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London Borough of Lewisham launches management competencies
and pilots third generation development centres
As a follow-on to its Investors In People award, the London Borough of Lewisham launched a new initiative based on management competencies which was designed to improve management performance throughout the organisation. People Work Best was appointed to design the management competencies along side the project team at Lewisham. A pilot development centre using innovative techniques, often referred to as third generation methodology, was designed to validate the competencies.
Management competencies
The competencies are driven by Lewisham’s stated vision and values, and
describe what is needed to be effective in all management roles across the
Council. They focus on four key areas: Continuous Improvement; Working Together;
Tackling Service Issues and Delivering Services. Within that are twelve distinct
competencies that define the behaviour and action required by managers for
them to be successful in their roles.
Development centre programme
For the competencies to become meaningful, they had to be embraced by managers at all levels within the organisation. Lewisham and People Work Best embarked on a pilot development centre programme. These development centres help managers apply the competencies to their own role, and to identify areas of personal strength and other areas that required development, which would then lead to the formulation of a personal development plan.
Innovative methodology
The development centres were innovative because the participating managers
got immediate feedback through facilitated self-analysis and from other participants
or the centre facilitators after working on live work issues. The participants
were also responsible for their own outcomes from the centre, for development
planning and the rigour of the follow-up plans. Participants were given feedback
training beforehand, and were encouraged to identify their own development
needs. Indeed, the outcomes from the development centre were seen as the property
of the individual, and the employer only received anonymous management information.
Lewisham invested time in the process; participants took three days out of
their working week to complete the feedback training and development centre.
This is in line with the management ethos of the Council, where learning and
development are the responsibility of the individual, with the Council playing
an enabling role in this process.
Positive feedback
The feedback from participants was extremely positive, with over
95% of participants stating that the management competencies helped them
to understand what was required of them as a manager, and, although many
found the development centres challenging, 72% found the personal outcomes
very valuable. The participants particularly appreciated the practical nature
of the development centres, which meant that the competencies became a concrete
management tool very quickly and life-like scenarios helped to build skills
relevant to their every day work. The safe learning environment created
in the centres also helped participants more readily notice strengths and
weaknesses, and built confidence. An added bonus was the networking opportunity
for participants, who met useful contacts that they would not have come
across in their normal work. A typical comment from a participant:
‘A good enabling experience which has built up my confidence and lit a few light bulbs for future thought and action.’
Savings on training budget
Although the Council anticipated that development plans would lead to significant
demand for formal training courses, the opposite has occurred. Participants
have identified personal and specific actions needed to match their performance
to the competencies, and these are largely practical, day to day improvements
that participants can make themselves with support from their line managers
and work colleagues.
For the participants in the scheme, the momentum will be maintained by a
number of measures. They will be asked to join an extended scheme to revise
Lewisham’s performance management system, in addition to shadowing,
coaching and mentoring initiatives in the workplace.
Lewisham intends to run more development centres with People Work Best this year, and will continue to monitor the outcomes in terms of improvements in service levels.
"I think that there is something about the care that you have taken with us (internal facilitators as well as participants) that really touches us all. Thank you for that."
Mary Evans, Senior Management Development Adviser, London Borough of Lewisham.