The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea

Council Building

CLIENT ASSIGNMENT:

People Management Peer Review

Duration: 3 months

Location: Kensington, London

EiB Role:

People Management Peer Review Managers

Client Feedback:

"We value the impartial view on where we should focus our improvement activity - we recognise there is always more to do. By highlighting where we need better 'joined-upness' and where policies need to be refreshed, the review has enabled us to consider what future work is required. We have set up a number of internal working groups to look at the various recommendations and were able to demonstrate to our Investors in People assessor that we take the validation and advice of critical friends seriously."

Project Overview:

Rated ‘excellent’ by the Audit Commission and listed fourteenth in the Times Best Councils to Work for, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea have clearly made a commitment to making externally assessed learning and development an integral part of the culture, work and future improvement of the authority. The Council is one of only 6 councils to have been rated 4 star by the Audit Commission from their CPA assessment.They achieved Investors in People recognition in 2004 and in 2007 they won the HR Magazine award for use of technology. All of these achievements are evidence of a council committed to improving its performance through its workforce.However even with these accolades they are clearly not a Council that rests on its laurels.

Consequently, Excellence in Business were asked to led a team of five Peers to conduct a comprehensive review of the Council’s people management practices and the contribution being made by the Personnel Department. The review involved interviewing a wide cross-section of officers, elected members and other stakeholders to identify the strengths and key areas for improvement. A feedback presentation was made to the Management Board and the Council was provided with a comprehensive report setting out the findings and making recommendations.The review was very well received by the Council and it has already begun to address some of the areas for improvement which were brought to its attention.

Project Outcomes/Impact:

1. The review was widely believed to have provided valuable insight into the effectiveness of the people management practices across the Council.
2. When the Council went for IiP reassessment in December 2007, the assessors were impressed with the fact that this Peer Review had been undertaken and how the two processes complemented each other.
3. The review made the Council focus on its Personnel Strategy and highlighted that the need for Personnel to fulfill a more strategic HR function.
4. The Council has implemented internal cross-team working groups. It now believes that it can evidence the ‘golden thread’ regarding their Workforce Planning, including future shared services, and will be better placed for CAA inspection.
5. The review recognised the strengths in the Council’s IT systems, whilst highlighting that to be able to produce accurate performance management information which would in turn inform future policies and strategies, the process of data collection and ownership needed to be clearer.

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