AseiniadAdolygiadAdlewyrchol

Reflective Review Assignment

Enw/Name: Some Body

This is an example of ‘patched’ work from previous candidates, with ‘tweaks’ and additions from several different sources – the information does not reflect the real work of the person used in this work and examples of individuals’ performance are more ‘creative’ than real and bears no/little relevance to real incidents.

Outline the organisation’s requirements of the team in line with company policy

Gwynedd County Council is the local authority that serves the people within the County of Gwynedd. Gwynedd itself, is situated in North West Wales; it is the second biggest county in Wales (extending from Abergwyngregyn in the north to Aberdyfi in the south and from Aberdaron in the west to Bala in the east (approximately 2,500 square kilometres and covers 12% of the country’s total land area). Within its boundaries is the Snowdonia National Park with its magnificent mountains and lakes, splendid views and a variety of attractions including Snowdon, the highest peak in England and Wales (in 2009 approximately 7 million visitors came into Gwynedd).

The organisation itself provides a wide range of services for the 118,000 residents including education (educating 17,000 residents in 102 primary schools, 14 secondary schools and 3 special needs schools); running 14 leisure centres; 17 libraries; maintain 2,882 kilometres of highways and 301 kilometres of coastline; register births, deaths and marriages (there are over 2,000 births in the county every year and approximately 500 weddings and civil partnerships).

My role within the organisation is the Superintendent Registrar / Registration Team Leader and I am responsible for 12 Registration Team members. My main purpose is to manage the Registration Service for the Local Authority ensuring an effective and efficient customer focused service is provided to the public. My duties include:

  • To provide assistance for the Proper Officer in the development of the Registration Service in quality and service delivery and the generation of income;
  • To ensure that the Registration Service in Gwynedd meets the objectives set out in the Good Practice Guide for Registration services;
  • Act as line manager to the Area Co-ordinators, permanent Registrars, casual Registrars, and Administration staff;
  • Ensure that all service delivery points within the County are adequately staffed;
  • Be responsible for the training of Registration Staff;
  • Be responsible for the marketing of the Registration Service;
  • Deal with complaints from the public about the service;
  • Perform all statutory and non-statutory functions surrounding the registrations of births, marriages, civil partnerships and deaths.

Gwynedd Council has set performance requirements as key standards for employees to adhere to which gives the employees a level of achievement in providing the optimum level of service to its customers and ensure consistent, efficient and effective practices. Examples of these standards are as follows:

  • Correspondence must be acknowledged within 7 days and a full response sent within 14 days so as to inform the customer that full attention is given to the request
  • The telephone must be answered within 3 rings in a bilingual format to ensure prompt customer service
  • An Absence Policy is in place for employees to follow when sickness occurs with Return to Work Interviews following the period of absence; this ensures that the member of staff has support in settling back to work and ensures an easier continuity of the workflow;
  • New employees must undertake an Induction Programme to introduce them to the Gwynedd Council workplace and to ensure that the values and competencies are appreciated to promote good practices;
  • Health and Safety guidelines must always be followed;
  • Staff Appraisals must be carried out annually;
  • Complaints procedures must be followed to ensure transparency;
  • A Flexible Working Hours scheme is in place where employees must adhere to core times of 10am to 12noon and 2pm to 4pm. Outside of core times the employee can begin work at 8am if he/she so wishes and can work until 6pm. The equivalent of one day (7 hours 24 minutes) maximum can be taken as leave during any four week period if the employee has worked sufficient hours to cover this. No more than 7 hours 24 minutes can be lost and no more 7 hours 24 minutes in credit can be carried forward to the next four week period. Any credit over this limit will be lost.
  • Language Policy – Welsh is the internal language of Gwynedd Council and all staff are required to provide a service in the language of the client’ choice, either in English or Welsh; this again to promote good customer care.
  • Outline the team’s objectives in achieving organisational targets

Some examples of department led performance requirements within the Registration Service include:

  • Key Performance Indicators as set by the General Register Office (e.g. should be able to offer a death registration appointment within 2 days 95% of the times)
  • General Register Office Statutory Standards
  • Issuing Certified Copies of Births / Deaths / Marriages / Civil Partnership Certificate Standards

From the above list, the main sets of standards that I check on a regular basis are the Key Performance Indicators. These are set out in the Good Practice Guide as set by the General Register Office. The majority of Registration Districts within England and Wales have now signed up to these indicators and must report back to the General Register Office on an annually basis. Please find below the standards that we adhere to together with the compliancy level for 2012/2013:

