Staff asked how to improve Wolverhampton City Council
Thousands of staff at Wolverhampton City Council have been asked to come up with ideas to make the authority more 'confident and capable' as part of a scheme costing £2,000.
Leaflets have been sent to workers as part of the launch of the 100:100 Programme. The project is asking employees to come up with 100 steps in 100 working days to improve things.
But a city Conservative councillor has already questioned it, saying it puts even more pressure on under-fire staff.
Eleven steps have already been launched, including 'Meeting Free Friday' which would see employees take a day back to catch up on work or prepare for the week ahead.
Others include an annual employee awards, health check for workers, tips on dealing with stress at work and generating income from solar panels on council buildings.
Next week, the council's scrutiny panel will check the progress of the project.
A report to the panel says: "The aim of the 100:100 Programme is to deliver 100 steps towards becoming a confident, capable council in 100 working days. The 100:100 programme launched on October 21 and runs until March 24, 2015. The 100 days' timescale takes into consideration the Christmas holiday period.
"For clarity steps means outcomes, small things that can make a big difference. However, some of the steps are projects in themselves."
It goes on to explain the cost of marketing the project.
The report adds: "The £2,000 cost of the marketing campaign for the 100:100 Programme was met from existing Policy Team revenue budgets. Any financial implications associated with projects proposed under the programme will be assessed on a case by case basis."
The city council is looking to save £123 million and earlier this year announced it had to axe 2,000 jobs.
Conservative Councillor Wendy Thompson raised concern about the scheme.
She said: "What happened to the good old fashioned suggestion box? I'm not for putting pressure on staff for them to come up with ideas.
"Some of the suggestions are positive but others like no meetings on Fridays only raise the question, if the meeting can be cancelled why are we wasting time having them in the first place.
"As for 'confident' and 'capable' you would think the council was already in that position and didn't need a slogan to re-enforce it."
