The Power of Change Management in Local Government

It's a crucial time for local government. Budgets are stretched more than ever and frontline services are being affected. This makes it tempting to deem a lot of things as non-business critical, especially change management. Here's my personal take on why that's wrong.

With the budget situation, local government is in one of the biggest periods of change it's ever been in. If you throw in the plans for creating unitary authorities and the rapid progress of artificial intelligence, we're arguably in the biggest period of change we've ever seen. People can't deal with this alone.

The science of change management brings your people along. It helps them see the benefits in change, deal with new technologies and upskill. It helps them move forward. We know that giving people tools or expecting people to deal with a situation alone, doesn't work. In fact, change management company Prosci have shown that a project is 7x more likely to succeed following change management principles, than those projects without change management. That's without looking at the human costs of uncertainty and stress.

Local government is for the people but it can only work with the people. Staff shouldn't be forgotten in the mixed up world we find ourselves in. Considering this is a vital part of an effective strategy for local authorities. Supporting people to support others is the best of local government and is crucial to secure the best outcomes.