'Make staff the agents of change' to cope with cuts

Empowering the public-sector workforce to make key decisions will be crucial to engagement following the drastic spending cuts outlined in the emergency budget, according to employee relations expert Nita Clarke.“It’s vital that staff are enabled to feel that they are the agents of change rather than the victims of cuts,” said Clarke, director of the Involvement and Participation Association (IPA) and co-chair of the MacLeod Review of employee engagement. “There has to be an understanding across Whitehall and spending departments that staff involvement has got to be at the heart of any changes.”