When the going gets difficult organisations tend to look inwards. Over time this can become an ingrained habit, much like a stoop when walking. Looking downwards means you miss what’s going on around you. An inwards focus in an organisation has the same effect.
At Kensington and Chelsea my Director encouraged us to take time out of the office on non-work activities – even at the very busy times. I helped organise and ultimately became vice Chair of CIPFA’s London Division, we organised post qualification training for finance staff across the capital. We all learned from colleagues and from speakers in the events. Those skills served me well when at the LGA I needed to organise professional conferences.
At Oxford I encouraged people to look outwards. We established a graduate training programme and we sent trainees to the CIPFA conference (as day delegates), we bought and circulated the relevant professional magazines (they had been cancelled as a previous cost cutting measure). We established a programme of lunchtime seminars for managers across the authority where we heard from external speakers.
I noticed a difference, people started to take new ideas an apply them. Our performance management thinking came from one of our staff who had studied those concepts as part of her wider professional studies.
The danger with the current austerity is we cut those opportunities. We save pennies but waste pounds. A self confident local government needs to look outwards, learning from the best practice – wherever it is.
markluntley 