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Do The UK’s Top Public Servants Earn Their Pay?

September 22, 2010 in Pay and Reward, Public Services

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The BBC’s Panorama programme entitled “Because We’re Worth It” explored the issues of top public servants pay, the recent government interventions and perceived value for money.

While the programme included a pretty superficial session where members of the public ranked public servants value in Trafalgar Square, it also contained some valuable insights into factors driving earnings for top public servants.

BBC researchers used the Freedom of Information Act to collate earnings information for over 38,000 top public sector roles and have published the data on their website.

The BBC explained it’s research revealed some enlightening facts about the pay of top public servants including the following -

  • 220 civil servants earned more than the Primer Minister
  • 385 teachers earned more than £100k and 17 headteachers earned more than the Prime Minister
  • 97 people at the BBC earned more than £160k
  • 428 quango heads earned more than the Prime Minister
  • the highest paid local government CEO earned £299k

Attractor has said before it is pretty meaningless to compare public servants earnings to those of the Prime Minister. Career politicians and other public servants inhabit different environments. Other commentators have highlighted the pay of senior politicians excludes the potential external earnings available in this field, before, during and after their elected service.

Panorama also highlighted the fact the Prime Minister’s pay had been reduced by both Gordon Brown and David Cameron from £197,000k to £142,000 over the last 18 months. Reducing pay in this way significantly shifts the number of top public sector roles that attract earnings above the Prime Minister …. from less than 1,000 to over 9,000.

While this sends a clear political signal on national pay restraint, and responds to similar moves made in some areas of the private sector, expecting this to translate across public service was probably no more realistic than expecting all private sector CEOs to take pay cuts.

So what else did the programme and the BBC data reveal? Read the rest of this entry →

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Managing “Idle” Staff

September 20, 2010 in Leading and Managing Results, Public Services

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More adverse comment has arisen about failings in public sector management as well as suggestions that public servants are lazy and inefficient.

Comments made by Tony McGuirk, the Chief Fire Officer of Merseyside at a Reform thinktank event in June were circulated at the recent TUC conference.

His words have been roundly condemned by some, called “a withering attack” by unions and used by others to support predictable criticismof public sevices, suggesting they are “crammed to the rafters” with lazy employees who can’t be sacked.

Supporting the view it was possible to overhaul public services, improving performance while saving money, Mr McGuirk explained managers should develop or ultimately sack people showing  poor performance – some of whom he said were “bone idle” – and raised concerns that managers often lacked sufficient “muscle”. In fact, he has recently apologised for using “inappropriate language” when talking about the need to confront poor performance and an epidemic of sickness absence.

Is the public sector prone to idleness? Read the rest of this entry →

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Harnessing Localism For Reformed Services

September 15, 2010 in Leading and Managing Results, Public Services

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With the Trade Union Congress (TUC) calling for coordinated industrial action to resist cuts by the “demolition government”,  the language used by Andrew Rawnsley in the Guardian begins to look less extreme.

Rawnsley compares the current situation to those implemented after the First World War. From 1921, the “Geddes Axe” saw major reductions in the armed forces, a 35% shrinking of the civil service plus controversial scrapping of education and housing reform which the Labour Party used to effect – forming it’s first government in 1924.

At present, budding signs of increased confidence and nascent recovery in the private sector are being completely overshadowed by fears over spending cuts.

Rawnsley reports the gradual realisation in government that global spending reductions of 25% will mean far more than trimming uneccesary fat through “efficiency savings”.

Reductions on this scale would require a scaling back of government activity which has real meaning and benefit. According to his sources, negotiations inside government, especially between the major spending departments and HM Treasury are very bitter.

The final report of the Commission on 2020 Public Services suggests public services must be more closely shaped around people with departmental silos removed and decision making and commissioning brought much closer to citizens and communities, with political institutions and accountability reshaped to support this. This is absolutely the right prescription for the future.

For around four months, central government departments have been wrapped up with introspective review, working in existing silos to determine where savings can be made. There is real danger that “silo thinking” will prevent government from finding solutions which might actually deliver what they want and need. Read the rest of this entry →

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Performance Pay in the Public Sector

September 1, 2010 in Leading and Managing Results, Pay and Reward, Public Services

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Photo: Material Boy, Flickr

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has recommended wider use of performance-related pay in the public sector while Personnel Today’s “Austerity Panel” has rejected this as a technique for improving productivity.

