Modernisation, managerialism and HRM: the reality in a small council

The Working Paper series is intended for rapid dissemination of research results, work-in-progress, innovative teaching methods, etc., at the pre-publication stage. Comments are welcomed and should be addressed to the individual author(s). It should be remembered that papers in this series are often provisional and comments and/or citation should take account of this. Summary This paper examines the operation of HRM in local government in the UK, a hitherto relatively unexplored sector as far as the study of work and management is concerned. Further, the literature as it exists focuses (almost) entirely on County Councils and District Councils. This paper redresses the balance as it considers the nature of HRM in the more local council structure, and takes as its empirical base a case study of a Town Council. The significance of this paper is in its location in the broader national policy context of performance management, quality management and funding, generally cited as an agenda for 'modernisation' of public services and, specifically for local government, manifested in this case in the Best Value initiative. The 'modernisation' agenda is said to include devolution of powers and responsibilities to enable local democracy, but with centralised regulation and an emphasis on leadership and managerialism. The paper concludes that the challenge facing those working in this sector will be to sustain employee commitment in this changing environment. Introduction This paper examines the operation of aspects of HRM in local government in the UK, through consideration of one particular Town Council. Local government is an area of increasing interest as far as the study of work and management is concerned. Much of the existing literature, however, focuses (almost) entirely on County Councils and District Councils (Brooks 2000; Morgan and Allington 2002). Indeed national-level personnel-related policy documents also focus on organisations at these levels to the exclusion of the lower tiers of government such as Town and Parish Councils. Thus, this paper aims to redress the balance as it considers the nature of HRM in the more local council structure, and takes as its empirical base a case study of a Town Council. In doing so, a particular feature of this study is the inclusion of a range of manual and service occupations outside of the professional groupings normally found at County and District levels. Notably these are related to the operation of a leisure centre, grounds-keeping and maintenance, functions that are retained in-house here …