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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 15:34

null UnCivil Servants

  It’s nothing to do with pensions or pay freezes we just think our colleagues are incompetent, appointed for their political affiliations not their ability and our ministers are blinkered and lacking in integrity or back bone. Well they didn’t use these exact words but that’s what the 14,000 civil servant, including 500 senior managers, who took part in the biggest ever survey of... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 15:21

null The numbers are what counts

  The officer was making a presentation on the performance in the third quarter. The chair interrupter with a series of rhetorical questions which highlighted an area where performance had dipped. The officer attempted to explain the figures only to be rebuffed with “the numbers can’t hear you”. Which turned out to be the signal that the meeting was over? The message was clear we’re... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 13:11

null Call yourself a manager

  Management covers a range of activities, managing budgets, managing information, managing buildings and equipment. But you are not a proper manager unless you manage people. People are challenging, they can be difficult, they are not always cooperative, some people behave badly at work and some are not competent at their job. People get sick at inconvenient times, have lives outside... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 13:11

null Hire and Misfire

  I would have sacked a lot more people if I could have got away with it. If this government has its way then in the future managers will be able to fire at will. Under a raft of proposals which it is claimed will stimulate jobs and make our economy more flexible employers will be free from the threat of being taken to an industrial tribunal for unfair dismissal. Basically employers... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 13:11

null Chillaxing

Chillaxing is a new word combining chilling as in chill out and relaxing. It is being used in relation to leadership to describe someone who doesn’t let work issues worry them unduely and finds time to relax outside of work. This is someone who is comfortable in delegating, confident that those around them are competent and can be trusted to do a good job. Someone who doesn’t need to know the... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 15:12

null The fall of Rome

  The opening scene of the film The Fall of the Roman Empire pans steeply up to the top of a high viaduct. Along the top, lined up shoulder to shoulder, on the very edge looking down at the rocks below are Roman soldiers. Their commander riding a white horse stops at random and with the words “those not prepared to die for Rome have no right to live” pushes a soldier to certain death... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 15:41

null The numbers can't hear you

  The officer was making a presentation on the performance in the third quarter. The chair interrupter with a series of rhetorical questions which highlighted an area where performance had dipped. The officer attempted to explain the figures only to be rebuffed with “the numbers can’t hear you”. Which turned out to be the signal that the meeting was over? The message was clear we’re... See more
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null 1319 Views
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 15:27

null Bounce- back ability

  I don’t recommend getting the sack as a way to advance your career. But if you have never failed, never been out of step with colleagues and never refused to compromise then you probably don’t have what it takes to get to the top. Of course being seen as opinionated, abrasive and intolerant of those less able and less committed than yourself will not endear you to your colleagues.... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 15:27

null Why don't we do what works?

   In her new book “Delivering public services that work” Charlotte Dell gives case example after case example of public sector organisations that have found a better way of doing something only to find that instead of being more widely adopted they are ignored in favour of more politically fashionable but unproven solutions. In a recent article in the professional press (Public... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 15:12

null Plugging the gaps

 In a recent survey of 50 local authorities by the RCA a third reported achieving budget savings by cutting a little from every budget where as the majority were cutting costs by setting up shared services and contracting out services. On top of this over a quarter of authorities had been forced to cut discretionary services such as grants to voluntary organisations. Chief executives... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 15:34

null How far should a local authority go to get what it's owed?

  Not everyone pays their bills. A local authority has a duty to ensure public money is properly managed and this means chasseing up those who don’t pay their council tax, their rent or the money for the services they receive. However the same national news papers that criticise inefficient local authorities for not doing enough to make people pay what they own can also label them as... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 13:11

null Headhunters,Beauty parades and Trial by Sherry

  My personal experience is that the process of filling senior management posts is complex and drawn out over several days.  Is this the best way to get the right person for the top jobs or an elaborate beauty parade?   Head-hunters, beauty parades and trial by sherry are the characteristics of modern senior management recruitment in local government.  The standard... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 15:42

null Relax don't do it

  Relaxed about the budget, relaxed about the restructuring, relaxed about the prospects of the service being outsourced we may have got it wrong about all those stressed-out public sector managers coping with budget cuts, service reductions and pay freezes. It appears that some managers have adjusted to the new public sector where no one has job security, automatic pay rises or a... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 12:57

null The only reward for hard work is more work

  When you read that statement did you think, yes, the more I do the more they give me to do? As a manager it is very tempting to pile on the work to someone you know will do a good job as opposed to someone who won’t. This is how ambitious people have proved themselves in the past and you might think that in the current climate with reorganisations, outsourcing and redundancies people... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 12:57

null Ricky Gervais a legitimate target?

Ricky Gervais a legitimate target? It‘s always risky getting up to go to the bar or toilet during a stand up comics routine especially if you are on the front row. So I suppose I should have expected to be a target of the comedians well rehearsed insults, much to the amusement of the rest of the audience. I had no witty response to his increasingly cruel jibes. I thought how great it would... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 15:42

null Yes we do talk about you

    My colleague on the senior management team seemed surprised even shocked. “Do you mean to say you talk about me and members of my team in your meetings? As if this was slightly improper, probably unprofessional and possibly indiscrete. “Of course we talk about you and individuals in your team. Don't tell me you don't about us". I don't mean gossiping or moaning but talking... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 15:28

null Diversity is good for business or so I hear

Did you know that one of the reasons we were awarded the Olympic Games was our emphases on celebrating diversity? Adecco the recruitment sponsor for London 2112 has just completed a survey of employers’ views on diversity. Overwhelmingly companies reported that having a workforce that reflected the communities they served was a real advantage and good for business. However when asked about... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 15:21

null Cheating and Lying in the Public Sector

  There was undoubtedly cheating and lying in the public sector before the performance management culture was so enthusiastically embraced but league tables, over ambitious targets, naming and shamming have increased the pressure and the temptation. Now we face a new round of budget cuts and senior managers are pressurised by politicians to maintain that services standards will not... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 15:12

null Is it alright for a man to wear black eyeliner to work?

I was at a senior manager’s question and answer session at the end of a two day staff equality and diversity awareness course. I didn’t see it coming but I know the sound of a bear trap snapping when I hear one. These apparently naive questions from front line staff are never hypothetical. Someone in the room had a colleague who wore black eyeliner to work. The issue had come up during the... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 15:13

null We are too busy

NHS managers are too busy to address staff health at work. So said the headline in the Health Service Journal (HSJ). The report on the launch of the Healthcare Management unit code of conduct provided the opportunity for Dame Carole Black to express her disappointment and frustration at the lack of buy in by the NHS. Of the 370 organisations signed up to date only 8 are from the NHS. Dame... See more
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