In a previous Newsletter we reported that the Bank had sought to influence the results of the 2018 Colleague Engagement Survey by waiting to announce the withdrawal of the Concessionary Mortgage schemes until after the survey closed on 6th October. However, the results across the Group show that plan failed.
Group Transformation published the worst set of results in living memory.
The headline results for Group Transformation are as follows:
- Employment Engagement Index: 60% favourable, down 10% on last year.
- Performance Excellence Index: 68% favourable, down 9% on last year.
- Confidence and Trust Index: 62% favourable, down 9% on last year.
- Values and Behaviours Index: 66% favourable, down 6% on last year.
But it gets worse, if that’s possible. The number of staff taking part in the survey, which of itself is a measure of disengagement in this part of the business, went down to 61%. The participation rate across the Group was 83%. Zaka Mian, Group Director, Transformation, said: “It goes without saying that I am disappointed with these results”. Well, it could have been worse, he could have been “extremely disappointed”.
What’s got to be worrying for Mr. Mian and his senior management team is that since the survey was undertaken, the Bank has announced a further 6,240 redundancies with many of those being in Group Transformation. And those who still have jobs after the latest reorganisation will have had to go through another selection process that saps morale and breeds resentment. Some members of staff have been through these reorganisations 5 or 6 times over the last 7 years and that must undermine engagement. We have said it before but the Bank should publish how many staff it is going to need over the next 3 years and should open up voluntary severance registers for each Division. The Bank can then identify the jobs that are going with the staff that want to leave. Staff that want to stay should be offered retraining and guaranteed new jobs on their existing terms and conditions.
The Group Employee Engagement Index and Performance Excellence Index were both down by 3%. The question that asked about overall satisfaction with the Group as a great place to work dropped by 7%. However, none of those scores will worry the Group Chief Executive. With an average score of 77%, he’ll still get at least £169, 275 next year for hitting the colleague engagement score target. In fact, the targets are set so low that even the Group Director, Transformation would get something for the worst set of results seen by any Division.
Members with any questions can contact us at 24hours@btuonline.co.uk.
Workday System Not Very Agile
Some members of staff received their ‘28 Days Notice’ letters following the redundancy announcement a few weeks ago and were directed to use the new ‘Workday’ system, when it was up and running, to see what alternative jobs were available in the Bank. Workday is an off-the-shelf cloud based HR package that lots of companies use.
However, the new system has only been in place for a few weeks and staff are reporting to the Union that it only works intermittently. Members have also reported that the total number of jobs on the Workday site is currently just 24. The Bank has said repeatedly that it’s creating thousands of jobs but those are nowhere to be seen. Staff are looking for jobs now and the Bank has a responsibility to give them every opportunity to seek alternative employment.
Members have also reported that there is no search facility on the ‘Workday’ system, which would allow them to filter jobs by grade. That’s not a problem now, given that there are so few jobs on the system, but when the thousands of jobs are uploaded in the New Year the lack of basic functionality is going to make looking for roles that much more difficult and cumbersome. In fact, the jobs on the site have no grades at all. We also understand that because Workday only releases new versions every 6 months, the grading issue is not going to be sorted, and that assumes it can be fixed, any time soon.
Doesn’t feel very agile, does it?
Members with any questions can contact the Union’s Advice Team on 01234 262868.
Car Scheme Review
The Bank’s car scheme and car allowances haven’t changed for as long as anyone can remember. Whilst the vast majority of staff who receive car allowances choose to take cash there are some, particularly those who do heavy mileage, who choose to take the car instead. And because some of those individuals spend a lot of time in their cars they tend to trade up but the cost of maintaining the same standard of vehicle is increasing year on year but that’s not being reflected in the car allowances. Some of that increase in costs is being driven by Government regulations around emissions but not all of it
The Union is reviewing the car scheme and would welcome the views of members about what changes, if any, they would like to see to this important and valuable benefit. Members can email the Union at 24hours@btuonline.co.uk.