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IFG Event: How can the civil service develop the right skills?

Livestream: instituteforgovernment.org.uk/events/civil-s…

#IFGcivilservice

During the event, @ben_guerin will present the findings from the new @instituteforgov report, followed by a discussion with @CivilServiceCPO @EmilyHMiles @MaxTse_NAO and @DrHannahWhite

#IFGcivilservice

@DrHannahWhite kicks us off and explains that @instituteforgov has had a longstanding interest in civil service skills and has been tracking the development of the Functions over the years #IFGcivilservice

Read more about @instituteforgov work on skills and Functions: instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publications/p…
instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publications/w…

Anton Whitefoot: Data is crucial for the civil service to make the best use of its skills #IFGcivilservice

Benoit Guerin @ben_guerin presents the key findings of the new @instituteforgov report

BG: The ‘Functions’ have helped make progress in enhancing civil service skills #IFGcivilservice

BG: Barriers to building skills still remain. The major barriers are accountability and funding #IFGcivilservice

BG: There is uneven access to development in the civil service, particularly for those who are not on the fast stream or the senior civil service #IFGcivilservice

BG: There is a bit of a lack of incentive to develop skills in the civil service with training often viewed as an imposition rather than an opportunity #IFGcivilservice

BG: The civil service does not effectively use the skills it has because it lacks the data to deploy skills well #IFGcivilservice

BG: To acquire and manage the skills it has, the civil service needs to create a culture of learning and put greater responsibility on managers #IFGcivilservice

BG: The civil service needs to bring Functions and Professions closer and also establish clearer models of funding #IFGcivilservice

BG: Data is crucial to effectively managing the workforce. The civil service needs to set up a consistent and systematic data collection programme #IFGcivilservice

BG: Bringing in consultants has its place but it is not always the most effective strategy #IFGcivilservice

BG: There should be more deployment of skills from the wider public sector by facilitating exchanges, secondments etc between different parts of the public sector (NHS, police forces, local government and central government) at all levels of seniority #IFGcivilservice

We are now kicking off our panel discussion, chaired by @DrHannahWhite

Our panel includes: Rupert McNeil (@CivilServiceCPO), Government Chief People Officer; Emily Miles (@EmilyHMiles), CEO of the Food Standards Agency; Max Tse (@MaxTse_NAO), Executive Director at the National Audit Office

HW asks EM: What do you think are the most important skills that the civil service needs? #IFGcivilservice

EM: Civil service suffers from a bias of thinking of people as machines. Lots of processes that we can automate but also lots of civil servants who do relating services (prison officer). These are also important skills to support #IFGcivilservice

EM: Project management and strategy skills are crucial. If you are able to do really clear outcomes and organising of work in a strategic way, it makes a massive difference to the success of departments. Consultants do that but the CS does not #IFGcivilservice

HW to Rupert McNeil (@CivilServiceCPO): Where do you think the civil service is doing better than other sectors when it comes to managing staff skills? Where does it fall behind? #IFGcivilservice

RM: One of the great strengths of the public sector is that it can organise itself like an organisation. If you think about any other sector, it is made up of competitors as opposed to collaborators. No zero sum game in skill building in the civil service #IFGcivilservice

RM: If you combine the willingness to learn and to teach and share with the ability to come up with common frameworks, that is very powerful #IFGcivilservice

RM: Skills all need to be applied to contexts that will be different. But what is interesting is that the pervasive skills needed for all roles are human contact and customer service. These can be augmented by automation but cannot be replaced #IFGcivilservice

RM: Strategy is not the same as policy. It is a discipline in its own right #IFGcivilservice

HW to Max Tse (@MaxTse_NAO): What does the NAO think are the main successes the civil service has achieved in developing its skills in recent years? And the biggest missed opportunities?

MT: Better understanding of Functions and much more clarity about how they work. A lot more challenges getting dealt with in a much smoother manner because of understanding what is required #IFGcivilservice

MT: Government can lead in this area instead of just importing things from the private sector as it has the ability to be much more equal than the private sector does #IFGcivilservice

MT: Incentives for individuals and managers is very important. Data is also crucial. #IFGcivilservice

Question from audience: Do we see a problen with the loss of State or Civil Service expertise and experience, from the rising trend of outsourcing and use of consultants? #IFGcivilservice

MT: Post 2016, there were so many more demands on the civil service and there was a need to quickly develop capability and consultancy spend went up. But need to ensure that skills transfer takes place #IFGcivilservice

Question from the audience: many open roles within the service do not attract enough external interest. What actions can be taken to change this fact? #IFGcivilservice

RM: Need to know who the people you need to bring in are and also figure out what to do when you have not built the capability internally and need to bring in people internally #IFGcivilservice

