NTS Report 4 Aug 2010 - National Trust for Scotland

32
A Stable Transition
The Start of Change
Change can be unsettling, particularly for staff who have gone
through difficult years in the National Trust for Scotland.
A flitting is always stressful and HQ staff will shortly move
from Wemyss House to their new offices at Hermiston Quay. If
the measures recommended in this report are accepted, they will
work within radically reduced governance structures, with a new
Chair and a smaller group of Trustees.
Through hard work, and considerable pain, NTS has gained a
breathing space in 2009-10. The reserves have risen from £4.1
million to £8.5 million. The controversy over the sale of the
national headquarters has died down. But significant challenges
still remain. These cannot all be addressed simultaneously.
P18: The Review proposes a phased approach to internal reform
over the next three years.
There should be a stable transition during which NTS begins to
re-build its culture, reinvigorate its people and re-establish a
common sense of purpose.
During the Review’s consultation process, many staff
complained that in the past things had “been done to them, not
with them”. Considerable effort should therefore be put into
engaging with them, ensuring that all understand their yearly
objectives and how they add value to the wider work of the
Trust.
Plan the Way Ahead
At the beginning of the review process, there was no corporate
plan. This was provided to us, on its publication, in May 2010
and is included in the documentation attached in annex to this
report on page 46.
We welcome the identification of work streams over the next
few years, but believe more information should be provided on
how they are to be resourced, sequenced and time-lined in
accordance with the SMART principles advocated in this report.
Vision & Purpose
Strategic Priorities
Objectives
Delivery
Measurement
Appraisal
The chart to the left shows how
fit for purpose planning works.
Vision, Purpose and Strategic
Priorities are a responsibility of
the Trustees after debate at the
AGM.
It is then up to the Leadership
Team to set annual objectives
after discussion at departmental
and individual levels. Thereafter
staff concentrate on delivery.
Because objectives are set down
Reporting in corporate planning, it is
possible to measure the extent to
which these have been achieved. That leads to Leadership
Team, departmental and individual performance appraisals. The
results are made public in a report to the AGM.
R23: The Review recommends that Trustees should publish a
five-year strategic plan and ensure that NTS adopts an integrated
system of corporate planning.
P19: The Report proposes that the Trust adopts a quarterly and
annual system of traffic light reporting to make clear where
Chief Executive Kate Mavor: Using the breathing space to best
advantage for the National Trust for Scotland
objectives are being reached, or not.
The RAG – Red, Amber, Green – reporting system is
widely adopted in the public, private and third sectors.
Red is 5% off target, Amber 2.5% off target and Green
performing as planned.
Traffic lights provide an immediate guide to whether an
organisation and its departments are delivering the results
to which they signed up. They allow senior management to spot
risks early and to take remedial action. They inform Trustees
and, at the AGM, members can see whether an organisation over
the past year has done what it said it would do.
We now highlight other actions which the Review believes
should be taken in the short term, as first steps to a more
sustainable future.
Improve staff wellbeing, management, pay and
conditions
The corporate plan outlines the need to tackle the longstanding
issue of unfair pay, to identify creative ways to improve career
progression, to invest in training and to monitor the appraisal
system.
The Review has expressed concern about the loss of experienced
staff in recent years. Many employees are in the bottom quartile
for the sector and their position, relative to other heritage
workers, has been progressively deteriorating.
We welcome the commitment of the Trust to improve staff
morale and levels of pay as a top priority in the immediate term.
P20: The Review proposes that the Trust commissions an
independent study of the remuneration and conditions of its
employees.
Fully resourced Historic Scotland / Scottish Natural
Heritage spend
A lack of staff capacity means that the Trust cannot spend all
monies allocated to it through Historic Scotland’s Annual Repair
Grant (worth £330,000 annually) or Scottish Natural Heritage’s
(SNH) Concordat (worth £900,000 annually).
At a time of Government cut backs, it is essential that the Trust
has sufficient capacity to manage the grants which it receives.