Stephen Evans describes how his staff at Havering LBC helped drive the improvement in the council's CPA score, published in the latest table this week Four years ago, when I became chief executive, Havering was faced with a number of efficiency and service-delivery issues. We had to own up to the fact that the council wasn't performing as it should, and we weren't delivering what the people wanted. The 2002 corporate assessment was fairly brutal, but accurate, and the council barely made it to ‘weak'. In that sort of situation, there is a vital sort of clarity. The first task was to stabilise the organisation – rather like a patient in ER. Hitherto, there had been few systems held in common, and so little was transferable or, indeed, comprehensible. So we created single systems. Specifically, one performance management system and one system for financial management. All this ruffled feathers. But slowly, people saw for themselves the value of time-series data. They could see the results of their actions set out in changing outputs. Every month, all the data were published to all elected members, and the cabinet and group leaders examined the monitoring pack with the strategic management team and heads of service. This approach was underpinned by a comprehensive structure of personal appraisal, directly linked to work plans, which led to the corporate plan, the financial strategy and the community strategy. Everyone could see how their effort contributed to the success of the whole. The ‘Golden thread' was important to us. But what really made things start to fly were two extra ingredients – personal development and communication. We set up an award-winning leadership programme for all third and fourth-tier managers, and the right to a minimum of three days personal development every year for every member of staff. At the same time, staff were helped to create a better work-life balance for themselves, involving a whole range of flexible arrangements. We helped make change easier, whenever possible, by creating ‘change days', when fundamental new systems and processes all came into effect together across the entire organisation. Next, we created a comprehensive communications programme incorporating staff roadshows, a specialist intranet, ‘back to the shop floor' days for all of SMT, briefings and face-to-face conversations with our people throughout the organisation. We explained the necessity and nature of change, and set out the benefits of the proposed changes in terms of their personal and professional lives. We listened to the staff, answered their questions, and constantly reminded them how valuable they were to the council. Saying ‘thanks' has been important. Together, we have celebrated every success with the whole staff group – widely, including on the intranet and in innovative computer pop-ups. We encouraged staff to suggest and share ideas and solutions – to work together and value their part in the organisation as individuals, teams and departments. As a result, we've seen a 42% drop in sickness, and we now have a broader spectrum of job applicants than ever before. People want to work for Havering. The difference has been startling. We've known that we were getting better. It's good to have that now reflected in IPSOS Mori data and in our CPA scores. After all, it's what the people of Havering deserve. n Stephen Evans is about to retire as chief executive from Havering LBC
