30 March 2007
Senior civil servants could find themselves 'managed out of the civil service' if they do not improve their people management skills, the head of the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit has said.
Ian Watmore's comments follow the March 27 publication of the third group of Departmental Capability Reviews, which found weaknesses across the board in human resource management as well as in cross-departmental working.
They encompassed International Development; Environment, Food &Rural Affairs; Culture, Media & Sport; Defence; and the Foreign Office.
The five latest reviews bring the total published so far to 12. Reflecting on common weaknesses, a Cabinet Office review, published in tandem with the individual reports, said: 'There needs to be a root-and-branch cultural change that sees people development and management as a fundamental priority for boards and line managers at every level. Poor performance in this area… should no longer be tolerated or accepted.'
Spelling out what that would mean in practice, Watmore said: 'Historically, civil servants with a complex policy job in the senior civil service would have been evaluated mostly on their ability to do that role. Now we're saying that is only one part of their responsibilities. They also have responsibility for managing their people.
'If you don't do that [well], we will evaluate you negatively, in the same way we would have done if you had been completely unable to [develop policy]. Eventually that could affect promotion, roles and… ultimately you will be managed out of the civil service.'
In Defra, the DCR team found that 'the board does not always focus on the right things, and there is at present a tendency for the senior leadership team to analyse and debate too much, rather than take decisions for the department to implement'. Managers did not tackle poor performance, and different skills and talents were not deployed in the right areas.
There were concerns too about the leadership and management style in the DfID – the only department likely to be given a significant funding increase in the autumn Comprehensive Spending Review.
There the reviewers found 'insufficient challenge within the culture of the department, including at board level. Only 42% of the DfID's senior civil service feel that it is safe to speak up and challenge the way things are done'.
As in Defra, poor performance was 'not consistently tackled', and it was 'not yet clear that [the department] can deliver to match the unprecedented scale and breadth of the challenges ahead'.
DCRs assess current performance and future capacity according to five categories: strong; well placed; development area; urgent development area; and serious concerns.
To date, the Home Office is the only department with no 'strong' or 'well placed' assessments, while the DfID has marginally more good assessments than the other departments. The DCA, MoD and Foreign Office are assessed as average performers.
Yet that did not prevent the Cabinet Office highlighting particular concerns with the three 'overseas' departments – the Foreign Office, MoD and the DfID, which were not yet working well enough together. That needed to end, said Watmore, adding that the CSR would introduce new cross-departmental targets as incentives to improve.
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