What we bring to Dorset

People are at the heart of every service we deliver at Dorset Council, and Human Resources (HR) are integral to the employee experience. It is our role to enable people to do their best work, with processes that bring our values and behaviours to life.

Combining our experience and knowledge with technology allows us to provide expert insight, guidance, and practical tools to support Dorset Council to achieve greater efficiency, reduce risk, and increase employee engagement.

We deal with every single one of the 4,500 people who work here, so no two days are the same. The challenge is to adapt your approach by understanding different needs so that we can keep people at the heart of what we do and enable our people to achieve great things.

The potential is huge

We are on the cusp of a review of how we operate in HR. We will be considering the way we re-imagine, shape and deliver services to our employees. The potential is huge; reduced costs, increased efficiencies, better use of data and, importantly, making a huge impact on the lives of the people in Dorset.

We aspire to maintain the best employee experience, underpinned by technology, modern employee experience, and efficient processes.

Why we work here

Heather Williamson – HR Business Partner

I enjoy working with fantastic teams and individuals as well as having the ability to positively influence decisions...

Maeve Flaherty – HR & Payroll Assistant

What I enjoy most within my role is building relationships and rapport with the managers and employees...

Emily Gibson – HR & Payroll Assistant

I have been with Dorset Council for the past 3 months and had previously worked in a different sector...

What we are proud of

In Human Resources, we:
  • take care of our employees through our wellbeing, and employee benefits framework
  • are integral to supporting services to transform with new roles and structures
  • have a successful partnership with colleagues and universities to facilitate placement for Dorset’s future talent
  • have recently worked with the armed forces covenant to promote employment opportunities in Dorset
  • promote the uptake of our colleagues using salary sacrifice within our Employee Benefits package, which has doubled
  • keep people management practices relevant in a constantly changing landscape
  • make informed decisions about our workforce using quantitative and qualitative data
  • provide essential support to many schools and academies within the Dorset area

HR in numbers

These figures are from the 2021/22 financial year.
Dorset Council employees

4,567

Jobs we advertised last year

995

HR Services employees

81

What we paid our employees 

£268,595m

HR Services customers

12,692

Pension Fund’s retirees

22,316