Public Sector HR Focus - Personnel Today

2010-02-08T13:55:56Z

33 http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2010/02/05/53972/public-sector-hr-a-special-focus.html Public Sector HR Focus - Personnel Today

2010-02-08T13:55:56Z

2010-02-08T13:38:59Z

32 http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2010/02/08/54042/councils-search-for-ways-to-cut-costs-without-compulsory-redundancies.html Councils search for ways to cut costs without compulsory redundancies

2010-02-08T13:38:59Z

2010-02-03T14:33:27Z

31 http://www.recruiter.co.uk/public-sector/1004181.article David Morgan looks towards 2010

2010-02-03T14:33:27Z

We are delighted to be recognised in this year’s Fast 50, Recruiter’s ranking of the 50 fastest growing UK private recruitment businesses in the UK a testament to the enduring dynamism and commitment of consultants at Morgan Law. Even as the storm clouds of the looming recession gathered in the summer of 2008, Morgan Law continued to successfully place more candidates and deliver more assignments than ever before. Despite some recruiters being hit as the downturn began to cut a swathe through the industry from late 2008 on, Morgan Law recorded impressive rates of growth. The in-depth analysis, carried out by Catalyst Corporate Finance, based on recruitment businesses most up to date accounts, reveals a healthy average growth rate by revenue of 46%. “We are surprised and pleased by the resilience of the growth rate,” says Tim Evans, head of recruitment M&A at Catalyst, and co-author of the Fast 50. So what sets the Fast 50 companies apart from their many competitors? According to Evans, there are some “very clear common denominators” that set the Fast 50 apart from the rest. “It’s about good leadership, high quality consultants and robust systems rather than being about size, geographical location or sector,” he says. Recruiters in the Fast 50 also tend to go that proverbial extra mile for their clients, suggests Mark Kingston, senior researcher at Catalyst, and co-author of the Fast 50. Fast 50 recruiters themselves agree that a service ethos and differentiation from the competition are important reasons for their success. <a href="http://www.recruiter.co.uk/Journals/1/Files/2010/1/20/Fast_50.pdf">http://www.recruiter.co.uk/Journals/1/Files/2010/1/20/Fast_50.pdf</a>

2010-02-01T11:57:26Z

30 We take our place in the Fast 50

2010-02-01T12:08:35Z

2010-02-01T11:48:27Z

29 http://www.recruitment-international.co.uk/news/morgan-law-strengthens-its-board--2508.htm Appointments to the Board

