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Jointly organised by Local Government Yorkshire and Humber and the North West and North East Employers organisations, the speakers came from a variety of organisations and I caught up with some of them on the last morning.

• 00:00 - 01:12 Introduction.

• 01:13 - 01:41 Mick Brodie, Director, North East Regional Employers Organisation explains why this topic was chosen for this year’s theme.

• 01:59 - 04:52 Dean Shoesmith, Head of HR at the London Boroughs of Sutton and Merton and PPMA Vice-President, shares his insights into what is happening in the Government workplace in America, following his recent trip to the IPMA-HR Conference in Nashville. A very interesting interview with Joe Lunt, the President of IPMA-HR conducted by Dean, can be found on the PPMA blog.

• 04:53 - 07:00 Jan Parkinson, Managing Director of Local Government Employers talks about the challenges ahead and her vision for the shape of our future workplaces.

• 07:01 - 10:44 Dan Jackson Policy, Performance and Commissioning Manager at South Tyneside Council, gives us his view on how local councils can attract the best calibre graduates.

• 10:45 - 12:52 Hilary Brearley, Director of HR at Wakefield Council, talks about their Worksmart Programme and describes the benefits this has brought to the council.

• 12:53 - 21:30 Dr Karen Moloney, Director of Moloney Minds, reveals why men and women behave differently in the workplace.

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Dr Peter Clough, Head of Psychology at the University of Hull has been working with Doug Strycharczyk, Managing Director of Business Consultants AQR, to identify why some people are better able to deal with pressure and stress than others. To help them with this quest, they have developed a 48 item mental toughness questionnaire which measures the 4 key components of mental toughness. They both talk to me about the importance of mental toughness in the workplace.

Doug describes the term ‘mental toughness’ as the ‘quality which determines in large part, how a person deals with stress, pressure and challenge in a workplace or indeed anywhere, irrespective of the circumstances’. He believes the way each of us deals with daily stress and pressure is largely determined by our individual mental toughness.

Mental toughness is an important skill in the workplace and it’s 4 component parts are:

CONTROL, CONFIDENCE , CHALLENGE AND COMMITTMENT

Doug also talks about the benefits of measuring the toughness levels of both individulas and teams, in order to help them perform better in the workplace.

What has become clear from Dr Peter Clough’s research is, that people who are more mentally tough, perform better in high stress environments and not only do they cope better with the pressure, but often relish it.

Peter’s research has also shown that there is a strong genetic component to mental toughness and some people are born tougher than others. However, for those who are naturally less mentally tough, there are techniques available to enable them to deal more effectively with pressure. This is achieved using psychological skills training derived from sports including:

• VISUALISATION

• RELAXATION

• GOAL-SETTING

• BIO FEEDBACK

• GETTING INTO THE FOCUSSED ZONE

• ATTENTIONAL CONTROL

Peter believes that when someone is under pressure, their ability to make realistic decisions tends to disintegrate and remaining calm, means you can deal with pressure a lot better. His view is that times are actually less stressful now that they were 50 years ago, but we are less able to deal with stress. This is because we seem to be scared of stress and it’s seen as a bad thing. In his opinion, stress in not a bad thing, in fact for many successful people, stress is a major motivator and being just outside your comfort zone allows you to develop yourself as an individual. Most people will choose a more stressful career because they see it as developing themselves.

The benefits of having a mentally tough workforce are:

• ABLE TO PERFORM IN HIGH STRESS SITUATIONS

• KEEP MAKING REALISTIC DECISIONS

• OFTEN DRAWN TOWARDS CHANGE

• BE DRIVEN TOWARDS CONTINOUS IMPROVEMENT

• SEE CHALLENGE AS AN OPPORTUNITY NOT A THREAT

The mental toughness of an individual can be assessed and the best way to do this is by using a multi method approach including, experience, interviews in groups, and psychometrics. Although most employers require resilience and general toughness in an employee, Peter believes that the question they need to ask, is do they actually need it.

If you would like to find out more about Peter and Doug’s work you can contact them on 01244 572050 or via the AQR website at www.aqr.co.uk

Listening to the show is simple, you can do it in a number of ways and  .you don’t need an iPod or MP3 player. Simply click on the grey arrow underneath the show heading and it will play through your computer.

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To make sure that you never miss an episode, you can subscribe free via email, or by clicking the orange RSS icon or iTunes button. Each new show will then be delivered automatically to your computer, along with notes about the show, useful contact details and links to additional information.

I would love to hear your feedback and any suggestions for further shows. Either email me directly at karen@publicsectorhrpodcast.co.uk or click on ‘Comment’ underneath the show title and type away.

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Jackie feels her biggest achievement so far, has been to tighten up the relevance of the CIPD qualification and membership criteria, aligning it to what employers need in the workplace. 

She tells us about the HR Profession map, which has been developed by HR Practitioners to enable the CIPD to look at the world of HR at it’s best today and then use that picture, to underpin how their qualifications and membership criteria will be defined in the future. The map is written to ensure that HR professionals understand the needs of external customers and their role in involving employee attitudes to reflect these needs.

CIPD members will be able to match both their own skills and knowledge and those of their team against the map, by using a new diagnostic tool which will be launched soon.

Also in the interview, Jackie discusses:

• The changes to the CIPD membership structure which are due to be implemented next year

• The main challenges facing HR over the next 12 months

• The best way for HR Professionals to deal with the changes ahead

• The long-term effects of this recession on HR

Information about the new HR Profession map can be found on the CIPD website. 

Listening to the show is simple, you can do it in a number of ways and  .you don’t need an iPod or MP3 player. Simply click on the grey arrow underneath the show heading and it will play through your computer.

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To make sure that you never miss an episode, you can subscribe free via email, or by clicking the orange RSS icon or iTunes button. Each new show will then be delivered automatically to your computer, along with notes about the show, useful contact details and links to additional information.

I would love to hear your feedback and any suggestions for further shows. Either email me directly at karen@publicsectorhrpodcast.co.uk or click on ‘Comment’ underneath the show title and type away.

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The show this month focuses on how one Council has managed to buck this trend and recruit 28 social workers with one campaign.

We also hear from Kathryn Kelly, who is managing the IDeA’s campaign to raise awareness of Social Work as a career - part of the LGA’s Respect, Recruit, Retain campaign.

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Lou Carter is Assistant Director of Planning and Performance in Children’s Services at East Sussex County Council and is part of the team responsible for their highly successful recruitment campaign. Lou talks about what she believes has made their approach work so well, including:

• REAL COMMITTMENT - from members and senior management

• GENUINE PARTNERSHIP WORKING - between HR teams, advertising agents, operational managers and staff, is crucial

• STAFF ENGAGEMENT - was important all the way through the process, including talking to candidates and attending job fairs and interviews

• PARTICIPATION OF SERVICE USERS - children and young people were involved in photo shoots and at the selection and recruitment events

• HAVING A TIGHT GROUP WORKING ON THE CAMPAIGN - with a lot of central control

• A GOOD REPUTATION - has helped to attract new people to the Council

• PHILOSOPHY OF LEARNING & SUPPORT - not blame

 Lou’s three top tips are:

• INVOLVE ALL KEY STAKEHOLDERS - including young people and front line staff

• HR COLLEAGUES NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE SERVICE REQUIREMENTS - and work collaboratively, don’t just sit in a remote central function

• HR DELIVERABLES - need to be slick processes that make sure every contact a candidate has, is a positive experience 

You can find out more about East Sussex Count Council’s social worker campaign by contacting Lou Carter, Sally Carnie or Edward Howarth on 0345 60 80 190.

Kathryn Kelly works in the Talent & Skills Team at the IDeA and her focus is Social Care, which happens to be the top skill shortage area in local government. Kathryn believes that a lack of understanding about what social work actually is, may be the key reason why more people do not enter the profession.

