Making modernisation work: New narratives, change strategies and people management in the public sector

Although politicians are desperate for innovation, few are brave enough to talk about how difficult it is to shift people away from predictable patterns of behaving and from conforming cultures. There is a tendency in national government to think radical and act conservative. The Labour government, in its modernisation policies, appears to be genuine in its desire for social inclusion and real change, but the thinking about how to persuade people to engage with this process is ill thought out. The conventional modes of delivering legislation, programmes and partnerships too often ignore the need to involve staff and communities. Modernisation and change are dependent on new forms of people‐management. The report draws on MBS Change Centre audit and consultancy within local partnerships including the Health Action Zones and on research funded by the ESRC Management Innovation Programme. Concludes that the improvement process will only succeed if government’s incentives and managerial frameworks sustain people‐relationships in communities and in public sector organisations. Concludes also that there is a lack of leadership and “know‐how” in the public sector about how to achieve transformation and that policy makers need to focus on managing the transformation process.