Crossing Sectors Case Study 1

Peter Rogers, Chief Executive, Westminster City Council

Peter Rogers, formerly the Commercial Director of the West Midlands Travel Group, is currently Chief Executive of Westminster City Council. Peter leads one of the most successful local authorities in the country and his career provides clear evidence that switching sector, while challenging, is ultimately rewarding.

Peter believes that there is a great deal in common between the public and private sectors and here he shares his views on switching sectors and what makes each sector unique:

When joining any organisation in a senior role, you need to have a very clear idea about what it stands for and where it is positioned in the marketplace. This applies equally to a ‘stack them high, sell them cheap’ retail outlet as it does to a council intent on becoming excellent. A clear vision about where you want to be will help define what you need to do to get there.

Understanding the culture

When taking on a new senior role it is essential to first understanding the culture that you will be working within; you need to be clear that there is symmetry between your own ambitions and those of the organisation you are joining.

There is a similar requirement and value for continuous improvement in both sectors. Rising customer expectations mean that any organisation will have to do an awful lot better than it did in the past to avoid standing still.

Achieving improvement often requires a massive change programme and when I think about my career it has all been about leading change. Even now, as Chief Executive of the Council of the Year, I can’t afford to sit back. I am still committed to driving forward and taking Westminster to the next level.

Constantly evolving

The e-government agenda has transformed the way we do business. We have recently introduced new competency and reward frameworks and embraced new methods of delivery as a distributed employer. These are challenges that I am pleased to have the opportunity to rise to.

What singles out a good organisation in any sector is a clear focus coupled with a good methodology for identifying priorities. But it is important not to forget that any strategy is only as good as the delivery it drives. It is also a fundamental requirement in any sector, that you deliver on your promises, and vital that you tell people what you’ve done.

Here are what I consider to be the five most significant differences between the sectors:

1. Greater complexity in public sector

   The public sector is definitely more complex as every council is the equivalent of a large conglomerate. To the newcomer, at first glance public sector organisations may appear to be a ‘rag bag’ of mismatched competing functions and it can be difficult to work out what to prioritise. Don’t be fooled into thinking that there is no method in the madness; there are a large number of statutory restrictions and obligations governing public sector practice.

   The clever organisations ensure that the customer focus (imperative in single product commercial organisations) is the main priority. Many people underestimate this at their peril.

2. Political framework

   Probably the most fundamental difference between the sectors is the political framework within the public sector. It would be stupid to think that politics doesn’t matter. In most private company boardrooms there is an explicit common purpose and success is widely celebrated. This cannot be guaranteed within the public sector, where competing political demands and accountabilities can mean that the reverse may be true and this can affect priorities. 
   
   Accountability in the public sector is politically stated. Executive decision-making arrangements have blurred some of the lines of responsibility and senior directors may not always be in complete control of their carefully worked out priorities.

3. Risk management

   Another important difference between the sectors is the approach to risk management and blame culture. There is a greater level of awareness of the benefits of risk management in the private sector. They are far more experienced in assessing risk and allowing employees to experiment within appropriate limits.
   
   There is an acceptance that not every effort will produce great results and there is greater recognition of the learning opportunities presented by unsuccessful ventures. This is not the case in most public sector organisations as they are seldom accommodating of risk or failure and are generally not well versed in identifying the learning opportunities from their mistakes.

4. Sharing experience & practice

   Perhaps the most positive benefit of working within the public sector is that you really feel part of a ‘family’. In the commercial sector, where organisations may be highly competitive, trade secrets and best practice are fiercely guarded. In the public sector, particularly in local government, the reverse is true. Local authorities are only too willing to share experiences with each other and work together outside traditional borough boundaries. This is the single biggest opportunity that the public sector has to offer.

   Many from the private sector fail to appreciate this and waste time and effort re-inventing the wheel or grafting on their old, isolationist, practices. The public sector still has some way to go in this area and knowledge management and improved sharing of best practice on a national level needs to be improved.

5. Control over your own destiny

   I would also suggest that a senior executive’s control over corporate priorities and indeed his/her own destiny is greater in the private sector. Although in local government we are working to multi-year forward planning processes, our fortunes are still largely determined by the government’s annual public sector spending announcements. The public sector is regularly subject to statutory announcements which may have far-reaching effects on their organisations.

   The children’s services agenda is a case in point as it appears to be driven by structures rather than outcomes.  Here in Westminster - where we pride ourselves on putting our customers at the heart of our strategic and operational planning - we are still working through our assessment of the implications for the service users before hastening to impose new structural arrangements.

 

Finally, if you are thinking of moving from the private to the public sector, remember that the lessons you learnt in your earlier career don’t necessarily transfer. The key to success is to ensure that you are adaptable and flexible enough to utilise your skills within a different framework. Excellent people management skills make a difference irrespective of sector. For me, my biggest achievement as Chief Executive here at Westminster is the development of an ambitious, highly skilled, resilient and enormously talented workforce, which will drive improvement even further.

• Crossing Sectors Case Study 2