Organisational Development

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A Flavour of Our Work

We have a long heritage in organisational change, people development and capability building in the public sector both in the UK and internationally. We work at the forefront of public service transformation and have depth and breadth of experience in facilitating large scale interventions and working with central and local government on the change agenda. Our work also spans working with whole systems, end to end process analysis and everything related to organisational performance and efficiency.

Click on the links for more information about some of our recent work:

Our work in the UK

Our work internationally

Our work in the UK

Evaluation of the Capability Reviews programme
When the Civil Service Steering Board (CSSB) needed an organisation with the thought leadership to conduct an independent evaluation of the Capability Reviews programme, it turned to the National School of Government. The CSSB needed to see if the programme was driving the improvements in capability across Whitehall in the way the Cabinet Secretary intended and also to inform thinking about the next stages of Civil Service reform. The National School's think-tank and virtual academy, the Sunningdale Institute, carried out the evaluation, and the evaluation team made ten broad-ranging recommendations that will add value right across the Civil Service by:

• ensuring that the approaches of future Departments to the Reviews maximise the benefits they can bring
• ensuring that the momentum built by Reviews already undertaken isn't lost but embedded into Departmental change programmes.

Managing organisational performance
The National School has worked with the National Environmental Research Council to develop an integrated approach to organisational performance management based on the development of a corporate balanced scorecard. This intervention involved the development of a vision for the organisation followed by detailed strategic objectives, performance indicators and targets. Further value was added by ensuring the client remained focused on outcomes by identifying and planning all aspects of implementation.

Organisation design community of practice
The National School worked in partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions to develop a community of practice. It gives participants from across Government a means to actively and collectively develop their Departmental capabilities in organisation development. The benefits are transferred across the Civil Service. One of the outcomes is a new Framework and Toolkit of Capability for use across Government based on a shared approach and common understanding.

Our work internationally

EU Transition Countries
In central and eastern Europe, the Balkans and the former Soviet Union, the National School works to develop the capacities of public administrations to align themselves with European standards and to meet demands arising from transition to market economies and pluralist democracies.

Developing Countries
In Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, we focus on improving the capacity of governments to develop and implement policies that contribute to the human rights and poverty alleviation agendas and deliver more effective services to citizens.

Post-Conflict Countries
The National School has substantial experience of helping new administrations in post-conflict situations, including the Balkans, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and a DFID funded project to help to build the capacity of the Ministry of Interior in Iraq.