The Best policy

Employees at Birmingham City Council were suffering from a bad case of initiative fatigue. A series of change programmes had not really gripped the organisation, and large parts of the workforce felt disempowered and disengaged.

The extent of the problem became clear early in 2006 when a survey by Mori found that many employees didn’t feel proud to work for the council or very motivated. Confidence in management was also low, with only 24 per cent of staff saying that change was well managed at the council.