New Zealand Interim delivers heavy weight
Interim experience to Ministry of Justice
Experienced Interim, Jill Griggs, has been appointed as an Interim Business Change Manager at the Ministry of Justice on a project that will run until autumn 2009. Her work involves a major and strategic programme of change in Her Majesty’s Court Services (HMCS), which will also lead to a major IT rollout in 2010. The project has the capability of transforming the civil and family courts business, and is essential to the delivery of the HMCS business strategy.
Jill’s public sector Interim Management experience has developed from working on both sides of the world. For several years, she worked as a consultant on leading government projects in New Zealand, before coming to the UK and transferring her skills.
She firmly believes that the key challenge for any Interim new working in the public sector is to understand the way projects are run, the frameworks and the processes involved, such as Gateway reviews.
“Having the ability to understanding the intricacies of public sector processes is critical for any Interim Manager, as we are employed to deliver from day one – there isn’t a grace period. I relish the challenge of taking on big strategic projects because I love learning new things and am good at seeing the bigger picture. What’s more, I now prefer working in the public sector as opposed to a commercial organisation as I feel like I am giving something back.”
Driving Change at Northamptonshire County Council
Colin Hazeldine has been working as Interim Head of Asset Management at Northamptonshire County Council since April 2007, His role is to help the Council improve its CPA status and the way in which it delivers key services to the public. His job sits at the heart of the Council and his responsibilities include Estates Management, Asset management and Facilities management.
Colin’s work has involved undertaking a major change management programme which included the outsourcing of the estate and property management, facilities and project management under three partnership agreements. On top of this, he was also responsible for a project to centralise and rationalise all property functions and budgets within the Asset Management Service.
Colin’s background is not in the public sector and this is only the second Interim assignment in the sector he has undertaken in his seven years working as an Interim Manager. He says "One of the major benefits an Interim can bring is a fresh pair of eyes. Also, while needing to understand the public sector, it is rewarding to apply tools and ideas from the private sector culture."
Turnaround Interim delivers major cost savings
to NHS Trust
Interims are often called upon to deliver major strategic projects, including turnaround projects where millions of pounds are at stake. One such Interim is Ian Gray who has over 17 years experience of delivering major turnaround business projects in the private and public sector.
Ian has now been appointed by one of the largest government NDPBs to undertake a major change management programme which will deliver major cost savings. His current role involves overseeing 15,000 people and working closely with people from every level within the organisation to gain their commitment and acceptance of the changes needed to ensure major financial improvements.
The former CEO of Tottenham Hotspur has a proven track record in the private and public sector. Last year, Ian worked at Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, where he transformed its financial situation through the introduction of smarter processes. The Trust went from a predicted £9.5m deficit to reporting a £3.5m profit within the five months that he worked there.
An Independent outlook pays dividends
in the public sector
Interim Manager, Fiona Tordoff has been working at the Department of Communities and Local Government to co-ordinate the agreement of its strategic priorities framework and Public Service Agreements for the next three years.
Fiona’s role was to bring together all the different national and regional departments at two conferences where representatives would discuss their priorities and how they would be like them to be implemented on a national and local level across the UK.. In the past, each department would hold separate meetings and with each department having different processes and planning mechanisms, it was difficult to get unanimous agreement about how to proceed. The goal was for the Department of Communities and Local Government to have a more ‘joined up’ approach, with every department understanding the bigger picture and working towards the same goals.
Fiona’s first conference was attended by over 100 delegates and she facilitated all the meetings, debates and question and answer sessions. The second conference to finalise the agreements attracted even more delegates because by then, word had spread that the day was not only worthwhile, but also enjoyable.
“One of my strengths as an Interim Manager was my impartiality. I had a totally independent outlook which helped me gain the trust of representatives of the different national and regional offices. I also have a great deal of experience managing large scale events and projects and importantly, I understand how groups work. I really enjoy the challenge of getting to the heart of the issue – if a group starts to have heated debates, that is when I feel like I am tackling the problem and this is what my work is all about,” stated Fiona.
HM Revenue & Customs Employs
Interim Business Partner for
Senior Gap Management
HM Revenue & Customs Employs Interim Senior Business Partner for senior gap management Interim Managers are often employed to fill a recruitment gap and ensure that an organisation continues to operate smoothly and ongoing projects are not held up.
One such Interim is Richard Harding, an Interim HR Director, who was employed by HM Revenue & Customers for a five month period in its personal taxes division to start some major strategic initiatives before the permanent employee started. Richard had two key areas of responsibility. One was strategic direction – he was called upon to work with senior business partners to align HR more closely to the department’s business goals. He had to understand the business goals imperatives and then contribute to a long term HR strategy that could achieve them, incorporating elements such as resourcing, workforce planning, talent management and succession. His task was to lay the foundations for a top level HR plan which would be in place by the time his successor arrived and provide a solid platform on which she could build.
The second part of his role was the supervision and direction of 15 junior HR partners who were mainly working at a tactical HR issues. This included looking at attendance management, filling short-term recruitment gaps, grievance and disciplinary procedures and industrial relations. Richard’s role was to work with these junior partners, whose experience varied widely. His challenge was to assist them with the plethora of daily HR challenges, whilst also encouraging them to adopt a more strategic approach to wider, long term, HR issues. Richard’s goal was to change the way in which the junior partners worked, giving them new skills and knowledge of how to operate a a more strategic level.
“Despite the fact that I was filling in a recruitment gap and in place for a relatively short period of time, I still had important goals to achieve. I had to get the ‘buy-in’ of senior managers and business partners very quickly; understand their objectives and then make signifi cant changes to the structure of HR and to the ways in which people worked. Working as an Interim is a bit like jumping on a moving train; you have to get up to speed very quickly in order to make a practical contribution to the organisation.”
“There was a real need to close the gap between strategy and implementation. My experience of working in the public sector and in the Royal Air Force for 27 years certainly helped me as I understand how HR works in the sector. Moreover, I recognised where there might be areas of resistance to change and how we could overcome such challenges.”
Richard’s priority was to work to the brief set by the business directors and ensure that the strategic HR plan was aligned to their goals. As a result, he was able to pass on to his successor a series of pragmatic solutions that could be built on in the longer term. He concludes “It was a great experience. Interims have to add value quickly; but also learn to let go at the end of the contract. You are only there for a short, intensive, period”.