When it comes to the new Government’s chances of succeeding, I’m a cautious optimist. But it isn’t the politics that are foremost in my mind. It’s the management challenge.
I worry that ministers are too focused on the external and the political to worry about such details as the engagement, motivation and loyalty of their departmental teams.
The Government is taking on, in business terms, a daunting turnaround proposition. They take over a public sector workforce facing mass redundancies, frozen pay and almost certainly a significant paring back of pension benefits. But they also come armed with a truly ambitious agenda for change — an agenda they’ll be expecting that same public sector workforce to deliver.
To drive through a change agenda of that magnitude would test the people management capabilities of any organisation. Does the public sector have the exceptional people management skills needed?
Last week we sent ministers a guide to their first 100 days in office — the period often identified in business as determining the success or failure of a new leader. By establishing the right tone, building the right relationships and setting the right course in those crucial first days, leaders can establish the kind of motivation, engagement and loyalty that are crucial to delivering their vision. Or, conversely, they can sow the seeds of failure. As they face an age of austerity, new ministers have a limited time to ensure that they achieve the former, not the latter.
Jackie Orme is chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development