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 This week, the Internal Comms team sat down with Abbi Cole, Redbridge’s Digital Program Lead, following her recognition in The Municipal Journal Magazine’s ‘Talent 20’ for digital. Abbi has been responsible for the introduction of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to several teams throughout the Council, which has the potential to radically improve efficiency.
Abbi said: “RPA is key to empowering officers to focus on more value-adding tasks.”
“RPA also results in increased accuracy rates and ability to process a lot quicker, which then has that knock-on-effect on all the other functions of the team.”
“The Council is full of software, systems and processes that could really benefit from RPA.”
Watch the full video interview to find out more about this fascinating topic from Abbi herself and read the Talent 20 list for digital to see Abbi’s feature.
Black History Month 2022 is coming to an end and it is going out with a bang!
Please join us for a fun-packed face to face event on Monday 31 October on the First floor of Lynton House, where the Racial Equality Network will be hosting a Black History Heritage Potluck Lunch.
Come enjoy the rich cultural heritage of Africa and the Caribbean. There will be an exhibition of artifacts, traditional food, and dancing. We will be entertained by a drummer and a musical rendition from one of our colleagues.
Attendees are invited to wear cultural attire and/or bring a food item to share. But most of all turn up for a memorable afternoon!
Find out the details and add the event to your calendar on the Black History Month 2022 intranet page.
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The latest intranet news story discusses the progress that we have made towards our Redbridge Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) action plan. One of our key organisational aims was to support all colleagues with development opportunities, particularly for our Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) workforce.
Many of you were asking for further development opportunities in the latest Staff Survey. Significant planning has gone into identifying apprenticeship programmes that fitted with our colleagues’ aspirations and the way we work.
At the end of August, our BAME workforce made up 60% of all apprenticeships undertaken, with the majority on Leadership and Management programmes. The impact is now coming through with a significant number of colleagues having benefited from this professional development opportunity.
Important players in the policy, such as our Chief Executive, have shared their thoughts on this positive news and the results so far have been broken down in more detail in the full article.
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We are asking people who live, work, or visit Ilford to share their views on plans to create a new Health and Care Centre in the heart of Ilford town centre.
Our plans for the new centre would provide easy access to General Practice (GP) services and a range of health, social care and community services on two floors in the Ilford Exchange shopping centre.
Placing these services in a modern building in a central location with excellent transport links would allow us to meet the needs of the local community better.
Attend our final online information session on Tuesday 1 November from 10am to 11.30am find out more.
Our online survey is open until Sunday 6 November. Share your thoughts!
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The Mayor is coming to town!
Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, will be visiting Sir James Hawkey Hall in Woodford on 2 November for a special People’s Question Time event.
The Mayor will be talking to Londoners about plans and priorities for the city alongside Members of the London Assembly.
Likely topics of discussion include air quality, transport, and policing and safety, but attendees are welcome and encouraged to ask about any topic which they may be interested in.
This is your chance to see democracy in action and ask about the issues you care about, so sign up to get involved! Free tickets are offered to either attend the event in person in Redbridge or watch the event online via a livestream.
Don’t miss out on this great opportunity, find out more information on the Greater London Authority website, or register for tickets for the event.
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Our Chief Executive, Claire, is back with another edition of her weekly video blog (vlog).
This week she discusses the communications changes that have been made as a result of the staff comms feedback survey, as well as sharing positive news about progress we’re making with our Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) workforce action plan.
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We hate fly-tippers as much as you so let’s work together to catch the culprits. We’ve caught one offender a month on average and have seen a decline in fly-tipping at two hotspot locations because we have worked together!
Head to our October edition of Redbridge Wall of Shame and let us know if you recognise any of the offenders caught on camera making a mess in our borough.
If you can help identify any of the offenders, please send any information to the cleansing team.
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Who knew medical information could be so fun?
Last week, the Redbridge Staff Women’s Network had a blast at their event celebrating World Menopause Day. The event offered staff an opportunity to learn how we can cope with menopausal symptoms in the workplace, prepare for the menopause, and be allies to our menopausal colleagues.
Just realised you missed out and got FOMO (‘fear of missing out’)? Not to worry, the event was helpfully recorded by the network and is available to view now.
The highlight is guest speaker Dr Sarwat Bari, a Consultant in Sexual Health, who spoke about menopause in the workplace and why it is important to be mindful of our reproductive health. She also spoke about this year’s Menopause Awareness Month theme: Cognition and Mood.
A lot of information was covered on this important topic, so helpfully you can watch the recording of the event now to catch up if you missed it, or even to reminisce if you did make it!
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Our digital team have shared some exciting innovation news with us!
The Redbridge Digital Team hosted the first techUK’s Innovators Network last week which focused on the introduction of a cap on eligible care costs and the opportunity it brings to transform the way social care works.
The Innovators Network is a forum for Councils to connect with innovators to access the latest technologies to help solve some of the most pressing challenges they face.
At the workshop, Councils and industry experts discussed the newly introduced care cap measure and the challenges it brings to local authorities and IT suppliers who need to work together for a tight implementation timeline of October 2023. In addition to questioning some of the challenges and unknown associates with the care cap, we explored what the art of the possible was and the innovations that could offer a change in how services are delivered.
It was great to see so much shared learning and knowledge exchange all in one room.
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 Learn the surprising secret to speaking with confidence
In this fun and personal talk, Caroline Goyder shares her story of moving from stage-paralysis to finding comfort and eventually becoming her expressive self.
Caroline is an author and voice coach, with a lifelong curiosity about how we find the courage to think for ourselves.
Accompanied by an unusual prop, she encourages us to use our voice as an instrument and really find our inner confidence. Listen to her talk to find your voice and learn to build your sense of self-confidence, something we all definitely need!
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 Attend a talk on promoting mental health
Mental health is always vitally important.
At this special Action for Happiness event, Professor Richard Layard, a renowned author and ‘happiness expert’, will share his personal insights on happiness, mental health, and the future of the world wellbeing movement.
He will be discussing how we can promote mental health and build a happier society, guiding us through what we can each do to support our own wellbeing and be an active part of the Action for Happiness community working to create a happier world.
Register for the event , which takes place on Monday 31 October via zoom.
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Our employee assistance programme is available 24hrs a day and seven days a week.
If you're struggling at the moment due to things like your workload or uncertainty about the future, our employee assistance programme can offer you support, counselling, and guidance through this emotionally difficult time.
Don’t wait for a crisis to happen before you access this support. Staff who have used the programme have given positive feedback with comments such as, “It really helped me”, “I wish I called them earlier” and “I feel so much better now”.
This service is open to staff and their families by self-referring. Call 0800 328 1437 or go to the employee assistance website (password Redbridge).
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