Friday 12 November

It's been a tough week this week. On Wednesday we made the announcements regarding which managers are at risk of redundancy. Over 550 across the organisation - about 90 in DOR. The service directors and I led five sessions on Wednesday, by service team to explain why we were restructuring, how we had approached it, and the impact on those managers affected. We then spent time explaining the support available for those affected over the next 12 weeks or so of the consultation process. This was difficult news to share as you can imagine but I was impressed by the professionalism and dignity which everybody showed throughout. I want to also thank the HR team for the volume and quality of the work that they have turned round over the last two months in preparation for this week. Unfortunately I have been through this process before in the private sector and our HR team is as good as any I've seen elsewhere. Well done.

The next few months are going to be difficult for all of us; we are all worried about the future and emotions are running high which is exactly what you would expect. To get through this we need to have open conversations about how we feel, what we fear and what support we need to get through this - from all sources. It is up to all of us in the team to provide that support on an ongoing basis.

Earlier this week I was in Salisbury to see how the move into Bourne Hill was going. It was very impressive to see the new building occupied at last. The new ICT kit looked great and early customer satisfaction data back from the movers shows levels of satisfaction with the new kit and how it works at well above 90%. I want to thank all of those involved in making this new building such a success; the Workplace Transformation Programme team, the ICT team and all those other unsung heroes involved in what is looking to be a high quality, professional job.

Just a reminder that we have our Team Day next Wednesday the 17th. If you haven't booked your place then please do so as soon as possible.

Thanks for reading and speak again next week.

Carlton