2010-02-01T11:48:27Z

The NHS – attempt to turn the tanker or jump ship?   It is common knowledge that the NHS requires a programme of significant and sustainable cost reduction in coming years. Anyone involved with the Health sector in the last decade will remember other periods of significant turnaround.  By example the NHS wide turnaround starting in late 2005 and running through 2006/07 assisted in changing a growing deficit, thought to be at least £1bn, into a billion pound plus surplus. Some individual SHAs were able to improve their situation by several hundred million pounds as part of this process. Given the scale of that activity, how then, can the NHS effectively reduce expenditure by an average of £1bn per SHA in the country per year. As activity increases and efficiency in many cases remains low, is it really within our capabilities to turn it around, and is it a challenge that any self respecting turnaround consultant really wants to take on?   Morgan Law assembled one of the most impressive panels of turnaround professionals in the Country to address such a question.   It is true that with increased autonomy and commerciality within Foundation Trusts in particular, (Caroline Mitchell of PWC reports) there is no longer the opportunity to grow through greater activity, however with such a difficult economic and political climate, sustained growth, and in fact even maintaining current activity levels is highly unlikely. Stephen Leivers, Turnaround Director at NHS Surrey, reports that in the past there has been the opportunity for Trusts to grow their way out of trouble, however with the 30% PBR cap this is not a viable option. Many Trusts will receive just 30% of the funds required to pay for the growth. Put simply, if a Trust’s activity is to grow by 7.5%, they can only expect to receive up to 2.25%. In essence, the Government hasn’t cut funding for the future, but it hasn’t increased it to cover the expected growth either, a cut in capped clothing perhaps.   Clive Stuart, a Finance & Performance Director from private healthcare, states that ‘it is about engineering parallel sustainable cost reduction programmes, not just hard cuts’, but where exactly can Trusts identify any areas to cut? Many NHS organisations have begun stealth savings from the back office, covertly removing costly elements from administrative functions, cutting interims, in the case of a number of Essex based Trusts, and long term pay freezes.   The common targets that many of us see are a tendency towards outsourcing and shared services, but it is questionable as to whether this offers long term gains for the Trust. The fundamental problem stems from the greater areas of expenditure, namely front line services, but Sean Sullivan, a well established Turnaround Director, states that ‘cutting front line services from the NHS is  very difficult, it is the hidden expenses that will be the first to go’.  ‘The only way to reduce costs’, he continues, ‘is a combination of  managing demand, better management and reworking processes but closing wards is fundamentally difficult’.   Sean Sullivan is definitely a man talking from experience; with prior involvement of an attempted closure of Accident & Emergency in the East of England he is acutely aware of the political elements of any such decision. He also mentions a costly maternity unit that dealt with merely a handful of births per month, however, it was only a few days before the offices were picketed and the politicians involved. We need only turn our attention to the Evening Standard (27th January) to see the hysteria that can fuel politically motivated fires across the country. The mere mention of an earmarked closure of maternity and accident & emergency in South London and Nick Clegg is immediately shoulder to shoulder with like-minded comrades.   Stephen Leivers, turns our attention to the South Coast, with a plethora of large and established Acute Trusts, each with a reduced catchment area due to their coastal location. ‘New hospitals create new demand’, he states, and we have to ask ourselves whether sacrificing the few is a way to ensure survival of the many?   Even if PCT’s are actually able to decommission services, they are still faced with the reality of how to reduce headcount and all of the associated costs. So how can we control such huge demand for services to grease the wheels of supply reduction? David Donegan, Chief Operating officer at East of England Ambulance Trust, questioned whether we need ‘greater control and gate-keeping as part of the clinical pathway, perhaps even GP’s within Accident & Emergency’. Clive Stuart agrees, ‘it is about having control over the referral process, we need to adopt the mentality of a health underwriter, with greater scrutiny’. The conversation begins to echo many principles of general management, i.e. how do we control the behaviour of the masses. If this is a debate between carrot and stick then it is clear to most that the means to reward is simply no longer available. If more aggressive methods such as hospital closures are likely to be difficult in a sensitive political environment, are we left looking to attitudinal change? Can the future of the National Health Service really be in the hands of front line users and the average Joe or Joanne? Whether it can hold the key to survival or not, a cultural shift towards a lessened tendency to using services for milder ailments could certainly have dramatic and instant effects. What is absolutely abundant here is the camaraderie stemming from the fact that we are all affected by one of our largest National institutions, we are all in this together, but spreading the message may be a lengthy process devoid of political ownership.   It seems the consensus around the table is that we can’t fix the NHS, but we can fix a certain percentage of it, but the question is how much? Having dealt with 20 plus NHS organisations in turnaround Sean Sullivan feels that a ‘6-8% cost saving is a good figure, but that numbers in the ‘teens may sadly be just heroic statements’. Change most certainly needs to happen but with potentially a large part to play, are the public truly ready for it. Professionals such as those around the table will most definitely have an impact, but if their sphere of influence can only extend to a hopefully cooperative and skilled Trust Executive, how do they scale the political wall that faces them beyond such spheres. If change is to come from the top, can the top really be influenced?   Macro level service re-design certainly can provide some answers, but again, the questions are raised as to the level of support this will receive and the fear of appearing to fail on such “radical” ideas. Either way, it is apparent that the year-on-year traditional 4% savings by shaving efficiencies is not the way forward in these financially pressing times. As such we need to review the use of expensive Acute services, perhaps providing services away from this setting where possible. More radical thinking could lead to increased privatisation of non-Emergency Services, and whilst this may be too much for the public to palate, a shift in this direction certainly has its benefits.   This leads us to the question of unity or freedom to act for each Trust, macro or micro, and perhaps there needs to be a difference here between the public and the professionals. The NHS requires leadership, flexibility and above all a fearless dedication to succeeding. Hamish Bethune, an interim Director of Provider Services, suggests that ‘we need commercially astute leaders running a business using commercial principles and the skills of these professionals in operation’. The NHS has the opportunity to use change agents with a grounding in the last ten years of struggle, to ask the challenging questions, to be more controversial about the future, to challenge, push the boundaries and make the Board think.   Whether it is the change agents around the table or the individual on the street, a unified Health Service or autonomous businesses that will build the future, we need a Government that will tackle the issue of the NHS head on, without fear of reprisal. Whatever the face smiling at the door of Number 10, they must be an enabler of change, and not an obstacle to transformation. The degree to which change will happen, will perhaps remain a guarded secret until that Government is selected but all of the professionals around the table are passionate about the changes that need to be made and ready to play their parts. NHS professionals are, by now, hopefully united in the fact that changes need to happen once and for all to ensure the long-term future of this beloved institution. Caroline Mitchell feels that ‘we must accept that change does not happen overnight’. However, regardless of sphere of influence or political persuasion, the time to act is now and those with the skills to help transform this establishment best get there in a hurry. Vive la Revolution.

