Brighton & Hove City Council
| "The Performance1 team have been able to ensure that we have grown the capacity and understanding of senior managers over the medium term. The collective knowledge of the City Council has grown but more importantly there is a much stronger understanding of the people and the place and how we should be meeting needs into the future." Alan McCarthy, Chief Executive Brighton & Hove City Council "The programme has been particularly successful in the way it has encouraged openness, challenge and joint learning centred around mature conversations, important challenge and real engagement with designing the city's future. For many of us looking at the city "through different eyes" has been extremely powerful in growing our understanding." Alex Bailey, Dir. of Strategy & Governance Brighton & Hove City Council |
Joined up thinking in a senior leadership team
Brighton and Hove is a dynamic and highly diverse city, famed for its nightlife and cultural attractions yet also home to some of the poorest and most marginalised people in the country. Its location between the South Downs and the English Channel may be picturesque but it creates real limitations in terms of expansion and transport infrastructure. Providing effective and efficient public services to such a diverse population is challenging – particularly within a political context where no one party has a clear majority. We’ve been working with the Chief Executive, Directors and senior managers since 2003 to provide flexible and highly tailored support to individuals and teams.
A typical assignment; responding to the Chief Executive’s need for more ‘joined up thinking’ amongst the senior management cadre of Directors and Assistant Directors. Although highly capable in functional areas ranging from Traffic Management to Adult Social Care to Museums and Libraries, the problems facing the city don’t necessarily fall into such neat definitions. So it was difficult to engage all the leadership talent on complex, cross-cutting issues like reducing inequality, improving efficiency, and leading the emergence of the city’s identity. The CEO wanted to create an environment where such issues could be effectively addressed and at the same time, enhance the communication flow within and across the organisation.
In response, Karen Ellis and Jonathan Males facilitated a series of workshops for thirty or so senior managers. Through a combination of skills building, attention to real issues and skilful facilitation, the group is now a powerful force that has met the CEO’s need for new insights, fresh thinking and crisper communication.
