Podcast: It’s lonely at the top in government but shared tools help, says Lord Gus O’Donnell
In this episode of Leading Questions, recorded with a live online audience, a panel of experts delve into the findings of Global Government Forum’s research into the key characteristics needed for a modern public service.
The Making Government Work report identifies five key pillars of a modern civil service:
- Strong leadership with mutual respect and alignment between ministers and senior officials.
- Building a highly skilled, inclusive and thriving public sector workforce.
- Fostering an agile, digital, and risk-taking culture focused on delivery.
- Implementing working structures that transcend organisational silos.
- Cultivating a service trusted by its users and the public.
The report is the culmination of interviews with 12 senior civil service leaders from around the world, and comes in response to requests from leaders at Global Government Forum’s annual Global Government Summit for a comprehensive “blueprint” for government that could consolidate and expand key knowledge shared over the past decade.
In the conversation, report authors Richard Johnstone, Siobhan Benita and Lord Gus O’Donnell discuss the elements of each of these pillars, setting out the findings from this unique research.
O’Donnell told Global Government Forum that the work of a cabinet secretary in government can be “quite a lonely job”, but that the research revealed that all those holding these posts in different governments are facing common challenges. “They are facing similar problems, and they’ve got similar tools,” he said. “So I think there was a lot to be learned by talking to all 12 and I think that’s why this report has been distilled and has been found useful [by public servants]. It’s already proving valuable, and that’s a good sign.”
Listen now for an exclusive primer on the key issues that governments around the world are facing. For civil servants looking to understand how to cultivate a service trusted by individual users and the public at large, this discussion is essential listening.
Read our Making Government Work report here.
About Richard Johnstone
Richard Johnstone is the executive editor of Global Government Forum, where he helps to produce editorial analysis and insight for the title’s audience of public servants around the world. Before joining GGF, he spent nearly five years at UK-based title Civil Service World, latterly as acting editor, and has worked in public policy journalism throughout his career.
