1

CCDG Welsh Language Scheme Monitoring Report Reporting Period: April 2014 - March 2015

2

Contents Page 1. Context 3 2. Compliance with the Welsh Language Scheme 4 3. Front line services 7 4. Management and administration of the scheme 8 5. Welsh language skills 10 6. Performance analysis 13

3

1 Context Careers Wales is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Welsh Government. Since the approval of the Welsh Language Scheme in August 2014, the company has been subject to a second significant budget reduction, resulting in re-structure and reduction in the number of staff across Wales. There have been several significant achievements in the implementation of the Welsh Language Scheme despite these budget reductions. These include:

Key achievements

Introduction of Welsh and English HR policies, processes and procedures.

Development of an online talent management IT system available in both languages

according to staff choice.

Social media and alternative delivery methods (e.g. phone, webchat) available in

Welsh and English simultaneously.

Fully translated and contextualised online job ideas inventory incorporated onto

CareersWales’ website - careerswales.com.

https://www.careerswales.com/cy/eich-gyrfa/gyrfaplws/cael-syniadau/

Promotion of Welsh Language skills requirements on our online LMI sector

infographics. https://www.careerswales.com/cy/golwg-ar-fwyd-a-ffermio/

During January, the Welsh Language Commissioner’s office undertook an assessment of compliance against the proposed standards under the Welsh Language Measure (Wales) as part of its Standards Investigation into Careers Wales.

4

2 Compliance with the Welsh Language Scheme

Progress on Action Plan for Implementing CCDG Welsh Language Scheme 2014-2017

Action Required

Target Date

Progress

3 Planning and Delivering Services

3.1 Ensure needs of Welsh speakers are considered in all aspects of policy decisions in line with WL scheme.

April 2014 and ongoing

Head of Policy and Strategy facilitated discussions with Heads of Department colleagues to ensure that WL considerations are mainstreamed into policy decisions.

3.2.1 Ensure that all staff across all departments receive guidelines about delivery of bilingual services.

April 2014 and ongoing

Series of guidelines produced and included on the intranet. Two presentations provided on Welsh Language Scheme and implementing principles of bilingual workplace with accompanying notes.

3.2.2 Agree protocols on a range of corporate services including internal communication matters and set out clearly what staff can expect.

December 2014

Internal protocols agreed and included on the Intranet.

4 Communicating with the Welsh-speaking public

4.1, 4.2, 4.3

Produce operational guides to ensure correspondence/communication with clients/customers is in line with WL scheme.

April 2014 and ongoing

Guidelines produced and included on the intranet.

4.5 Put protocols in place to ensure that the public are able to contribute in Welsh or English in events.

April 2014 and ongoing

Guidelines produced and included on the intranet.

5 Corporate Image

5.1 Produce Style Guides to include fully bilingual corporate identity.

April 2014 and ongoing

Guidelines and style guide produced and included on the intranet.

5.2 Audit signage across all regions and produce a timed plan for making signage bilingual replacing existing signage where appropriate.

November 2014

Audit of outside of buildings completed in Sept 14. Refurbishment plan currently being implemented. All temporary signage is bilingual.

6 Publications/Advertising and Marketing

6.1, 6.2

Produce Style Guide to ensure publications and materials are produced in line with WL scheme.

April 2014 Guidelines and style guide produced and included on the intranet.

7 Press Releases

Produce guidelines to ensure press releases are issued bilingually.

April 2014 Guidelines produced and included on the intranet.

5

8 Websites and Information Technology

8.2 Assess the need from staff for installing a Welsh Language interface for software used by staff and take appropriate action.

December 2014

Process in place and guidelines available on the intranet.

9 Implementing the Scheme

9.2 Raise staff awareness of their responsibility in implementing the Welsh Language Scheme.

June 2014 Two presentations provided to raise staff awareness – one on the Welsh Language Scheme, the other on principles and individual responsibility for implementing the principles of bilingualism in the workplace.

