Successful devolution is all down to leaders. They need the time and space to focus on what they have to do and they need the skills to enable those around them to do great work.

1. The Hay Group Singapore:
Creating devolution headspace
Successful devolution is all down to leaders.
They need the time and space to focus on what they have to
do and they need the skills to enable those around them to
do great work.
We recently carried out research into the leadership
ingredients of successful devolution agreements. Public
and private collaborations need leaders who have vision
and great networks. Leaders have to focus on long-term,
place-based plans that address economic and societal challenges in a sustained way.
This is a complex task. Leaders need the headspace to think strategically and
conceptually, develop meaningful collaborations and manage change in critical services.
Chief executives must be supported by their senior managers in both the public and
private sectors. They in turn need to be able to plan and integrate services for the long
term while engaging diverse stakeholders, from partners to politicians, staff to citizens.
Some of the people we spoke to were concerned about whether senior managers could
deliver this; they worried about day-to-day operations ‘falling over’.
We also know that George Osborne is quite rightly concerned about UK productivity.
Our research shows that leaders often fail to create productive environments. Just 18%
create environments that are high performing, 13% motivating, 12% neutral and 56%
demotivating.
Leaders are not making the best of the skills in their teams. They tend to focus on pace,
task and applying technical knowledge, rather than enabling others to give their best.
We suggest three things leaders can do:
1. Involve senior managers in shaping why devolution offers the chance to change
service provision and trigger economic growth. Develop a story about why it
creates better locality, and how this relates to the organisation’s mission and
managers’ motivation
2. Help senior managers understand their new role in the organisation, the wider
public service system and in implementing devolution. Clarify wider system
accountabilities and review capacity. You may need to rethink priorities
3. Provide space for senior managers to review their approach, behaviour and
development needs, to lead change in this new working context. Align
development work and conversations with the needs of devolution plans, which
may require setting new standards.

2. At a recent devolution event, there was heated debate about whether the sector has the
visionary leadership required to deliver the best outcomes. I’d argue that it will only
exist if organisations make better use of the capacity that exists around them.