Update for members in BT Global Services from their IRC

Prospect continues to work hard in BT Global Services, raising issues on behalf of members and working with the business to make it as successful as possible. The industrial relations agenda is keeping your union Reps busy, so here’s a brief update on a few key issues.

If you’d like further information or have questions or concerns you’d like to raise please get in touch. We’re always keen to hear from our members – it’s your union.

Performance Management
We’ve continued to work closely with Senior Managers in BT GS to ensure a joint approach to implementing the agreement on performance management in BT. Our discussions allow us to share best practice, flag concerns and push on this important agenda. The union remains of the view that positive performance management is essential to the success of the company. It helps people to be clear about what they are expected to do, what “good” looks like, and, importantly – how they can develop their skills/careers. But, we know that when the business gets this wrong, it has the opposite effect. So we continue to push BT to reduce the internal “performance management” industry and allow people the clarity to perform well in role. This requires some faith in the process, so it’s important this is fairly and consistently managed. There is a responsibility on our members in all this to understand the agreement and ensure you’re getting it right in your team, and ensure you’re protecting yourself. Our advice remains clear:

• Get your job standards set early in the year.
• Get them agreed and record them.
• Push your Line Manager if this isn’t happening.
• Set objectives at the start of the year – and reach agreement on them.

Remember that DPR marks need to be based on evidence – performance against standards – not on distribution curves or instinct. So, challenge if you don’t think this is happening and let us know if you have concerns. The Prospect Help Desk can provide quick information on the process and advise you if you need it.

GCSO
The Prospect Team had a good meeting with GCSO recently, updating us on the on-going transformation strategy. We hope this signals a more regular dialogue which we believe our members would welcome. We have raised a number of concerns about the pressures on our members working in this part of the business, but had a good discussion with BT which signalled change in the right direction. Although there’s no doubt that resourcing will continue to be a pressure in this area, a renewed focus on employee engagement has to be welcomed. We also understand that there’s increased acknowledgement of the systems challenges and simplification is going to be much higher up the agenda. We know for example that a lot of the performance management up-skilling and training has been focused within GCSO, which we take to be a good sign going forward. As always, we’re keen to hear from our members working in GCSO so get in touch if you’d like to discuss how transformation is going, or if you have a view about people engagement and business improvement.

Early Leaver Window
We have been notified that a small window is open for individuals in BT Global Services to express interest in an early leavers package, along the same lines as recent schemes. People volunteering to go are anticipated to leave the company by the 30th September this year. We are not expecting this to impact on huge numbers but keen to remind members that this is voluntary. So, BT cannot put pressure on you to volunteer, and conversely you can’t demand that BT allows you to go. Please flag to us any concerns about this.

Changes in the National Office
Finally, members may be aware that from 1 July Sarah Ward (National Officer) will be moving to represent Prospect members in Openreach, and Steve Thomas picks up the responsibility for working with the BT Global Services IRC.

Your Prospect Representatives on our BT Global Services IRC

Steve Dickson [email protected]
Mary Henry [email protected]
Roger Pearman [email protected]
Karen Rickard [email protected]
Ian Varnes [email protected]
Laura Trendall [email protected]