There has been some success in this area and the chart below shows the steady increase in applications from young people from 2012-2016. culture has always been quite traditional with professional experience and academic SEPA’s achievements held in high esteem. Part of our work to achieve this outcome involves changing the culture and the frameworks and processes that support that culture. Currently the majority of the posts in SEPA still require degree level qualifications or equivalent experience and this can be challenging when trying to recruit those in this age bracket. Since April 2016, vacancies have been scrutinised to identify those where the role can accommodate either a modern apprentice or an individual with other relevant skills that will bring value to the post, with the necessary development being provided in house. Transformational change in this area requires job descriptions to be changed and “entry roles to be designed. These changes need to be underpinned by Job Evaluation level” (JE). Discussions on the future of JE Scheme are ongoing between management SEPA’s and UNISON and it is hoped that new job descriptions can start to be developed during 2017-18. The future This outcome is aspirational; change takes time, however we have been successful in both areas, with increases in the women in leadership roles and of young people applying for posts and being employed by us. Those increases have been small and to be able to properly evaluate this outcome, we would like to see sustained improvements over time. In order to do that, the focus of women into leadership and increasing young people will become key deliverables in our new internal organisation focused outcome. Outcome 2 The public, including to and minority communities, will have a better ‘hard reach’ knowledge and understanding of SEPA and our role in protecting the environment. We will deliver this by improving our communications, including our website, making them more accessible, particularly to those with the protected characteristics of race, age and disability, and engaging better with the third sector and communities.
There has been some success in this area and the chart below shows the steady increase in applications from young people from 2012-2016. SEPA’s culture has always been quite traditional with professional experience and academic achievements held in high esteem. Part of our work to achieve this outcome involves changing the culture and the frameworks and processes that support that culture. Currently the majority of the posts in SEPA still require degree level qualifications or equivalent experience and this can be challenging when trying to recruit those in this age bracket. Since April 2016, vacancies have been scrutinised to identify those where the role can accommodate either a modern apprentice or an individual with other relevant skills that will bring value to the post, with the necessary development being provided in house. Transformational change in this area requires job descriptions to be changed and “entry level” roles to be designed. These changes need to be underpinned by Job Evaluation (JE). Discussions on the future of SEPA’s JE Scheme are ongoing between management and UNISON and it is hoped that new job descriptions can start to be developed during 2017-18. The future This outcome is aspirational; change takes time, however we have been successful in both areas, with increases in the women in leadership roles and of young people applying for posts and being employed by us. Those increases have been small and to be able to properly evaluate this outcome, we would like to see sustained improvements over time. In order to do that, the focus of women into leadership and increasing young people will become key deliverables in our new internal organisation focused outcome. Outcome 2 The public, including ‘hard to reach’ and minority communities, will have a better knowledge and understanding of SEPA and our role in protecting the environment. We will deliver this by improving our communications, including our website, making them more accessible, particularly to those with the protected characteristics of race, age and disability, and engaging better with the third sector and communities.
equality-mainstreaming-and-outcome-report-2017.docx