Company: Flintshire County Council – Environmental Services
No of employees: 80
Core area of business: Local Authority -Transport
The Business Challenge
Like all local authorities, Flintshire County Council is set strict performance targets. The Environmental Services Department realised that a skilled and motivated workforce was essential if these targets were to be met and exceeded.
At the same time the Council’s senior management team was looking at ways to raise the business profile, increase the level of service offered to its customers and to reduce absenteeism. The Council was seeking to use skills development to support the expansion of the business and also as an integral part of HR management including recruitment, staff appraisal, pay and grading.
The Solution
With the support of the Trade Unions the Council initiated a series of early morning “Tool Box” talks which aimed to raise drivers’ awareness of their role within the organisation and how the service they delivered affected the Council’s overall performance against targets. In turn the skills and professionalism of the drivers were recognised by the gaining of the NVQ in Driving Goods Vehicles. The fact that all the drivers were qualified to this national standard of competence and knowledge further enhanced the Council’s reputation as a service provider of proven quality.
The benefits of using the NVQ are such that the Council now has a policy of developing all its new LGV drivers to the standard required to gain the qualification. And investment in the training of its supervisors, using an NVQ in Supervisory Management from the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM), has
ensured that a culture of learning is sustained throughout the workforce.
The Results
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Low staff turnover – 0.5% for LGV Refuse Collection Vehicle drivers in 2006-07
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A massive 87% drop in sickness of LGV drivers in the Refuse and Recycling service - down from 8% to just 1%
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Insurance claims almost halved from 27% of the Fleet to a projected 15% (current figures are at 9.22%)
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The accident rate amongst learners is 50% lower than the Company average
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Employee morale has improved with staff more focused on their own development