Although there is a shortage of qualified social workers and some do leave the profession, a large proportion have not actually left, but have moved their careers in another direction. In order to encourage more to stay as front-line social workers Kathryn’s advice is:

• MAKE THEM FEEL VALUED - by both employers and society as a whole

• DEVELOP MORE TRAINING AND CAREER PATHS - that will allow expertise to develop without the need to move into managerial roles, so they can remain in the frontline

• PROMOTE THE FLEXIBLE BENEFITS PACKAGES AVAILABLE - such as training opportunities

To have the best chance of recruiting and retaining social workers, Kathryn’s view is that HR teams and service managers must work much more closely together. If they don’t, then the current problems will continue.

Click here to find out more about the LGA’s Respect, Recruit, Retain campaign. If you would like more information about the IDeA’s work in this area go www.idea.gov.uk  or www.LGcareers.com You can also get help and advice about recruiting social workers from www.socialworkcareers.co.uk

Listening to the show is simple, you can do it in a number of ways and you don’t need an iPod or MP3 player. Simply click on the grey arrow underneath the show heading and it will play through your computer.

Alternatively, you can easily download the file and listen to it later, or transfer it onto an MP3 player, just right click on ‘Download’ and select ‘Save Target As…’ The show can also be played on iTunes.

To make sure that you never miss an episode, you can subscribe free via email, or by clicking the orange RSS icon or iTunes button. Each new show will then be delivered automatically to your computer, along with notes about the show, useful contact details and links to additional information.

I would love to hear your feedback and any suggestions for further shows. Either email me directly at karen@publicsectorhrpodcast.co.uk or click on ‘Comment’ underneath the show title and type away.

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The theme of the conference was Purpose, Passion and Performance with a focus on how to drive an organisation through the downturn and into the future. There was a wide variety of speakers, from a range of organisations and the highlight of the event was a session given by Leadership and HR guru, David Ulrich.

Throughout the three days, I caught up with a selection of the speakers, starting with the incoming PPMA President, Gillian Hibberd.

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• 00:00 - 00:47 Introduction.

• 00:48 - 05:39 PPMA President Gillian Hibberd, tells us about the theme of the conference and her objectives for the organisation over the coming year.

• 05:40 - 08:28 Stephen Taylor, from Taylor Haig, explains what the place shaping agenda is and how it can make a difference.

• 08:20 - 10:18 Catherine Doherty, Director from Fields of Learning, talks about charisma and how valuable it is in people management.

• 10:19 - 13:19 Russell Chalmers, Chief Executive of the Holst Group, explains how De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats can help with creativity, productivity and effectiveness in the workplace.

• 13:20 - 14:33 Doug Strycharczyk, Managing Director of AQR and Dr Peter Clough, Head of Psychology at the University of Hull, talk about the importance of needing mental toughness, in order to deal with stress, pressure and challenge. 

• 15:00 - 16:00 Dave Ulrich is Professor of Business at the Univesity of Michigan and author of 15 books. He shares the three key things he would like people to take away from his session.

• 16:01 - 17:48 Vance Kearney, Vice President (EMEA), Oracle, talks about preparing for a downturn.

• 17:49 - 20:06 Claire Jones, Managing Director Inspiria Consulting, talks about how to communicate more effectively and the impact of poor communications.

• 20:07 - 21:40 Mandy Coalter, HR and OD Director and Mark Goldman, Chief Executive of the Heart of England NHS Trust, explain more about their succesful ’Moving Together’ programme.

• 22:10 - 23:57 Jackie Orme, Chief Executive CIPD, shares her views on the future for HR.

• 23:58 - 26:57 David Fairhurst, Senior Vice President, McDonald’s Restaurants, talks about the importance of engaging your workforce, particularly in a downturn.

• 26:58 - 27:53 Stephen Moir, outgoing PPMA President, tells us about the highlights of his presidential year.

• 27:54 - 29:31 Dean Shoesmith, PPMA Vice-President, gives us his view on the conference.

• 29:32 - 30:21 Gillian Hibberd, PPMA President, closes the show with her thoughts on the conference.

To find out more about the PPMA, go to www.ppma.org.uk or visit their blog at www.ppmablog.org.uk

Listening to the show is simple, you can do it in a number of ways and you don’t need an iPod or MP3 player. Simply click on the grey arrow underneath the show heading and it will play through your computer.

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To make sure that you never miss an episode, you can subscribe free via email, or by clicking the orange RSS icon or iTunes button. Each new show will then be delivered automatically to your computer, along with notes about the show, useful contact details and links to additional information.

I would love to hear your feedback and any suggestions for further shows. Either email me directly at karen@publicsectorhrpodcast.co.uk or click on ‘Comment’ underneath the show title and type away.

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This month’s show looks at apprenticeships from a number of different perspectives. We hear from the Government department responsible for apprenticeships, the newly set up National Apprenticeship Service, an employer who has recruited over 100 apprentices in 100 days and two ‘Apprentices of the Year’.

My first guest is Ian Watmore, who is currently the Permanent Secretary for the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and he talks to me about why the Government is focusing heavily on apprenticeships and his plans for recruiting more apprentices into the Civil Service.

Next up is David Way from the National Apprenticeship Service, which came into being on 1st April this year. David tells me why the service was set up and what support they are able to offer.

Following David, Sue Williams from Knowsley Council shares some of the secrets of their highly successful apprenticeship scheme, as well as giving some tips how to recruit and retain the best calibre apprentices.

Finally, we hear from two apprentices who have both achieved the accolade of ‘Apprentice of the Year’. Kirsten Taylor is an apprentice with North West Employers Organisation and Warrington Council’s ’Apprentice of the Year’ and Amy Eddleston is an apprentice with Bramall Construction and is Women in Construction ‘Apprentice of the Year’. They both talk about what prompted them to join their organisations, what they like best about their schemes and their plans for the future. 

To play Kirsten’s quick video message, click in the middle of screen below.

To play Amy’s quick video message, click in the middle of screen below.

Listening to the show is simple, you can do it in a number of ways and you don’t need an iPod or MP3 player. Simply click on the grey arrow underneath the show heading and it will play through your computer.

Alternatively, you can easily download the file and listen to it later, or transfer it onto an MP3 player, just right click on ‘Download’ and select ‘Save Target As…’ The show can also be played on iTunes.

To make sure that you never miss an episode, you can subscribe free via email, or by clicking the orange RSS icon or iTunes button. Each new show will then be delivered automatically to your computer, along with notes about the show, useful contact details and links to additional information.

I would love to hear your feedback and any suggestions for further shows. Either email me directly at karen@publicsectorhrpodcast.co.uk or click on ‘Comment’ underneath the show title and type away.

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In this month’s show, we look at the results of APSE’s research to find out why some councils are finding insourcing a realistic service delivery option. Paul O’Brien is Chief Executive of APSE and he talks to me about the reasons for conducting the research and highlights some of it’s key findings.

Over 50 case studies were examined in the research and Paul explains that one of the key reasons they undertook the project, is that there were plenty of examples and anecdotal evidence around, to indicate that this was happening more regularly and APSE members were very interested to find out more.

To reinforce this, he also came across a research report by Deloitte which identified that a lot of large American companies were bringing services back in-house. And finally, he wanted authorities to know that there is a credible option to outsourcing, which may not be the panacea that people think it is.

Key findings from the research are:

• THE PRIMARY REASON FOR INSOURCING IS POOR PERFORMANCE

• INSOURCED TEAMS PROVIDE BETTER QUALITY AND VALUE FOR MONEY

• NATIONAL AND LOCAL POLICY AGENDAS HAVE CHANGED 

• WORKFORCE ISSUES ARE IDENTIFIED, SUCH AS POORER TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND LACK OF TRAINING AND CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

• INSOURCING IS HAPPENING ACROSS ALL SERVICE AREAS

• IT’S HAPPENING FOR PRACTICLE REASONS, NOT IDEALOGICAL ONES

According to Paul, some of the most high profile outsourcing failures is in HR and consequently, this is one of the most likely services to be brought back in-house. His advice to any HR practitioner who’s facing the prospect of insourcing is:

• INVOLVE THE TRADE UNIONS AT THE EARLIEST STAGE POSSIBLE - make them aware of what you are planning to do

• CONSIDER THE CULTURAL IMPACT - ensure a ‘them and us’ culture does not arise

• HARMONISE TERMS AND CONDITIONS - between your existing workforce and those coming back to you

• COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY WITH THE WORKFORCE - manage by informing people, not by rumor

To play Paul’s quick video message, click in the middle of screen below.

