28.09.15
Public sector workforce pride must be encouraged to counteract cuts – Kerslake
Lord Kerslake, president of the Local Government Association, has called on leaders in the public sector to encourage “pride” and “civic duty” among its workforce to counteract the effect of government cuts.
Speaking at Odgers Interim’s Public Sector reception, the former leader of the Civil Service identified two types of leader – one who “takes the hit” in the face of public scrutiny and another who immediately looks to place the blame elsewhere.
Given the challenges the sector faces, Lord Kerslake encouraged leaders to foster a team spirit to boost workplace morale.
Highlighting this point, a Manpower employment survey recently showed that public sector employers are predicting the need to cut posts rather than take on workers as a result of weakened nationwide confidence around the upcoming spending review.
Amanda White, operations manager at Manpower, said: “Part of this drop in hiring intentions is being driven by the public sector, where confidence has slipped nationwide following the government’s renewed commitment to cuts.”
But Lord Kerslake, who is leading the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) inquiry on Reform, Decentralisation and Devolution, said the unique role of public sector workers must be recognised.
He has also called for a break from the culture of “meeting targets” and instead that results should be measured on “difference made” to demonstrate the value of working in the sector.
“I wanted to say how important it was to build pride in the public sector. This is vital if we are to keep staff motivated and engaged during a challenging period,” said Lord Kerslake.
“Pride is about more than meeting targets but an emotional connection to how we feel personally. I think the marvellous achievements of improving the trauma services in London provided a powerful example of this.”
Lord Kerslake recently told PSE that the path towards a more devolved Britain, which will empower local communities and cities, will be “immensely challenging”.