Building a new council: HR lessons from North Yorkshire’s transformation

We learned that not every challenge needs solving at once; some require patience, collaboration, and the courage to adapt as we go." 

Trudy Forster
Assistant Chief Executive, North Yorkshire Council 

The HR & OD workstream covered everything from legal compliance to cultural integration. Here are the key areas we tackled: 

1. TUPE transfer 

We worked really hard to ensure all staff transitioned legally and smoothly, with their pensions and contractual terms intact. This was the foundation of trust and continuity. 

2. Employee relations 

We chose to take a proactive approach to working closely with trade unions, especially Unison, building a consultation framework that respected legacy agreements while preparing for a unified future. 

3. Health and wellbeing 

We prioritised occupational health and wellbeing, linking it to health and safety and ensuring staff felt supported during a time of significant change. Ensuring all staff across all councils had access to the same information and services.  

4. Training and development 

From statutory training to leadership development, we created programmes to equip staff for day one and beyond including a new induction programme for all staff.  In the lead up staff at all councils could attend training ran by the county council. 

5. HR systems and payroll 

Migrating everyone to a single SAP system for going live in April 2023 was no small feat but it meant one payroll run, one pay day, and all staff files safely in one place. 

6. HR policies 

We took the opportunity in the lead up to Vesting Day to review and tweak policies, aiming for best practice while maintaining legal continuity. 

7. Senior leadership structure 

Recruiting the Chief Executive in time to be involved in designing and appointing to the Tier 2 and 3 structures was important and required careful planning, pooling, and selection processes. 

8. Resourcing and employer branding 

We built NYC’s identity as a great place to work, with safer recruitment, onboarding, and had workforce strategies in place for different career stages and to manage vacancies and support staff with redeployment where necessary.  

9. Pay and reward 

A new pay policy, grading structure, and job evaluation framework helped us define fair and transparent terms and conditions. 

10. OD and Values and Behaviours  

Worked in the 18 months before going live with staff across all eight councils to get an agreed set of values and behaviours for the new council . Committed to full staff surveys early in the new council which gave some really insightful information along with the little things matter, such as being able to access all buildings, having a desk to touch down on to.