Transforming Your Authority has been written by Swiftwork and project partners SOLACE Enterprises, as part of the ODPM (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister) Capacity Building Programme. It takes an OD perspective on important issues facing local government. We believe we have produced a comprehensive document based on contemporary thinking that will be useful to all councils. Many authorities will be able to use the techniques to supplement existing work. For others, it will provide a way into a complex but critical area of improvement.

Copies of the Executive Summary (pdf) and the full Resource Document (pdf) are now available.

Organisations are complex bodies, affected by their environment, by their leaders and their systems and processes. OD is concerned with making the entire organisation fitter for purpose. It does not focus solely on discrete services or teams but treats the whole body. There are very important distinctions, she said, between organisational development and development in an organisation. OD favours: dealing with causes over dealing with symptoms; working with whole systems rather than parts of them; changes in culture over changes in changes in behaviour; and change of a system over changes in a system

The publication begins by looking at how OD can help develop new approaches. It goes on to provide diagnostic tools for councils to assess their current stage of development and to find the OD tools that are right for them. Guidance on the OD approach and specific OD tools and techniques is spread across six main themes, to allow each authority to concentrate on the most appropriate area(s) for development. The themes are: community engagement; whole organisation improvement; leadership; partnership; culture; and service improvement.

For organisational development to be sustainable and effective it has to be right for the authority and supported by the people who will have to carry it through, said Sammons. ‘Superficial changes will have no impact and failed initiatives can leave staff resistant to future attempts to improve things. Successful change involves transforming the way an organisation thinks. This means leaders must agree to commit themselves to OD initiatives and then express the purpose of the change in a way that the rest of the staff find compelling and which justifies the upheaval and uncertainty that comes with large-scale change.’

Councils will carry employees with them, only if their policies, processes and communications structures are believed to be fair and transparent. The organisation’s centre, whether it is the leaders or core support services, need to show they can look after the interests of staff, build trust and leave them to get on with their jobs where appropriate.

Excellent councils will recognise and respond to the diversity of their community creating tailored responses to suit needs wide-ranging needs. Their workforce will reflect the make-up of the communities they serve helping to create a climate of equal respect for all. Research has consistently demonstrated that organisations that harness the varying characteristics of all the individuals that work for them create productive environments and promote high performance and innovation. OD will work best if it is ambitious rather than small-scale, well resourced, tailored to the organisation’s local environment and if everyone involved understands its purpose.

Find out more or to talk about consultancy support that Swiftwork can provide email: lynette@swiftwork.com