Case Study
Libraries Unlimited
Reward and Recognition Strategy
Libraries Unlimited approached Fitzgerald HR in October 2018, looking to develop and agree a reward and recognition strategy, that reflected the values and purposes of Libraries Unlimited as a charity and their financial needs as a sustainable independent organisation.
Since launching in April 2016, Libraries Unlimited has developed and grown significantly, running 50 libraries and 4 mobile libraries across Devon on behalf of Devon County Council. In April 2018, they also took on the running of Torbay’s library service on behalf of Torbay Council, and became an Arts Council England (ACE) National Portfolio Organisation (NPO). They also run two FabLabs, two Business and Intellectual Property Centres, and a café.
Libraries Unlimited’s Board is made up of the Chief Executive and 8 trustees, and the organisation has approximately 380 members of staff. Due to the organisation’s growth and development, a number of its staff are on different terms and conditions of employment due to the transfer of their employment from different organisations.
Developing a reward and recognition strategy which takes into consideration the nuances of these terms, and creates a package that was beneficial for all staff was important.
The project required a quick and efficient turnaround with the intention to develop a comprehensive report to inform reward and recognition decisions before the Board of Trustees set the next financial year’s budget in early 2019.
What did Fitzgerald HR do?
Over 6 weeks, Fitzgerald HR created a report to inform and underpin the reward and recognition strategy, carrying out several focus groups across Mid and North Devon with Libraries Unlimited staff, the senior management team, trade unions, Workforce and Resources Remuneration committee, and the Staff Forum to discuss reward and recognition.
In conjunction with Libraries Unlimited we designed and implemented an employee survey on pay and benefits which had a significant percentage of respondents, and carried out salary benchmarking for a range of roles, looking at the sector and competitive and mutual organisations.
Using the findings from our research, we worked with Libraries Unlimited to develop a range of recommendations for pay awards, and a recognition and benefits package that was suitable for current staff, as well as to attract and retain new staff to the organisation.
We created a report detailing our findings and recommendations to inform and shape a reward and recognitions strategy that took into consideration the organisation’s needs, we then presented this to the Board.
“We were looking for an external provider for this project, due to limited capacity internally, and it was an advantage to have someone external to support us on this project because of the sensitivity of the topic.
Pay is always a difficult subject, so our main concern was handling the project sensitively. Fitzgerald HR handled this really well; the whole feeling was very professional.
We wanted to gain recommendations for salary, reward and recognition – the whole package. We wanted the recommendations to be rooted in feedback from our staff, so it was important that they were included in the project, and that their feedback helped to develop those recommendations.
We had a very positive experience working with our HR Consultant. She picked up on our concerns immediately, and understood the organisation and what we wanted to achieve. The meetings and focus groups that she conducted to discuss pay and recognition were handled really well, the staff that attended them said they found them very useful.
The feedback on the final report has also been really positive from all levels of the organisation, right up to the Board. The report was clear, and easy to understand, it delivered exactly what we were looking for.
Fitzgerald HR were very responsive, flexible, and understanding of our deadlines and any challenges that arose. I would absolutely recommend them.
There is sometimes a concern that an outside consultant is going to come in and tell us that we’re doing things wrong, but it wasn’t like that at all. Our HR Consultant was very respectful and helpful. I felt respected as a HR professional, and it was really nice to have a positive working relationship – HR professional to HR professional.”
Beth Reynolds
HR Manager at Libraries Unlimited
