240809Paper3ResourcesCtteeCultureAndValues

Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Paper 3 Resources Com­mit­tee 09 August 2024 Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh Page 1 of 4

For decision Title: Park Author­ity Val­ues and Cul­ture Review Pre­pared by: Dav­id Camer­on, Deputy Chief Executive

Stra­tegic context

1. The Park Authority’s Cor­por­ate Plan 2023 to 2027 sets out a state­ment of the organisation’s val­ues and cul­ture which was developed as a staff-led bot­tom-up exer­cise as part of our organisation’s Cor­por­ate Plan for 2012 to 2015. Our scale, com­plex­ity and com­pos­i­tion of our staff group have changed con­sid­er­ably since the val­ues and cul­ture state­ment were developed and adop­ted. The Man­age­ment Team recog­nised a review and, if neces­sary, refresh of the Park Authority’s Val­ues and Cul­ture state­ments were appro­pri­ate at this still early stage of the cur­rent Cor­por­ate Plan.
2. The revised state­ment of prin­ciples and organ­isa­tion­al cul­ture drawn from this work will help drive the Organ­isa­tion­al Devel­op­ment and People Strategy, as con­sidered by the Com­mit­tee at its pre­vi­ous meet­ing of 17 May 2024.

Pur­pose

1. This paper sets out the out­comes of the staff-led review and refresh of the Park Authority’s Val­ues and Cul­ture for con­sid­er­a­tion by the mem­bers of the Resources Com­mit­tee on behalf of the board.

2. The paper pro­poses the adop­tion of the revised set of prin­ciples and what those prin­ciples entail as appro­pri­ate replace­ment for the cur­rent val­ues and cul­ture state­ments to set the para­met­ers around the Park Authority’s oper­a­tions and behaviours.

Recom­mend­a­tions The Resources Com­mit­tee is asked to: a) Approve the adop­tion of the prin­ciples and what those prin­ciples entail, as set out in this doc­u­ment, as the replace­ment for the cur­rent val­ues and cul­ture state­ments to under­pin devel­op­ment of the Park Authority’s oper­a­tions, beha­viour and culture.

Cairngorms Paper 3 Resources Com­mit­tee Nation­al Park Author­ity 09 August 2024 Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh Page 2 of 4

Stra­tegic policy consideration

1. The cur­rent val­ues state­ment is: ​“The Park Author­ity is an open, inclus­ive, innov­at­ive and pro­fes­sion­al organ­isa­tion that behaves with integ­rity. The Park Author­ity also oper­ates in an envir­on­ment­ally friendly man­ner and demon­strates lead­er­ship in this area.”

2. The out­come of the staff led review of this state­ment is that these val­ues are now seen as estab­lished ​‘giv­en’ modes of oper­a­tion also embod­ied in our staff code of con­duct and do not add value into sup­port­ing the expec­ted oper­a­tion­al approaches and beha­viours of the organ­isa­tion. A reviewed, refreshed and re-ener­gised state­ment of our prin­ciples is recommended.

Stake­hold­er engagement

1. This work to date has been primar­ily intern­ally focused: con­sid­er­ing how we as an organ­isa­tion expect our staff group to go about our busi­ness and deliv­er our cor­por­ate objectives.

2. A focus group of ten staff was formed to lead the pro­ject and to engage the wider staff body. A con­sult­ant was pro­cured to facil­it­ate and draw togeth­er the out­come of extens­ive staff engage­ment includ­ing out­comes from our all staff gath­er­ing last autumn; fol­low-up con­sulta­tion with all staff invited; more focused con­sulta­tion with the seni­or man­age­ment team and intern­al staff equal­it­ies group; and ses­sions with the focus group.

Stra­tegic risk management

1. Stra­tegic risk num­ber five refers to staff reten­tion while risk num­ber six cites the oper­a­tion­al risks asso­ci­ated with the need to devel­op and embed effect­ive sup­port sys­tems with­in a sig­ni­fic­antly chan­ging organ­isa­tion. Mit­ig­a­tion of both these stra­tegic risk ele­ments requires that the Park Author­ity estab­lishes a core set of organ­isa­tion­al val­ues or prin­ciples that echo with our staff and make them feel at home in the organ­isa­tion; that effect­ively dir­ect the way the organ­isa­tion goes about its busi­ness; and that estab­lishes a found­a­tion for our future organ­isa­tion­al devel­op­ment actions to ensure that these meet the needs of the Park Author­ity and expect­a­tions of our staff group.

Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh Paper 3 Resources Com­mit­tee 09 August 2024 Page 3 of 4

1. As such this work sup­ports the mit­ig­a­tion of exist­ing agreed stra­tegic risks. There are no new risks cre­ated through this exercise.

Implic­a­tions

1. There are no spe­cif­ic resource or repu­ta­tion­al implic­a­tions posed by these proposals.

Suc­cess measures

1. We expect this work to influ­ence the out­come of our next inde­pend­ent staff sur­vey to be con­duc­ted in Septem­ber / Octo­ber 2025.

2. These pro­pos­als should also sup­port our work­force man­age­ment strategy actions around retention.

Sup­port­ing information

1. The staff led work has evolved the fol­low­ing pro­posed set of prin­ciples and their definitions.

   Prin­ciples	By this we mean
   Pas­sion and dedication	• We are deeply com­mit­ted to driv­ing pos­it­ive action
   with­in the Nation­al Park
   • We are cre­at­ing an envir­on­ment that is exceptional
   for employ­ees, res­id­ents, organ­isa­tions, busi­nesses and
   vis­it­ors alike
   • We are work­ing towards a place where people and
   nature are thriv­ing together
   Com­munity	• The Park Author­ity embod­ies a cul­ture of openness,
   sup­port, respect and inclusivity
   • Every mem­ber of our team, and every­one we work
   with, is val­ued for their unique contribution
   Our approach to everything we do is driv­en by
   cre­at­ing strong part­ner­ships and col­lab­or­at­ive efforts
   with oth­ers
   Pion­eer­ing	• We aim for excel­lence and our work should always
   serve as a beacon, inspir­ing and enga­ging others
   pos­it­ively
   • We are dynam­ic and bold in our approach, embracing
   cre­ativ­ity and innovation

Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh Paper 3 Resources Com­mit­tee 09 August 2024 Page 4 of 4 |Inspir­ing lead­er­ship| • We are reflect­ive, and com­mit­ted to ongo­ing learn­ing and eval­u­ation • We all sup­port one anoth­er to be exem­plars in our beha­viours and per­form­ance • We trust and respect each oth­er, which fosters own­er­ship and respons­ib­il­ity • By vis­ibly cham­pi­on­ing our exem­plary policies and pro­ced­ures, and hold­ing each oth­er to account, we build con­fid­ence and security|

1. The inten­tion is that these prin­ciples and the asso­ci­ated defin­i­tions speak for them­selves. They should bring clar­ity to help people under­stand what every­one can expect from every­one else, as the Park Author­ity con­tin­ues to grow a great work­ing culture.

2. Our next phase of work through our organ­isa­tion­al devel­op­ment and people strategy will be to seek appro­pri­ate ways to devel­op the cul­ture through appro­pri­ate beha­viours and policies.

Dav­id Camer­on, Deputy CEO and Dir­ect­or of Cor­por­ate Services