Building workforce resilience

High vacancy and sickness absence rates are common across the public sector but, as Kirsteen Kett, client director and public sector practice leader (South) at Aon, explains, building workforce resilience can help to change this.

After years of budget cuts, pay freezes and underinvestment, the new government has promised to ‘repair our public services’. And, while it acknowledges this will take time, building a more engaged and resilient workforce must be a key part of its strategy.

Under pressure

The successful delivery of public services is dependent on the quality and skills of the staff but there are worrying signs of workforce issues across the public sector.

Vacancies remain stubbornly high. As an example, analysis by the British Medical Association, found there were more than 112,000 vacancies in NHS secondary care in June 2024 in England (1), with 7.8% of nursing posts unfilled.

And this is common across the public sector. Nearly half (48%) of public sector organisations have hard-to-fill vacancies according to the CIPD’s Labour Market Outlook for Summer 2024 (2), compared to 34% of private sector employers.

As well as making it harder to deliver services, high vacancy rates can have unwanted effects on existing staff too. Having to take on additional work means stress and sickness absence rates can spiral.

This is evidenced by figures from the Labour Force Survey (3), which show that sickness absence rates have been consistently higher for public sector employees. Its latest report shows that, in 2022, the sickness rates were 3.6% for public sector workers and 2.3% for private sector workers, up 0.6 and 0.4 percentage points respectively from the previous year.

Strikes are another symptom of unhappy workers. Over the last couple of years, groups including NHS staff, teachers and civil servants have walked out in disputes over pay.

Staff issues also have serious implications for risk across organisations. Having the right employees in place ensures the smooth delivery of services, while reducing risks such as failing to meet customer needs, reputational damage, and data breach.

Cause and effect

Understanding what’s behind these issues is key to addressing the problem. Clearly, recruitment is a major challenge, with the inability to fill vacancies having serious implications for the wellbeing and retention of existing employees.

Remuneration is often the stumbling block when it comes to attracting suitable candidates. We’ve seen cases where a position is unfilled for years because the salary offered is below market rates. But, this is a false economy when factoring in the effect on staff or the wage bill for a temporary agency worker.

Organisations also need to examine why people leave. As well as the stress of working in an understaffed department, many are frustrated by the lack of opportunity to grow their careers. Rigid career paths are the norm across the public sector and promotion prospects can be non-existent if a manager is hanging on until retirement.

Pay is an issue too. Years of pay freezes have left many public sector staff feeling undervalued and demotivated. And, while the government’s decision to award above inflation pay rises for many public sector workers saw most strikes called off, there is still more that could be done to address the gap with private sector pay.

Building resilience

While the government is looking at high-level strategies to fix public services, there are steps that organisations can take to improve workforce resilience and increase employee engagement.

Fair pay
Paying market wages is a must. As well as motivating employees, this will help to attract the right people. Running a regular exercise to determine market rates will help an organisation attract, retain and motivate the right people.
Invest in staff
Training and development budgets are often squeezed or non-existent but even a small investment in this area can benefit employees and the wider organisation. For example, funding an employee’s membership of ALARM or the CII shows that they are valued but also offers important networking opportunities where they can gain experience and knowledge they can use in their role.
Explore career development opportunities
Enabling employees to explore other opportunities within the organisation, perhaps with a mentor or through a short-term placement, can help to motivate and retain staff. This also benefits the organisation: staff gain a better understanding of how services are delivered and facilitates more opportunities to promote internally.
Recruit right
Overly prescriptive recruitment processes can make it harder to find the right person, with job advertisements often listing so many essential skills, the pool of talent is restricted. Looking for candidates with potential and providing the necessary training and development can remove these obstacles and build a more engaged workforce.
Promote the benefits
There can often be an unfair focus on pay in the public sector but most organisations offer a range of additional benefits that can make a huge difference to employees. These include generous holiday allowances, good parental leave and job share options, mental health support and pension provision. Promoting these regularly ensures employees use and value these benefits.
Adopt a robust approach to sickness
A robust approach to sickness absence can bring down the rates while also ensuring employees receive the support they need. Engaging with employees during a longer period of absence, with frequencies mutually agreed, will ensure they feel part of the organisation and make it easier to return.
Offer a flexible return to work
Where someone has been absent long-term, a phased approach, with shorter hours or reduced duties, can make it easier for someone to return to work. Additionally, as hybrid and home working is an option for many roles, this could help to give someone the confidence to come back to work.

As more detail emerges of the government’s plans to fix public services, taking steps to build workforce resilience will put organisations in a great position for any further changes.

More information

To find out more about how your organisation can build workforce resilience, speak to your Aon account manager or contact Kirsteen Kett ([email protected]).

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The information contained herein and the statements expressed are of a general nature and are not intended to address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity. Although we endeavour to provide accurate and timely information and use sources that we consider to be reliable, there can be no guarantee that such information is accurate as of the date it is received or that it will continue to be accurate in the future. No one should act on such information without appropriate professional advice after a thorough examination of the particular situation.

This article has been compiled using information available to us up to 21/10/2024.

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