Skills shortage could threaten modernisation of public services

A shortage of staff with a combination of public sector experience and business management skills could threaten the success of the Government's programme to modernise Britain's public services, according to recruitment consultants, Huntswood.

The firm, which is one of the UK's top three recruiters of management consultants, says that consulting firms are desperate to recruit staff with public sector experience to exploit the rapidly expanding public sector market for their services. Consultancies are finding, however, that there are simply not enough appropriately skilled staff available. New research by Huntswood shows that while 68 per cent of consultants anticipate growth in public sector business in 2003, more than for any other part of the market, only four per cent of consultants have public sector experience.

If the management consultancies can't find the right staff to enable them to improve the efficiency of our public services, it follows that the public sector itself faces a resourcing problem, said Keith Mackenzie, Huntswood's Director of Operations.


Keith Mackenzie made his remarks in a speech to the annual conference of the Institute of Management Consultants, at 9.35 am on Wednesday 12 March 2003, at Le Mridien hotel, Piccadilly, London W1.

He explained:
To deliver its public service modernisation programme, the Government needs access to business management skills - to people who know how to streamline processes, introduce improved management structures, identify better ways of working and manage major change programmes. In large part, its access to these skills is through the management consulting firms. But even the very large firms are experiencing difficulty in finding enough staff with the combination of skills and experience they believe are needed to deliver modernisation projects successfully.
The management consulting firms place a heavy emphasis on the importance of public sector experience when looking for staff to work on public sector modernisation projects.

They take the view that, while consultancy skills can be taught, an understanding of the needs of the public sector and of a public service culture is something that can only come by experience. However, according to research by Huntswood, only four per cent of those working in or seeking to move into management consultancy have public sector experience.

Keith Mackenzie continued:
Thirteen per cent of consultancy revenues came from the public sector as far back as 2001, before much of the Government's modernisation programme had even been announced. So, with only four per cent of consultants and would-be consultants having public sector experience, it is clear that there are simply not enough people with the right background to meet the level of demand now coming from the Government.

This is a situation that on current projections is likely to get worse, unless urgent action is taken. New survey research conducted by Huntswood shows that consulting firms see the public sector as their fastest growing line of business, with 68 per cent of 1400 consultants questioned anticipating revenue growth in this area in 2003.

To allow the fullest range of business management talents to be brought to bear on the public service modernisation programme, Keith Mackenzie argued that government and consultancies should work together to promote job shadowing, work experience and even 'job swaps' between public sector workers and consultants. Without such an approach, he warned, consulting firms might well resort to recruiting much needed key public sector personnel, such as doctors, teachers and nurses to become consultants.