Over 700 copies of the report have already been sold and if you would like a copy, contact APSE on 0161 772 1810 or email enquiries@apse.org.uk for more information on APSE go to www.apse.org.uk

Listening to the show is simple, you can do it in a number of ways and you don’t need an iPod or MP3 player. Simply click on the grey arrow underneath the show heading and it will play through your computer.

Alternatively, you can easily download the file and listen to it later, or transfer it onto an MP3 player, just right click on ‘Download’ and select ‘Save Target As…’ The show can also be played on iTunes.

To make sure that you never miss an episode, you can subscribe free via email, or by clicking the orange RSS icon or iTunes button. Each new show will then be delivered automatically to your computer, along with notes about the show, useful contact details and links to additional information.

I would love to hear your feedback and any suggestions for further shows. Either email me directly at karen@publicsectorhrpodcast.co.uk or click on ‘Comment’ underneath the show title and type away.

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The first part of this month’s show, explores what this will mean for public sector employers. We then take a fascinating look at the workplaces of the future.

My first guest in Andy Lake who is Editor of the on-line business journal, Flexibility. Andy believes that this extension, which will now include parents with children under the age of 16, is quite limited and is in fact, discriminatory. He also thinks that it is of no help to people who are out of work.

Andy’s experience shows that organisations tend to respond to flexible working at three levels and these are:

1. GETTING A POLICY IN PLACE TO DEAL WITH THE RIGHT TO REQUEST - this reactive approach tends to be used by most public sector organisations

2. TAKING A MORE STRATEGIC APPROACH - moving away from seeing flexible work as exceptional and treating it as more normal

3. MOVING BEYOND THE FAMILY FRIENDLY APPROACH - thinking how flexible working can make organisations work and use their resources much better

His advice to HR Practitioners is:

• ADOPT A CAN-DO POLICY - be proactive rather than reactive and promote flexible working as a good way of working

• ALIGN FLEXIBLE WORKING WITH OTHER NEEDS - e.g. working hours with when customers actually want to talk to you

• LOOK AT THE TASKS IN PEOPLE’S WORK - can they be done more flexibly and efficiently

• GET TOGETHER WITH COLLEAGUES FROM OTHER DEPARTMENTS -  to develop a comprehensive approach to ’smart’ working

• LOOK CLOSELY AT RECRUITMENT POLICIES - when people apply, consider how an applicant can suggest more flexible ways of working without that scuppering their application

• TAKE FLEXIBLE WORKING AWAY FROM THE ‘MUMMY’ TRACK - so that it applies to all people

You can find out more about flexible working at www.flexibility.co.uk or you can contact Andy directly, on 01223 304792 or email him at andy.lake@flexibility.co.uk where he can also put you in touch with the Smart Work Network

Bridget Hardy is my next guest. Bridget works for the Government Estates Division of the Office of Government Commerce, which is part of HM Treasury. Her job is to make the government’s estates more efficient, effective and sustainable and as part of this role, she has co-authored a book - ‘Working Beyond Walls’.

Interestingly, the book explores the role of the workplace as an agent for change and describes the vision for the workplaces of the future. It also presents the issues people are going to have to tackle when they’re thinking about changes within their own organisations. These include:

• PEOPLE WORKING IN DIFFERENT WAYS

• INNOVATIVE USE OF WORKSPACES

• FLEXIBLE AND MOBILE WORKING PRACTICES

• MUCH MORE REGIONALLY DISTRIBUTED WORKPLACES

• CLUSTERING OF DIFFERENT GOVERNMENT BRANCHES, USING SPACE MORE FLEXIBLY

Key lessons that came out of the study, which formed part of the research for the book, highlighted the need for a senior strategic workplace manager to lead the changes and ensure they are properly embedded. It also emphasised the importance of a change management process, when dealing with people.

Bridget’s advice to HR Professionals is:

• INTERGRATE MORE WITH PEOPLE DEALING WITH FACILITIES, ICT AND THE BUSINESS - have a regular dialogue and get involved in understanding what you can do together to support the workforce

• GO TO CONFERENCES -  to learn more about things other than the HR profession

• UNDERTAKE STAFF SURVEYS -  to establish what makes people choose an employer

• VOLUNTEER TO PILOT A CHANGE LIKE THIS - if the opportunity arises

• GET TO KNOW TEENAGERS - to understand better what you are going to have to provide in the future 

The Working Beyond Walls book is available to download free from the OGC website www.ogc.gov.uk or for a free hard copy, contact the OGC Service Desk on 0845 0004999 or email servicedesk@ogc.gsi.gov.uk

Listening to the show is simple, you can do it in a number of ways and you don’t need an iPod or MP3 player. Simply click on the grey arrow underneath the show heading and it will play through your computer.

Alternatively, you can easily download the file and listen to it later, or transfer it onto an MP3 player, just right click on ‘Download’ and select ‘Save Target As…’ The show can also be played on iTunes.

To make sure that you never miss an episode, you can subscribe free via email, or by clicking the orange RSS icon or iTunes button. Each new show will then be delivered automatically to your computer, along with notes about the show, useful contact details and links to additional information.

I would love to hear your feedback and any suggestions for further shows. Either email me directly at karen@publicsectorhrpodcast.co.uk or click on ‘Comment’ underneath the show title and type away.

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Angela Mason OBE, is currently National Advisor for Equality and Diversity at the IDeA and if you look her up on Wikipedia, you’ll see she has spent over 30 years at the forefront of developing Equalities Policies in this country.

Although a lot of the detail is still unclear, Angela believes there are some interesting areas that will have a particular impact on public services and these are:

• A NEW GENERIC PUBLIC DUTY - all public bodies will have a duty to promote equality of opportunity and to end harassment in relation to all of the protected groups i.e. gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief and age

• EXTENTION OF PROTECTION ON THE GROUNDS OF AGE IN RELATION TO THE PROVISION OF GOODS, FACILITIES AND SERVICES - this will have an large impact on local government as they provide a lot of services for both younger and older people

• POSITIVE ACTION - this will extend the circumstances in which people can discriminate and the effect will be, that more serious thought will need to be given about using positive action to remedy the current imbalances

• PROCUREMENT - when procuring services or goods an organisation can ask various equality questions in order to encourage the suppliers to promote equality themselves. Anglea’s prediction for this is, that whatever way procurement is dealt with in the Bill, there will be more pressure on public bodies and local authorities to use their procurement powers to promote equality

• SIMPLICATION OF THE LAW - this will make the task easier for everyone e.g easier to write single codes of guidance

Angela believes that the parts of the Bill that will have the most impact for HR Teams are:

• PROPOSALS AROUND TRANSPARENCY - in relation to pay, for example employers will have to publish the average earnings of men and women

• SIMPLIFICATION OF THE LAW - a lot of technical inconsistencies will be ironed out

• POSITIVE ACTION - this will be a bit of an HR minefield, so try to gather some of the good practice and experience that is around

To get more information on the Bill go to the Government Equalities Office or Local Government Employers. To find out more about Angela’s work visit www.idea.gov.uk

Angela O’Connor is Chief People Officer at the National Police Improvement Agency and she believes that there will be a number of differences that the bill will make for HR. These include:

• BRINGING TOGETHER THE LEGISLATION COVERING DISCRIMINATION - which should mean greater transparency and strengthening of the requirement for public bodies to tackle discrimination through their purchasing function

• ENFORCEMENT TRBUNALS - will be able to make recommendations that impact on organisations rather than just on the individuals

• DECLUTTERING THE LAW - legislation will become simpler, more focused on outcomes and move away from the obsession with process

• PAY AUDITS - are a positive opportunity for the public sector to get it’s act together in terms of equalities and to make a difference

Some of the things HR teams need to consider in preparation for the introduction of the bill are:

• CLEAR ABOUT BASIC DATA - in terms of what you know about the make-up of the organisation, how they are paid. what they do and the activities they impact on

• LOOK AT TRENDS ANALYSIS - identify what the information means in terms of recruitment and progression

• UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN QUALIATIVE AND QUANTATIVE DATA - and use both in order to understand the journey that people make in the organisation as well as looking at the numbers

• LONG TERM PLANNING - don’t jump to the legistative tune, this is about sustainable, long term improvement so look at the 5, 7 and 10 years range

• LOOK AT ROLE MODELLING - the HR Community should be taking the lead and role modelling within their departments

• SHARE GOOD PRACTICE - there are great examples of public sector organisations already doing this brilliantly - do more sharing, stealing and borrowing

To play Angela’s quick video message, click in the middle of screen below.

