Organisational context
The London Borough of Redbridge is situated in north-east London and employs around 8,500 staff. In November 2004, the Council adopted a new vision – a set of key goals for staff. The council’s overarching ambition is to make Redbridge a better place to live and this is matched by its internal mission statement: ‘Redbridge: A better place to work’.
The personnel service needed to:
- help the organisation achieve an ambitious programme of change
- facilitate an improvement in the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) score – the Audit Commission’s assessment of local government – for the council.
The challenge for Redbridge’s personnel service
The personnel service had gained a reputation of not meeting customer needs and was heavily criticised by managers and the Council’s management board. When the council was restructured in 2004, the chief executive wrote: ‘The personnel area needs to be seen as more effective, although the objective performance indicators give a better story than the organisation feels.’
Directors reported that the advice given by personnel was not consistent, accurate or timely and managers did not appear very customer-focused. Generally satisfaction levels were low with internal customers.
There were varying people management skills, and staff across the council reported that there was a lack of consistency in how they were treated. There certainly wasn’t an equality of opportunity for training and development. There was also a lack of trust and some managers felt they were being blamed for the problems in the service while getting little recognition for what they had achieved.
An Investors in People (IiP) assessment took place in April 2005 and the assessor felt the indicator that measured management effectiveness was not met and further development was needed. Her conclusion was:
‘From the evidence of this assessment it is suggested that all managers who manage people, the personnel director, personnel service managers and functional unit managers spend some time together to look at the management style within personnel services and to clearly define what is expected of managers within the service. This would also help to build a good working relationship with managers at all levels.’
The service was set new targets by the director, which were to:
- deliver the objectives in the council’s service plan
- increase levels of satisfaction with the personnel service within the council
- deliver effective customer-focused services
- gain IiP status for personnel (building block approach) by the end of 2005.
Three areas were identified that needed to be improved if the targets were to be achieved:
- a greater focus on agreed objectives in the service plan and on customers
- leadership skills needed to be transformed to make managers visionary, motivational and transformational
- the department needed to lead by example. It needed to be visible, accessible, motivational and decisive.
The council engaged an external suppler, Performance Coaching International (PCI), to provide coaching services in an effort to turn around the areas of underperformance. A key part of PCI’s role was to report back to the personnel director at key stages throughout the coaching programme.
Delivering the programme
Each of the personnel managers had a meeting with the personnel director to discuss their objectives for the programme and then a meeting was arranged with the managing director of PCI, who matched individuals with a performance coach.
Managers were each given three two-hour sessions with their coach, and unlimited telephone and email support. Typically the two-hour sessions would entail clarification of the objectives that were to be achieved and the skills and behaviours that were necessary to deliver them. Actions would be agreed and the outcomes would be reviewed at the next coaching session to ensure that the programme was meeting individual and organisational needs.
PCI also facilitated team days to bring managers together. For example, the outcomes for the first day were to achieve an agreed understanding of the priorities for the service and how the managers were to work together to achieve those. At the end of the first session an action plan was agreed to deliver the key priorities.
At the end of the six-month period there was a review that highlighted that the coaching was proving beneficial to the individuals and the service. Line managers and staff agreed, saying they noticed a clear difference in how the personnel service was performing.
Changes in behaviour became noticeable at management meetings; managers who had always held back at meetings began to join in more and present clearly. There was more joint working outside of the meetings and staff across the council started to notice a change.
Measurable success
Following the coaching programme a customer satisfaction survey was sent to directors and senior managers. The survey asked about different parts of the service and, in particular, the service received from personnel managers. The survey showed that 85% were either satisfied or more than satisfied with the customer service received.
The service was reassessed for IiP, and at the end of the two-day assessment the assessor announced that she would make a positive recommendation for the personnel service to be recognised as an Investor in People. The assessor commented on the difference the coaching programme had made:
‘An overarching strategy has been to provide a coaching programme for managers to enable them to manage the change agenda, both for themselves and for those they manage. Throughout the discussions it was evident that people at all levels have accepted the changes that the service faces. Initially there was definitely a “glass half empty” approach to changes that were required, [but] there is now a much greater focus on the more positive effects of change within the service; this has been influenced through the improved communication processes together with the coaching programme.’
What people are saying
The participants of the coaching programme reported:
- ‘The team days have helped to focus everyone on what needs to be done and has given us a shared understanding.’
- ‘My coaching is really making a difference for me. I can now see how I can better manage some of the difficult situations I have to deal with.’
- ‘My coach helped me to recognise the skills I have and how I can utilise them.’
- ‘I feel more confident to lead my teams through the challenges ahead.’
- ‘I have changed the way I work as a result of my sessions with my coach.’
The programme delivered the changes that were required by the personnel director and the organisation. As a result of the changes that managers made during 2005, internal feedback shows that the personnel service is in a much better position to support the achievement of an improved CPA score in 2006.