Title

Local and central government managers often complement each other with their skill sets says veteran government recruitment specialist, John Smith. Anecdotally – and perhaps it is time for something more analytical – there appears to be one fundamental reason that attracts senior local government figures to jobs at the centre. Equally, there appears to be one fundamental reason why central government is attracted to them. The attraction of central government appears to be the view that it is where key decisions are taken and a desire to be at the heart of this process and have a recognised national role. Central government appears to be attracted to senior local government figures because they bring desperately-needed delivery experience and ability to a Civil Service historically dominated by policy advice and not well-tuned to the implementation of that advice. Carolyn Downs' decision to step down as Shropshire's chief executive and join the Ministry of Justice is the latest in a trend. So far, so good. The need of the Civil Service matches the aspirations of a significant tranche of high-quality candidates who will not only meet a current need but should also enrich the Civil Service gene pool for the future. And yet… the evidence for the success of what should be a done deal is patchy. So, what are the reasons for thriving, surviving or crashing? Again, anecdotally, there appears to be one fundamental reason why differentiation occurs. The clear performance-led delivery encouraged by local government means that those who have joined agencies rather than the mainstream Civil Service have tended to be able to demonstrate superior performance. Those who join the mainstream Civil Service to run specific projects and/or programmes are similarly able to perform. The main reason why some are unable successfully to continue to develop their careers is the different political landscape coupled with the – deliberate? – ambiguity of how much of the Civil Service conducts itself. The underlying issue is that the Civil Service has identified gaps in its competencies and has taken steps to address them. One of them is consciously to recruit from local government – with significant advantages but also some failures. The issue has, seemingly, been approached piece meal and with two major potential flaws: One, the jobs are not always as clearly thought through as they might be. This will lead to some sub-optimal appointments and two, senior Civil Service salaries are significantly below most comparable organisations. This has led to salary differences averaging 25% between internal and external recruits to the senior civil service – if this continues, instability is inevitable. As one ex-junior minister said: ‘If we cut the Civil Service by one-third no-one would notice. And if we spent the money saved on real performance-related pay for the remaining two-thirds, everyone would notice.' The core paradox is that central government tells local government what to do, and then has to recruit from local government to make it happen. John Smith is chairman of Public Appointments Ltd

Title

WHITEHALL

The pitfalls of Whitehall recruitment

SUBSCRIBE TO CONTINUE READING