The Trust is committed to taking each employee on a journey of
personal growth and development. We do this through our unique
Rising Stars personal development scheme, which played its part in
helping us to achieve Investors in People status.
We don't want you to just come here and work, we wish to provide
a nurturing environment, so you can grow and develop, and in turn
help us enhance our services to all.
The focus of the Rising Stars Programme is to provide a
performance framework which empowers every member of staff by
giving absolute clarity around what is expected of them during the
day to day performance of their duties, giving them the remit to
make the decisions they need and by rewarding them according to
their attitudes and behaviours to customers and each other. It is a
framework, developed specifically for each role, explaining the
organisational values in terms of the way they perform their duties
in order to deliver excellence. It is, however, most importantly, a
development and motivational tool which, through dedicated monthly
one to one meetings, identifies areas:
- in which they excel, giving the opportunity for these to be
recognised and valued
- requiring development and ensures there is discussion
about how this development will be achieved
- which require major improvement and facilitates the design of
an action plan
During monthly one to one sessions, objectives for both
performance and personal aspirations are jointly set and are based
on what motivates each individual to succeed.
Management and staff training has been provided to ensure the
Framework is used effectively. In the case of managers, the Trust
has sought to adopt coaching as the predominant management style.
Rising Stars has also proved a powerful motivational tool, which in
turn has improved morale and staff relations.
The climate of the organisation is measured quarterly through
surveys and action plans developed to address any area of concern
or to capture where further improvements can be made.
In 2006 the Trust introduced new terms and conditions of
employment, including a new pay system based on the Rising Stars
Framework. The payment levels were derived from a large scale
benchmarking exercise to ensure pay levels were competitive in the
sector and in the local area. This was underpinned by an
independent Equality Audit.
Therefore there is a rate for the job at the "silver" level
which is for competent, experienced staff delivering good
performance. Staff who want to "go the extra" mile, which involves
coaching and mentoring their colleagues, can progress to the "gold
level" for which the pay rate is 5% above the silver level.
Staff can nominate their colleagues for a "Diamond Award" annually.
This is for staff who continually perform above the Gold Level or
who have achieved an outstanding piece of work that has either
positively impacted on a number of people's lives or delivered a
substantial efficiency saving. The winners receive a monetary
incentive.
A recent Investors In People report stated:
"Underpinning and driving the development of the organisation
and everyone within it is the Rising Stars programme. It is
difficult to describe in a report just how impressive this
framework is, but in the Assessors experience it is exceptionally
innovative and, interview evidence indicates, extremely effective…
It is quite exceptional to find an organisation of this size and
with such a diverse range of job roles to have achieved such a
consistent application of its people management
processes."
Recent inhouse surveys show:
- 74% of staff confirmed that they get positive job satisfaction
compared to a national average (as confirmed by the CIPD) of
52%
- 74% of staff confirm that they look forward to coming to
work
- 67% agreed that they have appropriate work/life balance
- 77% of staff stated they were satisfied with their relationship
with their manager. The CIPD suggests that this is more usually
around 43%.
- Staff turnover is at 8% compared with a public sector average
of 13%. Staff attendance is 96.5% compared with a public sector
average of 90.5%
- 103 staff are currently undertaking further education
courses,
- The Trust has achieved the Investors in People status
At Trafford Housing Trust we feel that these results speak
volumes about the success of our staff management programme
resulting in a satisfied and productive workforce.
The Rising Stars framework is supported and recognised by four
Trade Unions.