff being flexible. However this flexibility has to also recognise Work/ Life Balance and flexible Working Hours.
The next stage has to be the discussions about the staffing levels. These are vital because if there aren’t sufficient staff to answer the calls and progress the cases then there will always be pressures on members to try and do more than one job in a day.
For clarity we would like to reaffirm some points - ‘Availability’ means the period of time you are in the office. ‘Preference’ means the period of time you would prefer to work on turrets. Senior Management and PCS’s Joint Statement clarifies these points by confirming that ‘availability’ means “recognising the different working patterns of staff (some preferring to work early, others late and other patterns).” And furthermore that staff should “not feel coerced into working times which do not meet their stated availability.”
If anyone experiences any problems or has any concerns about the pilot, please contact Emma Haslehurst, Dean Rhodes, Grant McClure or Clark Nuttall; so that we can try and address any issues on Ext: 61186.
The purpose of this circular is to provide an update from the second week of the Turret pilot. There are a few problems reported but overall it is generally positive feedback from both members who work on turrets and Senior Management. Some issues that did arise were regarding lunches, afternoons and flexibility.
Lunches – Part-time staff that would normally eat at their desk are unable to do so whilst on a 2 hour lunchtime turret slot. Suggestions made were to split the lunchtime slots, or alternatively have longer slots which last 3 – 3½ hours, as this would include a 20 minute screen break. We will update you with progress on the issue.
Afternoons – These slots are still proving most difficult to fill, particularly 4-5pm (which is not surprising), but on the whole these were being filled by those staff preferring to work late. Suggestions were made that if the pilot were rolled-out, to consider opening up the 4-5pm slots to staff outside the individual HEO commands. As this would increase the chance of them being filled by staff who would normally work until that time.
Flexibility – As we said in the last circular on the pilot; PCS and Senior Management are committed to making the pilot a success. In order to make turret working as trouble-free as possible we need to continue to work together; with both line management and staff being flexible. However this flexibility has to also recognise Work/ Life Balance and flexible Working Hours.
The next stage has to be the discussions about the staffing levels. These are vital because if there aren’t sufficient staff to answer the calls and progress the cases then there will always be pressures on members to try and do more than one job in a day.
For clarity we would like to reaffirm some points - ‘Availability’ means the period of time you are in the office. ‘Preference’ means the period of time you would prefer to work on turrets. Senior Management and PCS’s Joint Statement clarifies these points by confirming that ‘availability’ means “recognising the different working patterns of staff (some preferring to work early, others late and other patterns).” And furthermore that staff should “not feel coerced into working times which do not meet their stated availability.”
If anyone experiences any problems or has any concerns about the pilot, please contact Emma Haslehurst, Dean Rhodes, Grant McClure or Clark Nuttall; so that we can try and address any issues on Ext: 61186.
