‘Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown,’ wrote William Shakespeare in 1597. As with much of the Bard’s best lines, it remains just as relevant today.
The post of a council chief executive is a lonely one, Caroline Nugent tells me as she prepares to take over as PPMA president.
Working almost eternal hours, making increasingly tough decisions amid tightening finances and steering organisations through ever-complex programmes of change, chiefs’ heads are constantly on the line.
Ms Nugent believes chief executives need a confidant during these testing times. ‘They all need someone they can talk to in confidence,’ she says. ‘It’s not because they don’t know what they are doing, but they might have some challenges.
‘Chief executives must be able to make decisive “yes” and “no” decisions in certain very difficult circumstances. It is a lonely place at the top, having to keep it all to yourself.’
Ensuring chief executives have the backing they need is increasingly important as the talent pool for future leaders is at risk of drying out. Spurred in part by the exit cap, Ms Nugent says there is a dearth of senior managers as many moved out of the sector in search of something new and, perhaps, less onerous.
‘In the next few years we have got to think whether we will have enough people to step up or to shadow,’ she says. ‘There is a risk that in two or three years we might have a problem.’
She says the sector needs to establish a succession plan of coaching and shadowing. ‘We have got to make sure if people do not want to be chief executives then we know why not. How are we investing in people to make sure they have the right behaviours and skills?’
But keeping the talent pool topped up at the bottom is Ms Nugent’s main priority. Apprenticeships are a particular passion – and she knows a thing or two about apprentices, having been one herself.
Ms Nugent describes herself as a ‘typical Essex girl’ from a modest background – something which continues to influence her approach.
‘I grew up with the strong mentality that it doesn’t matter where you come from, everyone can succeed,’ she says.
‘Many people do not see local government as a sexy place to work.’ This is a perception she wants to eradicate.
‘Nationally, all councils have similar posts they cannot recruit to because they are jobs which are not encouraged in schools. We have to build the profile about where you can go in and work. Local government is obviously heavily criticised in the press and that reputation has got to change if we want people to come into the workforce and stay.’
Apprentices offer a new challenge to the status quo, she says, adding that local government has a ‘very distinct age profile’.
Age isn’t her only concern, however. She warns of the lingering male dominance in the sector, which she sees ‘literally in every post from project management to IT, HR and legal’. She adds: ‘We have got to make sure we are growing our own.’
As local government evolves, there are new challenges for HR directors emerging all the time.
The ‘big unknown’ that is Brexit is causing concern in local government – but not as much as in the health sector, Ms Nugent says.
The biggest worry about leaving the EU is not knowing the fate of EU workers.
Ms Nugent says many councils do not know where all their staff originated from and whether they hold a British passport. Some councils are addressing this by offering routes to gain British citizenship.
Health integration is another looming test for HR directors. Ms Nugent says councils do not know what jobs will need to exist to meet the challenges associated with it and what skills will be needed.
But as the boundaries between the different parts of the public sector increasingly blur, Ms Nugent says there are more people ‘jumping between’ health, local government and the civil service.
‘We have been able to share the journey we have been on. People are jumping between the sector in a way that did not happen three or four years ago.
‘We are doing more on shared services because we have had to. People in the private sector say local government is at the forefront of these changes.’
But she insists local government is in competition with the private sector for talent and the ongoing debate over senior management pay, naïvely centred on what the prime minister earns, is ‘astonishing’.
She says: ‘For those who say we don’t have to compete with the private sector, that is wrong. We do compete with the private sector and we do lose staff to it.’
Finding and retaining the right skills is tough. Successful leaders today have got to have ‘emotional intelligence’, Ms Nugent says. They must be a motivator and someone people will follow – a ‘Pied Piper of sorts’.
However, she adds that chief executives must not be figureheads, but someone people can actually talk to. ‘Softer skills are critical in a time when there is no money,’ she adds.
Ms Nugent offers some advice for chief executives of the future: ‘Look outside of your organisation. You cannot be inward-thinking. You have to know what’s going on round the corner and next door.
‘There is a lot of change coming up and people have got to flow with it. It is coming whether you want it or not. But remember, you’re not alone.’