Operational & Staff Excellence

Operational & Staff Excellence

A partnership approach between Elected Members and Staff is a vital element in the delivery of the Corporate Plan. Effective Councillors provide clear political leadership to local communities and work in consultation with a wide variety of groups – the public at large, CDB, the business community and representatives of residents, sporting and cultural organizations.  Waterford County Council is committed to developing a highly committed and flexible workforce to co-ordinate with the elected members in delivery of the Corporate Plan.

Waterford County Council is currently finalising a HR Strategy which will assist with delivery of a quality public service and ensure transparency and value for money.  The aim is to develop a highly committed and flexible workforce able to adapt to the changing work environment. It is important that employees reach their full potential in a safe, open and positive working environment. The Council seeks to create a learning organisation with a focus on the quality of life of staff and elected members.

Waterford County Local Authorities are committed to achieving operational excellence.  The political system, financial resources, people, technologies and processes will be organised to maximize performance and efficiency.

This Corporate Plan establishes the clear business objectives of the Council. These objectives will be communicated to all elected members and employees to ensure effective achievement of results. Ongoing assessment of performance will be part of the quality management system.

Strategic Goal 1 - To provide clear political leadership to local communities

Objectives

• Foster a spirit of Partnership between staff and elected members;
  
  
• Consolidate and strengthen the local political institutions - County Council, Town Councils, Corporate Policy Group, Strategic Policy Committees, Area Committees and County Development Board through training and other supports;
  
  
• Provide supports to enable the County’s four Electoral Area Committees to deal effectively and efficiently with local operational issues and represent the views of local citizens and communities, thereby enabling the SPCs and the full Council to focus on strategic leadership and policy development issues.

Strategic Goal 2 - Develop and implement a comprehensive Human Resource Strategy for Waterford County Council

Objectives

• Encourage good employee relations and foster a culture of communication and consultation throughout the organisation;
  
  
• Continue to promote a Partnership approach between management, staff and Trade Unions;
  
  
• Create an organisational workforce planning system;
  
  
• Continue to implement the Performance Management & Development System throughout the organisation;
  
  
• Carry out annual training needs assessments and develop appropriate training programmes for staff to enable them develop and improve performance and efficiency.

Strategic Goal 3 - Implement an integrated IT system for HR and Payroll processes (CORE HR)

Objectives

• Streamline the payroll system and improve efficiency in all HR processes;
  
  
• Provide timely and high quality management information for the HR department and line managers throughout the organisation.
   

Strategic Goal 4 - Achieve operational excellence in all activities of Waterford County Council

Objectives

• Use Business Process Re-engineering to improve efficiency throughout the organisation;
  
  
• Apply benchmarking techniques to learn from best practice in other organisations
  
  
• Develop project management skills within the workforce;
  
  
• Develop a culture of innovation and continuous improvement;
  
  
• Ensure that EMAS (Eco-Management and Auditing Scheme) is introduced in all relevant departments;
  
  
• Ensure that quality service provision is monitored by a quality team, focussing on a detailed examination of measurement systems in place (including Service Indicators) and the preparation of procedures for improvement;
  
  
• Provide mentoring and/or coaching to all interested staff;

Strategic Goal 5 - Provide citizens and customers with the highest quality service in an economic, efficient, effective and equitable manner

Objectives

• Ensure delivery on the ‘12 Principles of Quality Customer Service for Customers and Clients of the Public Service’ which will include:
  
  
• Delivery of quality services with courtesy, sensitivity and minimum delay;
  
  
• Provision of clean, accessible public offices that ensure privacy and facilitate access for disabled people and others with specific access / support needs;
  
  
• Optimum use of existing and emerging information and communications technology;
  
  
• Ensuring the maximum number of customers possible are dealt with at the first point of contact;
  
  
• Provision of choice, when feasible, in service delivery including payment methods, location of contact points, opening hours and delivery times;
  
  
• Availability of information in alternative formats such as Braille, MP3, Large Print, Video Clips etc. to facilitate accessibility for customers with disabilities.

Strategic Goal 6 - Ensure the Health and Safety of employees and any persons who may be affected by the operations of the Council

Objectives

• Provide high standards of Health, Safety and Welfare for all employees;
  
  
• Prepare and implement a Health and Safety Management System;
  
  
• Ensure that relevant Health and Safety objectives and training needs are included in all employees’ PDPs.