Activity (NS = National Standard)
1 / Events registered within statutory timescales
(i) % births registered within 42 days
(NS 98%) / Compliancy Level %
98% / Comments
(ii) % still-births registered within 42 days (NS 98%) / 100%
(iii) % deaths registered within 5 days, excluding registrations following post mortems and inquests (NS 95%) / 97%
(iv) % deaths after post mortem registered within 7 days (NS 95%) / 92% / This is mainly due to the time taken to undertake post mortems and time taken for declarations to reach Gwynedd.
Monitoring methodology usedRON extracts
2 / Waiting times
A. Offices with appointment system
1.Waiting times for appointment (NS 95%) for:
(i) birth registration/declaration within 5 working days / Compliancy Level %
95% / Comments
(ii) still-birth registration/declaration within 2 working days / 100%
(iii) death registration/declaration within 2 working days / 99.2%
(iv) notices for marriage and civil partnership within 5 working days / 96%
2. % of customers seen within 10 minutes of appointment time (NS 90%) / 88% / This is mainly due to the new TUO Service introduced into Gwynedd without any amendments to the appointment system and the many internet connectivity issues that we have experienced.
Monitoring methodology used SIEBEL – CRM system used
3 / Certificate applications
% dealt with within 7 days of receipt (from deposited registers) (NS 95%) / Compliancy Level %
98.8% / Comments
Monitoring methodology used SIEBEL – CRM system used
4 / Customer satisfaction
% of satisfied customers, evidenced from response to customer satisfaction surveys and actual number of returned forms (NS above 90%, or corporate standard, in which case, identify corporate standard) / Compliancy Level %
95% / Comments
Monitoring methodology used Customer Questionnaires
5 / Complaints
Total number of upheld formal complaints received (actual and as % of all registrations) (NS 0.5%) / Compliancy Level %
0.04% / Comments (including total number of complaints)
Monitoring methodology used Analysis of complaints file

Explain how individual performance of team members affects the overall performance of the team

As can be seen from the above table, the team does work effectively in many of the areas and as we have very specific, clear SMART goals the team members have a clear understanding of expectations. We all feel a part of an effective team and that our work is an important part of the bigger picture of ‘Improving Gwynedd’ and being aware of the values of the Council. Each of us have specific roles with differing experiences and skills, but we support each other in order to carry out an efficient service. Communication is open and all members are treated equally and praise is given when work has been completed to a high standard.

Individuals are aware of their roles and responsibilities and their attitude and behavior can impact greatly on the rest of the team – thankfully, on the positive side in the majority of cases!

A new appointments’ system was introduced recently and because of issues with full internet connections and operations’ training, the team members became increasingly frustrated with its application and we were aware that potentially, our target for dealing with customers could not be met. I arranged an informal meeting with the team and an enthusiastic member volunteered to put in additional time into addressing the problem; she became highly competent in using the system and then was involved in mentoring sessions with the other members. Her commitment and enthusiasm had a very positive impact which resulted with other team members being able to contribute to achieving, and hopefully exceeding the target met, for the next quarter.

Need another three examples of where individual performance impacted on the team

Identify indicators of underperformance in relation to own team

Underperformance is where a member of staff does not adhere to the competencies of the Council and/or performs lower than average or lower than expectations/targets.

As the Team Leader, I use a number of “systems” to monitor how the Registration Team Members perform. These include:

  • CRM System (Statistics regarding number of registrations, time keeping during appointments etc);
  • Spot Check;
  • Customer Questionnaires;
  • Number of Complaints

Two recent problems that have arisen within the teams recently are:

Example 1

Problem

A number of staff have a very negative attitude towards new computer systems that are introduced into the department.

Causes

  • Lack of confidence in computer systems (a number of new computer systems have been brought in recently with minimal training which have decreased the morale of the staff).
  • Lack of IT Skills (a number of staff have been performing the same job for a number of years and it’s only very recent that computers have been used within to register births / deaths / marriages and civil partnerships).
  • Lack of Training of the computer systems used within the department.
  • Unreliable network connectivity (the majority of the systems we use are over the internet or where the servers are based in other parts of the county).

Example 2

The second example of underperformance in my team is an employee who was transferred from a former Area Office which was closed in 2007. The location of the Area Office where she worked was situated in an area which has more English speakers and as a local girl who everyone knew she always conversed with the customers in English. When she was employed in the Council in Dolgellau as an alternative to redundancy she was asked as part of her employment to attend Welsh lessons and be active in improving her Welsh speaking skills. This is a very important part of her role in the team as she deals closely with customers in person and on the telephone as well as in writing. She has in the past attended Welsh lessons regularly but as workload has increased and numbers in the team have diminished she has no motivation to improve her language skills and is unwilling to attend lessons for two reasons – one being she has seen no improvement in her language skills after attending lessons as the content of the lessons is not helpful in her daily work. The other reason for non-attendance is lack of motivation. As she feels she has dealt with customers satisfactorily by telling them she is learning welsh she does not feel there is a need to be fluent in the language.

