The social services function of Essex County Council is the second largest in the UK, employing some 7500. In 1996, a number of initiatives were put in place to support the team by building its capability to deal with the challenges of the changes being introduced. Human Resource Associates (Tom Jaap) was invited to develop a programme to facilitate the change process and in particular to focus on improving:

• the ability of an individual to work effectively within their own team and with other teams
• understanding of the strengths of self and others through the use of 360* feedback Image<> Impact profiles
• planning and prioritising of workloads and service plans
• awareness of the bigger picture and alignment of activities and behaviour as to what needs to be achieved

The programme involved running a number of workshops. Each workshop covered two days with a follow-up day to review progress. A number of individuals have sought individual coaching to support their development. The programme has been targeted at the leadership teams, including the executive team. These individuals are then working through the issues with their own teams in a way that builds their capability and makes sense of what needs to be achieved.

Additionally, a key capability gap - Handling Difficult Situations - was identified by a number of participants who had completed one of the different development programmes. We were asked to develop and run workshops to meet this need for individuals from any team in the function. The successful role modelling of handling difficult situations by individuals who participated in the initial workshops resulted in a trebling of the number of planned workshops.
More recently a series of Management of Change workshops involving all managers in Social Services has led to individuals taking more accountability for ensuring effective service delivery.