Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council
The challenge
Rotherham was emerging from a very difficult period in which commissioners had been installed to restore stability and good governance to the council. The council had recruited a new management team and was starting to generate a considerable level of energy and commitment to building a new future for Rotherham and its citizens. The team was passionate about transforming the Council into a well-run, modern organisation with community at its heart and was keen to mobilise and energise the entire council workforce of over 5000 people.
The priority for our engagement was to reconnect the workforce with the vision and purpose of the organisation and mobilise the M3 management layer to “do the best work of their lives”.
The result
We delivered a narrative and impact that was felt across the organisation.
We worked with over 200 senior managers to develop something that really resonated and gave focus for day to day behaviours. The four key drivers that were developed and embedded in all performance management systems were:
- Know your customers – get closer to communities, predict needs, enable people to take control of their lives and shape services that really support the development of a healthy and vibrant Rotherham
- Smash the silos – provide integrated services to communities and individual customers that are seamless, efficient and coordinated
- Deliver brilliant basics – provide services in a customer centric, straightforward, responsive way that delivers value for money and exceptional customer service
- Enable people to do the “best work of their lives” – recognising the tremendous opportunity to unleash the diversity of talents within the workforce
What made it successful
- Engagement – Ignite developed a unique approach to engagement. We were convinced that Rotherham staff had the capacity to do remarkable things. We connected people with the four drivers by allowing them to tell stories that brought to life examples where staff had been successful in delivering exceptional results
- Connecting people with a purpose – We built the conditions for people to connect with the purpose of the organisation and to identify what it would take to enable people to do the “best work of their lives”.
- Environment – We are passionate about building an environment where people believe they can contribute and where their opinions will be valued and respected. Creating this environment built trust, confidence and a genuine willingness to contribute to the change.
- Insight – We understand that it takes a catalyst to help unlock creativity and to change habitual thinking. We introduced examples from outside that inspired people to believe that it was possible to achieve high performance in Rotherham.