At a time when the public sector is under severe pressure to listen to ideas, experiences and unlock the potential of its workforce, particularly frontline staff, there is still a chasm of ignorance and lack of people awareness on the part of senior managers.
More than a third of workers in the public sector feel their managers don't understand their skills, preferences and motivations, according to a recent study we at OPP carried out.
What's more, bosses seem oblivious to this disconnection from their employees. A confident 97% of public sector managers say they know their people well - in stark contrast to the sentiments of the people who report to them.
It's an issue affecting the public sector more acutely than the private, with only 26% of private sector workers believing their boss doesn't know them well enough.
This suggests the whole approach to making decisions and connecting with workers in the public sector seems fundamentally flawed. Seven in 10 of all public sector managers said they would change past decisions if they had the chance. Worryingly, 62% said gut instinct was one of the most important factors in people decisions, with only 8% using more accurate measures such as psychometric testing.
Recent headlines have focused on the number of jobs at risk in the public sector as spending is reined in. These figures reveal a frightening waste of the people already in place.
Vast swaths of public sector workers are operating divorced from any real connection with their manager. It's a situation in which valuable insights, expertise and abilities can be completely ignored, wasting the potential of a huge number of people.
The most worrying aspect is the fact that managers are completely ignorant of the situation. There's a massive misconception that they know all there is to know about their employees and are able to easily discern how best to deploy their talents. The fact that so many managers would change previous decisions shows this to be a fallacy.
Public sector managers are failing to be objective and are not taking care to truly get to know their employees. Our study has highlighted a culture of decisions based on subjective information and inconsistent criteria. At best, that will mean missed opportunities. At worst, it will mean costly and wrong decisions.
Robert McHenry is chief executive of business psychology consultancy OPP
From Bubb's Blog
From Whitehall Watch