9.2 Audit the language skills of staff to establish baseline.

End of August 2014

Completed. See Tables 1 and 2.

9.2 Identify the language needs of every area and map this against the current capacity of workplaces and posts, setting a baseline for improvement based on the language skills audit, in line with the Bilingual Skills Strategy.

End of November 2014

Completed. Baseline and improvements agreed in line with % Welsh speakers in population data included in Welsh Language Scheme.

9.2, 9.3

Identify which posts require Welsh Language skills – essential and desirable and use for recruitment and training purposes in line with the indicators included in the Bilingual Skills Strategy.

End of March 2015

Process established for identifying which posts require Welsh language Skills.

9.4 Put processes in place to ensure services by contractors adhere to the requirements of the WL Scheme

January 2015

Currently in progress.

10 Monitoring

10.1, 10.2

Record and report on compliance with measures outlined in the Scheme.

April 2014 and ongoing

Process to be formalised and further refined in 2015-2016.

10.1, 10.2

Report on an annual basis to SMT, CCDG Board and WL Commissioner on progress against targets.

March 2015 Completed.

6

11 Publicising the Scheme and Raising Public Awareness

Provide staff with information and guidelines relating to the Scheme’s aims and objectives.

April 2014 and ongoing

Welsh Language Scheme included on our website careerswales.com. Staff have been made aware of requirements through presentations and guidelines on the intranet.

Publicise the WL Scheme to the public, staff members and partner organisations.

June 2014 Welsh Language Scheme placed on Careerswales.com Resources have been created for use in induction sessions for new staff.

Promote bilingual service available through Careers Wales.

April 2014 and ongoing

This is done on an ongoing basis via attendance at meetings etc.

In addition to the actions contained in the main action plan above, CCDG has made good progress with the following during 2014-2015:

HR processes and procedures including:

Establishing a process for identifying posts requiring Welsh ‘essential’ or ‘desirable’.

Amending the application and interview procedures to encourage and enable the

processing of applications in Welsh or English.

Providing HR policies in both languages on the intranet.

Performance Management

CCDG has introduced a talent management IT system called Halogen. Halogen provides a framework that CCDG can use for all aspects of performance management, including appraisal, goal setting and review, informal feedback, training, learning, development and recruitment. We have been working with Halogen consultants to configure the system to our needs and this has resulted in a system that has the potential to streamline a number of current performance management systems and is available in both languages.

Halogen provides in Welsh and English:

A framework for linking and housing bespoke approaches to recruitment, appraisal, learning and development.

Customised processes and forms, for example annual appraisal, regular performance reviews, ad hoc feedback.

A library of resources including comment helper for appraisals, suggested text for competencies.

An integrated communication system with notification emails. Reference to performance evidence. Facility to report at company, region and team level.

7

3 Front line services During the 2014-15 business year Careers Wales has been subject to two budget reductions which resulted in two rounds of Voluntary Early Release (VER) during which a total of 87 staff left the organisation. The requirement to reduce costs resulted in the company having to lose a range of skilled staff including those with bilingual skills. The VER process required the company to reassess its recruitment strategy resulting in a moratorium on external recruitment with the exception of specialist roles such as marketing and translation. There has been no external recruitment of front line delivery staff, for example careers assistants and careers advisers. This has had an impact on our ability as an organisation to increase the number of staff able to deliver services bilingually. Within this context CCDG provides services in English and Welsh in our centres, where current resources allow for this. As outlined in the scheme, where we are unable to provide immediate Welsh medium face to face services the customer will be offered the option of speaking over the phone with a staff member who is able to speak Welsh. Alternatively we will arrange for the customer to receive a service in Welsh at a different time. If this is not possible, the customer will be given an opportunity to discuss the matter in English or the enquiry will be noted and transferred to an appropriate member of staff who will contact the customer.

