People
people 3 PEOPLE EFQM Excellence Award 2010 22 3a. People plans support the organisation’s strategy Approach and deployment In <strong>Olabide</strong>, we consider our people to be the most prized asset we have to deliver our Mission and Vision. As a team, their involvement and commitment generate new initiatives, creativity, improvements and innovation, and HR planning, management and improvement is designed to deliver high levels of satisfaction in these areas. With a view to defining and describing the functions associated with each work post in the school, an Employees’ Handbook was drawn up in 2000 and subsequently refined in 2004 and 2009- 10. Additionally, in 2007-08, we systemised the Performance Appraisal Process, designed to define the characteristics of each work post in <strong>Olabide</strong>, the required competencies associated with each of those posts, performance appraisal in itself and proposed improvements. <strong>Olabide</strong> Strategic Priorities (StP, 2c), or Strategic Objectives in the new Strategy Plan (SP) 2009-12 (see Qualification File, Dec. 2009), are progressively delivered through actions included in the annual Business Plan (BP), which are in turn rolled out through processes. The Management and Improvement Team (MIT, 5a) members therefore know from the beginning of each academic year how their actions will contribute to the delivery of <strong>Olabide</strong> strategy. People management itself is essentially managed through the Process System (PS) for People Management, which covers in all cases both teaching and non-teaching staff and includes the following processes: Process for Annual HR Planning, Process for People Selection and Induction, Substitutions Management Process, Training Plan Process, Performance Appraisal Process and Knowledge Management Process. Both the Process for the Measurement of People Satisfaction and the Procedure for Labour-related Administration also have a key role in people management. Process for Annual HR Planning Each year in May, HR needs for the forthcoming academic year are analysed in weekly Management Team (MT) meetings as part of BP preparation. The process involves allocating teachers and tutors to classes for the forthcoming academic year, the subjects to be taught by each teacher and, where necessary, assigning complementary tasks such as supervisory duties, etc. The following circumstances and information are taken into account in this planning: • anticipated short and medium-term requirements (aligned, amongst other things, to the different projects to be developed as part of the BP); • new HR qualifications and specific training required; • pre-established general criteria, e.g. continuance in the same education cycle or stage, etc. • specific needs and characteristics of classes and pupils; • the characteristics of each teacher; • the electives chosen by pupils in secondary education, and their impact on potentially dividing groups into two; • staff requests for a reduction in the work schedule, as provided for under the Collective Bargaining Agreement or due to personal circumstances; • staff requests for redeployment to another age group or type of work; and • other personal circumstances, e.g. the presence of their own children in their class, etc. The draft plan is then communicated by all Heads of Education Stages and Administration Areas to their respective people for them to review it and put forward any further suggestions and/ or personal requests. At the same time, the calendar, timetabling and activities planned for each education stage and cycle are also presented as part of the annual plan. As an improvement action taken in 2005-06, we now use an IT programme to help us save time, especially in relation to secondary education planning. Similarly, on the basis of a benchmarking visit to Jakintza <strong>Ikastola</strong> in 2006-07 and with the help of the <strong>Olabide</strong> ICT Area, in 2007-08 we designed and implemented IT software for staff scheduling which enables each teacher to enter data into the system on the number of hours they have worked (teaching hours and/or training time counted as working hours), and thereby monitor the progressive situation of hours worked per year. These data are subject to the approval of the respective Heads of Education Stage or Administrative Area. Short and medium-term Planning To address temporary situations brought about, for example, by the gradual implementation of education reform (as is the case at the moment with the LOE [Spanish Fundamental Law of Education]), planning is short-term, based on an optimum end scenario. Circumstances often arise which affect the organisation of teaching activities, e.g. the absence of a teacher (leave, sickness, etc.) may negatively affect how classes have been planned on a dayto-day basis. Furthermore, other different circumstances (exams, talks, excursions, etc.) could lead to timetable modifications for certain classes. Any such circumstances are managed by the corresponding Head of Education Stage or Administrative Area. One of the Strategic Objectives of the new SP 2009-12 (Qualification File, Dec. 2009) is to ensure the transmission of knowledge and Values to our people. To this end, a knowledge management plan has been prepared, and an analysis has been made of who is due to retire from the school over the next few years and of the specific knowledge they have. These medium-term staff needs have been passed on to the Process for People Selection and Induction and the required profiles for new candidates have been drawn up. Selection and Induction New HR needs are identified as part of annual planning and managed through the Process for People Selection and Induction. The process was improved in 2006-07 by involving more <strong>Olabide</strong> people in it and forming a Selection Committee comprised of the Head of Teaching, the Head of the Education Stage affected, the Head of the Guidance and Counselling Area and representatives of the Works Committee. The Process for People Selection and Induction is designed to ensure equality and equal opportunity for all <strong>Olabide</strong> people, and also provides for possible internal promotion. For example, in 2006, a substitute teacher was promoted to a full-time post as an IT teacher. Also, in 2008-09, a teacher on a temporary contract in the Area of ICTs was appointed the Head of the Area, and an assistant teacher in the area of pupils with special education needs was appointed as a tutor in PE. Criteria for internal promotion were defined in 2008-09. At the end of the selection process, all job candidates are informed of the final decision taken, and the characteristics of the contract are discussed with the successful candidate (as established under the procedure for staff administration). As an example of process improvement, the profile for science teachers in Compulsory (CSE) and Upper (USE) Secondary Education was changed in 2005-066 to an engineering-related qualification, in line with our specific needs and with the BP objective of promoting and developing the use of ICTs. Since 2007-08, all new employees are received by the corresponding Head of Education Stage or Administrative Area, who explain to them the characteristics of the school and ensure that they understand the general ideas of the <strong>Olabide</strong> approach to education. They are then introduced to their colleagues, who are responsible for providing them with all the help and advice necessary to ensure their work is aligned to the objectives of the school. As soon as they start work in the school, all new <strong>Olabide</strong> people are provided with an IT folder, an e-mail address, a user profile and a personal tutor. Tutoring responsibilities may vary, depending on the education stage in question; for example, at Infant (IE) and Primary (PE) Education levels, tutoring is the responsibility of one of the teachers of the same year as the new employee, whilst at CSE and USE level, one of the teachers of the corresponding department will take on the duties of a tutor. Since 2003 all new teachers have been given a personalised <strong>Olabide</strong> ‘teacher’s diary’ as part of the documentation handed to them on their first day. In 2004-05, the induction process was improved by preparing an induction kit containing all the basic documents on the school. In 2008-09, the need was identified for new employees to receive more in-depth training on the history and culture of the school, the <strong>Olabide</strong> Excellence Management System (EMS), how teaching units have developed, the organisa-