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WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE CHIEF MINISTER
BY DEPUTY R.G. LE HÉRISSIER OF ST. SAVIOUR ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 2nd JUNE 2009
Question
"Would the Chief Minister identify the actions, if any, that have been taken in respect of the recommendations contained in R.14/2008 (Succession Planning in the States of Jersey') and advise what are the deadlines for putting into effect any Recommendations which have not been implemented?"
Answer
At its meeting on 7th February 2008, the States Employment Board received a report concerning succession planning and leadership and management development in the public sector. This report followed discussions between the former Director of Human Resources, Mr Ian Crich and a small group of States Members (Deputies le Hérissier, Gorst , Egré and Le Fondré). The States Employment Board approved all the recommendations within the report, which are detailed below. Since this time work has been carried out to progress the various recommendations, details of which are outlined under each recommendation.
Succession Planning Recommendations
The Working Group recommended that the policy should be simplified, brought up to date, approved by the States Employment Board and re-introduced via the Corporate Management Board, who should be accountable for its renewed implementation and successful application.
The Succession Policy has been reviewed and the previous comprehensive policy has been both streamlined and modernised. Amongst the aims of the revised policy are undertakings to:
e n sure that there are appropriately skilled people from within the public service to meet d i verse future needs;
m inimise non-locally qualified recruitment from outside the Island and
appoint to posts in accordance with the Jersey Appointments Commission's Recruitment Principles.
The revised Succession Planning Policy is ready to be presented to the States Employment Board, following consideration and input from the new Director of Human Resources, Ruth Davies.
The group also recommended that, to facilitate their monitoring of the application of the policy, the States Employment Board receive a quarterly report identifying those senior posts (first, second and third tier) which in the previous quarter had been subject to external appointment, and the reasons for this (with particular reference to succession plans and why they had not been successful).
The revised policy incorporates a review process which will identify posts, potential successors and development strategies to provide successors. The focus will be on those cases where recruitment of a suitably skilled, residentially qualified person is likely to be difficult. The aim is that this review process will help to identify the effectiveness of succession planning and enable the States Employment Board to be provided with both quantitative and qualitative information on a timely basis.
The Group also recommended that, in updating the policy as described above, this should take account of the role of the Appointments Commission (which was not in existence when the policy was introduced) and that the Director of Human Resources liaise with the Appointments Commission to ensure that its policy of "open competition" is compatible with a more structured approach to succession planning.
The revised Succession Planning Policy fully supports the Jersey Appointments Commission's ethos of appointment on merit, in open, transparent processes offering equal opportunity. The revised policy clearly states that permanent appointments must only be made following open and fair recruitment procedures, as directed by the Jersey Appointment Commission Recruitment Codes. In addition current recruitment and selection procedures ensure that the Commission is notified and directly involved in the recruitment process to senior posts or where advertisement to vacancies is to be limited such as in times of reorganisation.
Management and Leadership Development Recommendation
The group recommended that the outcomes of the reviews of the effectiveness of the Modern Management Programme be reported to future meetings of the States Employment Board (via CMB) as they are completed, who will consider any future actions and the further publication of the outcomes.
Following the completion of the first two Modern Manager Programmes, an independent evaluation was commissioned. Although the findings have not been publicised, the results are positive and there is evidence to show that the programme is starting to deliver the changes anticipated in the Organisational Development Programme. It is intended that the new Director of Human Resources will circulate the Evaluation Report initially to the HR sub-committee for discussion, following which detailed information and outcomes will be reported to the States Employment Board.
Senior Management Development Recommendation
The group recommend that the processes of assessment and selection in senior recruitment be enhanced to further ensure that the ability of candidates to both understand and to operate effectively "within the Jersey Context" be fully tested.
Work is ongoing to ensure that adequate information concerning working for the States of Jersey and in the Jersey community is provided to UK candidates both before and during the recruitment process. Interview questions and assessment centre exercises are designed to measure competence in the area of political shrewdness with particular emphasis being placed on the Jersey context. In addition, candidates now have a scheduled discussion with a number of politicians about the uniqueness of working in the Jersey Community and senior UK appointees are strongly encouraged to relocate to Jersey with their family and to make the Island their primary residence. This latter requirement in now stipulated in the employment contracts.