Glasgow, Goats and Equal Pay
Here's a great YouTube video featuring a chap in Spain who takes on the somewhat thankless task of trying to persuade a wise old billy goat that Glasgow's WPBR pay scheme is 'fit for purpose'.
Now unlike the senior council officials in Scotland's largest council who were taken in by the WPBR and defended the cockamamy scheme to the hilt for years, the grumpy old billy goat can see right through all the WPBR guff about 'Managing the Jelly Fish'.
So the WPBR salesman gets sent away with a real flea in his ear and if you ask me, the grouchy old goat deserves the Freedom of Glasgow for his stout refusal to have the wool pulled over his eyes.
Glasgow - Managing the Jelly Fish (24/03/18)
Here is the Full Monty on 'Managing the Jelly Fish' - the article written by the external consultant who was brought in by senior officials (at huge public expense, I suspect) to help Glasgow City Council design its Workforce Pay and Benefits Review (WPBR).
No further words of introduction are required from me except perhaps to add that the WPBR has been tested in the courts and that Scotland's highest civil court, the Court of Session, has judged the controversial pay scheme to be 'unfit for purpose'.
Managing the Jelly Fish - Steve Watson
Equal Pay is like a jelly fish; straightforward in concept, slow, and gender neutral. A somewhat amorphous body that has long and difficult to see tentacles. A jellyfish will ponderously seek its prey out, sting, immobilise and draw it into the fleshy translucent centre to feed. However, jellyfish are not inherently dangerous to humans although it is best to be wary of the obvious dangers. Live and let live. Biodiversity.
"Few people will disagree with the philosophy of Equal Pay for Equal Work. Perhaps, the caveat of ‘market forces’ modifies the philosophy into Equal Pay Opportunities for Equal Work Opportunities. The jellyfish of Equal Pay is anesthetising those bravely swimming close in order to co-exist whilst largely ignoring those safely paddling away. The management of Equal Pay is changing with a reluctance to emulate the marathon multi-year implementation projects and an increasing number of tentacle stings. Despite some high profile organisations making a virtue out of their jellyfish husbandry, the public sector is in the vanguard of pain and experiencing such stings as:
Equal Pay is like a jelly fish; straightforward in concept, slow, and gender neutral. A somewhat amorphous body that has long and difficult to see tentacles. A jellyfish will ponderously seek its prey out, sting, immobilise and draw it into the fleshy translucent centre to feed. However, jellyfish are not inherently dangerous to humans although it is best to be wary of the obvious dangers. Live and let live. Biodiversity.
"Few people will disagree with the philosophy of Equal Pay for Equal Work. Perhaps, the caveat of ‘market forces’ modifies the philosophy into Equal Pay Opportunities for Equal Work Opportunities. The jellyfish of Equal Pay is anesthetising those bravely swimming close in order to co-exist whilst largely ignoring those safely paddling away. The management of Equal Pay is changing with a reluctance to emulate the marathon multi-year implementation projects and an increasing number of tentacle stings. Despite some high profile organisations making a virtue out of their jellyfish husbandry, the public sector is in the vanguard of pain and experiencing such stings as:
- Massive bureaucracy out of keeping with modern thinking
- Horrendous financial cost
- Best value implications
- Huge resources required to deliver the project
- Communication issues of logistics and content
- Increasing complexity and constraint of case law
- Conflicts between employment laws
- Litigation by Unions
- Litigation by independent agents
- Equal pay questionnaires
- Freedom of information act
- Protection arrangements challenged
- Compensation payments challenged
- No sign of Government funding for Local Authorities
- Major Unions sued or wary of external litigation
Equal Pay management is surely changing.
Firstly, Equal Pay structures have been designed and introduced driven by the factors of affordability, red circles and green circles. Weird, inconsistent and illogical grading and pay range decisions made that were designed to soothe the implementation stresses. In the future, with increasing requirement to not only achieve pay equity but also demonstrate common sense justification, pay structures will need to be more thoughtfully developed. Pay structures will be monitored through pay transparency and understanding and perhaps tested through the courts. The implementation cost largely becomes an outcome not the controlling feature. This may cause more stinging pain earlier on (but be careful, jellyfish stings may lead to paralysis) but it is good for the longer term health.
Secondly, the Employment Relations scene has probably changed forever. The stance of the Unions, stung by the far reaching potential of the Middlesbrough tribunal, must surely become more cautious. Management now deciding, Unions not siding. Is active partnership still a working proposition? There are suggestions of more aggression in relation to Equal Pay proposals, increased actions taken on behalf of members, rear guard action to mitigate criticisms.
