The public sector is trying to change too much too fast without making sure that it has the right people or resources to do it.

Research by Veronica Hope Hailey, director of the Change Management Consortium at Cass Business School, paints a picture of a sector overwhelmed by change.

One public sector organisation that she studied was attempting to manage a merger, structural changes, a cultural transformation, downsizing, a lean management programme and a leadership change all at once, when any one of them would have been a challenge on its own.

Professor Hope Hailey and her team surveyed 5,000 people going through change in the public and private sectors, conducted 200 in-depth interviews and nine focus groups.

“Whenever you’re looking at change, you need to look at capacity and timescales,” she said. This means making sure that there is enough money, time and management capability to get things right; however, public sector organisations rarely did this, she said.

“At local levels [public sector employees] had very low levels of readiness for change,” she said. “People did not understand why the change had to take place, and certainly they did not feel committed to it.” One of the main problems was that change was directed by senior leaders who, despite being capable public servants, were often remote from frontline staff. Instead, change needs to be led by lower-level managers who have a direct relationship with staff and who have been trained to handle change.

“People trust their local line managers, but not these senior managers,” she said. “[This means that] the only people who could make the changes were local managers but they were not engaged in the programme, they weren’t asked their opinions and they weren’t asked how it should be rolled out.” It is possible that some local managers undermine corporate messages about change.

“It could be that [they] are saying: ‘I would not do it this way’,” she said. “They may feel more loyalty to their staff than to the top.”

Professor Hope Hailey says that politicians and senior civil servants also need to think differently about change. Civil servants should tell politicians that they need to develop one change agenda and stick with it for five to ten years. If possible, this also means having the same senior manager lead the changes for at least five years. Finally, make sure that everyone understands what is expected. “Translate strategic visions into messages that mean something to people,” she said. Many people have no idea what they are supposed to do differently, let alone why.

Although the need for a long-term outlook might sometimes jar with the demands of politicians seeking reelection every five years, it has to be done. She added: “Senior civil servants need to have courage and not be afraid to explain to ministers the complexity and the reality of the situation they face. In our experience, private sector organisations recognise that [change] is hard at the beginning and they plan accordingly. They do not look for quick-fire solutions, because there aren't any.”

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