People & Organisation Development __________________________________________________________________________________________________ In response to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, as an employer the City Council had to adapt very quickly to support and assist our employees during a time when the City Council was a key player in supporting the city and its communities. With short notice a lot of work was undertaken to allow for the redeployment of staff. Staff were redeployed to the HSE to undertake important contact tracing work as part of the national response to the COVID-19 crisis. More staff were redeployed to the Customer Service Unit to support the Community Response Forum helpline and the Business Restart programme and up to 125 staff were redeployed to fill Parks Social Distancing Ranger assignments across 18 parks. COVID-19, as a public health issue, impacted on every employee in the organisation. To support the wellbeing of our staff very quickly the People & Organisation Development Directorate created an in-house employee helpline for staff to contact, where calls are taken by members of the directorate. In addition to this a frequently asked questions document was created and made available to staff. Regular engagement with our occupational health providers ensured that we were following best medical advice at all times. A dedicated staff wellbeing webpage was created which detailed all the supports and resources available to our staff in-house and nationally. COVID-19 induction was rolled out throughout the organisation with the assistance of all directorates and a Work Safely Manual was compiled to provide guidance for staff. When responding to the challenges posed by COVID-19 the directorate has been quick to use technology as assist with communicating with our colleagues and service users. In a short space of time the recruitment section has adapted the recruitment process to online interviews and the training section is now also delivering training online where possible. The requirement to complete the return to work form and contact tracing requirements have been addressed using electronic solutions. The ability to communicate with staff is important and again, with the help of technology, a system is now in place where we have the ability to contact staff and a weekly text message has issued since the initial national lockdown.
We would like to thank all staff and directorates for their assistance and co-operation during this demanding situation.
Contact Centre __________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7,984 calls were received by the Unit in April on the 492 4000 line. This is an average of 399 calls per working day. However, while the regular calls to the 492 4000 line reduced slightly in April, the CSU were also handling all calls coming into the new 1800 freephone Covid-19 community helpline. For the month of April, the CSU answered an additional 1,567 calls on the Covid-19 helpline. These calls varied in nature from requests for the collection and delivery of food, essential household items, medication and fuel, to requests for social isolation supports, meals on wheels deliveries, and other garda or medical related requirements. The CSU agents liaised daily with the Community area co- ordinators to ensure that all calls were responded to. This community helpline operated 7 days a week from 8am to 8pm throughout the month of April. The number of call agents expanded further in conjunction with this, thanks to the cooperation and redeployment of our colleagues in other directorates, allowing the CSU to pick up all calls and refer them onwards to our colleagues in the Community section.
3
Powered by FlippingBook