Organisational Development and Workforce Planning Executive Summary

The OD&WP Programme got started in April 2008 with £2.5m budget and 11 projects. On completion, following periodic reviews, it comprised £1.18m budget and nine projects.
It has achieved its stated overall purpose which was to act as a catalyst for the development of transformational cultures, behaviours and attitudes in North East councils and FRSs.

Here are some headline achievements:

• All North East councils and FRSs have participated in this programme
• In total, over 1900 people (138 councillors and 1,778 officers have engaged directly with the programme including:
  • 36 collaborated regionally to design, manage or roll-out projects
  • 1690 participated directly in learning and development activities
  • 170 (growing weekly) have helped to shape services and cut our waste through RapidImprovement Events
  • 80 have shared learning and supported each others' professional development through sponsored regional networks
• 343 managers completed the region's leadership development programme, the North EastExcellent Manager, taking the total number of NEEM 'graduates' to 913 since 2006/7. OD/HR leads agree NEEM offers excellent quality and vfm; Managers repeatedly request NEEM for their direct reports; NEEM 'graduates' are promoted and noticed.
• The Programme has built generic skills which support transformation: 84% of NEEM participants and 91% of coaches who responded to our survey say they are now better prepared to lead andmanage during times of change.
• The region has 85 new qualified Executive Coaches. 78% are currently coaching one or more person in their organisation. A quarter are coaching in other councils or FRSs. Savings in the cost of external coaching to date are conservatively estimated as a £250,000 (and rising).
• Corporate and Senior Management Teams in 6 councils and FRSs (so far) taking part in the Leading Resilient Organisational Cultures Programme now have crucial data to improve their understanding of their culture, improved relationships between corporate top teams and other senior managers, and in several cases, have provided renewed leadership of their transformation programmes.
• Bespoke Lean /BPI consultancy and practitioner training has had a catalytic affect on the capability and capacity to identify and strip out wasteful processes and improve services. 16 Rapid Improvement Events so far are helping to save staff time, administration costs and streamline customer service. Those organisations in which senior leadership gives its direct and active support to BPI / Lean are reaping the highest benefits.