The possible causes and action that could be taken to rectify one of these areas of underperformance is explained

Example / Causes / Action / Dates
A number of staff have a very negative attitude towards new computer systems that are introduced into the department /
  • Lack of confidence in computer systems (a number of new computer systems have been brought in recently with minimal training which have decreased the morale of the staff).
  • Lack of IT Skills (a number of staff have been doing the same job for a number of years and it’s only very recent that computers have been used within the Registration Service…………).
  • Lack of Training of the computer systems used within the department.
  • Unreliable network connectivity (the majority of the systems we use are over the internet or where the servers are based in other parts of the county).
/
  1. Use skill matrix to identify areas of general IT training required – myself to action
  2. Use Personal Development Plans / Appraisals to identify what training is required – myself to action and pass on to line manager to contact training department
  3. Have one to one meetings with all members of staff to identify specific areas within existing computer systems that staff are finding difficult – myself to action
  4. Carrying out re-training sessions to all members of staff – contact training department
  5. Discuss the problems with the connectivity with the IT Department – myself to action
  6. Keep a log of all connectivity problems and calculate the total down-time on the department together with the cost – myself to action
/ September 2013
September 2013
September 2013
December 2013
June 2013
June 2013

Understand what motivates people

Motivation refers to the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way OR the general desire or willingness of someone to do something (Wikipedia).

In Psychology terms, Motivation is defined as the process that initiates, guides and maintains goal-oriented behaviours. Motivation is what causes us to act, whether it is getting a glass of water to reduce thirst or reading a book to gain knowledge.

There are three major components to motivation: activation, persistence and intensity. Activation involves the decision to initiate behaviour, such as understanding a problem that exists within the team that needs to be dealt with (e.g. In Example 1 above I have identified that a number of people within my team have a very negative attitude towards computer systems that are introduced into the department). Persistence is the continued effort toward a goal even though obstacles may exist, such as carrying out all the actions that were identified to solve the problem although it requires a significant investment of time, energy and resources. Finally, intensity can be seen in the concentration and vigour that goes into pursuing a goal. For example, a member of staff might have to put in a lot of hard work and study in order to understand the computer systems.

Different types of motivation are frequently described as being either extrinsic or intrinsic. Extrinsic motivations are those that arise from outside of the individual and often involve rewards such as trophies, money, social recognition or praise. Intrinsic motivations are those that arise from within the individual, such as doing a complicated crossword puzzle purely for the personal gratification of solving a problem.

There are a number of theories that have been written about Motivation and these go back a number of years. One of the most influential is Herzberg’s Two-factor theory (also known as Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory and Dual-Factor Theory. This theory states that there are certain factors in the workplace that cause job satisfaction, while a separate set of factors cause dissatisfaction (Wikipedia). This theory was developed from data collected by Herzberg from 203 interviews with a large number of engineers and accountants in the Pittsburgh area.

The two-factor theory distinguishes between:

  • Dissatisfiers (or hygiene factors) – 9 dissatisfiers were identified including low pay, poor working conditions, poor communication and unfair treatment.
  • Satisfiers (or motivators) – these include recognition of effort and performance, responsibility and giving the opportunity of promotion and opportunity.

According to Herzberg, the Dissatsifiers, if addressed, will not be the ‘motivators’ but could be the ‘launching pad’ to address the negativities that surround the job. The team leader or manager will then need to establish ways of motivating by using the intrinsic Satisifiers.

Whilst I can see that the Satisifers are ways of increasing motivation, I myself am not totally convinced that poor communication should be placed here, as from my own experience with my line manager and team members I feel that communication is an essential motivating tool. As Sunderland stated “Communication is vital . . . as uncertainty is demotivating” . . . The necessity to give clear objectives, to ensure that staff know exactly what is expected of them, the reasons behind the objectives, the feedback which is given, either constructive or positive ensures that self-esteem needs are met.

Describe actions that can be taken to motivate own team and improve performance linked to a theory of motivation

When referring to the Council’s competencies, there can be seen a ‘shift’ towards a more consultative style of management and a greater emphasis on members of staff taking on more responsibility for their own work. There is evidence that some of Herzberg’s theory might well apply here, as the ‘Satisfiers’ are very often to be seen in “Gwynedd employee does . . . .give some suitable examples here from the Competencies Framework that link in with Herzberg’s satisifiers, eg, praise, responsibility, challenge, recognition of work . . .

Not all is well within the Council as there are many Dissatisfiers in the form of: insufficient office space, difficulty in arranging meetings for all of my team members who are based in several far-reaching offices of Gwynedd, IT capabilities etc. However, I know that if these issues were addressed, that the satisfaction I would gain would be short term (if there is credence to Herzberg’s theory)!

To address underperformance using Herzberg’s theory:

For example, if there is frustration with company policy, I would need to provide refresher training on the importance of those policies and why they have been introduced to ensure consistency and transparency at the Council.