Summary: Transferring large numbers of staff and services are major hurdles to overcome when entering into a partnership with the private sector. In this episode, I talk to two Councils who have both been working with their chosen partners for a number of years and they explain how they managed the process. To listen to the podcast, click the grey arrow below. Graham Burgess is The Chief Executive of Blackburn with Darwen Council and believes that the first step to successnbsp;is to build a strong relationship from the beginning and see your partner not as a separate organisation bound by a contract, but almost as a department of the Council. Some other pieces of advice Graham shares include: DON'T BE DEFENSIVE - if something isn't working, sort it out, pass it back or resolve the problem, don't take things personally and realise that you will have differences HAVE A STRONG CLIENT SIDE - too much of our client function wasnbsp;transferred at the beginning HAVE REGULAR REVIEWS - rather than waiting for the 5 yearly review, regularly evaluatenbsp;things very strongly in the early years TALK TO PEOPLE - both sides need to do a major communication and culture change exercise leadingnbsp;up tonbsp;the transfer, including both groups of staff and trade unions HR NEED TO BE INVOLVED VERY EARLY IN THE PROCESS - not brought in at the end MAKE SURE YOU CAN ANSWER THE STAFFrsquo;S QUESTIONS - about their own personal positions and reassure them about the type of organisation they are going to Graham believes the three most important factors for success are: COMMUNICATION OPPORTUNITIES FOR STAFF TO MEET OTHER PARTNER STAFF CHOOSING THE RIGHT PARTNER You can find out more about Blackburn with Darwen's partnership from their website www.blackburn.gov.uknbsp; Graham is also happy to arrange a visit to the Council or send information to you. Email him at graham.burgess@blackburn.gov.uk Cumbria County Council entered into their partnership agreement in 2001 and Bob Mather, Deputy Chief Executive talks to me about what their original objectives were and what has been achieved in 7 years. The three main objectives were: CREATEnbsp;1000 EXTRA JOBS IN 5 YEARS IMPROVE SERVICE EFFICIENCY BY 2% PER ANNUM RECEIVE A LARGE CAPITAL RECEIPT FOR TRANSFERRINGnbsp;BUSINESS Bob's key pieces of advice are: FLEXIBILTY IS IMPORTANT - the world changes, should targets that were set at the beginning, still be in place 7 years on GET OFF TO A FAST START - devote a lot of time and attention to developing the client side of the operation THINK ABOUT THE STAFF WHO ARE TRANSFERRING - need to be able to set the standard and monitor the performance of the third party DON'T SKIMP SO MUCH ON THE ORGANISATION THAT'S LEFT IN THEnbsp;AUTHORITY - you need enough capacity to keep track of the partner Bob is happy to speak to anyone who would like to find out more about Cumbria's partnership agreement and you can contact him on 01228nbsp;606263 or email him at bob.mather@cumbriacc.gov.uk information can also be found on their website www.cumbria.gov.uk Listening to the show is simple, you can do it in a number of ways and you donrsquo;t need an iPod or MP3 player. Simply click on the grey arrow underneath the show heading and it will play through your computer. Alternatively, you can easily download the file and listen to it later, ornbsp;transfer it onto an MP3 player,nbsp;just right click on lsquo;Downloadrsquo; and select lsquo;Save Target Ashellip;rsquo; The show can also benbsp;playednbsp;on iTunes. To make sure that you never miss an episode, you can subscribe freenbsp;via email, or by clicking the orange RSSnbsp;icon or iTunes button. Each new show will then be delivered automatically to your computer, along with notes about the show, useful contact details and links to additional information. Inbsp;would love to hearnbsp;your feedback and any s...
