Job summary
The Communications Team sits within the Strategy and Business Development Unit in the Strategy, Performance and Change Directorate. The team has four functions: External Communications, Internal Communications, Strategic Communications; and Editorial and Design.
The Internal Communications team is responsible for overseeing Staff Engagement. In 2020, DBS embarked on a new Staff Engagement journey adopting the Government sponsored Engage for Success approach, focussing on the four enablers of engagement, Leadership, Strategic Narrative, Integrity and Employee Voice.
Working as part of the Internal Communications team, the post-holder will support the Internal Communications Manager to co-ordinate and implement innovative employee engagement initiatives across the organisation.
The post-holder will be required to use a variety of approaches to engage with staff, use data to review and measure the impact of the initiatives and work closely with colleagues in the team to ensure that staff communications regarding engagement are impactful.
Job description
To support the development, delivery and implementation of the organisation�s Staff Engagement plan, monitoring its effectiveness
To support the Internal Communications Manager in engaging employees including seeking and acting on feedback to identify the most effective methods
Undertake research into best practice, maintaining a sound working knowledge of staff engagement and to inform continued development of the function
To support the Internal Communications Manager in developing and delivering relevant and measurable staff engagement campaigns that support the organisation�s commitment to enhancing culture
Plan, design and deliver specific staff engagement events/workshops/training for groups of staff which take account of best practice, specialist knowledge and expertise in relation to staff engagement from within and outside of the public sector
To support colleagues from the wider Communications team to promote opportunities for staff involvement and engagement.
To help manage all aspects of the annual staff engagement survey, working with the suppler to develop the questions, the undertaking of the field work and managing the results and subsequent reports
Work with the Internal Communications Manager to undertake action planning and implement programmes that address feedback/findings from the staff survey and manage the action plan ensuring regular updates to live actions are provided
Research initiatives outside of the civil service which could impact positively on improving employee engagement and make recommendations to the Internal Communications Manager
Facilitate focus groups and meetings in relation to staff engagement and work closely with the organisation�s Employee Forum and EDI network
Oversee the organisation�s crowd sourcing platform, ensuring meaningful topics and conversations are posted and feedback acted on and utilise the full suite of Microsoft 365 products for engagement purposes
Undertake benchmarking exercises which enable the organisation to consider external accreditation for their engagement initiatives
Support staff events as required to ensure maximum engagement (this could include special events, including but not limited to team building, company outings etc)
Person specification
Essential Criteria:
1. An excellent writer, able to write for different channels based on audience preferences, with a track record of producing highly readable writing, a strong grasp of Plain English principles, and a sharp instinct for weeding out unnecessarily complex or formal language.
2. Ability to organise and facilitate large events, meetings, workshops and conferences.
3. Able to work quickly and reliably under pressure, without compromising accuracy.
4. Able to grasp a wide variety of complex subjects quickly
5. Demonstrated ability to build and maintain relationships with a range of colleagues and stakeholders
6. Educated to degree level or equivalent experience in HR, Communications or Business Psychology
7. Experience in working in a communications /engagement led environment
8. Experience of producing engaging communications in a variety of formats.
9. Extensive experience of developing presentations and delivering in front of diverse audiences
Desirable criteria:
10. An understanding of how to create communications that are accessible to all.
11. Experience of working in an organisation with a safeguarding objective.
12. Experience of implementing successful staff engagement campaigns.
13. Membership of a relevant professional body, such as CIPR
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
14. Communicating and Influencing
15. Seeing the Big Picture
16. Changing and Improving
17. Leadership
18. Developing Self and Others
19. Managing a Quality Service
Benefits
Alongside your salary of �32,000, Disclosure & Barring Service contributes �8,640 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.
The DBS offers a number of excellent benefits for its employees. These can include:
20. Generous annual leave entitlement
21. Excellent maternity, paternity and adoption schemes (after a qualifying period)
22. Commitment to the health and wellbeing of our employees
23. Employee Assistance Programme
24. Flexible working opportunities
25. Eyecare voucher scheme
26. Occupational Health Service including referrals for counselling and physiotherapy
27. 24/7 Counselling and Wellbeing Service
28. A with an average employer contribution of 27%
The DBS vision and purpose is to make people safer by being a visible, trusted and influential organisation, providing an outstanding quality of service to all our customers and partners, where our people understand the important safeguarding contributions they make and feel proud to work here. To do this, the DBS is committed to being an employer that is able to attract, develop, retain and engage diverse talent that is representative of the communities we serve, and to be an organisation providing outstanding service to all our existing and new customers, who are diverse and have a range of different needs. We want all our staff to be able to bring their �whole self� to work.