Although I’m based in Hertford, I don’t spend all my time at my desk. My day starts at around 8.30am but there’s no such thing as a normal working day. About a third of my time is spent on internal matters. Another third involves working with partners in Hertfordshire, which could be anything from chairing our county-wide crime and disorder group to meeting with NHS colleagues. The rest of the time is spent ‘representing Hertfordshire elsewhere’ and includes going to meetings with senior civil servants or trying to influence decision makers.
Centralised support
We are currently bringing together our back office services, such as HR, IT and finance into a centralised support service and a shared service model. We also have partnerships with a number of independent providers who run our payroll system, IT support, recruitment and so on. In the future we are hoping to do more of this work in partnership with district council colleagues and other public sector bodies.
We also have an annual efficiency savings target, which we have exceeded year on year but we have to continue to work hard at reducing costs without compromising quality. On a day-to-day basis, I spend a lot of my time in meetings.
As an organisation we have well-established relationships with our public sector partners and also the voluntary sector but it doesn’t mean we always agree. We’re all looking at it from our particular position and the challenge is to build consensus and agreement to improve the quality of life for the people of Hertfordshire.
Although there’s no ‘normal working day’, a fairly typical one includes a meeting with my strategic management board. After that, I may have an appraisal meeting with one of my senior managers. It’s an opportunity to both review what’s happened and look ahead. I might meet then with the council leader and the leader and chief executive of one of our district councils to discuss how we can work together more effectively on a particular project.
Hertfordshire County Council is a two-tier area, which means we work with ten district councils. When I started work as a social worker in Dorset and in 1995 I joined Hertfordshire County Council. I’ve always had good support but I’m one of the generation that learned by doing. It is important that we recognise that there are professional managerial and leadership skills that you need in any organisation. We shouldn’t assume people just get those by osmosis.
Learning to lead
We have a leadership academy where we identify future leaders; it’s quite exciting. After completing a development programme they present to me, explaining what they think the organisation could do better and what responsibility they could take to make it happen.
Developing and supporting staff is something I feel very strongly about and the work around leadership development is what makes our council different. There’s a buzzy atmosphere and always lots going on. People feel they can innovate, take risks and do things differently.
Frontline matters
There is also a sense that what happens at the front line is important. It isn’t just about having a beautifully run organisation; it’s about delivering good services and doing things of benefit to the local community. There’s something about the way I behave that has to demonstrate that. I want people to know that I’m interested in hearing how our policies are playing out on the ground. I listen to what the staff have to say. I don’t just manage the budget and make sure the systems and processes run well. It’s a case of walking the talk.
PERSONAL FILE
Name: Caroline Tapster
Position: Chief executive at Hertfordshire County Council
Biggest challenge: There is a perpetual challenge to continue improving when all our external inspections say we’re pretty good. As Hertfordshire has known what it’s doing for a number of years, the biggest challenge is complacency. We have to ensure we’re continuously looking at ways of making things better.
Defining moment: I’m not sure I’ve had one! Actually realising I’ve made a difference or seeing the results of what might, at times, have been quite a complicated project that’s been in the planning for two or three years.
What does the future hold? We have a challenging year ahead. We’ve just agreed quite a difficult budget. The challenge is going to be to do more with less. We have our corporate assessment coming up in May and that will be a challenge because we want to do well. Keeping and developing good people is key to the way I work. I’m coming up to my third year so I feel I have quite a lot more to do.