Thirdly, will the apparent success of the independent litigants produce a growth in tentacles? (I forgot to tell you about the jellyfish tendency to group together)
The future of Equal Pay will need to be managed much better. Organisations will adopt a Risk Management approach and consider their options in the context of their own situation. Complacency will fall away as the implementation of Equal Pay inexorably gathers increased momentum through further compulsion and possible increased flexibility of legal requirements.
New Equal Pay project strategies will be formulated
- Is it just Equal Pay or an opportunity to re-organise and modernise?
- Who will participate and with what remit?
- How will negotiations be conducted and with whom?
- What efficient and effective processes will be used?
- How far does ‘transparency’ and information disclosure go, where is the interface between clarity of purpose and detail of implementation?
- How is it best to communicate reviewed pay systems, recognising realities but taking best advantage?
Equal Pay will happen. But be wary of the tentacles and respect its’ right to exist in the vast sea of the modern business world.
Reward Works Ltd
+44 (0) 121 684 1306 +44 (0) 777 180 740116 16 Fountain Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B17 8NL s.watson@rewardworks.co.uk www.RewardWorks.co.uk
Reward Works Ltd
+44 (0) 121 684 1306 +44 (0) 777 180 740116 16 Fountain Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B17 8NL s.watson@rewardworks.co.uk www.RewardWorks.co.uk
So far at least, no one has apologised for this scandal on behalf of Glasgow City Council or offered to resign over what can only be described as a catalogue of failure for the past 10 years.
The question that Glasgow councillors and the city's MSPs and MPs should be asking is:
"How did Scotland's largest council and its senior officials get 'taken in' by such nonsense?"
Glasgow's Jellyfish 'Pay Monster' (20/03/18)
Here is my final selection from 'Managing the Jelly Fish' - an article on good practice and equal pay from the external consultant (Steve Watson) who helped Glasgow City Council design its WPBR pay scheme.
- In the future, with increasing requirement to not only achieve pay equity but also demonstrate common sense justification, pay structures will need to be more thoughtfully developed
- Pay structures will be monitored through pay transparency and understanding and perhaps tested through the courts.
- This may cause more stinging pain earlier on (but be careful, jellyfish stings may lead to paralysis) but it is good for the longer term health.
- Will the apparent success of the independent litigants produce a growth in tentacles? (I forgot to tell you about the jellyfish tendency to group together)
"How much did senior council officials pay in consultancy fees for developing the WPBR?" - they can't tell us, so they claim.
"What were the Terms of Reference for the WPBR and who finally signed off on its recommendations?" - again senior officials claim there are no proper records to explain 'who did what and when' in Scotland's largest local council.
If you ask me, the scandal of equal pay in Glasgow raises serious questions about the City Council's governance and its use of public money.
Glasgow's Jellyfish 'Pay Monster' (19/03/18)
A regular reader is decidedly unimpressed at the 'words of wisdom' from the external consultant Glasgow City Council brought in to help devise their WPBR pay scheme.
Hi Mark
I've just read Steve Watson's take on equal pay with his jelly fish quotes. I can't believe an organisation as big as Glasgow city council used this guy I honestly think the guy was smoking ******* when he wrote this load of pish.
M
More to follow later today - so watch this space.
Here are some more 'words of wisdom' from Steve Watson on how employers should manage equal pay in the modern workplace.
Now what I find astonishing is that some of the most senior (and highly paid) local government officials in Scotland must have been thoroughly impressed with Steve and his 'mastery' of equal pay - because they gave him the lead role in developing Glasgow's Workforce Pay and Benefits Review (WPBR) back in 2007.
Yes, the same WPBR pay scheme that was heavily criticised by three senior judges in the Court of Session, Scotland's highest civil court, who agreed (unanimously) that Glasgow's WPBR is 'unfit for purpose'.
I plan to publish the whole of Steve Watson's 'Managing the Jelly Fish' article in the next day or two, but please read in small doses - because there's a chance you could die laughing if you try to absorb everything in just one go.
At the time of writing this post, I believe that all of Glasgow senior council's officials are still in their jobs but are unable to find the 'Terms of Reference' and other important documents relating to the WPBR - nor are they able to explain how much the exercise cost the council taxpayer.
What a shower.
If I were to tell you that the 'architect' of Glasgow's thoroughly discredited WPBR pay scheme once compared Equal Pay to a Jelly Fish, what would you think?
Would your reaction be: "How interesting" or would it be more along the lines of "How can anyone spout such rubbish?"
Well here's an extract of an article written by a chap called Steve Watson who worked for Hays HR Consulting back in 2007.
Now Steve is credited, if that's the correct word, with devising the WPBR and its complex 'rules' along with the City Council's senior officials.
Although it's fair to say that the City Council's officials have recently gone all 'shy' about their involvement with and responsibility for the WPBR, perhaps because it has been condemned as 'unfit for purpose' by the Court of Session, Scotland's highest civil court.
