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
We innovate within our services and create change in the public sector.
Honesty
We are transparent about our interests and communicate with our members.
Excellence
We strive to deliver a quality service to our members every day.
Ambition
We aim high, making a positive difference through spectacular work.
Respect
We accept everyone as an individual, supporting all our members with understanding and inclusion.
Trust
We consider ourselves your colleagues, so you know you can depend on us.

Our Priorities

Strategic Plan

Welcome to the West Midlands Employer’s (WME) Strategic Plan 2020-25. Click here to find out more about our plan.

Our Achievements

We work collaboratively on many projects to deliver our vision of a more prosperous West Midlands Region. Click here to find out more.

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

Our experienced Resourcing team are here to provide resourcing support and guidance to our public sector colleagues across the region. We believe that people are at the heart of an organisation, which is why we are committed to ensuring you have the tools you need to find the right talent. This requires collaboration, innovative thinking and access to robust systems. The Resourcing team are here as a trusted ally, providing the best products, information, events and services via subscription or competitive rates. WME recruitment offer focuses around 3 main areas: WMJobs Jobs Board Service wmjobs.co.uk is one of the largest public sector jobs boards in the country and the go to jobsite for public sector opportunities. We use market leading technology to support our jobsite, which in turn provides a positive, quick and easy experience for our candidates whilst allowing recruiters to advertise their jobs as and when they need to through our self-service portal. Candidate Management – Talentlink We provide access to a best-of-breed applicant tracking system and empower local management and innovation of this. We provide a wrap-around service centre to support your users via query management and training. Executive Recruitment We are passionate about people and we work collaboratively with you to source the talent you need. We understand every client’s needs are different, and from our extensive public sector experience, we know the need to be able to adapt and work flexibly is key, which is why we offer a completely tailored Executive Recruitment service.

Coaching

We believe in the power of coaching and mentoring to realise potential within your organisation. With a culture of regular coaching embedded, your organisation becomes more adaptable, able to thrive in an uncertain world. We have been championing coaching for well over a decade, and have used this experience to develop a suite of offers to support our members to build skills in their organisations. Coaching also provides an opportunity to network with colleagues. We offer open programmes for colleagues across the West Midlands, as well as in-house courses, tailored to suit your organisation’s needs. Areas we cover: Executive Leadership Coaching CEOs and Senior Managers don’t have people they can be completely honest with about their leadership. That’s where executive leadership coaching can make a huge difference. WME have a number of experienced executive leadership coaches who provide both the space and the appropriate challenge to help leaders be at their best. West Midlands Coaching and Mentoring Pool This is an innovative, large-scale, practitioner-led project that is part of an ongoing drive to improve public sector performance. Over 25 organisations subscribe to the pool, collaborating to provide cost-effective internal and external coaching and mentoring across the West Midlands, with the vision of ‘Enabling people to become the best they can be, whatever the work environment’. Online Coaching In partnership with Coaching Culture, WME are pleased to be able to offer some online coaching with the aim of improving resilience and wellbeing as well as developing people to be adaptable to change. Coaching and Mentoring Training and Development WME have a variety of training and development options to enhance the coaching and mentoring skills of your employees, from basic introductions to a recognised qualification. We have a suite of training options and are able to deliver bespoke sessions at managers’ forums, team events and conferences. CPD and Supervision for Coaches and Mentors Ongoing development of coaches and mentors is important and helps build motivation, skills and to ensure ethical standards are maintained. Supervision in particular provides an opportunity for coaches and mentors to reflect on their practice.

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

In today’s workplace, developing leaders and organisations is not just about increasing what you know, but transforming what you do and the culture within which you work. By viewing leadership as a practice to be developed, we offer regular support for individuals, teams and organisations as a whole. Our programmes are specially designed for public sector and elected organisations, giving you the tools to guide your team. Each intervention provided by WME is designed to offer pragmatic solutions for your organisation. Our programmes are relevant, responsive and reflective, helping you feel confident in applying the skills gained. Areas we cover: Culture and Leadership Your leadership style creates a culture which permeates your organisation, impacting staff outlook, productivity and innovation. Our programmes cover various organisational cultures and focus on the value of coaching as a tool for building positivity and adaptability. Performance Managing performance requires us to strike a balance between compassion and accountability, to reconcile caring for and developing our people while ensuring that departmental and organisational aims are achieved. Diversity and Inclusion Our services introduce an awareness of diversity and inclusion within your organisation, helping you embed both into your structures and to explore unconscious bias. We can also give you an overview of the legal responsibilities of your organisation regarding diversity and inclusion. Health and Wellbeing Workplace health and wellbeing are important factors in the sustainability of the workplace. We offer many ways to support both staff and managers in promoting a climate of wellbeing, managing uncertainty, developing personal resilience and supporting resilience in a team. We provide wellbeing sessions such as laughter yoga and an introduction to mindfulness to give your teams the tools to maintain a healthy mindset at work. Effective Teams and Team Working Whether working across different departments, regions or organisations, effective crossboundary teamwork increases productivity and personal investment in outcomes. We provide training and support for individuals and teams to develop their teamworking skills and work together effectively. General Management Gain the strategic business skills, mindset and leadership tools to inspire, align and drive performance across your organisation. Our ‘Stepping into Virtual Management’ programme includes modules on feedback, communication, motivation, planning, prioritising and time management. Talent and Career Management Developing talent is one of the best ways to ensure your organisation has the leaders it will need for a strong future. We can support you in this with coaching on recognising and managing talent, having career conversations, career coaching and virtual recruitment, and smarter hiring. Personal Effectiveness This is vital to strong business management. Our Personal Effectiveness programme is designed for those who seek to develop further the key skills and techniques needed to build personal impact, emotional intelligence, virtual partnership working and stakeholder engagement, digital skills and negotiation and influencing skills.

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