Client stories: Department of Health

This article is filed under: engagement, people, team leadership

Leadership engagement from the top

The Department of Health has one of the most high-profile and complex agendas in Whitehall. A recent capability review identified that leaders in the Department should be more aligned to a common purpose, role and values. The Permanent Secretary asked us to help because he particularly wanted the approach to be engaging and fresh.

Highlights of the work

We realised that the first imperative was for the top three leaders in the Department (Permanent Secretary, Chief Executive of the NHS, and the Chief Medical Officer) to set the initial frame for the purpose, role and values. Early one morning we showed them some examples from other private and public sector organisations, and they quickly settled on a simple diagram which showed clearly how the three elements linked together. We encouraged them to set out the purpose, and the roles of the Department, but to leave the values to the rest of the organisation to develop.

We then gathered groups of Senior Civil Servants together to work together in order to describe the behaviour that contributed to a good day at work for them. We drew the behaviours into four groups and they then labelled each – these became the values. They were introduced to the rest of the Departments Senior Civil Servants in a hectic workshop session led by the three at the top.

The happy ending

A year later the review team returned to take another look at the Department.

Here is what they said:

“There has been a sustained effort to engage staff in embedding values and behaviours in the Department, resulting in significant improvements in its staff survey results. The senior leadership is being held accountable for performance and behaviours in each area of the Department…”