Glasgow's Jellyfish 'Pay Monster' (15/03/18)
Here are some more 'words of wisdom' from Steve Watson on how employers should manage equal pay in the modern workplace.
- The jellyfish of Equal Pay is anesthetising those bravely swimming close in order to co-exist whilst largely ignoring those safely paddling away.
- Despite some high profile organisations making a virtue out of their jellyfish husbandry
- “Mess with pay and you’ll rue the day”. Equal Pay would be fine if it made the jellyfish smile but despite significant payouts many people are finding the changes uncomfortable.
- Lets be realistic, it’s a jellyfish not Royal Jelly!
Now what I find astonishing is that some of the most senior (and highly paid) local government officials in Scotland must have been thoroughly impressed with Steve and his 'mastery' of equal pay - because they gave him the lead role in developing Glasgow's Workforce Pay and Benefits Review (WPBR) back in 2007.
Yes, the same WPBR pay scheme that was heavily criticised by three senior judges in the Court of Session, Scotland's highest civil court, who agreed (unanimously) that Glasgow's WPBR is 'unfit for purpose'.
I plan to publish the whole of Steve Watson's 'Managing the Jelly Fish' article in the next day or two, but please read in small doses - because there's a chance you could die laughing if you try to absorb everything in just one go.
At the time of writing this post, I believe that all of Glasgow senior council's officials are still in their jobs but are unable to find the 'Terms of Reference' and other important documents relating to the WPBR - nor are they able to explain how much the exercise cost the council taxpayer.
What a shower.
Glasgow's Jellyfish 'Pay Monster' (15/03/18)
More revelations will follow later today about Glasgow's Jellyfish 'Pay Monster' which I wrote about earlier this month.
I have to admit I find it astonishing that Glasgow's most senior officials were taken in by this Jellyfish nonsense and not just because they are (and were) all very well paid, experienced and should have known better.
But the most important reason is that the Glasgow is Scotland's largest council, by far, and its senior officials consider themselves to be at the very top of the class in Scottish local government - the head boys and girls, you could say.
Yet here we are with a WPBR pay scheme for which senior officials claim to have no proper records and which has ben condemned by the Court of Session, Scotland's highest civil court, as 'unfit for purpose'.
What a joke.
I have to admit I find it astonishing that Glasgow's most senior officials were taken in by this Jellyfish nonsense and not just because they are (and were) all very well paid, experienced and should have known better.
But the most important reason is that the Glasgow is Scotland's largest council, by far, and its senior officials consider themselves to be at the very top of the class in Scottish local government - the head boys and girls, you could say.
Yet here we are with a WPBR pay scheme for which senior officials claim to have no proper records and which has ben condemned by the Court of Session, Scotland's highest civil court, as 'unfit for purpose'.
What a joke.
Glasgow's Jellyfish 'Pay Monster' (06/03/18)
Would your reaction be: "How interesting" or would it be more along the lines of "How can anyone spout such rubbish?"
Well here's an extract of an article written by a chap called Steve Watson who worked for Hays HR Consulting back in 2007.
"Managing the Jelly Fish
"Equal Pay is like a jelly fish; straightforward in concept, slow, and gender neutral. A somewhat amorphous body that has long and difficult to see tentacles. A jellyfish will ponderously seek its prey out, sting, immobilise and draw it into the fleshy translucent centre to feed. However, jellyfish are not inherently dangerous to humans although it is best to be wary of the obvious dangers. Live and let live. Biodiversity."
"Equal Pay is like a jelly fish; straightforward in concept, slow, and gender neutral. A somewhat amorphous body that has long and difficult to see tentacles. A jellyfish will ponderously seek its prey out, sting, immobilise and draw it into the fleshy translucent centre to feed. However, jellyfish are not inherently dangerous to humans although it is best to be wary of the obvious dangers. Live and let live. Biodiversity."
Now Steve is credited, if that's the correct word, with devising the WPBR and its complex 'rules' along with the City Council's senior officials.
Although it's fair to say that the City Council's officials have recently gone all 'shy' about their involvement with and responsibility for the WPBR, perhaps because it has been condemned as 'unfit for purpose' by the Court of Session, Scotland's highest civil court.
I've never seen the word Jellyfish spilled as two separate words before, I have to admit, but I've never come across a pay scheme as useless and discriminatory as Glasgow's WPBR either.
Yet the City Council's senior officials say they can explain the cost of the WPBR, the terms of reference for the WPBR or how the WPBR was procured back in 2005/06/07.
I'll be sharing more equal pay insights from 'Managing the Jelly Fish' later today - so watch this space!
Yet the City Council's senior officials say they can explain the cost of the WPBR, the terms of reference for the WPBR or how the WPBR was procured back in 2005/06/07.
I'll be sharing more equal pay insights from 'Managing the Jelly Fish' later today - so watch this space!
