Head of People

About Sacro

Sacro is a community justice charity working to deliver life-changing services that empower people, give hope, protection, and help to build safe communities.  We offer a wide range of direct, innovative services in Community Justice, Community Safety and Public Protection across Scotland.

We are a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee, governed by a Board of Trustees, with day-to-day management delegated to the Chief Executive supported by directors and senior managers.  Our trustees are responsible for setting the strategic direction of the organisation and ensuring delivery of outcomes.

Sacro is a values-led organisation, and all our services are person centred, and trauma informed, based on our principles of inclusion, not judging, respecting people, trust, kindness, empowering people and inspiring people.

We have circa 144 contracted employees.  Our public protection work is supported through a bank of 60 sessional workers.  We deliver services all over Scotland but mostly in the central belt and we have six offices (Glasgow, Edinburgh head office, Motherwell, Elgin, Grangemouth and Kirkcaldy).

Sacro‘s management structure consists of an Executive Team and a Leadership Team.  The Leadership Team includes the Executive Team alongside Heads of Department from across the organisation.  Each directorate is supported by a team of managers who oversee several projects.  Within these projects, staff are organised across Team Leader, Worker and Support Worker roles.  Leaders are also supported by dedicated professional and administrative teams.

We are a leading third sector organisation in the justice sector and the lead partner in a major national partnership delivering throughcare for people leaving prison.  Our reputation is critical to our effectiveness and is shaped by the experiences of those who work with and for Sacro.

An organisation chart at Leadership level is attached as Annexe A and a list of services is attached as Annexe B.

People

Sacro has a People strategy which is due for revision, and we have developed a set of people-based outcomes embedded in our wider strategic outcomes framework.  We are committed to inclusive and participatory ways of working and have created a range of opportunities to include the voices of both the people we work with and our employees in the design and development of services, policies and practice.

We have introduced initiatives that focus on issues that matter most to our staff teams, including Connected Conversations. These sessions are shaped and led by staff, with topics emerging directly from their experiences, ensuring they remain grounded in the issues that matter to teams across the organisation.

Sacro’s organisational transformation is underpinned by three core pillars: trauma-responsive practice, co-production, and equality, diversity and inclusion. These pillars set the expectations for how we work, how we lead, and how we support one another, and provide a shared foundation for our culture, values and ways of working.

Like many third sector organisations, Sacro faces challenges linked to the short-term nature of contracted funding, which can affect job security, staff turnover and retention. Lower pay levels compared to the public sector add to these pressures. In addition, the nature of our work can place significant demands on staff resilience, including exposure to vicarious trauma, lone working and personal safety risks. As a result, staff wellbeing is a high organisational priority.

The Sacro Board recently approved investment in a wellbeing fund for our employees.  This has supported the ongoing development of a staff-led menopause support group, with further peer support initiatives in development, including men’s mental health and carers’ support groups.

Developing our people:

We have recently commissioned a new Learning and Development Framework which will be co-produced with our employees. This work is being led by Nina Rogers of Animate consultants, who will be embedded across the organisation over the next year, working closely with staff and testing new approaches through a series of ‘tests of change’, developing evidence-based recommendations to inform the final framework.

We have a range of established training provision, including:

• Compliance and safety training, delivered by internal Safe Crisis Management and Safe Interventions trainers.
• An online learning platform for short courses e.g. IT security, incident reporting.
• Values-based learning, such as our Inclusive by Intent equalities programme.
• Externally sourced courses, for example on trauma responsiveness and leadership development.

These initiatives have had positive impact, but they operate as stand-alone activities rather than as part of a cohesive organisational plan. What is missing is a consistent, proactive approach that connects learning to our values, our people outcomes, and our wider strategic goals.

The new framework therefore represents an opportunity to create a joined-up, evidence-based structure for learning and development at Sacro. It will support clearer pathways for personal and professional development, maximise the impact of investment in training, and help build a sustainable culture of learning that strengthens both staff experience and the quality of support we provide.