To contact Angela or find out more about the NPIA, visit www.npia.police.uk

Listening to the show is simple, you can do it in a number of ways and you don’t need an iPod or MP3 player. Simply click on the grey arrow underneath the show heading and it will play through your computer.

Alternatively, you can easily download the file and listen to it later, or transfer it onto an MP3 player, just right click on ‘Download’ and select ‘Save Target As…’ The show can also be played on iTunes.

To make sure that you never miss an episode, you can subscribe free via email, or by clicking the orange RSS icon or iTunes button. Each new show will then be delivered automatically to your computer, along with notes about the show, useful contact details and links to additional information.

I would love to hear your feedback and any suggestions for further shows. Either email me directly at karen@publicsectorhrpodcast.co.uk or click on ‘Comment’ underneath the show title and type away.

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Leading Workforce Thinking, is the conference theme and in addition to some high profile plenary sessions there are 4 strand themes - Engaging Staff for Success, Facing the Future, Focus on Fundamentals and Policy into Practice.

The conference featured some highly inspirational and informative sessions and in this episode, we hear from a selection of the speakers across the three days. First up, is Sian Thomas and Alastair Henderson, Joint Acting Directors of NHS Employers who tell us more about the conference.

Podcast running order and timings (in minutes and seconds)

• 00.00 - 00.44 Introduction

• 00.45 - 02.55 Sian Thomas and Alastair Henderson talk about the challenges ahead for the NHS HR community and the key elements of the new workforce proposals

• 02.56 - 06.20 Professor Beverley Alimo-Metcalfe, Professor of Leadership Studies at Bradford School of Management and Chief Executive of Real World Group, talks about the style of leadership that is best suited to today’s workplace

• 06.21 - 07.36 Dr Anthony Hesketh, Senior Lecturer at Lancaster School of Management, gives us his views on whether the HR function as we currently know it, has outlived its usefulness

• 07.37 - 09.48 Sahar Hashemi founder of Coffee Republic, shares her thoughts about how to turn your vision into reality

• 09.49 - 13.12 Rachael McIlroy Policy Officer at the TUC and Paula McDonald, Deputy Director, Public Service Workforce Reform at the Cabinet Office, tell us more about their joint Drive for Change initiative

• 13.13 - 14.51 Andy Randall Ex Chief Executive of iGrasp and Advisor to leading edge businesses explains how on-line recruitment will develop in the future

• 14.52 - 17.56 Steve Sonsoni, bestselling author, motivational speaker and Fellow in the Centre for Management Development at London Business School gives his top 3 leadership tips on how to boost productivity and performance

• 17.57 - 20.16 Professor Derek Mowbray from Organisation Health talks about the prime cause of stress in the workplace and the best way an employer can overcome this

• 20.17 - 21.59 Gareth Malone, Choirmaster for the London Symphony Orchestra is probably best know for his achievements in the BBC2 documentary ‘The Choir’ he explains how he helps people to believe in themselves in order to fulfill their potential and how they can then turn that  into team achievement

• 22.00 - 23.21 Steve Barnett, Chief Executive of NHS Confederation reflects on the success of the Conference and the things he would like delegates to take away  

• 23.25 - 24.25 Finally we hear from some of the delegates to find out their thoughts on the conference

• 24.26 - 25.00 Close

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The DWP are the UK’s biggest government department with over 100,000 staff and Claire Wilson is their Head of Talent Development and Resourcing. Claire talks to me about what the term ‘talent management’ means to the DWP and gives some great insights about what initiatives work well for them. 

Claire’s advice on developing a TM strategy includes:

• UNDERSTAND THE PRIORITIES OF THE ORGANISATION - what capabilities it needs and what kind of leaders it needs and design a talent strategy around those needs

• LISTEN TO WHAT MATTERS TO THE MANAGERS - focus on their problems such as having the right skills and building capability within their teams

• USE A 9 BOX GRID - using performance and potential to rate people

• GIVE LINE MANAGERS THE SKILLS TO SUPPORT TALENT - and reward them when they do

• RECOGNISE THE DEMANDS AND PRESSURES TALENTED PEOPLE ARE UNDER - because they are deeply committed and work twice as hard

• ALLOW TALENT TO TAKE MORE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR OWN DEVELOPMENT - to decide themselves what kind of things they want to do, e.g. Non-Executive Director, coaching or working with reverse mentors

• TALK TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN THERE - rather than focusing too much on the theoretical side of talent management

To play Claire’s quick video message, click in the middle of screen below.

Claire recommends the CIPD, Corporate Leadership Council and IES as good sources for further information. You can also find out more about DWP’s work at www.dwp.gov.uk

Ashridge Consulting, part of Ashridge Business School, have spent two years studying the area of talent management. The results of this research have recently been published and Guy Lubitsh, Principal Consultant at Ashridge tells me what the objectives of the research were and details the key findings.

The research explores areas of best practice within a number of large complex organisations in a variety of sectors and settings. It also has a specific interest in what lessons can be learnt from the public sector. The questions focused on how organisations recruit, retain and develop talent.

The 4 key findings are:

1. LEADING ORGANISATIONS TAKE TALENT MANAGEMENT VERY SERIOUSLY - they view it as a long term investment of 5 - 10 years, investing money, resources and executive time

2. THERE IS A FORMAL AND INFORMAL SYSTEM - the informal system was stronger than the organisation declared. For organisations who did not think they were managing talent, they are actually managing it in some way and the people and talent will draw their own conclusions about what is going on

3. THERE IS NO ONE SIZE FITS ALL APPROACH - it’s very important to take into account the culture and strategy of specific organisations and their context

4. THERE ARE 18 STRATEGIC DIMENSIONS - that need to be considered when looking at your talent management strategy

Key differences between the public sector organisations and private sector organisations are :

The private sector is:

• WILLING TO DIFFERENTIATE MORE CLEARLY - between people that are talent, people that are not talent and poor performers and offering more differentiators and tailored developmental routes to meet individual needs 

• DIFFERENT ATTITUDE TO RISK - i.e. more willing to give stretch assignments

• SENIOR TEAM SPEND MORE TIME - on succession planning, critical roles and the pipeline of talent they have within the organisation

Guy’s advice on how public sector organisations can win the ‘War for Talent’ are:

1. MAKE SURE YOU GET THE BASICS RIGHT - there’s no point talking about a talent management system if you don’t have good appraisal, selection and recruitment processes or you are not dealing with poor performers effectively

2. ESTABLISH A FAIR, OPEN, TRANSPARENT CRITERIA - about who is talent and who is not and what criteria you are using, ensure it’s inclusive and communicate it well across the organisation

3. MAKE SURE YOU ALIGN YOUR DIRECTION OF TRAVEL WITH TALENT MANAGEMENT - ensure you have all of the right people to support your strategy

4. GEN Y ARE INTERESTED IN WORK-LIFE BALANCE, ETHICS, VALUES AND EXCITING WORK OPPORTUNITIES - think of ways of using these levers to attract and retain these individuals

More about the research and Guy’s work can be found at www.ashridgeconsulting.com

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Kirklees Council were one of the early adopters of e-learning some 7 years ago. Chris Allan is Senior Training and Development Officer at the Council and he talks to me about how they have gone from a standing start to winning awards.

