In ensuring that all the key players understand the deal during start-up, that the key relationships and inter-dependencies are understood and that the Chair and Chief Executive of a new organisation work as a team, our research suggests that many of the risks to start-up are already significantly decreased.
However, there is real, often untapped, help and support available in the form of the network of Chairs and Chief Executives who have successfully gone through start-up before. The benefits of accessing these communities are clear.
For sponsors, practices such as following the three-step approach to selecting leaders outlined in this review could also contribute substantially to success. Further, we believe that there is additional scope in central initiatives such as Professional Skills for Government for strengthening the key relationship between sponsor Department and NDPB with appropriate capacity. For many we spoke to, the value of sponsor representatives with the right skills, level of experience and willingness to listen and work as part of a team, cannot be underestimated.
But perhaps the most stark message to come through the research is that, regardless of the skills and competence of an NDPB’s leadership, its success and longevity in part rely on factors that are beyond its control and influence. Sudden unanticipated shifts in policy, changes in Ministerial sponsor, or tensions in the relationship between Ministers and civil servants within a particular given policy area have all signalled the demise of NDPBs, and it is in this respect that they will always be, to an extent, hostage to fortune.
Whilst therefore the long term future of an NDPB may not be within the influence of its members, our research has shown that there are positive steps that can be taken to get the NDPB off to a good start and increase its chances of a longer life. The purpose of this research has been to assist those undertaking start-ups and mergers, perhaps making the task seem less daunting in the future and helping everyone to get it right from the start.