Yet when the government has used performance-related pay and bonuses as an incentive for public sector workers, it has faced criticism. Writers at the Tax Payers Alliance appear to consider public sector workers unworthy of reward for performance!

Personnel Today quoted Graham White, HR Director of Westminster Council and Roger Seifert, Professor of Industrial Relations and HR management at Wolverhampton Business School as contradicting the CIPD’s suggestions – highlighting the difficulties and distorting impact of performance pay.

So what evidence is there on successful use of performance pay in the public sector? Read the rest of this entry →

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Are Poor Managers Causing Lower Public Sector Productivity?

August 25, 2010 in Leading and Managing Results, Public Services, Workforce Management

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According to research from Knox D’Arcy, public sector organisations are falling behind the private sector because of less effective management. The research suggests local authorities are around 27% less effective in their staff utilisation than the average private sector business.

With these findings published, there has been predictable reaction from many quarters – with the some unsurprising “public sector bashing”… simply making people work more effectively will solve the financial crisis facing public services … though some voices offier stout defence of public sector institutions against private sector bias.

This has been balanced out by a range of “messenger shooting” incidents. Public sector union UNISON has said the study is “misleading, unrepresentative and unhelpful”.

While it’s difficult to come to certain conclusions from what has been published, the findings are certainly worth some exploration. Read the rest of this entry →

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Managers Are Guilty of Self Delusion

August 16, 2010 in Leading and Managing Results, Public Services

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Photo: bixentro, Flickr

The article Are Poor Managers the Weak Link? looked at impact of poor manager performance on organisational productivity and questioned the effect on the public sector’s capability to deliver the transformation required over the next few years.

Recent research by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) has added some interesting facts which give new context to the concerns raised earlier. Commentators have suggested the research show managers are guilty of self delusion.

Undertaking research covering more than 2000 managers in the UK, the CMI research revealed that 63% of managers had no management training before taking up a senior post and only 20%  of managers hold any type of formal management qualification.

As well as the lack of training and qualifications, CMI believes the problem reflects the fact that people have become managers “by accident”, having had no desire to become a manager when they embarked on their careers.

Promotion to higher level of authority and responsibility without training or qualifications was leading to real difficulties. Read the rest of this entry →

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Are Poor Managers the Weak Link?

August 6, 2010 in Leading and Managing Results, Public Services, Workforce Management

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Photo: amontei, Flickr

In July 2010, Anthony Dance asks on the HRZone website why poor manager performance was not seen as a key issue for HR practitioners. It’s absolutely the case that many organisations see gaps in management capability as a  serious problem.

A quick trawl through Personnel Today sees poor managers blamed for provoking conflict, increasing the levels of sickness absence, causing under-performance and creating a culture which allows poor customer service.

These concerns certainly aren’t surprising. In its 2005 Workplace Productivity Survey, the US-based Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) examined workplace factors which impacted on worker productivity. The survey gained responses from 478 HR professionals and 613 employees and 58% of respondents reported the most important factor holding employee productivity back was poor management. Read the rest of this entry →

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Public Servants Shouldn’t Get Bonuses?

August 2, 2010 in Leading and Managing Results, Pay and Reward, Public Services

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The Tax Payers Alliance recently criticised the treatment of bonuses by the Home Office, which had set aside 8.6% of its pay bill for such payments but was planning to use only 4.4%.

TPA argued cutting the pot for bonuses was not the same as cutting pay, suggesting that civil servants were being paid bonuses they had not earned.

It also commented bonuses would have been paid if there had been enough money to pay for them. Clearly it thinks bonuses shouldn’t apply to public servants.

MP for Cannock Chase, Aidan Burley, TPA said “Surely a bonus is not compulsory…If you’re not performing and therefore not entitled to a bonus, that doesn’t count as a pay cut.” “Quite right.” said TPA and it must be correct that bonuses shouldn’t be taken for granted – period!

But it’s hard to accept suggestions the civil service has an inappropriate bonus culture in the face of practice elsewhere. Paying enormous bonuses to company CEOs and bankers remains commonplace – irrespective of the global performance of their organisations. To be fair, TPA did report these cases but didn’t comment with the same degree of disdain …. despite many bankers bonuses being underpinned by taxpayers financial support.

