People Management key to local government services

Eight people management interventions have been identified as critical to enhancing the performance and productivity of the local government workforce and improving services, in new research by the Employers' Organisation for local government (EO).

The EO’s research report – ‘Productivity, Performance and Improvement’ - lists eight HR interventions as the most important influence on councils’ current and future performance, productivity and improvement:

• Developing leadership
• Improving recruitment and retention
• Training and developing managers
• Managing sickness absence
• Training and developing non-managers
• Developing work-life balance strategies
• Improving internal communications
• Working in teams

The development of top leadership and motivational management is essential to boosting productivity and performance in the workforce, but this research, carried out in conjunction with Deloitte and Touche, shows that policies and procedures to tackle issues such as work-life balance and sickness absence also have a vital tactical role to play in the wider strategy.

The EO recommends that councils focus on these people management issues in their capacity building work. Rob Pinkham, Deputy Director of the EO explains:

“The time is ripe for local authorities to give high performance HR management its rightful place in the drive to improve services. The challenge of comprehensive performance assessments is to understand and enhance the capacity of the whole organisation and facilitate the change process. Proper performance management techniques encourage the flow of vital management information and link the roles of individuals better to the aims of the authority.”