One in five local government managers question effectiveness of senior leadership, study shows

Leaders and managers in local government consider leadership quality the most important factor (40%) influencing organisational success, yet only two-thirds (67%) think that senior leadership in their organisation is effective, a new survey has shown.

The figures come from a survey conducted by the Social Market Foundation (SMF) in partnership with the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), which also revealed that just 45% of leaders and managers felt that leadership in their organisation was effective at attracting talent.

The SMF surveyed leaders and managers in local government from the CEO level down to the junior manager level. Its definition of ''senior leadership'' covered directors and CEOs.

SMF, which also published a report based on the statistics, made a series of recommendations aimed at tackling the problems highlighted by the survey responses, including a call for the Office for Local Government (Oflog) to make leadership and management quality a "key focus of its work".

On leadership, the survey revealed that one in five local authority leaders (20%) believe their senior leadership is ineffective, with two in five (40%) saying their senior leadership was also poor at motivating staff or failed to do so at all.

Meanwhile, 24% of leaders and managers felt that their organisation was poor or very poor at addressing underperformance.

Leaders and managers also complained of facing a range of obstacles preventing them from doing their jobs, with recruitment challenges being the most cited issue (38%).

Survey respondents also raised internal bureaucracy (33%) and finance issues (32%) as hindrances to leaders and managers.

Most respondents (77%) reported undertaking training in 2022, but the training provided was largely unaccredited.

In a roundtable hosted by SMF on the survey, participants identified training as an area local government "struggles to get right".

The report made a number of recommendations, including:

• The Department for Levelling-Up Housing and Communities (DLUHC) should work with relevant stakeholders, to design a comprehensive 10 year workforce strategy for local government.
• The workforce strategy needs to be accompanied by a funding boost to councils to improve the recruitment and retention of staff at all levels in general and for leadership and management roles in particular.
• To aid in the development of leaders and managers, DLUHC should establish a leadership academy, so that all levels of management in local government can have access to consistent high quality leadership and management training.
• The workforce strategy should recognise the wealth of experience that can come from those outside of local government and create a direct entry system for older career changers who may already have leadership and management experience in the private sector or other parts of the public sector.

Anthony Painter, Director of Policy at the Chartered Management Institute, said: "This research paints a worrying picture, but leadership and management failure is not inevitable. Investment  in quality leadership and management and reinforcing that capability relentlessly will help navigate stormy waters and is ultimately an investment in communities."

Richard Hyde, Senior Researcher at Social Market Foundation, said: "Good leadership and management deploying best practices are associated with better public sector organisational performance. Local government is no exception.

"Given the centrality of local government in daily life, sufficient numbers of, and sufficiently trained leaders and managers are vital."

Adam Carey