Extreme weather damage will stretch councils’ resources this winter, but not as much as unhappy staff. All the more reason to communicate better with them, says Andrew Jepp
Winter is traditionally a difficult time for councils, with harsh and unpredictable weather causing a host of problems, from potholes to flood risk. Last winter, councils spent an estimated £60m on repairing damages caused by snow and ice.
This winter looks set to be even tougher. While some councils are still funding pothole repairs, and others are analysing their grit stockpile, the backdrop of severe budget cuts means few problems have an easy solution.
Compounding this is the impact budget cuts will have on council workforces – leading to smaller teams dealing with doubled workloads.
Councils must focus on effective workforce management if they want to maintain services with fewer resources. Indeed, research carried out for our recent report, Tough choices, revealed that two-fifths (41%) of local authority executives considered workforce management to be an important risk in the years ahead – a low figure, given that public services are people-based businesses.
Making redundancies, for instance, is never an easy task, but now more than ever they need to be implemented with careful consideration for the longer-term impact. The need for savings must be balanced against the need for long-term skills, because without the right mix there will be problems later on.
Even without the stress of redundancies, failing to prioritise the issues staff face might affect morale at a time when employees will be asked to do more with less. This could lead to strike action or claims of unfair treatment, or could even cause people to leave the organisation, creating a ‘cycle of discontent’ among remaining staff.
Workforce dissatisfaction in other organisations could also make it harder for councils. The Fire Brigade Union has already staged industrial action this year, a trend which, if left unaddressed, could spread. As a result, councils might have to provide additional services to compensate, creating further strains.
Perhaps the most damaging effect of these kinds of workforce issues is the potential harm it can cause to councils’ reputations. Mismanagement – and the resulting impact on service quality and provision – might cause discord across communities. This could, in turn, result in constituents turning their backs on the council, or the implementation of expensive counter-measures to ensure services continue, negating the very savings the cuts were intended to achieve.
So should councils resign themselves to soaring costs and a mutinous workforce this winter? Fortunately, the answer is no, but only if risk management issues are carefully considered.
Central to effective, proactive workforce management is ensuring staff are kept abreast of organisational changes and developments as they unfold. Unanswered questions about redundancies, resource reallocation and changing roles will only lead to speculation and fear.
Conversely, being open about organisational changes and their rationale will help staff feel valued and in control of their futures, even in tough times.
In addition, senior managers might be surprised to find that actively engaging staff in the process can generate new ideas and options that the management teams alone have not considered – the mantra should not be for people to feel ‘done to’ but ‘done with’. While some controversial decisions might yet have to be made, senior managers who put effort into communicating directly to staff are more likely to foster the right environment for those decisions to be successful and productive.
The costs of failing to make the right tough decisions are high for councils and, potentially, communities, but they are not insurmountable.
Just like the longstanding risk management plans authorities have for extreme weather conditions, they must apply the same rigour and planning to the workforce and funding decisions. Making long-term decisions will help councils insulate themselves not only from potential industrial and workforce threats, but also from the harsh realities of a British winter.
Andrew Jepp is director of public services at Zurich Municipal
