Recruitment and retention allowance - GTS

Summary

The requester sought detailed statistics and criteria regarding recruitment and retention allowances for Government Technology Services (GTS) roles, including breakdowns by grade and job descriptions. The Cabinet Office responded with a partial disclosure, providing a specific job description for a Service Desk Analyst while withholding the requested statistical breakdowns and policy criteria.

Key Facts

• The request was made on 2024-07-16 and the outcome was issued on 2024-08-07.
• The response included a job description for a 'Service Desk Analyst - 1st line Support' within the Government Technology Services division.
• The Service Desk Analyst role covers Pay Band 7-10 and is located at Markwell House.
• The authority clarified that the request for information relates to data held at the time of receipt.
• The response was marked as 'Some information sent but part exempt', indicating statistical data on allowance proportions was not provided.

Data Disclosed

• 2024-07-16
• 2024-08-07
• 18 July 2024
• 01/03/2022
• Pay Band: Covers 7 - 10
• 80% of calls within 10 seconds
• 08:00 – 17:30
• 08:00 – 17:00
• 36 pages
• 2 documents

Original Request

I would like a breakdown of the following facts about government pay and allowances: 1) What proportion of GTS job roles attract a recruitment and retention allowance? 1a) If possible, please break this down by grade / pay band (whatever is easiest). If not, please explain why it is not possible and what data can be offered instead about how widespread these allowances are. 2) What proportion of GTS staff members are in a role that attracts the a recruitment and retention allowance? 2a) If possible, please break this down by grade / pay band (whatever is easiest). If not, please explain why it is not possible and what data can be offered instead about how widespread these allowances are. 3) What criteria are used to determine whether a role should attract recruitment and retention allowance? 3a) Who makes the decision that the allowance should be applied? 3b) Is there any review process to determine if an allowance is still needed and remove it? 4) What are the job titles and grades of any role that attracts a recruitment and retention allowance? 4a) Please provide job descriptions for these roles. 18 July 2024 we wrote to ask you for clarification: Please note, Section 10 of the Freedom of Information Act states that a request for information is taken to relate to information held at the time when the request is received. In order to identify and locate the information that you have asked for we need some further information from you and need to ask you for clarification. In particular, it would be helpful to know regarding your point: 3b) Is there any review process to determine if an allowance is still needed and remove it?. Please can you clarify, is this regarding individuals? You provided clarification on 18 July 2024 as follows: 3b) is regarding a position. I don't want any information about individuals. What I mean is if at some point a decision is taken that r position "outlook engineer" (to invent a job title) needs r+r, is that ever reviewed? do all outlook engineers who were given r+r keep it as long as they're outlook engineers? Do all future people hired as outlook engineers after that decision get it? If either of those is no, how is that decided?

Data Tables (90)

Full Response Text

OFFICIAL Isle of Man Civil Service Job Description Date changed: 01/03/2022 Job Title: Service Desk Analyst - 1st line Support Job Family Service Desk Analyst Level Analyst Pay Band:
Covers 7 - 10 Department: Cabinet Office Division: Government Technology Services Location: Markwell House Responsible To: Service Desk Manager Resources Managed:

Job Purpose

Main Duties and Key Accountabilities The primary responsibilities of this role will be to • provide support to our customers for all IT related issues
• advise & respond to customer enquiries • troubleshoot basic IT issues • triage incident tickets to the appropriate team • administer a variety of IT systems

Main Activities Daily The following tasks may be undertaken routinely on a daily basis:- • Responding to contact by customers, quality checking calls as they are raised ensuring that adequate information is gathered and recorded on the ticket logging system. • Ensuring basic checks are completed to provide earliest possible resolution of simple faults, checking cables etc. • Provide basic network support & account administration e.g. password resets • Provide feedback to customers on the progress of calls, and escalating customer concerns appropriately • Pro-actively giving customers updates on general issues or those affecting a significant number of users • Undertake regular prioritisation of tickets • Advise customers on Service Desk procedures, providing appropriate advice and documents e.g. new user requests, etc. • Advising on compliance with Government IT policy
• Develop & maintain Service Desk procedures • Train and advise staff/customers in the use & operation of software/applications • Take part in weekly Service Desk meetings, chairing when necessary • Logging into the Service Desk telephone workflow system to contribute towards reaching the Departmental objective of answering 80% of calls within 10 seconds
• Working on a rota basis to cover the Service Desk hours of 08:00 – 17:30 Monday – Thursday and 08:00 – 17:00 Fridays (excluding bank holidays)
• Liaison with Government suppliers • Ensure 3rd Party supplier progress reports are made

OFFICIAL • Respond to ad hoc progress requests
• Any further duties as allocated by a GTS Manager appropriate to the role

Management of Staff and Resources

N/A

Other Information Good organisational skills are essential and the post holder must be able to work with accuracy and attention to detail. It is very important that the post holder has both a good telephone manner and excellent written communication skills as they will be required to liaise with departments, internal staff and 3rd party suppliers.

