Many members of staff and the public have good ideas that could improve our services and benefit those who use them. The Council wants to encourage helpful suggestions by acknowledging and rewarding those who submit them. This new scheme will reward both good ideas and exceptional service. Suggestions:
· To recognise and reward suggestions that contribute in some significant way to improvements in the efficiency or effectiveness of Services and/or public perception of the authority.
· To be open to staff and members of the public
· Administered in-house by cross sectional staff group
Recognition:
· To recognise and reward individual or team performance, effort, attitude or other actions which exceed normal expectations and standards and which contribute in some significant way to improvements in the efficiency or effectiveness of Services and/or public perception of the authority.
· To be open to individual members of
staff or teams
· Include a commendation element where teams or individuals may be nominated by peers or by the public.
· Administered in- house by cross sectional staff group
Principles:
The following principles underpin the scheme:
It must be respected and used.
The scheme is operated by the staff for the staff and the public. It should not be viewed as a 'management tool'.
The rewards will be attractive and worthwhile.
Ideas and suggestions must be seen to be implemented. Managers must have some involvement in assessing ideas.
Simple to understand and operate.
The scheme is simple and avoids red tape.
Equal and fair.
The scheme will reward staff at all levels and in all areas and not concentrate solely on the high profile front line staff. Equally, all sections of the local community will be encouraged to participate in the scheme.
Part of the management culture.
Recognising and rewarding good
performance is an important role of managers and supervisors. This should be encouraged and developed at all levels. Guidelines will be produced, requiring Service Unit Heads to report to their Policy Directorate Groups on rewards and recognition within their teams. This in turn will be monitored to identify Units where recognition needs encouraging. Properly resourced. Although in the longer term suggestions may yield savings for the Council, there is a cost to operating the scheme. The Council has recognised this and given a commitment that the resources will be made available to enable the scheme to run effectively.
Well promoted.
The scheme will have a high profile. Good communication will underpin the scheme. Internally, the intranet, Bulletin and People Matter will be used to disseminate information about the scheme and the awards made. Externally, press releases, the Citizen and the Council web site will be used to raise
awareness. The promotion will be innovative and catch the imagination with its own distinctive branding.
Rewards:
Staff and members of the public will be free to choose their rewards from a brochure. The brochure will be updated periodically and will be sent to all successful applicants/nominees following the decision of the smartideas panel. Each reward will be accompanied by a certificate of commendation signed by the Chair of the Council and the Chief Executive.
Eligibility:
The scheme is open to all residents of Salisbury District and all Council staff. However, members of the Council's Extended Management Team are not eligible for entry to the ideas element of the scheme although they may be nominated for a service award.
Admin:
A small panel of staff will administer the scheme with support from the Democratic Services Unit.
How it works:
All ideas/nominations will be acknowledged and passed
to the responsible line manager for comment before being put to the Panel. The Panel will explain in writing the reasons why if an idea/nomination fails. There will be no right of appeal. Attendance at Panel Meetings: In the unlikely event that the Panel is unable to form a clear judgement on the submission you may be invited to attend the Panel to discuss it in more detail. Hopefully, this will be fairly rare.
Entries:
Entry and application forms can be found in all Units and public offices and on the Council's smartideas Intranet and Internet pages, where you can make your submission online. Alternatively contact the scheme administrator.
Filling in the Form:
The form is simple. Please complete each section and give as much information about your idea or you nomination as possible. Continue on a separate sheet if necessary. Please remember to sign the form and if you are submitting a nomination for a service award,
please get a seconder to sign your nomination form. Once complete, send the form to the address below or return it to one of the Council’s reception areas and it will be forwarded on to the Smartideas Panel.
Further Information:
If you have any further enquiries about the scheme please visit the Internet or Intranet pages or send an email to the scheme administrator at:
smartideas@ salisbury.gov.uk
Alternatively, phone, fax or write on:
Tel: 01722 434664
Fax: 01722 434478
Smartideas
Democratic Services Unit
The Council House
Bourne Hill
Salisbury SP1 3UZ
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