8

4 Management and administration of the scheme Explanation of any changes to the governance and internal security of the Welsh language scheme

The senior structure of the organisation was reviewed during 2014-2015 resulting in a new structure being put in place in December 2014. The company’s Senior Management Team now consists of the Chief Executive and four Directors, each with responsibility for key functions of the organisation and reporting to the Chief Executive. The previous Regional Director roles ceased, resulting in significant changes to responsibilities of directors. However, responsibility for the Welsh Language Scheme and Bilingualism has remained with the Director who was previously the Regional Director for North region (responsible for this area of work) and is now in the new role of Director of Service Development. CCDG also has a Board of Directors, with the Chair appointed by the Welsh Government. The commitments set out in this scheme continue to have the full support of the company Board of Directors and the Senior Management Team.

Progress made with the implementation of the scheme is included in the reports to the Board and to Welsh Government.

Outline of efforts to monitor the quality of Welsh language services Following the approval of the Welsh Language Scheme in August 2014, CCDG has focused on introducing and implementing processes and resources to support the integration of the principles outlined in the scheme. Initial discussions have taken place with the Business Improvement Directorate to integrate Welsh language requirements into quality assurance activities. For example during this reporting period an externally commissioned client satisfaction survey was carried out to judge the effectiveness of the telephone helpline. The research involved both a telephone client satisfaction survey which clients were able to answer in Welsh or English and a mystery customer exercise which included evaluation of calls to the helpline through the medium of Welsh. The report identified the need to investigate further the effectiveness of connecting calls through the Welsh option to staff dealing with telephone calls. Further investigations internally resulted in the phone system being reconfigured with the aim of reserving identified staff to support Welsh language calls in order to increase the flow for Welsh calls. We continue to monitor this and are working, within current staffing constraints, to increase the Welsh language resources available to the telephone service.

Sample of monitored contracts that comply with the requirements of the language scheme Systems and processes are currently being developed and implemented to ensure that services delivered by all contractors adhere to the requirements of the Welsh Language Scheme.

9

Number of complaints received concerning the implementation of the language scheme CCDG has processes and procedures in place to deal with complaints and feedback from staff, customers and stakeholders. Complaints received about Welsh language services are dealt with in accordance with these processes. During the business year 2014-2015 one complaint was received regarding the implementation of the Welsh Language Scheme. The complaint was received from a school in relation to English language words appearing on a standard Welsh language work experience confirmation form. On further investigation it was established that the documentation on the work experience database was correct but that the auto translate function on their web browser was causing errors when printing the documents from the database resulting in errors on the printed paperwork. Support was provided to the school to resolve the issue by turning the auto translate function off.

Percentage of complaints dealt with in accordance with the organisation’s corporate standards

This one complaint equates to 3% of the total number of complaints received. The complaint was dealt with in line with our complaints procedure and processes.

10

5 Welsh language skills

Actions taken to improve workforce skills during a period of constraints on external recruitment A range of bilingual resources have been included on the Intranet to support staff to understand the requirements of the Welsh Language Scheme and to reinforce the concept of a bilingual workplace.

These include:

operational guidelines style guides awareness raising resources generic statements for use on Twitter sample temporary notices /signs sample urgent messages sample administrative messages sample messages regarding technical problems sample ‘out of office’ messages for emails standard statements for greetings and thanks Careers Wales approved vocabulary.

Number and percentage of staff who have received training in the Welsh language to a specific level of competence

During the 2014-2015 period no requests were made to support staff to develop their Welsh language skills via formal training.

Number and percentage of staff who have received language awareness training

CCDG does not currently provide specific training in order to increase awareness of the Welsh language. However, a link to resources, for example those produced by Hwb to raise awareness of the Welsh Language and other internally produced resources, have been made available to staff on the company intranet.

Number and percentage of staff in the organisation’s services who can speak Welsh CCDG currently employs 656 individuals. Of these 23% (148) are Welsh speakers (both fluent and non-fluent). See Table 1 and Table 2.

