Union Office, British Telecom, Becket House, New Dover Road,
Canterbury, Kent, CT1 3BB
Tel: 01227 760311 Fax: 01227 815929 e-
Tom Keeney
Director Employee Relations and Resourcing, BT Group
Email : tom.keeney@bt.com
VIA E-
Mr A Kerr
Deputy General Secretary, CWU
150 The Broadway
London
SW19 1RX
8th August 2011
Dear Mr Kerr
PERFORMANCE & SICK ABSENCE MANAGEMENT IN BT
Over the past few weeks we have met on several occasions regarding performance management and sick absence in BT and the purpose of this letter is to summarise the outcome of these discussions.
Before going into the specific issues raised by the CWU, I would like to confirm the following points to bring some context to our discussions:
· BT remains totally behind the letter and the spirit of the Performance Deal agreed in March 2010;
· We remain committed to discussing any concerns that the union has with the way the policies are being applied including the full range of propositions you have highlighted to us from your recent annual conference;
· BT acknowledges that there are areas we can improve upon to ensure the Performance Deal we have agreed is operated in the correct way;
· BT cannot agree to the request by the CWU to remove the current performance management procedure.
You requested a further presentation giving more detail on the data we track in relation to performance management within BT through our CAREagile survey and Sharon Darwent did this at the meeting on 27 July 2011. I can confirm that going forward we are happy to share and discuss this at the monthly performance management meetings we hold at Group level and also within the Line of Business (LoB) discussions we have outlined below.
Progress Made To Date in Performance Management Discussions
I think it would be useful to provide a summary of the progress we have made during our most recent phase of discussions aimed at continuing to improve the application of performance management procedures in BT. I can confirm that we will continue to discuss the issues set out below during the Group discussions set out at Annex B.
Absence Management/Bradford Factor
We have agreed to raise the Bradford Factor to 100 and our systems have been updated to accommodate this and we have communicated this to the business. We have also confirmed that there will continue to be discussions with the CWU around the deployment of our sick absence procedures with the aim of improving the deployment and, in particular, the role line managers have in applying discretion within the process. We have agreed that we will continue to discuss any concerns you have with these procedures and we will update these where appropriate. This includes further discussions about the issues CWU has raised concerning the progression of formal warnings and the mix of repeat and extended absences. To support this we have sent some of the current procedures to Grace Mitchell and, in our view, these set out the purpose of the Bradford Factor, the principles underlining our approach to absence management and the roles line managers should adhere to, including the use of discretion. We will also discuss at a LoB level any concerns that the CWU have in the deployment of the procedures.
Levelling process
We agreed that we will jointly look at the CWU’s claim that the current levelling
process leads to forced distribution and a ‘never-
Continuous Improvement
The CWU claim that the emphasis on continued improvement is unrealistic and that this sets standards too high including the use of ‘behavioural’ standards as a catch all to justify performance management rankings. As we have outlined in the ‘our approach to performance’, we will support everyone to develop and be the best they can be. As stated previously, we feel it is very clear that there are very few, if any, areas of the business which cannot improve performance, but having the correct job standards, targets and supporting processes is a vital part of this. We also feel that it would be beneficial for LoBs to outline to the CWU what continuous improvement means in their LoB as performance dynamics and benchmarking can differ. This will also include discussion outlining the measurement dynamics we use to improve the business and how these relate to managing individual performance.
Use of Compromise Agreements
The CWU expressed the view that compromise agreements are used too widely as a means to move people out of the business quickly and the emphasis should be on improving performance. The use of compromise agreements is common practice throughout the industry and they continue to be used where an individual and the company agree that such an arrangement is mutually acceptable. I can confirm that all compromise requests from team members will receive appropriate senior ER management sign off. Any individual who wishes to consider the option of a compromise agreement will be given appropriate time to evaluate their options before deciding to proceed with any such agreement and we have agreed that we will increase the time for team members who agree to consider a compromise agreement as a result of performance issues or absence to 10 days from the current period of 3 days. They will also be advised of the right to consult with their Union. We will reinforce this advice to our management teams to ensure this advice is provided to individuals before they confirm their acceptance to any compromise agreement. Compromise agreements remain one option for individuals who are going through the PM/Absence Management processes, they are not, however, an automatic right or automatic consideration. There should be no proactive communication of compromise agreements although all options open to the individual should be explained within the confines of the confidential 1:1 performance or absence discussions between managers and their people.
