30 March - Bad management in Watling Street
There was not only a
debate on residents’ experiences with Bexley Council
last week but there was a similar discussion on their ‘People Strategy’. This was
a survey of staff. Councillor Peter Reader (Conservative, West Heath) was concerned that they claimed not to see
managers or leaders and got no regular briefings. A third said the Council did not treat them fairly.
86 said they had been subjected to bullying.
The Deputy Director of Customer Services said she was concerned too but had no
detail of what was behind such complaints so ‘workshops’ will attempt to get to
the bottom of the problem. It seemed it varied across different Directorates so
I would guess that this will be due to some Managers being worse than others.
She added that the anonymous survey would have allowed things to come to the
fore and “they would be too scared” to bring bullying etc. to notice any other way.
As a former Manager of a workforce the same size as Bexley’s I find use of the word
scared to be horrifying and a total condemnation of the Council’s management style.
Unfair pay differentials, honorariums and leave allowances were said to be contentious issues.
Councillor Larry Ferguson (Labour, Thamesmead East) asked if there were any
figures for employees who were not sufficiently scared and made formal
complaints. (He was more diplomatic than that.) The numbers were described as
“small” which probably means that a lot are indeed scared. He was not happy
about only half of staff reporting that their mental health was good. (Crikey!
What sort of poorly managed outfit is our Council?)
The Head of HR said that Managers were being trained via a “Management
Essentials” programme to educate them in what being a manager meant and to
“equip them with the soft skills needed and how to behave in the workplace and
deal with difficult situations”. (This is truly appalling. Bexley Council must be
appointing and promoting people to management roles who do not have a clue how
to behave. The 50% mental health issues are perhaps explained.)
Mental health issues are the largest cause of sick absence.
It was said to be much the same across all London Boroughs.
Adults’ Social Care will be the first Directorate to be given attention as
complaints are highest there. Some of the problem may arise from the Service
Users who can be abusive and “they will be written to”. (That’s right. Blame the
frustrated customer, some of whom have already been supported by the Local Government Ombudsman.)
Cabinet Member David Leaf said all the right things which any embarrassed politician might say.
He mentioned Covid within his comments about Mental Health. Probably Working from Home doesn’t help with that.
This report must rank among the most depressing ever posted to BiB. Out of
their own mouths, Bexley’s managers have pretty much proclaimed their total
incompetence and unfitness to manage a multi-million pound business.
Councillor Stefano Borella (Labour, Slade Green) was particularly concerned about the invisibility of
managers but acknowledged that the layout of the building didn’t help them.
(Maybe a purpose built Civic Centre - Labour’s preference - instead of the Woolwich Building Society bodge job may have been better.)
He briefly mentioned how in his own employment people from different
departments were encouraged to mingle. Kitchen design engineers would work
alongside chefs to see why things weren’t working but in Bexley Adults’ Services
don’t even learn from Children’s.
The HR Director came out with some waffle about awarding staff ‘stars’ and
putting trite messages on TV screens. (God help us.) One of the Councillors seemed to be happy that
Bexley is no worse than other Councils to which HR added “We are not wildly out of kilter”. (Complacency rules OK.)
Maybe this is my cue to go back to the 1980s and being given the job of managing a 1,300 plus staff
unit officially listed as “unmanageable.”
I moved my office (and support staff) to a door off the corridor leading to the
staff locker rooms. Most people passed it twice a day. I left the door more or
less permanently open. It was not a daily occurrence but staff were
able to speak to me whenever they felt like it. Simple problems could
be nipped in the bud by delegation to the right people, bigger problems might
need longer but solved or explained they would be.
A couple of years later the unmanageable unit became the most productive in the entire country. I never thought to
organise a survey. If the management door is open and they are out on the shop
floor every single day you don’t need a bloody survey.
You don’t fix a problem like this with a contrived Strategy. You get a manager
who is worthy of the name who changes everything necessary from the ground
up. It takes time but it is the only way. Bexley’s Deputy Director of HR has convinced
herself that the positive responses to the Survey are strengths to be built
on and “we are good at it”. (History says otherwise or we wouldn’t be where we are.)
She might think that building on shaky foundations is the way to go but she is doomed to failure.
The only downside to my approach was that the Unions didn’t like it. Reckoned I had pinched
their job. I am now utterly convinced that Local Government management is utterly appalling.