2010-02-01T10:32:07Z

28 NHS Turnaround: Comments from our Workshop

2010-02-01T10:32:07Z

Morgan Law Recruitment Consultancy Ltd appointed as Buying Solutions Supplier  Following rigorous evaluation and selection process, it has been announced that Morgan Law has been awarded a place on the Buying Solutions Non-Medical, Non-Clinical Resources framework agreement to provide temporary, interim and contractors to the public sector.  Morgan Law will play a key role in helping the public sector to buy temporary and interim recruitment solutions that offer value for money and comply with statutory and legislative requirements. “This is an important win” said Justine Fisher, Director. “It will help consolidate our position as a leading supplier of interim staffing solutions to the public and not for profit sectors.”

2010-01-29T11:58:29Z

27 Morgan Law appointed as Buying Solutions Supplier

2010-01-29T11:58:29Z

Morgan Law are delighted to announce that we are once again attending the <a href="https://www.housing.org.uk/OnlineStore/Default.aspx?tabid=250&action=MTGProductDetails&args=8779">Housing Finance Conference and Exhibition 2010</a>, at the University of Warwick from 24th to 26th March. The Conference takes place as world economies appear to be beginning to recover from one of the most severe downturns in history. It is at times like this the greatest opportunities can occur and the most important decisions are made. If you are planning to attend, do come and see us for a chat on stand 2 in the main exhibitors hall - if you join us from 4pm onwards, you can enjoy a glass or two of champagne with our compliments. For further information please contact Lara Knights on 020 7747 4937, or email <a href="mailto:laraknights@morgan-law.com">Lara Knights </a>.

2010-01-29T10:53:46Z

26 Housing Finance Conference

2010-01-29T10:53:46Z

The decision by Kent County Council to replace its outgoing chief executive with a group managing director has raised questions over the future structure of local government and, in particular, its ties with the private sector. Nick Martindale reports.

2010-01-26T13:24:33Z

25 http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2010/01/25/53799/is-the-public-sector-picking-up-private-sector-habits.html Is the public sector picking up private sector habits?

2010-01-26T13:25:33Z

2010-01-06T10:48:23Z

24 http://www.guardianpublic.co.uk/2010-budgets-public-sector 2010: a budgetary odyssey"Doing better with less" is the mantra ringing out across the public sector as we enter a new decade

2010-01-06T10:48:23Z