Public sector line managers lack professional people management skills

Line management in the public sector needs to be more professional, according to a report by consultancy Deloitte.

The firm interviewed senior figures in central and local government and concluded that public sector employers needed to improve their people management.

Its report, Bold Moves, said performance management needed to be strengthened.

“For years, the public sector has failed to confront poor performance. Only 16% of the senior civil service believe it is effectively dealt with in government departments,” said the report.

One unnamed local authority HR director told Deloitte: “What comes up repeatedly through feedback is that staff recognise underperformance among their colleagues.

“They want managers to address it, and until this point I think we haven’t really grasped that if we’re not actively managing performance then we probably haven’t got a handle on who the good and poor performers are.”