11

Table 1 - identifies the number and percentage of staff in each Directorate and by Region who have indicated that they are able to speak Welsh (based on Feb. 2015 data)

North South Central South East West Totals

Directorate Welsh speakers

Welsh speakers

Welsh speakers

Welsh speakers

Staff in directorate

No and % of Welsh speakers in directorate

No. % No. % No. % No. % No. no %

Business Improvement

2 13% 1 7% 0 0 0 0 15 3 20%

Delivery 57 11% 5 0.9% 20 4%

43 8% 538 125 23%

Development 7 12% 0 0 2 4% 4 7% 57

13 23%

Resources

5 12% 0 0 0 0 0 0 43 5 12%

Corporate (Chief Executive)

1

Secondment (with local partnerships)

2 2 2

Totals 656 148 23%

North South Central South East West Totals

Totals No of Welsh speakers

% of total company employees

No of Welsh speakers

% of total company employees

No of Welsh speakers

% of total company employees

No of Welsh speakers

% of total company employees

No of company employees

No of Welsh speakers

% Welsh speakers

73 11% 6 0.9% 22 3% 47 7% 656 148 23%

12

Table 2- identifies the number of Welsh speakers by role/post (based on Feb 2015 data)

Delivery Directorate Total Development Directorate Total Resources Directorate Total

Business Improvement Directorate Total

Head of Service Delivery 2 Director 1 HR Co-ordinator 1 Quality Assurance Manager 2

Area Manager 3 Head of Service Development 1 Assistant Accountant – Management Accounts 1

Learning and Assessment Co-ordinator 1

Kit Team Manager 1 Project Manager ICT 1 H&S Regional Competent Person 1

Team Manager 9 Policy Manager 4 Facilities Procurement Officer 1

Learning Coach Manager 1 Network Administrator 2 H&S Vetting Officer 1

Team Manager YOS 1 Project Officer ICT 1

Careers and World of Work Co-ordinator 2 Senior MIS Officer 1

Careers Adviser 75 ICT Technician 1

Education Business Adviser 3 ESF Administrator 1

Employer Engagement Adviser 4

Marketing Co-ordinator 1

Careers Assistant 16

Administrator 7

Secondments 2

Totals 127 13 5 3 148

13

6 Performance Analysis

Risks and priorities for 2015-2016 CCDG will continue to work towards achievement of the 2014 – 2017 action plan with a view to integrating and mainstreaming Welsh language services as far as is reasonably practical within current resources. Priorities:

Welsh Language Skills It has been agreed that in 2015-2016 identified staff will be encouraged to take up opportunities to improve their Welsh language skills. Due to ongoing budget uncertainty, it is not currently possible to consider external recruitment. An internal recruitment exercise for trainee careers advisers may be possible and has potential for increasing bilingual careers advisers. There are a number of strategies currently being considered for 2016-2017 dependent on a more positive funding settlement for Careers Wales for example external recruitment of careers advisers with essential Welsh language skills. In the case where funding is further reduced, existing staff will be offered training in Welsh language skills. Careers Wales increasingly uses a range of channels to deliver services including Careers Wales Connect our telephone service, social media, careers wales.com our website, web chat, email and texts. These options provide facilities for services through the preferred language of the client. In addition, face to face services will be facilitated via ICT in 2016-2017. Regional boundaries within Careers Wales have changed during 2014-2015 in line with the general restructure. Baseline data regarding Welsh speakers per region and improvement targets will be reviewed in 2015 – 2016 to reflect these changes.

Monitoring the quality of Welsh Language Services During 2015-2016 we will work closely with the Business Improvement Directorate to formalise the plan for integrating Welsh language considerations into quality assurance processes.

Monitoring contracts that comply with the requirements of the Welsh Language Scheme

During 2015-2016 we will work on implementing the systems and processes developed to ensure that services delivered by all contractors adhere to the requirements of the Welsh Language Scheme.