His advice to anyone considering e-learning is:

• E-LEARNING IS NOT CHEAP - it’s  a long term plan and is more about effectiveness rather than efficiencies and savings

• GET OUT AND TALK TO PEOPLE - who are already doing this, they will give you advice and products

• DON’T REINVENT THE WHEEL - most people have already done what you are thinking of doing

• TALK TO MORE CUSTOMERS, THAN PROVIDERS OF SOFTWARE - find out what the customers think

• FUNDING CAN BE DIFFICULT - a brilliant way to fund e-learning is to get a slice from everyone’s budget, everytime someone buys a pc, they pay a little extra for the e-learning programmes

• BE PREPARED TO EXPERIMENT - and play!

Chris is happy to talk to anyone who would like to find out more about his work and you can contact him directly by email at chris.allan@kirklees.gov.uk

To play Chris’s quick video message, click in the middle of screen below.

One decision that moved Kirklees a big step forward with their e-learning programme, was when they partnered with the Learning Pool. Created in 2002 by the IDeA, the Learning Pool became independent in 2006 and over 86% of councils in England and Wales now use their services.

Mary McKenna, Learning Pool Director, believes the key benefits of e-learning to an organisation are:  

• IT’S AVAILABLE FOR ACCESS 24/7

• ENABLES ORGANISATIONS TO TRAIN A LOT OF PEOPLE VERY QUICKLY

• DELIVERS CONSISTANT MESSAGES

• CAN BE BROKEN DOWN INTO BITE-SIZED CHUNKS

• CAN BE USED FOR JUST-IN-TIME LEARINING

• CAN EVIDENCE AND RECORD THAT TRAINING HAS TAKEN PLACE AND A CERTAIN PASS SCORE HAS BEEN OBTAINED

Other considerations are:

• IT WORKS BEST AS PART OF A BLENDED PROGRAMME

• ANYONE WHO IS COMFORTABLE WITH A KEYBOARD AND MOUSE WILL BE COMFORTABLE WITH THIS TYPE OF LEARNING

• THE MORE INTERACTIVE THE PROGRAMME, THE BETTER THE RESULTS

If your interested in finding out more about the Learning Pool, go to their website at www.learningpool.com or call them on 0207 101 9383.

To play Mary’s quick video message, click in the middle of screen below.

Martyn Sloman is the CIPD advisor on Learning and Development as well as author, lecturer and conference speaker on the subject.  For him, the fundamental principle to remember is, ‘it’s all about learning’ and we have to ask ourselves “how do people learn and how can technology, accelerate, mediate, support and direct that sort of learning?” 

He also tells us that 50% of the workforce now regard the pc as an essential tool for their job and e-learning is an easy way of giving people easy access to information and collaborative tools, BUT it is only part of the mix and part of the solution. Learner preferences are always going to be to learn something by having it demonstrated and on any survey, e-learning will always be way down the list.

ln addition, a recent CIPD Learning and Development Survey highlights:

• 57% OF RESPONDENTS ARE USING E-LEARNING IN THEIR ORGANISATIONS

• OF THOSE THAT AREN’T, 25% PLAN TO DO SO OVER THE NEXT YEAR

• E-LEARNING IS AVAILABLE TO 60% OF THE EMPLOYEE POPULATION OF RESPONDENT ORGANISTIONS, BUT ONLY 30% TAKE IT UP

This highlights that there are still issues with the appropriateness and effectiveness of what’s on offer. To help ensure that e-learning is as effective as it can be, the CIPD have developed a set of Best Practice Principles, which are:

• START WITH THE LEARNER - recognise the legacy the learner brings to the organisation

• ENSURE PROGRAMMES ARE RELEVENT - this drives out resistance 

• NEVER PUT ANYTHING ON THE WEB UNLESS YOU’RE PREPARED TO SUPPORT IT APPROPRIATELY - don’t put something up and leave it

• THINK ABOUT HOW TO EMBED IT INTO THE ORGANISATION  - what other support people need and who the key intermediaries are, i.e. line managers 

When implementing an e-learning strategy, Martyn’s advice is to think about:

• RELEVENCE - what are the key things people need to learn on their job

• LEARNER PREFERENCE - where are they coming from, how motivated are they, how technologically savvy are they and how do they choose to get their information

For more information on learning and development, the CIPD produce a number of useful factsheets that can be downloaded free at www.cipd.co.uk/factsheets They are also undertaking a major research study into web 2.0 networking and more information on this as well as some interesting cases studies can be found at www.cipd.co.uk/helpingpeoplelearn 

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Dilys Robinson is Principal Research Fellow at the Institute for Employment Studies and works in the HR & Consultancy team there. Much of her work is commissioned by employers or employer bodies and she has spent many years studying employees attitudes, motivation and commitment.

The IES definition of employee engagement was arrived at in 2002/3, following a major consultation exercise with IES member companies. It is:-

“Engagement is a positive attitude held by the employee towards the organisation and it’s values. An engaged employee is aware of business context and works with colleagues to improve performance within the job for the benefit of the organisation. The organisation must work to nurture, maintain and grow engagement, which requires a two way relationship between employer and employee”.

Dilys’s findings have highlighted:

• THERE ARE STRONG LINKS BETWEEN ENGAGEMENT LEVELS AND ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE 

• ENGAGED EMPLOYEES ARE MORE RECEPTIVE TO CHANGE

• ENGAGED EMPLOYEES MAKE CUSTOMERS FEEL BETTER ABOUT THE ORGANISATION

• IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR, THERE IS A LINK BETWEEN EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT LEVELS AND TRUST & CONFIDENCE IN PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS Heintzman R and Marson B (2006) People, service and trust: links in the public sector service value chain. Canadian Government Executive

The 4 main drivers of engagement are:

• JOB SATISIFACTION

• FEELING VALUED BY AND INVOLVED WITH THE ORGANISATION

• PERCEPTIONS OF EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY

• VIEWS ABOUT HOW SERIOUSLY THE ORGANISATION TAKES HEALTH AND SAFETY

However, these drivers can vary considerably depending upon the organisation and the employee group. Feeling valued and involved is more important in the public sector than it is in the private sector. Surprisingly, the manager relationship did not emerge as the key driver in the public sector - it is important, but at sub-driver level, meaning that it is driving most of the drivers.

To find out what your own organisation’s drivers are, Dilys recommends conducting an employee attitude survey, or asking employees their views more directly via facilitated workshops or focus groups.

Her advice to People Managers is:

• EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES SHOULDN’T JUST BE SEEN AS AN HR RESPONSIBILITY - to succeed, it needs firm and real commitment from the top

• HR HAS AN IMPORTANT ROLE TO PLAY - in monitoring and understanding engagement levels & drivers

• MANAGERS AT ALL LEVELS SHOULD BE EXPECTED TO PLAY THEIR PART - and have a good understanding of what they need to do to be effective people managers

• GOOD QUALITY MANAGEMENT TRAINING IS ESSENTIAL - for first line managers and supervisors and should be reinforced throughout their careers

• HR SHOULD SUPPORT THE LINE - with good clear policies and procedures

• EMPLOYEES SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED - to raise issues and concerns, take responsibility for problems and make suggestions for improvements

And to keep employees engaged through these difficult economic times, Dilys advises organisations to be wise, keep faith with their employees and to continue with their engagement strategies, in order to give reassurance and encouragement to employees to do as well as possible. By doing this, employees will increase public confidence by representing their sector in a positive way, helping those in trouble. 

If you would like to contact Dilys, you can call her on 01273 873122 or email her at dilys.robinson@employment-studies.co.uk. You can find out more about the work of the IES from their website at www.employment-studies.co.uk

RBS Group is regarded as one of the world leaders in not only engendering workforce engagement, but linking it with the group’s overall business performance.