A reliable and mature approach to work is needed as the post holder will be required to work unsupervised and monitor and quality check tickets raised.

The post holder will be required to use specialist software and provide system administration. In addition they will be called upon to train up temporary staff and manage the variation in workload.

All members of the Division are accountable for the responsible handling of Government Information as defined by Government and Divisional policies, procedures and guidelines.

Performance Management & Improvement All Civil Servants have a personal responsibility for performance management, and their own personal development. The role holder will also be expected to contribute fully to performance reviews.

Reporting Framework The role holder reports to the Service Desk Manager Management Authority under relevant procedures
N/A Integrity All staff of the Cabinet Office are expected to recognise that the every day business of the Cabinet Office requires the highest level of personal integrity. Each Officer has a personal responsibility to maintain the confidentiality of all Government and client information and ensure the protection of the international reputation of the Isle of Man. Health & Safety

It is the duty of every employee to take reasonable care for the Health & Safety of himself and others including the use of necessary devices and protective clothing and co-operate with management in meeting its responsibilities under the Health & Safety at Work Regulations. Any failure to take such care or any contravention of safety policy or managerial instructions in this area may result in disciplinary action being taken.

OFFICIAL SFIA Responsibilities and Skills – DELETE AS APPROPRIATE - a level should be given for each responsibility type Responsibility Levels
Autonomy Level 3 Works under general direction. Uses discretion in identifying and responding to complex issues and assignments. Usually receives specific instructions and has work reviewed at frequent milestones. Determines when issues should be escalated to a higher level. Influence Level 3 Interacts with and influences colleagues. Has working level contact with customers, suppliers and partners. May supervise others or make decisions which impact the work assigned to individuals or phases of projects. Complexity Level 3 Performs a range of work, sometimes complex and non routine, in a variety of environments. Applies methodical approach to issue definition and resolution. Business Skills Level 2 Understands and uses appropriate methods, tools and applications. Demonstrates a rational and organised approach to work. Identifies and negotiates own development opportunities. Has sufficient communication skills for effective dialogue with customers, suppliers and partners. Is able to work in a team. Is able to plan, schedule and monitor own work within short time horizons. Absorbs new information when it is presented systematically and applies it effectively. Skills
Application Support Level 3 Identifies and resolves issues with applications, following agreed procedures. Uses application management software and tools to collect agreed performance statistics. Carries out agreed applications maintenance tasks.

Security Administration
Level 1 Performs simple security administration tasks. Maintains relevant records and documentation.

Incident Management
Level 3 Following agreed procedures, identifies, registers and categorises incidents. Gathers information to enable incident resolution and promptly allocates incidents as appropriate. Maintains records and advises relevant persons of actions taken

Customer Service Support
Level 3 Acts as the routine contact point, receiving and handling requests for support. Responds to a broad range of service requests for support by providing information to fulfill requests or enable resolution. Provides first line investigation and diagnosis and promptly allocates unresolved issues as appropriate. Assists with the development standards, and applies these to track, monitor, report, resolve or escalate issues. Contributes to creation of support documentation.

