Public Sector
What's wrong with Western governments?
28 May 2012 | Andre de Waal
Despite mounting economic problems, Western governments seem curiously disinterested in exploring ways to improve their own performance. So how can public sector institutions break out of their complacency and become High Performance Organisations?
UK businesses shun public sector staff
12 Apr 2011 | Brian Amble
A new survey of small business owners in the UK has found that the overwhelming majority view former-public sector staff as almost unemployable in the private sector.
Spending cuts threaten a million UK jobs
13 Oct 2010 | Brian Amble
Almost a million jobs, half of them in the private sector, could be lost in the UK as a result of public-sector spending cuts, according to a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
Telling it like it is
02 Jul 2010 | Brian Amble
If you fancy working five hours a week for a salary of 36,000 euros ($52,700) a year, it seems that what you need is a job in the French public sector.
Ad for 'reliable' workers deemed discriminatory
27 Jan 2010 | Brian Amble
A government-run jobcentre in the UK refused to display an advert for a 'reliable worker' because the phrase discriminated against unreliable applicants. No, you really couldn't make it up.
Doing the unthinkable
27 Nov 2008 | Brian Amble
The Singapore government has done the unthinkable and cut the pay of its senior civil servants and politicians by up to 19 perent in response to the global recession.
Improving public sector productivity
25 Jul 2008 | Derek Torres
Let's hear three cheers for New Zealand's minster of labor, Trevor Mallard, for his recent speech on improving public sector productivity.
Business management and purpose
14 Jul 2008 | Robert Heller
The context in which people work is of vital importance. That means articulating a concise and relevant purpose which defines the shared tasks of all staff.
Common Voice: Howard Gardner
14 Mar 2008 | Des Dearlove & Stuart Crainer
Des Dearlove talks to psychologist Howard Gardner about the qualities of thinking that will allow people to survive and prosper in the 21st century, both in work and life generally.
Mark H. Moore on public value
05 Nov 2007 | Des Dearlove & Stuart Crainer
Professor Mark H. Moore talks to Des Dearlove about public value and citizenship and poses some challenging questions about the way we view public services
Debunking public sector stereotypes
09 Oct 2007 | Derek Torres
Public sector managers, sit up and take note, because here's what your subordinates really think of you.
Public sector pensions liability hits new heights
22 Sep 2006 | Brian Amble
Britain's public sector pensions liability has risen to and astonishing £1,025 billion – the equivalent to 80 per cent of gross domestic product and than double the size of the country's national debt.
Few signs of improvement in public sector absence levels
17 Jul 2006 | Brian Amble
The amount of time British workers are taking off sick may be declining, but public sector absence rates remain stubbornly high and – in some cases - are actually increasing.
Public sector workers can be better off in private sector
06 Jul 2006 | Nic Paton
Private companies that have taken over the delivery of public services in Britain are among some of the country's best employers, a report by the Confederation of British Industry has claimed.
You couldn't make it up....
07 Jun 2006 | Brian Amble
The National Health Service in England spent an estimated £1 billion last year on management consultants - a figure that dwarfs the funding deficit in the health service.
Bureaucrats badly led and badly managed
05 Apr 2006 | Brian Amble
Surveys of some 150,000 civil servants have revealed that Britain's government departments are badly managed, unable to cope with change, and riddled with bullies and poor performers.
One in four Britons work for the State
23 Feb 2006 | Brian Amble
Almost half of all adults in Britain - 44 per cent – receive at least half their income from the state, while almost a quarter of the workforce – some 6.8 million people - now works for the State in one form or another.
Christmas 'is a safety hazard'
09 Dec 2005 | Brian Amble
The madness of the nanny state seems to know no bounds. Staff at government-run jobcentres in Manchester have been told that Christmas decorations are a safety hazard and that they cannot put decorations on office ceilings in case someone falls off a desk or chair in the process.
Discontent growing in the UK public sector
06 Dec 2005 | Nic Paton
British public sector workers are nearly three times more likely to be critical of the services they provide than their colleagues in the private sector, a new poll has revealed.
Employers slam government performance
28 Nov 2005 | Brian Amble
As the annual conference of Britain's largest employers organisation, the CBI, opens in London today, relations between the government and business have hit an all-time low.