Having worked fairly significantly with the public sector as a mediator, a lawyer and a trainer it seems increasingly clear to me that despite the best intentions, management is just simply not equipped to deal with the forthcoming cull.
No matter how you dress this up , the public sector will be facing real change and there will be blood on the streets.
Against such a background, where do we get our inspiration? What do we do? Is this only role of the HR advisor/Head of Department mitigation of hell?
The hurdles facing HR in the public sector are overwhelming.
1 The Public Sector is facing a fundamental question of identity as to what it stands for.
2 The Piublic Sector is facing the challenge of manaing people who will be sacked and the management of survivors.
3 The Public Sector is having a fundamental question of competence. Does it have the self belief to raise itself to the challenge?
4 The Public Sector faces a fundamental management skills deficit. Recently I atttended a Conference and I was struck with the lack of practical management skills the public sector has for dealing with the forthcoming cull. There was a lot of (commendable)emphasis on buzz words, but little tools for providing solutions.
5 The Public Sector is politicised which acts as an additional downer on morale. OK, it has always been poliiticised, but morale is absolutely critical in these times.Do you think Labour is going to hold back in criticising any public sector reforms?
Public Sector needs appropriate training and support, but to set the ball rolling they can start reading up on some of the better 1990s recession type literature.
The 1990s represents a direct parrallel for the Public Sector leadership as this was the first occasion that organisational man was devastated.
A good place to start is the work of the deceased, Delorese Ambrose.
As one review observes on the Amazon site, " Ambrose's prescription for restructured organizations includes lists of concrete, practical activities to effect positive internal change. On the other hand, consultant Ambrose by no means gets immersed in all the details; An even more productive addition to this already radical business book is the inclusion of real-life cases and employees become her benchmarks for evaluating workable ideas, along with a few of those institutions' survivors who, in their stories, become role models for change."
Justin Patten, Employment Trainer.