RM: 1) Need to get better understanding of what capability is required 2) Recognise gaps and figure out how to fill it #IFGcivilservice

RM: Need to figure out whether we are making the best use of consultancy to make use of those skills #IFGcivilservice

RM: Another way of bringing capability in is to create civilian reserves of those who previously worked in the civil service or people from the wider public sector #IFGcivilservice

RM: Another way to build capability is through secondments #IFGcivilservice

RM: Line managers need to be able to determine what they really need for the open roles #IFGcivilservice

Question from the audience: the key skill which the civil service lack is the management ability to operate in a non silo manner and work across departmental boundaries - what resource is being targeted in this area? #IFGcivilservice

EM: Still got a long way to go and the levers for more collaborative working sit in the centre as HMT can do it through funding and Cabinet Office can do it through creating specific teams #IFGcivilservice

EM: For the crosscutting issue of food, you need to get a large number of departments to coordinate. And badly coordinated efforts lead to problems. Need to put departmental preferences aside and work together to get things done. Often needs push from centre #IFGcivilservice

RM: Need to get much better at assembling teams to deliver outcomes. This requires sophisticated leadership and programme definition skills #IFGcivilservice

Question from the audience: As we all move to some form or other of hybrid working, what are the Civil Service's plans for reskilling managers and leaders to manage, and engage, remotely? #IFGcivilservice

RM: Actively working on training managers to work and lead remotely. Need to think about how we access the different skills of the workforce around the UK and the globe #IFGcivilservice

RM: It does require different ways of working. There are real issues of inclusion etc when you are dealing with hybrid meetings when some people are in the room and others are not #IFGcivilservice

Question from the audience: The ban on pay progression over the past decade has made it harder to incentivise and reward specialisation and deep expertise, with a particularly negative impact on scientists and engineers. Can this damage be reversed? #IFGcivilservice

MT: When we looked at civil service skills last year we realised that there were high levels of variation in pay between departments and Functions for similar roles #IFGcivilservice

MT: Desire for pay progression often leads to churn with people moving around (often to less suitable roles) for higher pay and also increases internal competition #IFGcivilservice

RM: The government's evidence to the Senior Salary Review Body has some of the answers. Capability based pay is the solution to the problems mentioned because it incentivises people to stay in the role and build capability #IFGcivilservice

RM: Assessable capability is also ensuring that people maintain their skills. The @instituteforgov report talks about the role of managers in insuring that civil servants maintain and build their capability #IFGcivilservice

EM: There should be reward for improving capability but if people stay in the same job forever then that can hamper energy and innovation. A little bit of change and moving between roles is good #IFGcivilservice

EM: For things that are specialist professions, there should not be much divergence in pay. There should be some parity between departments #IFGcivilservice

EM: The roles that you do in the civil service are really interesting and involve serving the public. Need to use these factors to attract more people to the civil service #IFGcivilservice

Question from the audience: The time for development is not factored into the civil service, how can this be encouraged? #IFGcivilservice

RM: Managers need to create a culture of learning and incentivise learning. Also need to be better at capturing what people have done and what their training needs are #IFGcivilservice

MT: One of the things that the NAO needs to actively think about is to factor in the development requirements that people have. Finding the right opportunities is as much a way of developing skills as formal training is #IFGcivilservice

MT: Really need to make sure that managers' incentives align #IFGcivilservice

MT: Need to celebrate managers who do develop their teams too #IFGcivilservice

EM: Emphasis on efficiency means that there is not always enough capacity. There needs to be resilience in teams with more people than is absolutely necessary #IFGcivilservice

Question from the audience: Do professions feel empowered enough to be able to influence key decisions? The answer could provide a clue to how government can attract the right skills and people #IFGcivilservice

RM: Need to think about when you bring different professions in and whether when the professions are brought in, do they have the ability to influence decisions #IFGcivilservice

MT: Question reveals how we think about the issue - professionals are seen as separate from decision makers. Professions need to be intrinsic to all the work done #IFGcivilservice

EM: It is incredibly important that professionals are in the room when making decisions. It is much easier for lawyers or finance officials to demand to be in the room. But harder for project managers to insist that they are in the room #IFGcivilservice

Read the findings of the @instituteforgov skills report here: instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publications/c… #IFGcivilservice

@DrHannahWhite finishes up by thanking our panelists, Oracle (@Oracle_UKI @OracleHCM), and the audience! #IFGcivilservice

That is all for today! Don’t worry if you missed the event, the audio and video recording will be uploaded to our website in 24 hours: instituteforgovernment.org.uk/events/previous #IFGcivilservice