Lincolnshire County Council’s HR director has been recruited by the company
that will supply the council’s HR services, in a bid to ensure the success of
the venture.
Gail Shadlock moved to Hyder as head of HR on 1 April when the contract went
live.
Hyder announced when it won the contract that 130 staff would move from the
council’s HR department to the company, but the core strategy team would remain
in-house.
It now transpires that the in-house team will be headed by Shadlock’s
deputy, current assistant head of personnel Jon Porter, and Shadlock will move.
Shadlock said she was asked to move to Hyder to ensure the person leading
the outsourcing contract had in-depth knowledge of the council’s needs and a
well-established relationship with the head of HR at the council. This should
prevent communication problems between the client and supplier that can result
when a service is outsourced, she said.
"We will have a joint management team consisting of myself, Jon, and
people from our teams.
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"We want to avoid creating a culture where Hyder and the council blame
each other if things start to go wrong."
Philip Vernon, an outsourcing expert at HR consultancy William M Mercer,
said that outsourcing is more likely to be successful when someone from the
organisation moves to the provider. "It also gives the individual a chance
to see through a project they have been involved in," he said.
