In the current climate it is not uncommon for organisations to look inwards to see how operational changes could free up resource and save money. Seeking external help can remove the blinkers and help organisations to see the bigger picture. Sheffield City Council’s work with Capita’s consulting business helped them to understand that improvements aren’t simply about cost cutting – they are about people management too. The following article demonstrates that unlocking the management potential within an organisation lies at the heart of any successful transformation.

As any consultant will recognise, it’s impossible to flick a switch and fundamentally change the behaviour inside an organisation. Local authorities in particular are going through a period of rapid change. There’s a shift in the role of councils from service providers to commissioners of services, which requires new ways of thinking and working. Even the changes to the way that services are delivered – such as social media engagement or self service via a website – are challenging the traditional way of doing things. This can be unsettling for employees. Sheffield City Council recognised that it was important to equip managers with the skills required to manage change.

Like many local authorities, Sheffield City Council’s organisational structure was built upon service silos. With the changes the Council needed to make, this structure wasn’t a sustainable way of working as it didn’t offer a holistic view.

It is perhaps not entirely surprising to learn that the changes in the leadership and management approach were initially driven by the Council’s desire to achieve operational savings. The initial leadership requirement was focused on realigning HR services to provide the relevant support to the Council’s management community, as well as reducing the cost of HR service provision. The objective of implementing the change was to build a team of managers who were more self-sufficient, better informed and visionary about change as well as freeing up HR resource by providing better support tools to the business.

The leadership development programme was branded as ‘organisation enablement’, reflecting the central role of the leaders in moving the organisation forward. The programme included working with the leadership group to develop a set of executive imperatives that defined the critical behaviours they needed to adopt to transform the organisation. The programme also re-defined the role of the manager and worked with executive and non-executive directors to develop new leadership styles and behaviours. These activities helped the Council to deliver cross-function solutions. In parallel to the programme, the HR team also worked with the leaders in the Council to build new definitions for the role of operational managers that were suited to the Council’s new approach to service delivery.

The work with Sheffield City Council highlighted the fact that you can’t simply look at numbers to make changes and cut costs. Change only happens through and with people – the way they behave and feel about work. Redefining the way the leaders work releases the management potential to change the rest of the business.