What skills will your council officers need in 2013?
Author: Alex Thomson, in the Guardian, Local Government |
Councils need analytical entrepreneurs and skilled communicators to survive, but they also need a smaller but better paid workforce says Alex Thomson.
Local government officers might like to take up a sideline in juggling ? I rather suspect they would be very good at it. Not only do they have to cope with reducing budgets and redesigning public services but they also need to balance political priorities, introduce new work styles and at the same time try to retain public support.
The skills section of an officer’s job description might be somewhat limited but the talents required to do the job have never been so extensive or more fluid. The nature of the role of local government officer is changing, but there are some aptitudes that will prove essential over the next few years.
The ability to analyse a public service, understand its needs and the results it produces, and to then redesign a new service accordingly will help councils manage the constant cycle of redesign that I expect will become mainstream in public services before too long.
The government is establishing a commissioning academy to help develop these skills in the public sector. Councils must to be at the heart of this; indeed, the rest of the public sector might learn a thing or two from local government.
Rather than purely delivering services, being a local entrepreneur will also become more important. Eric Pickles has been keen to highlight the role of councils in stimulating growth and has put growth at the heart of the local authority funding mechanism. Selling services via trading companies, sharing services, setting staff mutuals and other innovations will become mainstream.
Finally, local authorities are closer than any other public body to their communities. Most councils would suggest that they already understand and articulate the needs of their residents, particularly through local councillors, but as finances become more squeezed and councils cut back to only the top priorities, community engagement will become even more important. Without the support of local people, creating a new relationship between councils and the residents they serve will be tricky.
Local government has a dedicated workforce and those working in the sector generally do it for the greater public good. It’s a little sad that many of those who have spent a lifetime in public service are now finding themselves looking outside the sector for employment. The best authorities will put effort into helping staff retrain where possible ? but some will be unable or unwilling to retrain.
For those who remain, the future may be a bit happier. Given that local government is no longer asking its workforce for technical proficiency alone, but calling for a much wider range of generalist skills, it is not heretical to suggest that they may have to pay for it. Many of these skills might once have been expected of senior managers; now they are expected of all. A smaller but better paid workforce could be the future.
Of course there is public opinion on salaries to consider, but as a virtual pay freeze continues today, a fresh approach to remuneration might help to stimulate the quiet revolution that local government needs in future.