Our Strategy
INTRODUCTION
As we enter the third millennium we are confronted with a world that is rapidly changing. As early as 1985, the Audit Commission was pointing to a future in which Local Government would have to be more responsive and flexible, introducing management practices more in tune with its operating environment. Local Government can be said to have given a mixed response to these overtures, although Kennet District Council has been more successful than most in adapting to the pressures with which all local authorities have been faced.
The importance of effective local government here in Kennet is self-evident given the extent to which it impacts upon the lives of those in the community. With the prospect of continuing change in the world in which we live and work, it is even truer today than in the past that we get the best from our people here in the Council’s service.
Since the late 1980s, the Council’s success has, in no small measure, been due to its ability to make effective use of its human resources and the contribution from all the employees
Structures and approaches to work considered appropriate in the past will no longer be relevant. Technological advance will offer up many opportunities to employers in terms of leaner operations whilst maintaining and improving service delivery. Traditional forms of service delivery will have to be challenged and the Council will have to be creative and imaginative in responding to Best Value.
Organisations will re-design their structures, processes and functions against this back-drop of developments. They will be increasingly reliant upon knowledge acquisition and development. Continuous learning will, for the foreseeable future, become the prime consideration for organisations if they are to remain in business. Local government will not be immune to such a philosophy when it is asked to justify its bid for financial support from an ever-tightening public purse. The key activities outlined under the principal strategy element will allow the Council to formulate subsequent action plans within the service programmes; however, they are sufficiently flexible to meet emerging issues in the world of work.
The attached strategy documents provide the framework against which the Council’s future personnel policies will be developed and delivered to help us maximise its performance and provide a work climate where staff can maximise their potential and make the best possible contribution to improving service delivery.
M J Boden
Chief Executive
A Ewing
Human Resources Manager