Central Government
Our highly regarded Central Government Practice has recently been strengthened with the addition of experienced consultants from a range of public and private sector backgrounds, with expertise in complex and large scale transformational change.
It now combines strength in search and selection with commercial-sector experience, at both Managing Director and Senior Civil Servant level.
We believe that this enables us to keep our advice relevant to the changing needs of government, and shows in the quality of candidates we put forward, whether for executive search or interim management.
Clients tell us our approach is refreshing and different.
Building leadership is instinctive, and the depth of our knowledge across government means we can help organisations to learn from others. We understand the Civil Service, the relationship between Central and Local Government, how devolved administrations work, and how public services can be integrated across the public, not-for-profit and private sectors.
Our dialogue with clients may be quite unlike their experience of our competitors. We see ourselves as trusted advisers to our clients, and our practice is founded on long-term business relationships.
We bring more than a recruitment solution. Expect us to challenge organisational thinking as a ‘critical friend’ and to be challenged in return, which brings better thinking and better solutions particularly at a time of unprecedented change for the Civil Service.
We not only find leaders at an executive level (in 2009 we appointed a Chief Executive every other week), but also support organisations to recruit Chairs and Non-Executive Directors who can help drive the strategic direction of an organisation and hold the Executive to account.
Helping to bring fresh thinking and different approaches to leadership is a unique feature of our work in Central Government. Over the last three years we have successfully placed high-calibre leaders from the private sector and broader public sector into the Civil Service. Placements include Board-level talent from large corporations such as Shell, PricewaterhouseCoopers, BT and BOC, and banking and finance institutions including Barclays, Coutts and Deutsche Bank, as well as former CEOs from Local Government, think tanks, and social enterprises. This demonstrates the strength of our networks in both the public and private sector and the depth of our knowledge and insight in how different and diverse skills and leadership talent can be utilised effectively in government.
This ability has also enabled us to provide added value in supporting government organisations move to a commercial footing. Examples include our work with Northern Ireland Water, FCO Services and the Asset Protection Agency, which is responsible for managing the government’s assets acquired during the recent financial crisis.
Business and organisational improvement
When we talk about business improvement, we don’t just mean in search and selection – we mean understanding the challenges faced by our clients in order to develop solutions which add value.
Increasing demand for public services, coupled with the need for wholesale efficiency savings, is rewriting the script for government. For our Civil Service clients the leadership challenge is to provide continuity while driving through a modernisation agenda. For example, we have supported the recruitment of high-calibre leaders to create and develop the largest shared services operation in Europe. This work has enabled the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to achieve multi-million pound savings, and has improved efficiency and created the capacity to deliver over 21 million transactions a day.
Our values grow out of a passion for excellence in public services, but we also understand that every placement is an investment decision – and needs a positive return.
This kind of thinking comes as standard with Veredus, because we have supported so many organisations in and around government through periods of major change.
Sustainability
We also understand and have been involved in other macro issues, including the social, economic and environmental impact of climate change and the drive for sustainable sources of energy.
Veredus supported the government in establishing the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority by helping to recruit the leadership team. More recently we have supported the new Nuclear Building Programme helping to create the emerging financial and safety regulatory frameworks.
Our knowledge of and commitment to the Sustainability Agenda has also enabled us to recruit to key leadership posts, such as the Chair of the UK’s Sustainable Development Commission, the Director General Sustainability and Futures in Wales, the Chair of Natural England, five Non-Executive Directors for the Environment Agency, as well as the Chief Executives of the Commission for Rural Communities and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. All these appointments have been made in the last twelve months and demonstrate the depth of our networks in this area.
Diversity
As a company we share the drive to bring a range of skills, experience and talent into leadership positions. Our two national leads on diversity, Brenda Bignold and Bill Barkworth, have a strong reputation for supporting Civil Service, Local Government and Not-for-Profit organisations meet their objectives in securing greater diversity at Board level. They also drive our own ambition to reach Investors in Diversity status.
Our experience in this area is unequalled in the public sector. For example, we recently worked with the Office of Disability Issues, part of the DWP, to conduct the search and selection for an advisory group to bring the perspectives of people with disabilities into the heart of Whitehall.
It was important that the group included individuals with experience in policy development covering the whole range of disability, including learning difficulties and mental health problems. It also had to be representative of the wider community, and geographically spread.
We also recently recruited 10 BME candidates to a new advisory board in the North West, partnering effectively with the Government Office for the North West and the Regional Development Agency to deliver a truly innovative and effective recruitment campaign.
Our success in delivering diversity in high-profile leadership roles is equally impressive, with Chair appointments for the British Transport Police (Millie Banerjee), the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (Janet Paraskeva) and the Criminal Cases Review Commission, where we recruited its first female Non-Executive Directors (one a BME candidate).
We believe diversity to be a fundamental part of an organisation’s talent management strategy. Our clients and the candidates we engage with understand our commitment through the investment we make as a company to develop talent unconditionally and with genuine passion.