20 December 2010
The government’s public service reforms will fail unless they are accompanied by a ‘step change’ in human resources management, experts have warned.
A report produced jointly by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and the Public Sector People Managers’ Association argues that the success of the Big Society initiative will hinge on whether frontline managers are armed with the leadership skills to engage and empower staff.
The report also notes that HR will have a crucial role in ensuring GP consortiums have the skills to lead and manage changes and so that Jobcentre Plus advisers can provide more individualised support to benefit claimants.
Stephanie Bird, director of HR capability at the CIPD, said public service transformation depends on the development of new skills, changing ingrained behaviour and managing uncertainty and conflict.
‘Unless HR is involved at the heart of the process to ensure the key people management issues are addressed, public service reform plans will remain frustrated,’ she said.
‘Unfortunately, HR in the public sector has been seen by successive governments as a cost to be managed, or a way of making redundancies. It is no coincidence that attempts by previous administrations to create a step change in the quality of public service delivery have failed. The government cannot afford to make the same mistakes.’
PPMA president Dean Shoesmith added that the public service reform agenda provided an opportunity for HR to consolidate its reputation as a strategic function within an organisation.
‘However, if HR is preoccupied by its traditional activities, such as hand-holding line managers, then it will be left behind and its reputation as a transactional function will be reinforced,’ he added.
