Meeting –
30th January 2003
HR Strategies and Recruitment Plans
Introducing the paper, Anne Wheatcroft said that the Agency was
planning to significantly increase its staff numbers over the next
couple of years and that these posts would be filled by a mixture
of external recruitment and advancement from within the Agency.
During the course of the discussion, the following points were
made:
- The VOA would consider offering staff more flexible working
patterns such as four day weeks, nine day fortnights, twilight
shifts and weekend working. The intention was to introduce these
flexibilities on a voluntary basis for existing staff and on recruitment
for new members of staff. However, before introducing any new
initiatives, further discussions would first take place with TUS
and pilots would be carried out and evaluated to test how well
the schemes worked.
- The proposal was to recruit a significant number of staff through
the graduate recruitment process.
- New recruits and staff promoted from within the Agency carrying
out new tasks at a higher band would need both on the job and
structured training to help them perform well in their new roles.
Graduates striving towards their APC and full professional qualification
would require an RICS qualified mentor .
- The importance of maintaining the necessary level of quality
amongst new recruits was noted as was the need to make proper
use of the probationary period so that unsuitable staff could
be removed from the Agency before being employed on a permanent
basis.
Summing up the discussion, the Board agreed that the high number
of new staff needed meant that the recruitment campaign would not
be easy and that careful management would be required. This would
be carried out by the Personnel Liaison Group who would regularly
monitor the success of the recruitment programme.
Project Justification Case (PJC) for Conversion of COVO
Applications into BROWSER Technology.
Introducing the paper, Brian McCormick, Director of IT, reminded
the Board that the project justification case (PJC) had been approved
by the Board when they met in October 2002 and that it was being
resubmitted as more updated and accurate forecasts of costs were
now available.
The Board heard that, compared to the estimates provided in October
2002, the infrastructure costs (hardware and software) had reduced
but the manpower costs had increased as the man days required for
carrying out the conversion had risen. This meant that the estimated
completion date had now slipped from December 2003 to mid March
2004.
In summing up, the Board agreed that the project should continue,
as it was essential to upgrade the existing system.
Process Improvement Project (PIP) – Quality Assurance
in the VOA
Introducing the paper, John Ebdon reminded the Board that within
the PIP project there had been two sub projects looking at the data
required to carry out valuations and, secondly, a review of quality
issues. He sought endorsement from the Board to the setting up of
a pilot exercise which would test the proposal to change the system
from one of quality control to one of quality assurance.
The following points were discussed:-
- Financial Implications – when compared to the current
system of quality control, it was thought that quality assurance
would not result in any additional working costs, although there
would be some additional costs associated with introducing the
necessary IT software. Business Resources were still looking at
the full implications of installing this software and a business
case was being prepared.
- A training coordinator would ensure that training in the use
of the new system was delivered effectively in every group
- the new head of quality improvement would be responsible for
overseeing the testing and subsequent implementation (assuming
the pilots produced a positive outcome) of quality assurance.
The Board gave approval for more work to be carried out and to
move the above issues forward.
Computer Misuse VOA Policy
Anne Wheatcroft introduced the paper which included a draft policy
statement seeking to provide clear guidance on the rules and standard
of conduct expected from all staff using Agency computers and software.
The Board were content with the proposals and gave approval for
the guidance rules to be included as an appendix to section 9 (
conduct and discipline )of the staff handbook.
VOA Property Market Report
Introducing the paper, John Wilkinson said that the Property Market
Report (PMR) had an extremely good reputation in the market place
for providing impartial property information and had a wide audience
ranging from academics, central and local government, major firms
of private sector surveyors, financial institutions and private
individuals. The Report was the only one of its kind in so far as
it provided impartial information nationwide and the fact that it
was one of the most frequently requested publications in the RICS
library demonstrated its prominence in the market place. It was
thought by the VOA, however, that production and distribution techniques
had not kept pace with technology and that alternative, more up
to date methods should be considered.
Having considered the options, the Board agreed that production
of the PMR should continue and recommended that future editions
should appear on the VOA web site in a downloadable format with
a hard copy retained for existing complimentary clients and for
promotional and archive use. |