Greig Aitken is Group Head of Employee Engagement and is responsible for developing an engagement strategy that provides a detailed understanding to the group, of how effective they are at attracting, engaging and retaining world class staff and how efficient those staff are, at delivering superior business results, financial performance and customer service.

In this interview, Greig talks about how his engagement strategy impacts on the RBS Group performance, how he measures engagement and what lessons he has learnt along the way.

You can ask Greig about his work via www.rbs.com and he has recently been involved in a major study on Human Capital Management - which is available from IES.

An opportunity for you take part in a major new research project

Roffey Park Institute are looking for public sector HR professionals to take part in a major new research project they are about to undertake into the success of HR Business Partnering. There are a number of valuable benefits to be gained by participating, so if you’d like to find out more, contact Dilip Boury at Roffey Park on 01293 854040.

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Angela O’Connor is Executive Director HR (Policing), at the National Police Improvement Agency. She believes that any service we receive from the public sector should be as good, if not better than the service we receive elsewhere and there is a fantastic opportunity for HR to really drive customer service in the public sector.

Her advice is:

• DELIVER REALLY GOOD SERVICE - in the right way, at the right time, to the right standard

• HR SHOULD SEE THE LINE OF SIGHT - between what they do and the community they serve

• REALLY LISTEN TO YOUR INTERNAL AUDIENCE - understand what line managers lives are like and walk in their shoes

• SPEND TIME IN THE BUSINESS - ensure that people solutions are built around common sense approaches that are relevant to the lives of their customers

• CONNECT PEOPLE - with the services they deliver and break down the silo mentality, so people can see that they bring something really special to individuals and communities

• DEMAND THE ABSOLUTE BEST - in terms of attitudes in staff

To contact Angela or find out more about the NPIA visit www.npia.police.uk

The Association for Public Service Excellence is the foremost specialist in local authority front line services. Paul O’Brien is APSE’s Chief Executive and he talks about the public’s perception of service delivery and how the energy and ideas of the front line staff who deliver the services, should be harnessed in order to improve the customer’s experience.

Some other pieces of advice Paul shares are:

• GET BETTER AT MARKETING AND COMMUNICATION - tell the public what we do well

• HR CAN INFLUENCE THE CULTURE OF AN ORGANISATION - well motivated people deliver high quality and excellent services

• GET THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS RIGHT - create that environment where people feel they get an opportunity to learn, thrive and aspire to greater things

• PUT ALL OF THESE THINGS TOGETHER - find a way of binding them into a ‘one team’ approach

To find out more about APSE’s work or to contact Paul visit www.apse.org.uk or call them on 0161 772 1810.

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Peter shares with us what he believes the challenges are for HR Leaders, particularly those in the public sector and how they can best add value to their organisations.

His advice is:

• PERSUADE THE ORGANISATION OF THE IMPORTANCE OF PEOPLE MANAGEMENT TO ORGANASATIONAL SUCCESS AND DECIDE WHAT ROLE HR CAN PLAY IN ACHIEVING THAT OBJECTIVE

• BE WELL ATTUNED TO THE ORGANISATIONAL STRATEGY AND ISSUES

• ALIGN, WHAT THE FUNCTION IS TRYING TO DO, WITH THE ORGASATIONAL NEEDS, IN ORDER TO SOLVE REAL BUSINESS PROBLEMS

• THINK OVER A LONGER TIME HORIZON AND BE AWARE OF WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

• INTERNALLY, BE INNOVATIVE IN THE WAY THE FUNCTION POSITIONS ITSELF

• BE ABLE TO MEASURE WHERE THE FUNCTION IS BEING EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE

• HR LEADERS SHOULD ACT AS ‘HEAD OF PROFESSION’ AND PROVIDE FUNCTIONAL LEADERSHIP TO THE TEAM

• CONTINUE TO DO THE BASICS WELL

He also tells us more about an exciting new joint initiative he is working on with the IDeA and the PPMA, which will provide a self assessment tool for HR Leaders to both benchmark and develop their skills.

You can find out more about how to get involved with this project, by contacting Kelly Sandiford at the IDeA on 07766 115104 or email her at kelly.sandiford@idea.gov.uk or Marcia Hazzard on 07867 514753  or via email at marcia.hazzard@idea.gov.uk

To find out more about Peter’s work, you can contact him via email at peter.reilly@employment-studies.co.uk or call him on 07771 932993.

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The theme of this year’s conference is Evolution or Extinction: the future for HR in the public sector and there was a good mix of inspirational and interesting speakers, who challenged everyday thinking and shared their knowledge, through case studies and research findings. We caught up with them during the conference to find out more.

To kick off the show, we hear from Stephen Moir - this year’s President, to find out his plans for the Association.

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Podcast running order and timings (in minutes and seconds)

• 00.00 - 00.30 Introduction

• 00.30 - 03.07 Stephen Moir, PPMA President outlines his goals for the Association

• 03.08 - 05.30 Dr Emma Parry, Research Fellow, Cranfield School of Management, outlines the early results of research she has undertaken into public sector recruitment and retention issues

• 05.31 - 07.50 Russell Prue, Anderton Tiger, talks about how HR professionals need to embrace new technology in order to engage with prospective employees

• 08.07 - 09.28 Greg Dyke, former BBC Director General, explains what makes a great leader and how HR can best support leaders in their organisations

• 09.29 - 12.44 Peter Reilly, Director of HR Research and Consultancy, Institute for Employment Studies, tells us what key challenges face HR Leaders and what skills they will need to tackle them

• 13.10 - 14.36 Greig Aitken, Group Head of Employee Engagement, Royal Bank Of Scotland, explains briefly how he has engaged employees at RBS and the benefits this has had on their business

• 14.42 - 15.24 Councillor David Parsons, Leader of Leicestershire County Council, talks about the key benefits of their employee engagement strategy

• 15.25 - 16.07 Joan Munro, National Advisor- Workforce Strategy, IDeA, gives advice on how best to engage a workforce

• 16.08 - 17.30 Councillor Steve Reed, Leader of London Borough of Lambeth, tells us about the future landscape for local government and the impact this will have for HR

• 17.31 - 19.06 Steve Bundred, Chief Executive, Audit Commission, talks about the challenges facing HR teams as a result of the changing face of public sector inspection

• 19.20 - 20.27 Jan Parkinson, Managing Director, Local Government Employers, talks about this year’s pay agreement

• 20.28 - 23.12 Christopher Johnson, Director of Employment, Civil Service Capability Group, Cabinet Office, tells us his thoughts on current pay and reward challenges

• 23.13 - 25.40 Miles Hilton Barber, Adventurer, gives his key pieces of advice on how to cope with and embrace change

• 25.41 - 27.33 Martin Tiplady, Director of HR, Metropolitan Police Service, shares his views on the future for HR

• 27.40 - 29.17 Ray Tompkinson, Consultant, discusses the issues around the shared services model

• 29.18 - 31.30 Dean Shoesmith, Executive Head of HR, London Boroughs of Sutton and Merton, talks about a major London Borough recruitment partnership he has led

• 31.31 - 33.31 House Debate, Geoff Armstrong, CIPD Director General, is for the motion and Professor Graham Martin is against, they both explain their reasons why

• 33.32 - 34.20 Gillian Hibberd, Corporate Director, (People & Policy) and PPMA Vice-President, tells us her thoughts on the conference and her vision for the future

• 34.21 - 35.43 Finally, we hear from some of the delegates to get their views on the conference

To find out more about the PPMA, go to www.ppma.org.uk or visit their new blog at www.ppmablog.org.uk

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Jo Hennessy is Director of Research at Roffey Park, the executive development and research institute and she talks about the findings of their latest Management Agenda research. Now in it’s 11th year, the annual survey canvasses managers views and experiences across a wide range of organisational issues and of almost 500 participants, 25% were from the public sector.

