Audit Commission

In 2002 the Audit Commission found that Hull City Council needed to build management capacity and development. At the same time, the Council was concerned about its ability to recruit managers in the future so it decided a structured approach to career development and succession planning was required.

Action taken

The Council included building management capacity as a key objective within its People Strategy 2005/10 and put forward a proposal for a Graduate Development Programme (GDP). The Council was clear that any such scheme had to link to its corporate objectives and generate a sustainable pool of junior managers. The scheme was therefore designed to accelerate the development of skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours in graduates, with a view to them being in a position to apply for junior management roles within two years, and senior management roles within ten years of joining the Council.

The Council publicised the GDP via Prospects, a graduate job website, Stonewall and through local press and recruitment fairs.

Upon appointment, graduates take part in a development programme under a two year fixed contract in which they gain experience of different council services and at the same time study for an MSc in Public Leadership Management. Key elements of the programme include:

Service area placements

Over the period of the scheme, the graduates gain experience in four different service areas, each placement lasting six months. The placements are designed to give them experience of front line and back office services and corporate or strategic functions. Service managers from different departments submit a bid for a graduate demonstrating how they will add value to the Council and what knowledge and experience they will gain on their placement. In particular, the placements are designed to give the graduates skills in:

• Performance improvement
• Target setting
• Management of:
  • Projects
  • Change
  • Staff
  • Budgets

  The focus is on the graduates developing general skills in the first year of the scheme and management competencies in the second. Learning from each placement is shared through review and reflect sessions.

  Training and development

  Graduates gain a good grounding in local government (structures, finance, central government policies, and so on) through studying for a part-time MSc in Public Leadership Management at Birmingham University. Participants also attend Hull’s in-house managers’ skills programme and participate in Continuing Professional Development events as appropriate to each placement.

  Support

  Graduates are allocated a coach, a line manager in each placement and a mentor (a senior manager in the Council who supports the graduate throughout the programme). Support is also offered through action learning sets, initially facilitated by HR colleagues, then by the graduates themselves. Through these groups, graduates share learning experiences and discuss any issues they face. The groups take a solution-focussed approach and form action plans to move issues forward.

  Outcomes

  Five graduates were appointed in October 2006; up to six will be appointed for the 2008 cohort.

  Although it is still early to identify clear outcomes, managers have report how their departments have benefited from fresh perspectives and challenges brought by participants. For example a graduate with little experience of finance wrote a well-received budget monitoring handbook, which was very user-friendly and non-technical. The action learning method of working has also been extended to other areas across the Council to contribute to problem solving.

  The graduates are also a valuable resource for service departments and the Council has built a resource pool to be drawn on for management posts, increasing the likelihood of satisfactory internal appointment.

  Resources

  Associated costs for the two year duration of each cohort are c. £200,000 per annum. Based on six graduates, c. £165,000 is allocated for salary and on-costs with the remainder used for university fees, travel and subsistence, recruitment costs (media, assessment centre venues, interview expenses) and, where applicable, relocation expenses.

  Based on the costs of their current cohort of five graduates, the GDP is anticipated to cost the authority up to £7,000 less than had they participated in the National Graduate Development Programme, assuming only one graduate would be subsidised by IDeA at a reduced charge of £2,000. The scheme is coordinated by a Workforce Development Principal Adviser which is part of a wider workforce planning role. Line managers and mentors also devote time to the planning of the scheme and meetings with participants.

  Learning

  • Graduates have found the confidential advice and support from mentors invaluable; it has also provided consistency within the programme.
  • Time management expectations need to be expressed more clearly to managers.
  • Communication should be enhanced between their managers and team regarding the role of the graduate during their placements to aid integration.