CIPD people
We exist to promote good practice in the management and development of people. As an employer, we strive to be an exemplar ourselves and are proud of the contribution our people – whether staff or volunteers – make to the success of the CIPD. The crucial nature of that contribution drives us to work hard to recruit and retain the best people for the job. We invest in our people to develop the skills, capacity, motivation and positive working environment to equip us to shape the future successfully.
Our culture also plays an important role in eliciting the full potential contribution of people at all levels. If we are to be the agile organisation we aim to be, anticipating and successfully meeting the changing needs of our members and other customers, we need people who focus on the right things. That means people who take responsibility and use initiative in managing the customer relationship. It requires a 'can do' approach to innovation, adaptability and learning across functional boundaries. To achieve this, we foster a culture of customer focus, openness, communication, engagement and empowerment as core to the ways we behave.
Recruitment and retention
The CIPD employs 311 people – or 289.7 full-time equivalents. Of these, 95 work in senior or managerial posts. Twenty per cent of our staff work part-time.
Seventy-two per cent of our employees are female, including five of the seven directors reporting to the Director General; 2.6% report that they have a disability; and 10.9% report that they are from an ethnic minority.
In the past year, 109 people started new jobs with the CIPD – 29 of these were internal appointments and 80 joined the CIPD for the first time. A total of 48 of our existing staff took up new appointments either through promotion, secondment or internal transfer, compared to 26 in the previous year. Sixty-one people left the CIPD, up slightly on the 56 who left last year. Of the 61, seven were finishing short-term contracts and one retired.
The average length of service at the CIPD is 5.2 years. Nearly a quarter (22.5%) have worked for the CIPD for more than ten years and 39.2% of our staff have more than five years' service.
Turnover for the past year equates to 20.3%, including all starters and leavers – up from 18.4% last year. The CIPD conducts exit interviews and acts on the information they provide.
We regularly conduct an employee opinion survey to assess staff attitudes. Last year's survey was completed by three-quarters of our employees, and 83% said they were happy working for the CIPD – the third year in a row that this figure has increased.
The survey results were particularly positive in the sections relating to the CIPD as an organisation, working relationships, working conditions and training and development. Staff received detailed feedback, including departmental reports.
The survey highlighted the need to do more work in some areas, such as in simplifying our decision-making and other processes, how we work with each other across departments and how we apply our policies and procedures consistently across the business. Initiatives are in place to address the feedback received and we'll be repeating the survey during the current financial year.
Learning and development
Investing in our people is crucial to our ability to deliver our objectives. Last year:
- our 311 staff spent 1,151 days on formal, off-the-job training – 4 training days per full-time-equivalent member of staff – in addition to the extensive on-the-job learning opportunities and coaching that's provided in the normal course of our work
- we maintained our commitment to developing coaching skills in all our managers and supervisors. All new appointees to these posts are trained in coaching
- seventeen of our people were sponsored to start studying for professional qualifications
- ninety-one staff were provided with an allowance to cover courses or other activities that will contribute to their personal development
- a third phase of our Leadership Development Programme began in April, taking in a further 22 senior professional and managerial staff. There are now a total of 76 managers participating in the first three phases of the programme
- Leadership Development Programme participants took part in cross-functional projects designed to meet strategic objectives that encouraged them to engage with issues and colleagues outside of their day-to-day roles and to develop fresh perspectives on the challenges we're engaging with
- we continued our successful in-house customer service National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ) programme. A further eight members of staff began the programme, supported by trained internal assessors and mentors
- we invested in raising staff capability to support our digital marketing and communications strategy, which is crucial in meeting the information needs of our members
- we worked with all our managers to pull together departmental and corporate training and development plans to assist in the delivery of organisational objectives
- we were delighted to be one of the first employers to sign the Government's skills pledge, which commits us to encouraging and supporting all employees to achieve at least a full level 2 qualification – equivalent to five good GCSEs
- overall, we spent 4.1% of staff payroll on staff training and development, up from 3.3% last year.
Performance
Individual objectives for CIPD people are set to help meet departmental plans and objectives, which in turn contribute to the delivery of the CIPD's strategic plans. Performance against these individual objectives is reviewed annually, supplemented by regular interim reviews.
In addition to the performance review system, we operate a development review process. This enables staff to develop their skills in line with the objectives of the business.
Last year, we developed a set of core competences for assessing the performance and development needs of all CIPD staff. These competences cover business awareness, building relationships, continuous improvement and innovation, customer focus, problem-solving and decision-making and results-oriented behaviour.
The CIPD's balanced scorecard has now been operating for one year and is updated quarterly. It reports on core performance measures under the six headings of financial, membership, customer service, online performance, people, and public profile and influence. The scorecard enables all staff to follow performance in these key areas and to share responsibility for raising performance and achieving our strategic objectives.
Volunteer contribution
The CIPD also benefits from many people who give their time on a voluntary basis, and we are very grateful to them all. They include 15 members of the Board who are the CIPD's directors and trustees. We also have 7 vice-presidents and 48 branch council representatives, who, with the Executive Board, form the CIPD's Council. A further 30 people are involved in the Membership and Education Committee and its subcommittees. Over 100 people are members of upgrading panels and many more work at branch or national level to advance our Professional Standards. Members of the CIPD's Nominations and Professional Conduct Committee and the Professional Policy Committee also serve in a voluntary capacity.
In addition, more than 800 people serve on local branch committees. Branches provide a local professional network and are organised on a voluntary basis. The branches run events to support members in their professional development and upgrading, make links with centres offering CIPD courses and enable member networking.
On average, our volunteers spend ten days a year on their various voluntary CIPD activities, though many give much more than this.
We run formal induction events for all these people, and also provide ongoing training and development.
Directors' recruitment and training
Vacancies on the Board are publicised through the Institute's People Management magazine, our website, our regular email update and through the branch structure. Directors are elected by Council or, if Honorary Officers, at the AGM. The Director General also serves on the Board. There are role profiles and competency requirements for Board and Committee appointments and processes for reviewing prospective appointments. There is a formal process of induction for new directors and committee members. There is also an annual development day at which the Executive Board reviews its effectiveness and seeks ways to raise its performance.