REWARD CONSULTANCY · UK public procurement notice

Scottish Water has a workforce of c4200 employees which consist of employees on collectively bargained terms and conditions, and managers on individual contracts. In the main the conditions and mechanisms in place were created when Scottish Water was formed in 2003. These have served us well but are no longer working well in the present. They fall short of the mark for what we need for the future. Scottish Water is undertaking a period of transformation to which a changed reward foundation is seen as critical.

The changes we undertake will be on a range of reward and compensation themes, and so we believe having a framework of providers with expertise in the various themes to be scrutinised will deliver well and enable us to provide an up to date and progressive reward and compensation offering to our employees.

It is critical that our changes move us towards a culture of transparency where our mechanisms are seen as fair. They must support strong organisational performance and out performance, and increasingly cater for a diverse set of roles with different reward needs.

Any supplier will have to be confident working within a highly unionised environment along with having experience in utilities and public sector. We are also interested in your ability to play in insights from as wide a base as possible.

What we envisage the shape of the work within the themes to be:

•Jobs and Salaries

A refreshed and transparent approach to job evaluation, with updated salary ranges which consider both internal and external comparisons (benchmarking). Providing up to date data sources on which benchmarking can be based. Creating the right mechanism for pay progression. This will be delivered within constraints such as working within Public Sector Pay Policy (Scotland) and cost management principles.

•Recognition

Supporting improved recognition at all levels within our organisation. This is likely to focus on non-financial reward, although funding recognition is a possibility. This could be through embedding recognition with currently existing mechanisms, culturally, and through leadership. This is also likely to include creating new and purposeful recognition digital platforms, that create engagement and energy as we transform. We are interested in how recognition can align with employee and organisational aspirations, such as creating a learning organisation.

•Performance Management

Creating the right culture and system round holistic performance conversations. This will follow the removal of the link to pay, enabling a more holistic approach. New approaches must focus on the value Scottish Water place on our people being flexible in the role they operate, being open to stretch and grow their capability, make the most of our learning organisation, where growth and development as critical to organisational performance as goal completion.

•Working Time and Patterns (Out of Hours Working Arrangements; Shifts; Allowances Supplements etc.)

Helping our business determine when resources are needed on a planned and reactive basis, to deliver in the future. Determining how this would be best addressed by working arrangements, different working patterns which may involve shift arrangements. Determining the options for reward, and the best fit fairest way to reward differently for different arrangements. This will be done in alignment with business projects which will identify new ways of working, likely to require new reward solutions. Joint working on pilots and proof of concepts to test different reward scenarios and see what works best for our business and our people. Negotiation engagement and seeking agreement from our Trade Unions will be critical to success. A successful delivery will lead to improved reliability of available resource with fair compensation for 7 day a week working.

•Contractual Terms

Pro’s and cons of contractual v non contractual payment methods. Methods by which to gain acceptance of contractual change. Collective v individually agreed terms. Terms and condition changes that may be necessitated.

•Bonus arrangements (Annual Outperformance Bonus, and Long Term Incentives)

Support the delivery of effective incentive arrangements at all levels in the organisations over appropriate timescales. Incentivising ethical business performance. For example net zero emissions part of SW Strategic plan, which now forms part of our business performance to which incentives must now be aligned. This must be considered in the context of incentive payments in the public sector

•Equality Impact Assessment

Considering reward implications of changes from an equality perspective. This may include gender pay reporting, and wider people analytics

Nature of work applicable regardless of theme:

When working on any of these themes we may request any of the following types of support:

•Advising on up-to date mechanisms and thinking including pros and cons

•Establishing best fit “to be” reality for Scottish Water

•Providing live examples from other sectors and organisations

•Creating the design

•Implementation consultation and negotiation support

•Honest broker? Arbitration? Negotiation?

•Producing documentation policy and training materials

•Employee Engagement and Training Support

•Data analysis trends and insights

•Other Stakeholder engagement

Scope/Advert Description

Scottish Water are seeking to establish a framework agreement with a number of suppliers with expertise in reward and compensation. These suppliers may be asked to support both, business as usual and change projects within the business. The Framework is anticipated to cover an 8year period, where suppliers could be called upon at any point to complete discreet pieces of work. These themes give an indication of the nature of the work, but work is not limited to this:

1.Jobs and Salaries

2.Recognition

3.Working Time and Patterns

4.Performance Management

5.Bonus arrangements

6.Con…