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Penna in the Public Sector

​Penna Overview 1990 - 2012

Penna has a long history of working with the public sector. In the early 1990s, we worked closely with such institutions as the GLA as it was dismantled and designed, and supported senior civil servants and Local Government Managers as they faced early release schemes. Supporting talent in transition, through outplacement and shared services, was a common feature as bodies transferred into the private sector and organisation design spurred much of the restructuring in the sector.

2000 brought a greater focus on rationalisation as well as a keenness for the public sector to acquire skills and talent from outside. The expansion of the state under Blair’s Britain also marked the beginning of a series of reviews and reform. Penna formed a dedicated public sector team specifically to address the need for the sector to firstly, buy more intelligently and secondly, to achieve real knowledge transfer from working with a HR services group.

Both the Gershon Review and the Lyons Report were a catalyst for major change in how the public sector organised itself and Penna worked closely alongside both institutions that were relocating, merging or restructuring in the name of efficiency. Concurrently, the introduction of hundreds of centrally determined targets unfortunately did not create world-class public services; rather they tended to lead to incentives that did not necessarily serve the interests of service-users and also led to a number of disgruntled employees.

Here at Penna, we supported many parts of the public sector in resourcing, development and transition, for example:
  • Working with Scottish Natural Heritage to successfully relocate to Inverness (involving career transition and recruitment services)
  • Creating a competence framework for the Department of Finance and Administration within the House of Commons
  • Working with an internal programme team at the Department of Constitutional Affairs to create a unified courts administrative organisation (prior to MOJ formation)
  • Developing the leadership capability of the Learning and Skills Council
  • Recruitment of Members for the Parole Board from 2006 - 2008 campaigns
  • Running the Cabinet Office IIP civil service network
  • Providing internal redeployment support for Southern Housing and outplacement for those that have been unsuccessful delivered throughout the South East
  • Appointed by DWP as sole provider of outplacement and career transition services through their redeployment and relocation programme
  • Delivered a cultural change programme for the Pensions Service, assisting in the transformation of its approach to customer service

Current Challenges

We have now seen some of the actions which will follow the government’s commitment to reducing the budget deficit. Some estimates show that £90bn will have to be cut from public spending by 2016/17 to bring the budget deficit back to a manageable level. Whatever the figure, this will require prioritisation of the key functions that the state should provide and a strategic focus on a small number of government priorities. Whitehall, in particular, will face a number of challenges:

  • Tackling complex problems – From climate change to obesity, governments face challenges where progress can only be made by influencing massive delivery systems and changing public behaviour. Meeting these challenges will require higher levels of collaboration, innovative new ways of working and mastery of new skills such as behavioural economics and co-production.
  • Becoming more accessible – Departments need to become more outward-facing and open with the public in the way they make policy, while central government services need to provide higher standards of seamless customer care. This will require the skilful deployment of new technology to engage with citizens.
  • Talent management – Given these challenges, the civil service needs to consider how it can develop the right skills among its staff to generate the public service leaders and facilitators of tomorrow.

In the past much of our work was triggered by the principles of Public Sector Reform; National Standards, Devolution & Delegation, Choice and Flexibility and their impact on the people who work across the sector. Due to the impending public spending cuts, the current triggers are ensuring resources are efficiently deployed and supporting those organisations making difficult decisions about talent. The paradigm shift is massive and we are advising clients now on radical reviews and rethinking of how public services are being delivered. This in turn will force the examination of how public bodies are governed and structured.

The change in fortunes across the public sector has allowed us to transfer the knowledge we gained from working with the financial and manufacturing sectors a year ago; sectors that faced similar challenges to the public sector in regards to the people agenda. These revolve around:

  • Workforce Planning: “The right people, in the right numbers, in the right places”
  • Competences & Skills: “A skilled and professional workforce”
  • Engagement:“A fully engaged, diverse workforce which goes the extra mile”
  • Performance Management: “High performing individuals and departments delivering excellent services”
  • Leadership: “Confident, visible, collaborative leaders”

The characteristics of the changes in this current climate are that:

  • Enhanced efficiency and seeking to do more with less in the face of ever growing demands and more exacting financial pressures whilst trying to maintain the current welfare state benefits means that current paradigms need to shift.
  • In the current economic climate there is increasing pressure for public services to run efficiently. Driving forward public sector reform will help the UK emerge stronger and faster from the global downturn. Learning from those already making efficiency savings is the next challenge for public services.

Related Links

The magic number: Penna wins three awards at the PPMA Recruitment Awards

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Article: The engagement of employees should be high on the agenda if organisations are to thrive through periods of uncertainty

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Article: What keeps you awake at night? We look at the findings from the Penna/PPMA HR Director survey

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Best Practice Report: 'How to Manage Redundancies and Change Across the Public Sector'

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