Turning the economy around ... by REDUCING untapped talent!

The CIPD has today highlighted how the private sector will be hit harder by the cuts than the public sector.  Their research suggests that government's spending cuts and the rise in VAT to 20% in January will result in more than 1.6 million job losses across the public and private sectors by 2016 ...  

Spending cuts     725,000 public sector job losses

Spending cuts     650,000 private sector job losses 

VAT rise            250,000 private sector job losses

Total              1,625,000 jobs

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development said the impact of the Spending Review had been "understated".  John Philpott, chief economic adviser to the CIPD, said the number of public sector job losses cited in the Spending Review looked like "an underestimate, given what most public sector managers are telling us".

Some business groups, such as the CBI, have said that job creation in the private sector will be able to compensate for losses in the public sector.  Yet the CIPD said that the private sector would be hit harder than the public sector.  Can both be right ...?

If a concerted effort is made to apply 21st century management practices in both the private sector and public sector then the economy will create a tidal wave of innovation and successfully turn itself around ... if this does not happen then all the honest, hard-working people of this country will have been betrayed by their 'leaders' ... and should never be forgiven.

... and do we currently have the progressive, forward-looking 'leaders' applying 21st century management practices in charge of our largest Corporations now ...  well I'm afraid the answer to this question unfortunately in the vast majority of cases is 'no' ... as currently many only understand 19th Century practices and 'Poweromics', e.g. reducing staff and rewarding themselves with big pay rises (e.g. a phenomenal 55% increase last year)!

21st Century management practice is about trust, honor and respect for people, and releasing all their untapped talent/creativity to create growth ... whilst 19th Century practice drives self interest and head-count reduction to create short-term profit ... 


... and our economy will fail to recover in any sustainable way if levels of untapped opportunity and talent continue to be systematically wasted as much as they are now (90%+), and it'll rapidly collapse if these become even worse!

Education - flawed 'policies' failing our nation

The authors of an influential review (the 'Cambridge Primary Review') have today called for SATS tests to be abandoned ... saying their high-stakes nature, linked to league tables, encourages a too-narrow focus on literacy and numeracy.

Professor Robin Alexander said 'We don't think Sats are fit for purpose' ... instead, children should be assessed on a broad range of subjects throughout primary school and at its end, but these assessments should be used to monitor children's progress rather than hold teachers accountable.

This fundamentally challenges Government policy over the last 10 years, and follows on from a damning statement yesterday from Sir Terry Leahy, chief executive of Tesco (at the Institute of Grocery Distribution's annual conference). Tesco has grown from humble beginnings into a global success, by focusing on what customers want and providing them value & choice ... it also just happens to be the largest private employer in the UK.

Sir Terry Leahy said 'we depend on high standards in our schools ... but sadly, despite all the money that has been spent, standards are still woefully low in too many schools'. He went on to say ... 'from my perspective there are too many agencies and bodies, often issuing reams of instructions to teachers, who then get distracted from the task at hand: teaching children'.

Sir Terry Leahy knows all about providing value and 21st century management practice (see P180-188 of my book for instance), and the UK needs to take note of his observations. Sir Terry knows only too well that to succeed in the modern world 21st century leaders and managers need to understand and get close to the work ... focusing on helping & supporting front line line staff to continuously improve the service provided (and to find innovate new ways of providing new services/better outcomes too). They do not sit in plush offices, remote from the real work, issuing an ever increasing number of dsyfunctional policies/instructions and dreaming up additional performance targets for front line staff to meet, or creating more new initiatives in response to latest news headlines (or to create news)!

One creates value, prosperity and growth ... the other generates waste, frustration and failure ... 'waste of time jobs' systematically generating 'poorer outcomes' and 'excessive amounts of waste, inefficiency and frustration everywhere else' ... and when it comes to education, there is arguably few things more important to the long term well-being of our community and the overall success of our nation ... hence the importance of the statements made above, as well as those within my own blog too (e.g. 1,2,3) ... and if you want to understand the challenges ahead and to see how far off current education policies are in preparing children for the future take a look at this too.

Referred to on Mark Easton's blog (post 43).