The local government chief executives’ Leadership Standards: Guidance for leaders/directly elected mayors
Introduction
The Leadership Standards present a set of professional leadership standards for local government chief executives. They were created following an extensive engagement exercise with the sector, to build a comprehensive picture of the complex accountabilities that local government chief executives hold. The research interviews that formed the basis of the work centered around a discussion on ‘what makes a high performing chief executive?’ One of the ways in which the standards can be used is by leaders, directly elected mayors and senior members in conversations with their chief executive to help them understand the chief executive role and to inform the annual performance appraisal process.
Context - chief executives appraisal
In democratic local government, it is for leaders/directly elected mayors and councillors as elected representatives of the public to make the ultimate decisions, supported by appointed officers. The chief executive is not just accountable to the most senior politician – they are also accountable to the whole local authority. As head of the paid service the chief executive is principally responsible for managerial leadership of staff and for advising the council on the best ways to organise its many functions.
That said, leaders/directly elected mayors and senior elected members (referred throughout the rest of this document as ‘members’) are principally responsible for holding chief executive to account for their performance and delivery of the priorities of the council.
Investing in appraisals is shown to increase employee engagement, retention, and productivity by virtue of high quality and evidenced feedback, with a focus on skills and behaviours that will lead to high performance in the role. As with any employment, it is important to have a robust appraisal system in place where objectives are clearly defined and can be measured to assess overall performance and where confidential discussions can take place. The overall aim of the appraisal scheme is to enable the chief executive to maximise their performance and to grow in their careers. The JNC have produced joint guidance on appraisal of the chief executive which will be helpful to you. It sets out that the process’s focus should be on clarifying what the chief executive is expected to achieve and identifying any continuing development needs which, if met, would maintain high performance. The process of setting objectives should be by agreement and the result should be to identify objectives which are relevant and challenging but achievable. The guidance recognises that the chief executive's position is unique – in one sense their objective is to deliver the corporate priorities set by councillors. However, it is important to recognise that performance is also about ‘how’ as well as ‘what’. Members will want to consider the natural strengths and expertise of the chief executive, their leadership style, and areas and competences which might be developed. This will be individual to the person and provide a set of personal objectives about how to secure a broader and deeper set of competencies. This is particularly important for an officer stepping in to their first chief executive role as it provides a development plan and sets out expectations.
The Leadership Standards can be part of the toolkit for Members when preparing for chief executive appraisal.
The Leadership Standards for Excellence
The standards cover seven core themes, which have been identified as the foundations for a chief executive development curriculum. Under each theme, there are several bullet points. Each bullet point, when achieved, is what our research demonstrated as indicators of high-performance. Taken together, each of the bullet points set out a high standard for what excellent looks like in each of the seven areas.
However, it is important to recognise that chief executive will not be universally expert across the seven standards. Some will excel in certain areas and indeed some of the areas might be more relevant to particular councils, at particular points in time. Subsequent appraisal discussions might highlight new and different standards, with the aim of building a strong platform across all areas.
How to use the standards
Understanding the chief executive role
- As members, you will no doubt have experience of managing people, processes and performance management. It is, however, unusual for Members to have extensive experience of managing local authority chief officers. In politically-led organisations with members setting the policy framework and officers responsible for delivery, there are areas where the responsibilities intersect and overlap and having a good understanding of how this works in different circumstances is critical to effective working and good governance. The Standards provide a good starting point for understanding the key roles of a local government chief executive. They are not a definitive list of all the responsibilities that a chief executive undertakes, and should not be taken as such, but they do provide an overview of some of the fundamental themes that chief executive will be grappling with as they develop in their role
Celebrating positive achievements
- The standards can help provide a common language to talk about development and positive achievements. If a chief executive is routinely using the standards (and accompanying self-assessment tool) to review their development, they can point to areas where they have built their knowledge, experience and sharpened their judgement since their last review
Discussing developmental requirements
- Local authority chief executives come from a range of professional backgrounds – some will belong to a specific profession (for example accountants, lawyers, planners or social care), but others may have come from different sectors or followed a different local government career path. Commitment to personal development is important at all stages of a career, and the Standards can help chief executives identify and focus their development as they continue to progress within their roles. In advance of an appraisal, the chief executive could share their self-assessment with their leader, to facilitate an open dialogue about where to focus or invest in their continued professional development for the coming period or specific improvement needs
Tackling under-performance
- Having a clear record of expectations and objectives and regular and honest appraisal conversations is a critical part of holding chief executives to account for delivery of the objectives. Where the activity falls short of expectations, or where new and different skillset is required for the changing work of the council, the appraisal is an important place to register these, in a clear and constructive way and devise an improvement plan and appropriate support to address the issues
Setting objectives
- A chief executive’s objectives should focus on the Corporate Plan which sets out the key priorities for the local authority. This should not be an exhaustive list of everything the chief executive does, but reflect the key priorities for the council. Although some of these may not be directly council responsibilities, how chief executives manage these relationships is key for the appraisal eg the relationship with health partners. Modelling behaviours and values of the organisation both internally and externally is a key part of this. The Standards could help articulate these and provide a starting point for discussion on issues such as:
- effective leadership with councillors and parties
- leading change and developing the organisation
- enabling effective external partnerships relationships and networks
- maintaining focus on strategic and long-term issues for the council
- leading and integrating performance management and risk management within the organisation
- maintaining personal perspective and self-knowledge.
Ensuring the appraisal is clear about what needs to be done, and the leadership behaviours to achieve this will provide an evidence-based evaluation of achievements and help build a trusting and honest relationship across the political and managerial leadership in a council.
It is also important to see the appraisal as just one tool in the toolbox for managing performance and development. It is good practice to seek and provide feedback throughout the year through one-to-one, debriefs, and by drawing on wider perspectives such as through 360 feedback from those within and outside your organisation.
Next steps
Your Head of HR is a key confidential source of advice and support for appraisals and progressing development opportunities.
You can also access the following further sources of support and guidance to progress chief executive and senior officer appraisals and development:
Further support available |
Link to access |
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General and bespoke support including appraisal training |
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360 feedback tools | |
Support for Local Authority Leaders |
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Further appraisal guidance | |
Chief Executive Development Framework | |
Chief Executives Training and Development |