LEGAL MATTERS - MOTIVATION

Motivating your council employees
After more than 30 years of working in the sector, it continues to amaze me the failure by some councils to consider the methods of motivating their employees that are available to the council.
Poorly led and low-functioning councils focus more on the stick approach and avoid the carrot. This often leads to bullying allegations and a discordant dissolution of the employment relationship.
However, if managed properly, this leads to greater productivity and all-round better outcomes for the local taxpayer.
Increasingly as a result, Council HR & Governance Support (CHRGS) is involved in providing support services to negotiate and put in place settlement agreements. This is not an ideal solution for either party, it results in cost for the council and often significant reputational damage, making it difficult to recruit a competent replacement.
Increasingly experienced clerks are staying put once they have good relationships and are valued by councillors. So, what can councils do to ensure they attract the best candidates and retain them?

Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation
Motivation takes two forms: intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation.
Extrinsic motivation is what gets candidates to apply for a position in the first place – this includes factors such as salary, pension, status, work conditions and, once in-situ, relationships.
Local Government Pensions (LGPS) are valued by local government employees and those wanting to move into the sector. Some councils attempt to save money by removing or not offering these. This is often a false economy as it can result in the appointment of a less able candidate who may not manage council affairs so well, costing the council more money in the long run and often resulting in a high turnover of clerks as poor appointments are made. As a regular recruiter in the sector, we often note that candidates pull out when they realise a council is not offering a LGPS.
The status of a post can be motivating to encourage applicants. This can be as simple as the job title, or it can be more to do with the position the job holder has within a community. The work conditions are also important, a cramped unwelcoming office can put someone off working for you. Making the working environment as comfortable as possible is important. This can include appealing decor, natural light, good IT provision and even plants in the office, or allowing employees to bring their pet dog to work.
These extrinsic factors are what encourages an employee to work for the council but these alone will not keep them coming to work for you with a motivated attitude. The council must ensure there are intrinsic motivators available for this to happen. If only extrinsic motivators are in place, employees will come to work, do the basics, not really engage and probably have a high sickness record as well as low productivity.
Intrinsic motivation is much more of an internal emotion and is what keeps your employees working for you in a productive and effective way. Examples of intrinsic motivation include recognition within the workplace, job satisfaction, gaining promotion, personal development, empowerment, and personal achievement.
Recognition can be as simple as a councillor saying “well done”, it could equally be awarding an increment rise, a bonus, or extra holiday.
Job satisfaction is achieved when an employee delivers something that may be as simple as completing the monthly accounts on time or it could be overseeing a £4 million theatre refurbishment. Being promoted in recognition of high level of work performance is an obvious motivation.
Personal development of individuals is something to be encouraged through the council’s performance management systems to ensure that employees are supported to develop to better deliver the objectives of the council. This not only motivates the employee but also directly leads to an improvement in council performance.
The training can take the form of on-the-job training, an online training session, attendance at conference or even to pay for the employee to undertake a relevant degree.
Empowerment is often limited within the sector, usually for the wrong reasons. Giving autonomy to employees to deliver in accordance with the objectives of the council is extremely motivating and will lead to positive results for the council. This applies to all levels within the organisation but in particular to the clerk. Delegation should be treated as a performance improvement and motivational tool whenever possible.
This leads on to personal achievement, which gives great job satisfaction to employees and releases endorphins on a large scale. Achievements by the council should be celebrated.
These intrinsic motivators are what causes an employee to want to come to work as they enjoy it; when they are not present the council will have an issue.

Demotivation and a downward spiral
This is quite simple, which is why we are seeing this increasingly in the sector. Removing the intrinsic motivational elements of the role will demotivate the employee.
Typically, this includes councils that micromanage their employees and get too involved in operations, not allowing the skilled professionals they have employed to get on and do what they are good at. This lack of empowerment and lack of trust to get on and deliver the council’s objectives is not only demotivating but it does mean that skilled employees paid a commensurate salary are not able to live up to their abilities and the salary levels the council pay them.
The reasons for this are multi-faceted but include lack of trust in an employee’s ability, desire for some councillors to undertake operations themselves, political egos, and a lack of understanding of the roles of officers and those of councillors. Training of councillors is an essential tool in this area.
If employees are not empowered and entrusted to get on with the council’s work, they will not get much personal achievement.
Another common demotivator is to publicly admonish employees in council meetings when a mistake is made, in some cases, even when there is no fault. Conversely rarely publicly praising employees for their performance at work.
Any criticism of employees should not be undertaken in public, this should take place behind closed doors and should be dealt with in a collaborative and restorative way. The council has a duty of care towards its employees and opens itself up to successful constructive dismissal claims if it does not maintain this duty.
Publicly criticising employees in council meetings is often perceived as bullying and there should be policies in place to deal with performance issues in a professional manner, such as a bespoke performance management system.
Promotion is also an intrinsic motivator. The employee the councillors come into contact the most, the clerk, is the head of paid service, so cannot be promoted as they are already at the top of the tree. Similarly, in a small organisation, like a local council, there is little opportunity for any employee to be promoted. This is therefore a motivational tool that can be rarely used, making the others even more important.
Some tweaks can be made, such as increases in salary as responsibilities increase or a change in job title to something more prestigious.

The errant minority councillors
Increasingly councils have a minority of councillors who make life difficult for employees, particularly the clerk. The council as a corporate body should ensure this behaviour is challenged by the remaining councillors and that systems are put in place to protect employees, in exercise of the council’s duty of care to its employees.

Performance management via employee support systems
One fundamental way to motivate employees is to ensure that the council puts in place systems to motivate all employees.
One simple system is to adopt and follow a performance management system. This should have the primary objective of motivating staff; ensure they are equipped to carry out their tasks and to support them in delivering council objectives.
The system should include regular one-to-one meetings between managers and the members of their teams, a positive experience looking at performance against objectives. Of course, where an employee is falling short, they can look at areas where there are shortcomings, to address these either via training, support or on-the-job training, for example.
Any agreed objectives from the meeting should be recorded and shared, ideally via email so they are date stamped. Alongside these there should be an annual appraisal and a six-month review. This prevents the annual appraisal becoming a quasi-disciplinary meeting.
These appraisals will have as outcomes a set of SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time constrained) objectives that are aligned to the council’s strategic plan/objectives. It will also have as an outcome any training needs, there should be some for every employee, simply to fulfil their Continuous Professional Development at the very least.
For the clerk, the one-to-ones should be with two councillors, often the chair of the HR committee and the mayor/council chair or vice chair of the HR committee. These councillors should be trained in how to conduct one-to-ones (CHRGS provide such training online).

Conclusion
Arguably the most important asset at a local council is its employees. The council should therefore ensure that it puts in place measures to support and motivate its employees.
Part of this process is for at least the key councillors to undertake HR training and to put in place a supportive performance management system. The work environment should be as welcoming as possible, and relationships should be professional, courteous, and supportive between all parties within the council.

Council HR and Governance Support (CHRGS) is a leading consultancy within the local council sector, providing HR support, organisational reviews, job evaluations, recruitment, investigations and strategic planning, as well as supporting most projects undertaken by local councils.
Tel: 07805 472859.
www.chrgs.co.uk

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Written by James Corrigan, Director of Council HR and Governance Support
As appeared in Clerks & Councils Direct, November 2024
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