Older employees and long service employees
We have agreed a date of 24 August 2011 for Dr Paul Litchfield, BT Chief Medical Officer, to present to the appropriate CWU representatives the support that BT has in place, or is planned, to ensure we meet the challenge of supporting all employees equally through performance management. We have discussed the attendees for this with you and will advise you of the venue as soon as we have secured an appropriate room.
Displaying Performance Information
In line with our agreement on our approach to performance we have confirmed that we will ensure there is consistency and fairness in how ratings are applied across BT by comparing the performance of individuals, teams and business units whilst maintaining confidentiality. In relation to BT Retail Business and Consumer Sales we will look into your specific concerns and we have confirmed that we are not aware of anywhere else in BT where ‘league table’ type displays outlining detailed individual performance are in use. BT Retail will continue to discuss this with you during the roll out of Together We Will Make A Difference and have already exchanged views on use of performance information. We will also ask each LoB to discuss and confirm with the CWU how we can recognise the performance of people in a supportive manner whilst maintaining confidentiality. Again, if agreement on this cannot be reached at LoB level there will be escalation of the issue to the Group discussions in line with Annex B.
Sensitivity/discretion/capability in dealing with employee cases
We have now extended the performance management manager helpline to all employees and have communicated out the helpline number to everyone in the UK. We plan to capture the data from this service to specifically analyse this issue at the same time as maintaining the confidentiality and integrity of this service and we will share appropriate data on this with the CWU. In addition, the CWU have confirmed acceptance of our invite to visit our case management team to experience the advice and guidance managers are getting on how to manage cases.
With regard to line manager capability, we are constantly looking to improve this and there are a number of initiatives we are running and will continue to run across the business e.g. ‘Practical Leadership Essentials’ which gives line managers the practical skills and knowledge to carry out their responsibilities as a people manager. We also have the ‘Leadership Pathway’ and a number of bespoke LoB programmes to support the continuing development of our management population.
Escalation Process
We have agreed to a more formal escalation process between BT and the CWU of cases which are of concern to either side. This is outlined at Annex A.
We will also use the extension of the case management capability outlined above to appeal directly to individuals and managers to raise issues which are of concern.
Job Descriptions/Job Standards
We have set out our intention to implement a simple standard template for team members Job Descriptions and Job Standards across BT based on the agreed output of the trial we are currently discussing with you in Openreach. Whilst we put this in place we have withdrawn any inappropriate Job Standards which the CWU have highlighted.
Next Phase of Consultation
We have discussed, at length, the deployment of the Performance Deal we made with the CWU in 2010 and the lessons learned in ensuring how we could have better deployed the agreement. We have accepted that the involvement of managers and CWU representatives at LoB level could have been more defined and ensured that the letter and spirit of the agreement were understood. We feel that even though we have made significant progress, as outlined above, there are a number of issues which need to be discussed with the CWU at LoB level and we propose that this is done through a defined consultative process over the next few weeks. The process is attached at Annex B and includes how the provision of information in relation to performance and absence management will be managed at local level as well as an escalation route back to Group level should these LoB discussions fail to conclude a solution to any of the issues which have been raised.
The areas which I would propose these LoB discussions cover will include:
· Deployment of Sick Absence procedures;
· Levelling – frequency and approach;
· Performance measures and continuous improvement;
· Job Standards/Job Descriptions;
· LoB deployment of the Performance Deal – training, awareness and tone;
· Data relating to Performance Management including CAREagile data;
· Future consultations within LoBs.
· Provision of information in relation to performance and absence management at a local level.
The above list is not exhaustive and we would expect any other appropriate performance management issues to be raised and dealt with by either side during the discussions. It would be our aim to conclude the next phase of discussions by 30 September 2011 and this would include any escalation of issues to Group level being dealt with during this time.
I hope the content of this letter demonstrates to the CWU the progress BT is committed to make to improve how we manage performance. I also hope that the CWU will embrace the next phase of discussions including those at LoB level. However, I feel that these can only be successful if the CWU suspend the threat of a full scale campaign leading to a potential industrial action ballot outlined in your letter of 18 July 2011. It is our preferred approach that the CWU continue to work with us on this matter given the importance of this to our business and our people.
Yours sincerely
Tom Keeney
