South Cambridge District Council

The issue

South Cambridge District Council in the UK wanted to realign their organisation structure and reward strategy with their business plan. Specifically, they needed to address recruitment and retention issues in particular areas such as planning and building control. One option was to secure pay increases, but it was essential to update the organisation structure to ensure any extra money was directed to where it was most needed and that the pay structure was fair and represented the pay market. South Cambridge District Council felt that an independent third party would be helpful in assessing and advising on changes to the pay structure and justifying any pay increases to their stakeholders. They also required a sounding board for a broad range of HR issues.

The Council had two primary objectives:

• to change their organisation structure to support the business plan and objectives
• to change their pay structure to address recruitment and retention issues in key skill areas.

Our approach

PricewaterhouseCoopers Human Resource Services was invited to tender for this project. We put together a team consisting of specialists in public sector pay, job evaluation, pay benchmarking, local government advisory and employment law. The council told us they were impressed with our deep public sector specialist knowledge. They also liked our team and flexible approach.

We started by speaking to senior employees and the trade union to obtain a clear picture of the situation. We also understood the key strategic and operational elements of the five-year plan and central government's agenda for local government. We benchmarked the council's salary data, to see how their rates compared with market averages.

The team developed several different operational structure models and discussed these with management. We presented these options to the council members, who selected the preferred option.

Using external pay data and the interview information, combined with our unique PwC equal pay audit methodology and job evaluation process, the team identified several possible reward options to support the chosen organisation structure. We held a series of stakeholder workshops to obtain agreement on one solution, which we then presented to the council members for approval. We helped the council communicate the planned changes to all its employees.

One of the main challenges was the large number of stakeholders involved, including management, staff, the trade union and the four political groups of the district's hung council. This meant that the decision-making process was slow, so we had to be persistent and measured in our approach.

The outcome

At the end of the project, Air Botswana had a much clearer idea of their ability to become a privately owned company. We had provided them with a model for change management and recommended issues that they should address to ensure a smooth and successful privatisation process, based on quantitative and qualitative information from their employees.

By using our established change readiness questionnaire, we saved Air Botswana both time and money that would otherwise have been needed to develop a new method of assessment.

Through the focus groups and consultation process, Air Botswana has involved their staff in the change process early on, and by listening to their concerns and ideas, they have gained employee buy-in and commitment to the privatisation.

By the end of the yearlong project, we had helped South Cambridge District Council to implement a new organisation design and bespoke reward structure. Through our job evaluation process, backed up by our benchmarking analysis, we successfully obtained Members' approval to above inflation pay raises. The changes to the pay structure have addressed the recruitment and retention issues, especially in the problem areas of planning and building control.

The resulting organisation and reward structure now serves the Council's business plan and objectives.

For further information about this case study, please contact Daniel Hibbert by email or on +44 20 7804 3317