In the private sector it is argued bonuses reflect success in parts of the business and for personal contributions that have been strong. Reward and recognition are needed to retain the best people it is said. Isn’t it equally important to keep the best public servants so we have positive outcomes and good value for money for taxpayers?

While the Telegraph reported the story in the context of David Cameron’s vow to crack down on ‘crazy’ bonuses, for the majority of public servants, and all low paid employees in both public and private sectors, the annual bonus can be really significant – though it probably doesn’t stretch to pay for “yet another sports car”. Distinguishing “pay” from “bonus” is pretty meaningless when it comes to employers’ costs or people’s spending power and anyone taking home less this year than last experiences a real terms cut in earnings.

Is it fair to suggest bonuses in the civil service are different from those in the private sector? Read the rest of this entry →

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Devolution or Privatisation?

July 29, 2010 in Public Services, Shared Services and Outsourcing

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It is possible the UK is about to witness the decline and fall of the 20th Century’s monolithic, centralised state institutions. But trying to read the early actions of the coalition government is difficult and it’s too soon to tell how the new world of public service, created by the government’s actions, will look.

One might be forgiven for thinking a lack of vision is creating the uncertainty. In response, it might be argued the competing pressures and visions within the Labour party resulted in a lack of consistency in purpose and action (if not motivation).

It’s only fair to remember the coalition needs to craft solutions reflecting the new partnership …. a more formal process than takes place inside single party “broad church” governments.

So, as the coalition begins to shape things in their own image, what should we expect?

For the coalition parties, links between localism, pluralism and liberalism are deep and profound. Big, centralised government is broadly rejected. From the actions that have been taken by the new government, the coming changes may be more radical than anyone expects. Evidence of this can be seen in -

  • the “Big Society” contrasted with Big Government with it’s echoes of “Total Politics“, coined by Greg Clark and James Mather and used by Ian Duncan Smith to attack the New Labour project,
  • the abolition of Strategic Health Authorities and Primary Care Trusts and nascent plans to devolve spending to General Practitioners,
  • the challenge of producing plans for 25% to 40% cuts in central government departments,
  • the removal of regional planning controls,
  • action to consolidate the number of arms length bodies,
  • the moves to create elected police authorities.

So how will public services look in five years time? Read the rest of this entry →

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Localism, Reform, Innovation and Transformation

July 26, 2010 in Leading and Managing Results, Public Services

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With the UK public sector under huge financial pressure, government faces calls to protect resources for front-line services.

A recent Telegraph article provides valuable insight on ways to change how public services are run (in this case police forces) to provide effective outcomes with far less resources.

The report in question, from an ex-UK policeman now serving in Canada, seems to offer clear examples of how changes is working practice could yield significant savings without a loss of service quality.

According to figures used in the article, Alberta spends £150 for every citizen and employs one person for every 526 people served, while Manchester spends £276 for every citizen and employs one person for every 181 people served. Given the recent comments about using civilians in the police workforce, it is also interesting to note 37% of the police workforce in Manchester are civilians compared to only 26% in Alberta.

Even taking into account the difference in levels of violent crime (Manchester has 16 per 1,000 people while Alberta has only 10 per 1,000) comparing the two sets of figures throws up striking productivity differences in the two. So why is Canada more effiicenct?

Comparing Greater Manchester in the UK with Alberta, Edmonton, the key differences in policing practice in UK and Canada would seem to be -

  • less bureaucracy - in relation to arrangements for arrest, custody, taking statements, accessing legal representatives and making charging – resulting in greater front line efficiency and fewer administrative staff,
  • active front-line policing- the UK’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary recently reported as few as six per cent of warranted officers might be available at any one time to deal with crime. In Alberta everyone is hands-on, almost all the time – even senior officers,
  • greater use of technology – wireless laptops in vehicles displaying calls waiting for police attention and how long they have been waiting – plus real-time crime maps, incidents, methods and suspects,
  • local accountability- Alberta police are financed by local taxpayers and respond to their priorities, not those of central government.

The message from overseas suggests that removing the layers of management, measurement and compliance activity bearing down on front line services, allowing freedom for innovation and investment decisions together with local accountability can generate really transformative results.

It is through effective innovation and investment that front-line services are best protected, not by ringfencing budgets supporting out of date or ineffective working practices.

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