Highland Coincillors approve ambitious Talent Strategy to foster growth and innovation
21st March 2025
Members of today's Corporate Resources Committee (Thursday, 20 March) were presented with and approved the organisation’s Talent Strategy and Talent Action Plan These have been designed to support initiatives to grow and retain talent within the Council, ensuring a sustainable workforce for the future.
The Talent Action Plan includes initiatives such as developing apprenticeship programmes, enhancing diversity and inclusion, and promoting flexible work models. The plan will be reviewed annually to support continuous improvement and adaptation to emerging needs.
Chair of the Corporate Resources Committee, Councillor Derek Louden, commented: "Highland Council is committed to building a high-performing and agile workforce that can thrive in an ever-changing climate. By implementing the Talent Strategy, the Council is taking meaningful steps towards achieving its vision of a resilient and sustainable future workforce."
Councillor Calum Munro, Vice Chair of the Corporate Resources Committee, added: “A key element of our future workforce resilience - particularly for the more remote and rural areas within the region – will be in creating meaningful development opportunities for staff. The “Grow Your Own” programme developed in-house for the Health & Social Care Service is just one example of an initiative which could be adapted and implemented within other areas of the organisation to support growth.”
The strategy is aligned with the Highland Outcome Improvement Plan (HOIP) 2024-2027, reflecting the Council's commitment to maximising social, economic, and partnership opportunities. It provides a clear vision for workforce planning, talent attraction, and employee development. In addition, it emphasises the importance of creating a fully engaged workforce equipped with the skills needed to meet present and future challenges.
Related Businesses
Related Articles
The Highland Council welcomes moves by the Scottish Government to introduce greater flexibility on how it could design a Visitor Levy Scheme for consultation. The Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024 currently provides local authorities with discretionary powers to implement percentage-based levies following statutory consultation.
As it looks to set out its forthcoming priorities, the council is seeking involvement from members of the public, including businesses, community groups, parents, and young people. All their opinions are going to be crucial in deciding how Highland Council will take on its budget challenge for 2026-2027.
Thurso is to benefit from £100m investment in education and community facilities and are rolling out the first phase of public consultations on 9 and 10 December 2025. The Highland Council is inviting people that live, work, or study in Thurso, to come along to the public consultation events to have their say; this is an opportunity to help shape the future of Thurso, to gather views and ideas.
A new online portal has been launched to bring empty homeowners together with prospective buyers or developers with the aim of facilitating more properties to be used as homes again. Covering the whole of Scotland, this builds on the success of local pilots, referred to as "matchmaker schemes".
Steps towards introducing a short term let control area have been considered by Highland Council's Isle of Skye and Raasay area committee. On Monday (1 December 2025) the committee heard evidence to justify the grounds for the introduction of a Short Term Let Control Area covering all or part of Skye and Raasay.
EMPLOYERS and educators from across the Highlands have gathered to hear how a new initiative is aiming to transform the region's economy. Workforce North - A Call to Action brought together business leaders and teachers from primary and secondary schools from across the Highland Council area with a wide range of partners geared towards education, learning and skills development at Strathpeffer Pavillion.
The Highland Council continues to call for meaningful engagement from the Home Office over its plans to temporarily accommodate up to 300 adult male asylum seekers at Cameron Barracks, Inverness. It follows an email on Monday from Alex Norris MP, Minister for Border Security and Asylum, to Council Leader, Raymond Bremner, which failed to answer questions raised by the Council or address community concerns.
SSEN Transmission has become the first company to sign up to the Highland Social Value Charter (HSVC), marking a significant milestone in delivering long-term socio-economic benefits for communities across the Highlands. Investment commitments from the company include funding for roads, new homes, jobs, and work for local contractors in addition to a local and regional fund for communities to apply to.
The Highland Council continues to work through the procurement process for the provision of the Wick Public Service Obligation for the Highland Council. We have now entered the preferred bidder stage and have entered a standstill period.
Maps of the Council's gritting routes by priority and policy are available online at www.highland.gov.uk/gritting (external link) The information provided is a summary of reports from operational staff and is intended to give a general indication of typical conditions in each area at a point in time. It is not intended to imply that any individual route is entirely snow and ice free and drivers must be aware that conditions can change rapidly and make their own assessment of conditions for travelling.