Political and commercial focus
Why is this important?
We aim to have a workforce that is aware and understands the political and business environment within which we operate. It is important to understand the key issues that affect our priorities.
To achieve this at your level in the organisation you will need to demonstrate the following values and behaviours:
- have an understanding of how our political framework operates and the role of members in setting direction
- have an awareness of how our financial and budget process impacts financial decisions on services
- understand who your customers, partners, key stakeholders are
In addition for managers:
- demonstrate a sound understanding of political drivers and central government procedures and how they relate to public services
- lead the development of workable strategies to deliver the political objectives; understands members’ roles; know who the key influencers are, both internally and externally, and how to involve them as required
- engages with integrity and impartiality
- understands, analyses and interprets a wide range of data to inform strategic and operational decisions
- identify ways of adding value to services without increasing overheads
Low
This could include:
- is unaware of our political framework
- shares confidential information, shows a lack of integrity
- fails to understand the impact of budgets
- does not know who customers and, or key stakeholders are; is not aware of customers’ needs
In addition for managers:
- fails to keep up to date with emerging political and Council priorities
- fails to identify and evaluate current or future risks and put in place effective mitigations; uses risk as an excuse to avoid action
- does not use numerical, financial or market data effectively to identify issues or problems and, or plan strategically
Expected
This could include:
- understands our political framework
- demonstrates integrity and complies with our policies and procedures
- understands the link between budget decisions and their work or service area priorities
- understands who customers or stakeholders are and knows what they want from the service
- understands the legal, policy and ethical frameworks for own service area
- judges and takes appropriate risk, weighing up potential benefits, downsides and implications of potential action or non action
- works confidently with data before making decisions; for example interprets trends, issues and risks
High
This could include:
- is aware of and sensitive to the internal and external political environment
- operates professionally, impartially and with political neutrality
- actively seeks out ways to better utilise resources and budgets
- anticipates customer and stakeholder needs and responds before the situation requires action; consistently exceeds customer expectations
- independently takes the lead on making decisions that have a significant impact on the Council, protecting the organisation and its values
- shows sound judgement in situations of high risk, complexity and uncertainty
- identifies trends from complex or conflicting data taking steps to address the root causes of highly complex problems