Robs Weekly Round Up

22 March 2024

Dear colleagues,

This has been another week where I have been lucky to see first hand the work we are doing to make our organisation and the services it provides more inclusive.

At Tuesday’s SLT meeting we were joined by Emma Ford, our Early Years Pathfinder Project Manager, and Rachel Protheroe, our Registration Services Manager, who presented the findings and feedback from our International Women’s Day event earlier this month.

Emma and Rachel were excellent and gave a real insight into the experiences of our colleagues. They also presented a number of proposals for action that could be taken to improve inclusivity. I am very pleased to be able to launch today the first of these: a new reverse mentoring scheme for the Council.

Reverse mentoring, sometimes referred to as upward mentoring, is designed to enable more junior members of staff to meet those at higher levels of an organisation’s structure and share with them the benefit of their experience. Flipping the traditional workplace dynamic has lots of advantages. In our case we hope it will help more managers understand the experiences and challenges faced by younger team members and women and help them work more effectively to create a more inclusive workplace.

I also hope it will show our mentors how much other senior leaders in this Council and I value the views and experiences of our colleagues. We all learn and improve every day and I am very eager to be part of this scheme. Diolch yn fawr to everyone who helped develop the proposal following our IWD 2024 event and to Emma and Rachel for presenting it in such an engaging way this week.  

The reverse mentoring programme will be open to all colleagues - female and male. If you would like to play a role as one of our mentors, then please contact exofintrmo@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk and our HR team will let you know the next steps. I look forward to updating you all on other outcomes from IWD 2024 in future messages.

We have a number of colleagues in our Council whose roles are to advocate for those groups who may otherwise be under-represented or overlooked. One of those is Abi Warburton who works to support veterans and their families in the Vale. Abi has had another success this week, helping the Race Council Cymru access vital funding to support ethnic minority Veterans and their families.

This project is an excellent example of partnership working and of us as a Council using our expertise to support community groups and the third sector in delivering their services – a way of working that will be increasingly important in the coming years.

Abi made contact with the group after our event for Windrush Elders at the Civic Offices last year. After hearing more about what they were trying to achieve Abi identified a source of grant funding, helped the group make their application, and lent all of her expertise to involve the right partners at the right time.

The outcome is a new service for the Vale of Glamorgan and Cardiff, a vital support network, and an annual celebration event for these veterans contribution.

By coincidence this success came in the same week as the news thatt he Council has been successful in its application for the Pride in Veterans Standard (PiVS) for its work to support LGBT+ Veterans, serving personnel and their families. Gwaith da on both fronts Abi!

Individuals’ characteristics should never be viewed as the determinate of what they can and cannot do and it is in the same spirit as this work that our Council supported Age Without Limits Day this week.  

The campaign aims to spark conversations about what ageism is and to change the way we all think about ageing. As part of our Ageing Well Campaign, our Policy and Communications teams are putting together a video to showcase the ways in which Vale residents challenge stereotypes when it comes to growing older. Staff are very welcome to participate in this too so if you or someone you know has an interesting way in which you "age well" then get in touch with the teams and help them share this with others.

Our Vale Telecare team do excellent work to support older people in the Vale and help them maintain their independence. The team provide 24 hour support via Contact One Vale and the impact of their emergency alarm system in supporting their customers well-being was recognised this week at an international awards ceremony.

Vale Telecare and TEC Cymru were jointly nominated in the Up-and-Coming TEC Innovation category at the International Technology Enabled Care Conference 2024. They were nominated for their work in developing a data-driven dashboard which simplifies data processing and provides real-time oversight of the technology on which the service depends.

While the team weren’t the winners on the night their nomination alone shows the regard in which the work is held and is yet another example of great digital innovation here in the Vale. I’d like to congratulate the whole Telecare team on their success.

One of our biggest digital projects to date was last year’s launch on Oracle Fusion. As part of the ongoing integration of the new platform with our back-office services we need all staff to review and update their personal details. This is more than just a housekeeping exercise for the Council. Holding accurate information about our staff is also essential to us monitoring gender, pay, and ethnicity equality within the organisation. You have until 15 April 2024 to review and update your details. Step-by-step instructions on how to do this are available on StaffNet+.

I’d also like to bring everyone’s attention to another news item published on our intranet this week. The Police and Crime Commissioner elections will be taking place on 02 May 2024 and new guidance has been published for council staff and elected members. All staff should take the time to review this.

Finally, I know many staff will be receiving this message on the last day before their Easter break. Today is the last day of term for schools in the Vale. I’d like to say a massive thank you to all of those working in our schools at the end of what I am sure has been another busy term. And to everyone about to have some time off I hope you enjoy your break.

Thanks as always to you all for your work this week. Diolch yn fawr pawb.

Rob.