The key findings for the public sector are:

• HIGH LEVELS OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT - public sector managers enjoy a better work-life balance, more flexible working and work less hours than their counterparts in the private services sector in order to be seen to be successful

• A HIGH PREVELANCE OF CHANGE - 92% of managers in the public sector have experienced change in the last two years compared with 78% in the private services sector. The public sector managers also said that there is room to manage change much better in their organisations 

• HOW UNDERPERFORMANCE IS TACKLED - only 4% of public sector managers said that this is dealt with effectively

• HIGH LEVELS OF BEAUROCRACY - 66% in the public sector against 45% in the private services sector

According to Jo, the challenges facing public sector managers include:

• HOW TO CONSOLIDATE THE BENEFITS OF CHANGE

• HOW TO MANAGE EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION THROUGHOUT CHANGE

• HOW TO ENSURE SOME REVIEW AND LEARING FROM ANY CHANGE PROGRAMME

To get a copy of the Management Agenda 2008 report visit www.roffeypark.com/research/managementagenda.html 

To give an ‘insiders view’ I talk next to Jan Parkinson, Managing Director of the Local Government Employers and Sian Thomas, Joint Acting Director of NHS Employers.

Jan is surprised by the Management Agenda findings and they don’t reflect her personal experience of working within the public sector. She agrees that there is some change weariness, but points to LGE research that shows public sector managers are very good at handling change. Jan also states that the best managers she has ever met have worked in the public sector, this she believes, is because the issues they face are so complex that they have to be incredibly innovative to deal with them.

Jan’s advice to HR Managers looking to improve performance in the public sector includes:

• DEVELOP A SUITE OF HR POLICES AND STRATEGIES THAT ARE COHERENT AND ALIGNED TO THE SAME GOAL

• GET SENIOR MANAGERS TO BUY INTO THOSE POLICIES  

Sian is also taken aback by the report and feels that although the survey sample size is reasonable, the NHS Employers own research of 300,000 NHS employees indicates that the day-to-day challenges faced by them, are the very reason why people come to work in the public sector. They have found that change is a motivator for a lot of people, as is a sense of massive responsibility early on in their careers.

She does agree that bureaucracy is the biggest demotivator and that middle and more junior staff find a lack of control somewhat limiting.

Sian’s advice to HR Mangers looking to tackle areas of weakness includes:

• SHAPE THE CULTURE - organise practices around a sense of well-being

• DEVELOP TALENT AND SKILLS - it’s a critical role for HR

• SUPPORT LINE MANAGERS - in managing change

To find out more about Local Government Employers visit www.lge.gov.uk or NHS Employers visit www.nhsemployers.org

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Graham Burgess is The Chief Executive of Blackburn with Darwen Council and believes that the first step to success is to build a strong relationship from the beginning and see your partner not as a separate organisation bound by a contract, but almost as a department of the Council.

Some other pieces of advice Graham shares include:

• DON’T BE DEFENSIVE - if something isn’t working, sort it out, pass it back or resolve the problem, don’t take things personally and realise that you will have differences

• HAVE A STRONG CLIENT SIDE - too much of our client function was transferred at the beginning

• HAVE REGULAR REVIEWS - rather than waiting for the 5 yearly review, regularly evaluate things very strongly in the early years

• TALK TO PEOPLE - both sides need to do a major communication and culture change exercise leading up to the transfer, including both groups of staff and trade unions

• HR NEED TO BE INVOLVED VERY EARLY IN THE PROCESS - not brought in at the end

• MAKE SURE YOU CAN ANSWER THE STAFF’S QUESTIONS - about their own personal positions and reassure them about the type of organisation they are going to

Graham believes the three most important factors for success are:

• COMMUNICATION

• OPPORTUNITIES FOR STAFF TO MEET OTHER PARTNER STAFF

• CHOOSING THE RIGHT PARTNER

You can find out more about Blackburn with Darwen’s partnership from their website www.blackburn.gov.uk  Graham is also happy to arrange a visit to the Council or send information to you. Email him at graham.burgess@blackburn.gov.uk

Cumbria County Council entered into their partnership agreement in 2001 and Bob Mather, Deputy Chief Executive talks to me about what their original objectives were and what has been achieved in 7 years.

The three main objectives were:

• CREATE 1000 EXTRA JOBS IN 5 YEARS

• IMPROVE SERVICE EFFICIENCY BY 2% PER ANNUM

• RECEIVE A LARGE CAPITAL RECEIPT FOR TRANSFERRING BUSINESS

Bob’s key pieces of advice are:

• FLEXIBILTY IS IMPORTANT - the world changes, should targets that were set at the beginning, still be in place 7 years on

• GET OFF TO A FAST START - devote a lot of time and attention to developing the client side of the operation

• THINK ABOUT THE STAFF WHO ARE TRANSFERRING - need to be able to set the standard and monitor the performance of the third party

• DON’T SKIMP SO MUCH ON THE ORGANISATION THAT’S LEFT IN THE AUTHORITY - you need enough capacity to keep track of the partner

Bob is happy to speak to anyone who would like to find out more about Cumbria’s partnership agreement and you can contact him on 01228 606263 or email him at bob.mather@cumbriacc.gov.uk information can also be found on their website www.cumbria.gov.uk

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Graham White has just moved from Surrey Councy Council, to head up HR at Westminster Council. He joined Surrey CC as Head of HR and OD from Ulster Bank in 2002 and spearheaded an organisational restructure that has turned the council on it’s head. 

Some of the key benefits that Graham has experienced include:

• SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN OVERALL STAFFING - work is now being done in a single place, with 1/4 of the staff

• CULTURE CHANGE - “I’m doing more of what I’m paid to do” mentality

• SERVICE DELIVERY MODEL IS ON AN UPWARD CURVE - more people are cared for, more potholes get filled in and less street lights are not working - all at no extra cost

• SPOTLIGHT EFFECT - when you put everything in one place, you can see what isn’t working efficiently

• SAVINGS - overall savings for the whole period are nearly £50m

Some key pieces of advice from Graham are:

• LEARN FROM OUR MISTAKES FIRST - you cannot tell your people enough what you are doing and no matter how much you communicate, assume you haven’t done enough

• DON’T GO INTO THIS IF IT’S TO SAVE MONEY - if that’s your paramount reason, your going to fail

• KNOW THE DIFFERENCE - between organisations trying to sell you shared services and those looking to partner with you.  Partnering allows you to share both the benefits and the risks

You can find out more about shared services at Surrey County Council from their website www.surreycc.gov.uk. There are also many resources to be found on the internet.

Another shared service story in the news this month, is a joint initiative between Rushcliffe Borough Council and Charnwood Borough Council. They are aiming to be the first in the country to share services across county boundaries with a private sector partner.

I spoke over the phone with both Allan Graham, Chief Executive at Rushcliffe and Brian Hayes, Chief Executive at Charnwood to find out more about their plans.

The short term objective is to start small and standardise the back office functions for the two councils. The long-term vision is much larger. Together with the private sector partner, they are looking to develop a Regional Development Centre that can provide skilled staff for both the public and private sectors across the country.

The first phase is due to go live during summer 2008 and you can find out more about their vision by checking out their websites at www.rushcliffe.gov.uk or www.charnwood.gov.uk

Listening to the show is simple, you can do it in a number of ways and you don’t need an iPod or MP3 player. Simply click on the grey arrow underneath the show heading and it will play through your computer.

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To make sure that you never miss an episode, you can subscribe free via email, or by clicking the orange RSS icon or iTunes button. Each new show will then be delivered automatically to your computer, along with notes about the show, useful contact details and links to additional information.

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Carol Mills is Director of Human Resources at Lancashire County Council, who are one of the largest local government employers in the Country. Carol believes that the key to a healthy workforce is to empower employees to do something for themselves and as a progressive employer, the Council recognises that if they don’t look after their staff - their staff won’t look after their customers. In this interview, Carol talks about some of the Well Being initiatives she has introduced.