Isle of Man Civil Service Job Description Date changed: 28 June 2024 Job Title: Infrastructure Support Engineer - Reactive Pay Band: Covers 11- 14 Department: Cabinet Office Division: Government Technology Services Location: Markwell House 4th Floor and home working Responsible To: Reactive Infrastructure Supervisor Resources Managed: None Job Purpose Main Duties and Key Accountabilities The purpose of this role is to ensure that GTS deliver an optimised level of IT infrastructure service to the Isle of Man Government. Operating, supporting and improving the IT infrastructure to meet agreed levels of availability and resilience. • Be responsible for the support of IT operations solutions and services (physical or virtual) according to industry and organisational best practices standards. • Be responsible for the support and maintenance of the Government-wide IT infrastructure and the recovery of IT services in the event of a service failure. • Provide technical support and assistance to colleagues and projects. • Ensure that service requirements are met and agreed service levels are achieved, reporting on the levels of performance as required. • Contributing to, and maintaining, technical infrastructure roads maps, technical standards and operating level agreements. Duties will include but not limited to: • Acting as a point of escalation for incidents and problems, • Investigations of operational infrastructure application and system issues, identifying and implementing solutions discovered. • Providing technical expertise to enable the correct application of operational procedures, ensuring technical assurance for system upgrades and enhancements. • Co-ordinating with customers, suppliers and 3rd parties to resolve operational issues • Implementing agreed infrastructure changes and maintenance routines. • Facilitating the recovery of IT services following the resolution of incidents. • Providing technical assurance for system upgrades and enhancements. • Identifying opportunities and making recommendations for improvement of IT infrastructure, services and processes. • Maintenance and administration of core technologies such as Active Directory Domain Services, DNS & DHCP. • The practical application of PowerShell scripting and commands to interrogate and manipulate AD/file systems/servers etc. • Management of disk and file shares i.e. DFS namespace setup and configuration, NTFS and file sharing permissions, implementing best practice with regards to propagation and inheritance. • Configuring, maintaining and using Solarwinds to proactively monitor the IOMG estate, custom alerts, actions, views, monitoring packs etc. • Capacity management of all servers on the IOMG estate, to include file, application, SQL, web servers etc. • Actioning Data Access and Data Extract requests using the approved IOMG methodology and to defined timescales. (These are subject to change.) • Ad hoc tasks as deemed necessary by the Line Manager The role holder will be expected to have experience of the following in a corporate environment: • Microsoft Active Directory support and administration (ADUC, DNS, Group Policy, DHCP, etc) • Microsoft Windows Server OS (2000-2019) • Microsoft Servers (IIS, File, Application, Print, Media, etc) • Microsoft Hyper-V and Virtualization Technologies • Microsoft Clustering (Hyper-V, SQL, File Servers, etc) • File Server Permissions Administration (file permissions, propagation and inheritance)

Knowledge of the following in a corporate environment is desirable: • Microsoft SQL administration skills (database deployment, backup/restore, security models, TSQL language knowledge)
• Administration and maintenance of SQL Server, to include failover clustering, backup/restore, T-SQL queries and commands and availability groups. • Microsoft Exchange support, including mail flow configuration, unified messaging, compliance management and permissions using EAC & EMS.

Main Activities Infrastructure operation and management • Carry out the full range of defined tasks associated with operating and controlling the Isle of Man Government infrastructure, both physical and virtual. This will involve the use of multiple hardware and software platforms, and both local and wide area networks. • Apply technical expertise to enable the correct application of operational procedures. Giving support and advice to less-experienced colleagues in all aspects of current and correct operational practice i.e. when new members join the team. • Ensure that all tasks and procedures are carried out effectively and efficiently to meet agreed levels of service or specific requirements of Service or Operational Level Agreements. This will include gathering and recording service level information. • Conduct investigations of operational problems – providing reports and implementing proposals for improvement. Participating in reviews of infrastructure performance, providing advice, and assisting colleagues or other system or service providers to plan amendments and other improvements to infrastructure and its operation. • Using infrastructure management tools analyse load and performance data and statistics, providing advice and recommendations for the optimal infrastructure performance. Where appropriate gathers and records service level information. • Contribute to the planning and implementation of installation and maintenance work associated with the installation as a whole, including building and configuring infrastructure components in virtualised environments. Implement agreed infrastructure changes and maintenance routines, using the appropriate tools and test equipment. Ensures procedures are followed, including those relating to safety and security. • Contributes to the evaluation of risk to service availability, performance, and security from proposed changes and change implementations, providing support to ensure and maintain service integrity.

Management of Staff and Resources

None.

Other Information All members of the Division are accountable for the responsible handling of Government Information as defined by Government and Divisional policies, procedures and guidelines.

This document is intended to be a guide to the general scope of duties and not a rigid, inflexible specification. The employee shares with the employer the responsibility for suggesting alterations to the scope of duties to improve the work situation. This role description will be reviewed and amended as necessary to reflect the future requirements of the Government Technology Services and the Cabinet Office.

Any officer who knows of or suspects a breach of information systems security must report the facts immediately to the Information Security Officer.

The post-holder should have :

• A strong technical awareness.
• Customer focus (at a wide variety of levels)
• Strong focus on communication (written and verbal)
• Influencing skills.
• A logical and structured approach to problem solving and fault analysis.
• Attention to detail.
• Capability to make decisions and understand business impact.
• Ability to focus on outcomes, measurement, quality and continuous improvement.
• Financial awareness.
• Risk awareness for IT systems and impact to service level agreements.

Performance Management & Improvement All Civil Servants have a personal responsibility for performance management, and their own personal development. The role holder will also be expected to contribute fully to performance reviews.

Reporting Framework The role holder reports to Reactive Infrastructure Supervisor. Management Authority under relevant procedures
The delegation of Management Authority for Officers within GTS has been granted by the Executive Director of GTS and: • is to be exercised in respect of

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