Entries with tag local government .

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Blair McPherson
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14 Mar 2017 - 20:33

null Surrey CC played poker and won

  So the government claims no deal was done with Surrey County Council it just happens that they benefit from the formula for allocating the additional funds more than any other authority. This has provoked outrage from Labour at both the injustice and the government's barefaced lie that a behind the scenes deal hadn't been struck. But hold the hypocrisy the government of the day... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
10 Mar 2017 - 10:53

null International Women's Day

  The Black Panthers, the Vietnam war, Bob Dylan and the woman's liberation movement, this is the New York scene in the Late 60's early 70's. The story is set in the open plan office of a weekly magazine, the editor, deputy editor and all the journalists are white males, all the researchers are female. It soon becomes clear that the women do all the leg work, come up with the most... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
01 Mar 2017 - 11:05

null Confrontational leadership

  A kick up the backside or arm round the shoulder. Delivered at the right time, in the right way both are recognised managerial responses. Some people respond better to one than the other. Managers may be predisposed to confrontational management or supportive management. Supportive management is presented as a good thing, although staff often complain there isn't much of it. Supporting... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
24 Feb 2017 - 13:37

null Where do they send bed blockers?

Delayed hospital discharges or " bed blocking " is hot news. As hospitals desperately try to unblock their beds where do they send patients and what happens to them? I am an ex social worker and former Director of community services so I thought I knew the answer but it's different when it's your own mum.   Every day dozens maybe hundreds of older people lose their balance fall... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
14 Feb 2017 - 18:48

null The chemistry has to be right

  Appoint a good manager and the results will improve. Appoint a great manager and success is guaranteed. Well that's the theory in practice past success doesn't guarantee future success. A good manager, even a great manager needs the right set of circumstances and the chemistry has to be right. You can have a great story that captures the mood of the times, a lavish budget, creaking... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
08 Feb 2017 - 15:25

null Granny dumping

  A elderly man found wandering and confused in Hereford bus station has no means of identification on him, his clothes are new bought from a Tesco's he appears to speak English but his speech is difficult to understand , all he can tell the police is his name and that he is not from round here. No one has reported him missing and no one comes forward when his  picture is published... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
08 Feb 2017 - 11:56

null Managing Maverick Managers

  Name me one TV cop who isn't a maverick. Wouldn't  we all like to stick two fingers up to senior management on occasions, to follow our professional instincts rather than inflexible procedures , do what we think is right rather than blindly follow instructions, do the job the way it should be done rather than hit arbitrary targets and struggle to stay within an unrealistic... See more
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Blair McPherson
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06 Feb 2017 - 11:11

null Three strikes and you're out

  February 6th is national "sickie" day, so called because traditionally absenteeism is at it highest at this time of year. Employers in the public sector have in recent years being getting tough on high levels of sickness leave and copying the strategies used by the private sector. If you work in the public sector you may not be aware of what happens to your counter parts in the... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
03 Mar 2017 - 01:04

null More people with a business background would be good for local government, Not

  Donald Trump US president is appointing people with a business background to key posts in his administration because he believes government would be better if it was run like a business and who better to do this than people who have run successful businesses. For a number of years management gurus have told us the public sector should learn from the private sector about how to be... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
24 Jan 2017 - 12:47

null Let's do a deal

    Donald Trump the new US president with a business background has appointed people to his senior posts on the bases that they are good at "doing deals". Is this a new and worrying tend in the public sector  which we are likely to follow? A worrying tend because doing deals in the commercial world is a rather murky business where ethical and moral considerations are... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
06 Jan 2017 - 17:14

null Make my day punk

If only you were in charge you could sort this mess out. You know what needs doing and you know how to do it. But how long before you turn into Dirty Harry the Clint Eastwood anti hero  who is the epitome of ruthless policing and never hesitates to cross professional and ethical boundaries in his quest to get justice.  In senior management team meetings perfectly reasonable and... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
27 Dec 2016 - 20:02

null you're very experienced with an impressive track record but will we get on?

  Traditional recruitment practices, panel interview, presentation and trial by sherry, take a short list of suitably qualified candidates and ask members to chose the one they like best not necessarily the one most compatible with their boss. I know attempts has been made to convince members that psycho metric tests can identify and match personality traits but I have never yet... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
15 Dec 2016 - 14:24

null Funsultant

Has your LA engaged the services of a " funsultant" to advise on how to make the workforce more positive? Have you come across a job advert for the post of " happiness officer". If LA stood for Los Angeles rather than Local Authority then you undoubtably would be familiar with the typically wacky approach to job satisfaction and employee relations in California. Our approach may be more... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
09 Dec 2016 - 12:50

null Mansplaining

Mansplaining comes from combining the words “man” and “explaining”, and refers to situations where a person (typically a man) explains something to someone else (typically a woman), often in a condescending way and frequently disregarding  the greater experience of the person they are talking to. Someone who attempts to impose their views assuming they have a greater knowledge and... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
01 Nov 2016 - 12:47

null How to kill enthusiasm and stifle initiative

  I once stood up at a large meeting of managers to announce that the social service department was going for Investors In People (IIP) accreditation for the whole department. I said how impressed we were with the social work teams ,day centres and residential homes who had all ready archived IIP status through their own initiative. I said these teams could be proud of their achievement... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
21 Oct 2016 - 13:24

null The Mad Hatter's tea party

It was a large table set for many places. The mad hatter and the March hare sat together. Alice went to sit down. The mad hatter and the March hare shouted,"no room". Alice said " don' t be ridiculous there is plenty of room". The mad hatter looked at his watch and shouted "tea time, all move round". Alice asked , "what time is tea time?" To which they replied in unison," it's always... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
09 Oct 2016 - 06:20

null The nature of the game

The relationship between a local authority director and their chief executive is like that between a premiership goal keeper and his manager. We all know how much a manager values a safe pair of hands and a new manager likes to bring in some of his own players who will play the game the way he likes to play it. The new chief executive comes with a reputation. Already one of the directors who... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
05 Oct 2016 - 10:06

null How to catch a monkey

The monkeys live in the trees to catch them the locals place a large heavy pottery vase at the bottom of the tree and place fruit, sweets and other things the monkeys like to eat inside. The bulbous vase has wide base and a narrow opening just wide enough for the monkeys small hand. At night the monkey climbers down from the tree reaches in to the vase and grabs a treat making a fist out of... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
01 Oct 2016 - 16:48

null Living with Dementia

Living with dementia is not about some one with dementia, it's not about caring for someone with dementia it about living in a residential  care home where everyone else has dementia. It's about having the room across the corridor from posh Rachael, who walks up and down all day in her underwear complaining she is,"starrrrving", in a very upper crust voice. It's about waking up in the... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
26 Sep 2016 - 12:04

null What was once successful now is not

  Charismatic and autocratic have had their day - well almost. Driven by austerity and made fashionable by the success of a high profile few this type of leadership was in demand. This was the age of the swaggering young gunslinger radiating vigour and upsetting the established order . But few have success at the highest level  for more than a decade. It is a difficult and tiring job... See more
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