West Midlands Employers
Helping you make the most out of your people.
Welcome
“Welcome to the WME associate pool. We’re very pleased to have you on board.
This microsite will help guide you through who we are, what we do and should help answer any questions you may have. If you require any further guidance or support, please by all means get in touch with us.”
Our Vision, Values and Behaviours
Our Values
At WM Employers, we advocate for our members, building a resilient public sector workforce and championing the West Midlands. We are a close-knit team and a not-for-profit organisation, bringing our membership together as a family of organisations. We collaborate to create solutions that no single organisation could deliver. Our services are used across the region, in all employment matters.
Influencing Change
Honesty
Excellence
Ambition
Respect
Trust
Our Priorities
Strategic Plan
Our Achievements
Organisation Structure
The WME team is made up of experienced individuals who come from all over the West Midlands area. Click here to take a look at our structure chart.
WME – Who We Are
Our Leadership
We are owned by our subscribing councils and we are governed by the Rules of the REO. We have a representative body comprising the CEO of each subscribing member council who agrees our business plans, budgets and other constitutional matters.
We also report through an Elected Member Management Board nominated from sub-regional groupings covering Birmingham; Black Country; Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire; Worcestershire; Herefordshire, Telford and Wrekin and Shropshire; and Staffordshire and Stoke with an additional member representing the District Councils.
Our Chief Executive
The Chief Executive of WME is Rebecca Davis, who took up the role in March 2019 with a mandate to reposition the organisation to have a strong membership focus with a new Strategic Plan. She has extensive senior leadership experience across the public sector and works closely with senior leaders on finding solutions to the big challenges facing the future of public sector services. Rebecca is a skilled facilitator, conference speaker and a huge advocate for inclusion and female progression.
Rebecca’s favourite saying is “Your past does not determine who you are, but prepares you for who you will become”.
Rebecca chairs the WME Leadership Team and reports directly to our Elected Member Management Board, who represent the 33 Councils that are shareholders in the organisation.
Rebecca represents the Region and WME on the National Association of Regional Employers and fulfils the role of Regional Employers Secretary, as WME is the Regional Employers Organisation.
Rebecca has extensive experience in leading organisations and teams, working with Councils and other public sector organisations on incredibly challenging and highly sensitive areas of work, spanning Transformation, Workforce and Organisational Development. Her specialisms include:
Future operating models and organisational redesign
Future public sector service design and transformation
Recruitment and resourcing
Leadership development
Talent Management
Diversity and Inclusion
Organisational Development
Rebecca regularly advises leaders and Chief Executives on highly sensitive issues and has led many senior executive appointments on behalf of them.
Outside of work, Rebecca is a mom to two small children and is an avid runner, regularly competing in half-marathon events across the Country.
Our People
Here is a brief overview of each service area of WME. More in-depth information will be included in your induction.
Corporate Services
Our Corporate Services team is highly experienced and committed to excellent customer service. We manage the full customer journey, aiming to deliver a great user experience. The Corporate Services Team is responsible for establishing, co-ordinating and managing the full customer journey in relation to all WME services and product offerings. The team also manages WME’s critical business systems, IT services, events, procurement and communications. The Finance Team is responsible for the provision of an efficient, effective and robust Financial Management and Accounting service for WME in respect of all its activities. Together both teams work collaboratively as The Corporate and Financial Services Team.
Resourcing
Coaching
HR & Consultancy
The HR and Consultancy team provide advice, consultancy and training services across all employment matters, helping you better understand and apply terms and conditions, best practice, and developments in statute and case law. Through the in depth expertise and experience of our team of HR, Training and Organisational Development professionals, we ensure a committed, responsive, results-oriented, effective service. We work closely with our national colleagues at the Local Government Association (LGA) and other regional employer organisations to represent the interests of our member organisations and ensure their voice is heard at both national and european level. We also work with these partners on the development of employer policy and guidance across the sector. The HR Service offers a range of services to its members outlined below:
- Independent and Professional Advice on all HR matters within a 24 hour turnaround time in most cases.
- HR Advisory Bulletins to help keep abreast of new legislation.
- Information on Local Authority Terms and Conditions including:
- Changes and developments
- Interpretation on local and national conditions of service
- Detailed advice on the statutory framework covering teachers
- Frequently asked questions library
- Direct provision and facilitating access to high quality and subsidised employee development programmes
- Facilitation and co-ordination of number of regional networks and events
- Co-ordinating and developing responses to National and European consultations on employment legislation
- Provide an effective regional dispute resolution mechanism, where necessary, brokering solutions and agreement with trade union colleagues, including Joint Secretarial interventions.
- Representing the regions authorities on employment matters such as terms and conditions, national pay and conditions and a wide range of employment related issues
- Benchmarking covering market pay data, employment related policy frameworks, workforce information and statistics and best practice
Consultancy Services covering:
- Mediation
- Recruitment and selection
- Job Evaluation
- Discipline and grievance case management
- Training and development
- Investigations
- Interim HR professionals
- Psychometric testing
Leadership & OD
Useful Info & Documents
List of Councils
To access a list of councils in the UK Click here.
Terms & Conditions
To access WME’s Terms and Conditions Click here.
Template Documents
To access the downloadable template documents Click here.
Spotlight On Inclusion Workforce Priorities WMTemps
Once I’ve submitted an invoice, how long does it take for it to be paid?
WME Payment Terms are net 30 days for payment – and our BACS run is timed for the end of each month, so timely submissions of your invoices is essential. We require our Associate Consultants to invoice us for any work that has been undertaken during the month, even if the assignment has not been completed. This is because WME is required to provide returns to HMRC detailing work undertaken by Associate Consultants for operating with a personal service company as part of the off payroll working regulations. We ask you to send your invoice to finance@wmemployers.org.uk within 5 working days of the month end, so we can ensure we process your payment that month.
How often will I receive work?
This is a demand-led service so how often you receive work will be dependent on the type of work that Associate Consultants are open to, as some types of work are more common than others, and the volume of support requests from our clients. WME is not able to provide any guarantee of work but we will work hard to promote our talent bank and secure commissions. If you are short of work, please do get in touch, as it may be the case that there is something you can help us with.
Will I use my own equipment?
Yes, you use your own equipment but we supply a one drive link to where certain data is stored. This allows us to move data around in a secure way without having to attach data to emails. This also helps us comply with GDPR requirements, as some of the work we undertake is of a confidential and sensitive in nature
What Insurance will I require?
WME requires all Associate Consultants to have Professional Indemnity Insurance of no less than £2 million. You must provide evidence of such to WME on commencement and thereafter upon renewal of your insurance.
Important Information
- We ask that Associate Consultants use WME branded documents and email signatures when communicating with WME clients. These documents are revised from time to time to reflect the current WME brand, however, when they are we will notify you.
- Associate Consultants should not commence work on behalf of WME until our onboarding process is complete. WME will not process any Associate Consultant invoices for payment until all of the application paperwork is returned by the Associate Consultant and our onboarding process is complete.
- We require a new/refreshed CV once a year so that we can best understand current Associate Consultants experience and qualifications