Communication
Page updated: 22/08/2024
Good communication, in an organisation as large and diverse as Carmarthenshire County Council, is critical for ensuring people continue to feel engaged. We all have a part to play when it comes to sharing information and we all have a responsibility to be open and honest with each other.
Most of you, that responded to the survey, told us that you were up to speed on what was happening in your team or work location, but fewer people felt they knew what was happening across the organisation, and although this attracted a positive score, it was the lowest scoring statement overall.
Based on your valuable input, we committed to taking the following actions to further improve your experience of working for us:
As part of our Health and Wellbeing initiatives, we connect with you through group meetings, briefings, and e-chats. We’ve also created intranet tools for you to give us direct feedback. We have conducted wellbeing surveys to understand the support you need. Our Health and Wellbeing Champions talk to colleagues about their concerns and ideas and share this with the Health and Wellbeing Coordinators. This helps us promote existing resources or create new initiatives based on your feedback.
Last November, we kicked off our first Staff Forum with our Chief Executive, Wendy. Since then, Wendy’s been hosting these meetings every quarter, chatting with over 40 employees so far. The Forum will keep meeting quarterly, so if you’re picked to attend, make sure to talk with your manager and grab the chance!
We hold staff roadshow sessions twice a year, during Spring and Autumn, over several weeks. Our aim is to visit as many locations as we can to reach colleagues who might not have email access.
So far, we’ve been to many of our depots and are now looking to reach out to more care staff and focus on our highway’s crews.
These sessions are a great way for staff to learn about services like Health & Wellbeing, Learning & Development, Staff discounts, IT, Transformation projects, and HR and Payroll queries in a relaxed and informal setting.
Communication skills are a key part of the Leadership Academi at every level. Plus, our new Thinqi learning system has a wide variety of resources in the ‘Developing Myself’ section to help managers boost their communication skills. To find out more take a closer look at Thinqi Sirgar.
We’re always looking for better ways to get corporate messages to staff quickly and consistently.
We’ve been working hard to get work devices to staff who didn’t have them before. This means they can now complete timesheets, check rotas online, and access corporate communications like the intranet and staff e-newsletters.
This year, we tried out an online event with the Chief Executive. After this trial, we hope to roll it out to all departments, so everyone gets information at the same time and in the same way.
We’ve also switched to the Gov.delivery system for our weekly staff e-newsletters. This gives us better analytics on readership and engagement. By sending all corporate messages in one bulletin, we ensure staff get consistent and timely updates through a single channel, instead of multiple emails.
As we explore new and different ways to communicate, it’s up to all of us to stay in the loop. Make sure to take a moment to read the e-newsletters and join the events you’re invited to. This way, we can all stay informed and connected.
Internal communication is just as important as talking to the public. With over 8,000 staff in various roles spread across a large area, keeping communication timely and consistent can be tricky.
We’re working on making our messages to staff clearer and more coordinated, so everyone gets the same information at the same time.
A communication strategy will help departments share best practices and ensure consistency for those handling communication in each department.
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