When considering the best approach to Well Being, Carol’s advice includes:

• LOOK AT WHAT IS BEING DONE ELSEWHERE - and learn about the things that can go wrong

• TALK TO YOUR STAFF AND TRADE UNIONS - about the sort of initiatives they feel might benefit them

• LOOK AT THE PRIVATE SECTOR - they’ve been at this a lot longer than we have, so learn from them

• PILOT THE NEW IIP WELL BEING STANDARD - and learn from the feedback

• CHERRY PICK SOME OF THE GOOD THINGS - and test these out on a few willing staff to find out what works for your organisation

Carol is also the PPMA (Public Sector People Managers Association) lead for Well Being and to find out more about her work you can contact her through their website www.ppma.org.uk or at Lancashire County Council. Other sources of information are: CIPD, your own healthcare provider, local Employers Organisation and local PCT’s.

In this second interview Geoff Walker, Chief Executive at Sandwell CCT talks passionately about Well Being and the enormous benefits the Trust, it’s staff and service users have gained by delivering their services on an individual basis through human relationships, rather than being driven by policies and procedures.

This approach has clearly paid off as they have been named as 2nd best company to work for in the UK by The Sunday Times Best 100 Companies to Work For Survey for the second year running and they came out top for Well Being.

The benefits they have experienced include:

• REDUCED SICKNESS ABSENCE - from an average of 22 days per year to 0.3 days, achieving a saving of £600,000 pa by not doing anything other than making people feel good about themselves and feel good about being at work

• REDUCED STAFF TURNOVER - currently 4% pa

• QUALITY OF STAFF - 87% of staff are appropriately qualified according to their regulator

• CONTINUITY - over 60% of the workforce has been with us for more than 7 years

Geoff’s key tip is that managers have to create time to be with people and as such he insists that each manager keeps 30% of their diary time non-committed to do that. As a result, in the last Sunday Times survey which 87% of the workforce completed, the Trust came 1st for both Managers who listen and Mangers who motivate. Clearly emphasising Geoff’s philosophy of making people feel good about being at work.

Geoff is happy to speak to anyone who would like to find out more about the Trust’s work in this area and you can contact him via their website www.sandwellcct.org.uk or call him on 0121 553 2722.

Listening to the show is simple, you can do it in a number of ways and you don’t need an iPod or MP3 player. Simply click on the grey arrow underneath the show heading and it will play through your computer.

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Jim Savege, has just moved to Cumbria from Staffordshire County Council, where he spent a number of years implementing a more progressive and modern approach to pay, as well as dealing with pay reform for a workforce of over 32,000 people. In this interview, he tells us how he did it. (Interview length: 9.03 minutes).

The big issues for pay include:

• EQUAL PAY - According to the Local Government Employers Organisation statistics, 2/3rds of organisations have still to fully implement single status

• TOTAL REWARD - The LGE have focused on the link between pay and pensions and the concept of Total Reward

• CROSS-SECTOR PAY - The Public Sector is now a complex mosaic of organisations delivering public services with a huge amount of partnerships, but who employs who, what do you pay them, what are their terms and conditions and who decides all of that. We are at the early days of looking at cross sector reward in a more comprehensive and efficient way

Some advice from Jim is:

• SHIFT FROM A RULE BOUND APPROACH - to an enabling one

• DEVELOP CLEAR FRAMEWORKS AND PRINCIPLES - get the line management to be articulate about what it wants in terms of business and outcomes and let the the ‘Profession’ deliver the goods behind it

• BE CLEAR - about what your non-negotiables are

• AVOID ONE-OFF SOLUTIONS AND DEALS - these could get you back into an employment tribunal

Jim is also the PPMA (Public Sector People Managers Association) lead for pay and reward and to find out more about his work you can contact him through their website www.ppma.org.uk or at Cumbria County Council.

As well as his role at Cambridgeshire, Stephen Moir is the Vice President of the PPMA and has also been involved in the development of the Cabinet Office model of Total Reward. He has been doing work around Total Reward at Cambridgeshire County Council since 1999 and in this interview, he gives some pointers on what has worked best for him. (Interview length: 15.21 minutes).

Stephen’s advice includes:

• TOTAL REWARD IS SIMPLY MORE THAN PAY AND RATIONS - it includes such things as access to learning and development opportunities, a good working environment, the values and culture of the organisation, high quality leadership and high quality management

• TALK AND LISTEN TO YOUR WORKFORCE - ask them what they value most. Do this through direct line management, by working in partnership with trade unions, having a strong internal communications system and regular employee surveys

• START SMALL - make sure you have the basics right, e.g. pay people properly and on time

• GAIN BUY-IN FROM DAY ONE - from senior management, elected member and unions

• BE BRAVE - be prepared to put your head above the parapet

• HAVE A REALY TALENTED HR TEAM - with good expertise in general reward and management reward and strategy. If you don’t have the expertise in-house look at how you can develop it or find partnerships or external support in these areas

• COMMUNICATE - communicate, communicate

You can find out more about Total Reward from the PPMA, CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Developement) or the Cabinet Office.

Listening to the show is simple, you can do it in a number of ways and you don’t need an iPod or MP3 player. Simply click on the grey arrow underneath the show heading and it will play through your computer.

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To make sure that you never miss an episode, you can subscribe free via email, or by clicking the orange RSS icon or iTunes button. Each new show will then be delivered automatically to your computer, along with notes about the show, useful contact details and links to additional information.

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Gillian started her career in retail with the Kingfisher Group, but quickly moved into the Public Sector to take advantage of the excellent training opportunities available. During her career, she has held HR positions at Oldham, Decorum BC, LB Hackney and Hertfordshire CC, before joining Buckinghamshire CC. Gillian and her team have recently won an award for Innovation in HR and she is also the Lead Officer for Leadership for the PPMA (Public Sector People Managers Association).

In this interview, Gillian explains what makes a good leader and shares some advice on how to set up a leadership development programme. (Interview length 10:51 minutes).

Her advice includes:

• DEVELOP YOUR OWN KNOWLEDGE ON THE SUBJECT - conduct ‘organisational raids’, read relevant texts - for example ’Good to Great’ by Jim Collins  Attend conferences and training events and be confident about your knowledge

• CARRY OUT A DIAGNOSTIC PHASE - then tailor your programme to your organisation’s individual needs. A helpful publication is available from The Leadership Centre

• SAY WHAT IS GOING TO BE DIFFERENT - explain what will be better as a result of the programme

For more information on Gillian’s work you can contact her at ghibberd@buckscc.gov.uk or call her on 01296 383127.

The second interview is with Jack Hegarty, MD at Wychavon District Council. Jack has spent his career in Local Government. A planner by profession, he joined Wychavon to rescue a failing planning department. Following his success in this position, Jack was asked to take on the role of Managing Director. After shadowing his predecessor for 12 months, he took up his new post in April 2004. Recently, Jack has been named ’Best Leader’ in The Times Best Council To Work For Survey this, combined with other accolades bestowed on the Council, including LGC Council of The Year 2007, speaks volumes for Jacks Leadership skill.

Jack describes his views on ‘Effective Leadership’ and what approaches work for him. He also shares tips on how to spot leadership talent. (Interview length 14:06 minutes).

Jack’s winning formula includes:

• HAVE CLARITY OF VISION - for yourself and the organisation, make sure everybody understands the core vision and values

• BE HIGHLY VISIBLE, INCLUSIVE AND APPROACHABLE - spend a lot of time with staff and have empathy with them, happy employees deliver a better service

• GAIN RESPECT - achieve this through what you do

• LEADERS EMERGE - look for the potential in someone and point them in the right direction. They will need the ability to take strong decisions, balanced with desire to ensure that the organisation goes with them

To find out more about Jack, visit www.wychavon.gov.uk  or contact him on 01306 565000.

Listening to the show is simple, you can do it in a number of ways and you don’t need an iPod or MP3 player. Simply click on the grey arrow underneath the show heading and it will play through your computer.

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To make sure that you never miss an episode, you can subscribe free via email, or by clicking the orange RSS icon or iTunes button. Each new show will then be delivered automatically to your computer, along with notes about the show, useful contact details and links to additional information.

I would love to hear your feedback and any suggestions for further shows. Either email me directly at karen@publicsectorhrpodcast.co.uk or click on ‘Comment’ underneath the show title and type away.

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