Workforce Strategy

1. Foreword From the Chief Executive and Cabinet Member

We are proud of our County because Carmarthenshire is a great place to live, visit and work. As a Council, we are also extremely proud of the people that work for us. Our services are delivered by our people, and it is our people that make this council what it is.

We have worked hard to empower and support our people to create an inclusive ‘One team’ culture. This was recognised in 2022, when we achieved the Investors in People Gold standard accreditation, with the report identifying: ‘The organisation is achieving outstanding outcomes as a result of the ways in which people are encouraged and empowered to be agile, innovative, and collaborative’. However, there is more that can be done.

We know the world is changing, and the way public services are delivered will continue to change, so doing more of the same is not sustainable. The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on the way we work, and, having reflected on our experiences, we now look ahead. By fully embedding the Sustainable Development Principle in our forward planning, we have created a Strategy that sets out how we intend to shape our workforce over the next 5 years, ensuring that, together, as one council and one team, we can focus on doing what matters to our residents and local businesses.

We are currently operating in a challenging recruitment market, with budget constraints that make it difficult for us to offer competitive salaries. Like all other public sector bodies, it would be foolish to underestimate the significant financial challenges we are facing, against a backdrop of reduced funding and increased demand for services. This means that we will need to be open to new ways of working and different ways of thinking. We also know that our future workforce will probably be different to what we have today and need different skills, so we will need to invest in our people, as well as grow and develop our own leaders, so that they are equipped to meet the challenges we face.

Through this period of change and transformation, we will make sure our people are well led, supported, trusted, and recognised for the contribution they make; making sure they are treated fairly, with respect and encouraged to bring forward ideas about how we can improve what we do. We will also encourage our people to embrace change and engage with our transformation programme to help us modernise the services we provide and build a more resilient and efficient Council.

Finally, our ambitions simply cannot be realised without our dedicated and motivated workforce. So, we will work together, be open, honest, fair, and inclusive, which is the commitment that this strategy is built on.

Wendy Walters and Cllr Philip Hughes