Workers in public sector organizations are less satisfied with work then they were last year and they are also less satisfied than those who work in the private sector. This is one of the main findings in the latest survey into employee attitudes by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Levels of satisfaction, trust and commitment are all lower in the public sector. This negative picture of the state of morale reinforces that in the recent Audit Commission report ‘Recruitment and Retention’.A significant finding of the Survey was that workplace satisfaction is adversely affected by lack of trust in senior management. Only one in three people trust senior management “a lot” to look after their best interests. For younger workers aged between 25-29 this figure falls to only 1 in 5. The Institute points to encouraging evidence that senior managers across the public sector are beginning to address the key issues with examples of outstanding leadership and effective work teams right across the sector.

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Moves to increase competition in the public sector market place and introduce common standards for public sector bodies to purchase goods electronically are all part of a wider strategy to propel procurement higher up the modernizing agenda. The new measures will help in delivering the vision of all public services procuring goods and services electronically at highly competitive prices, but turning the vision into a reality will demand radical change in culture and processes. Currently the focus is on the price at which things are bought and this will need to change to the processes by which procurement is undertaken. The Audit Commission found the main barriers to competitive procurement include risk aversion and organizational culture. The Byatt Review revealed that only a quarter of English councils have a written procurement strategy in place.The Office of Government Commerce is concerned that procurement rules and traditional practices are keeping smaller companies and particularly newly established companies, out of the public sector market place. Demanding three years audited accounts from potential suppliers, for example, excludes companies trading for less than four years and effectively shuts out much competition. The Office has launched an initiative to widen access to the public sector government marketplace for new entrants. This follows work with the Small Business Service Unit, an agency of the DTI, and government departments to improve the information available to suppliers on selling to government, including information about forthcoming opportunities. The Office is also investigating ways of reducing the costs associated with bidding for government business.

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By Andrew Erridge and Jonathan GreerSuccessive administrations in the UK have aimed to develop a more strategic approach to public procurement by emphasizing inter-departmental co-ordination and establishing long-term partnership relations with suppliers. This has proved to be a difficult task as the operating framework and culture of the public sector have hindered the development of interorganizational relationships and trust. By focusing on the co-operative processes and interaction within central government departments and between departments and the private sector, this paper aims to analyse and identify the obstacles to, and opportunities for, implementing long-term supply relations and facilitating departmental co-ordination.

Read more on PARTNERSHIP AND PUBLIC PROCUREMENT: BUILDING SOCIAL CAPITAL THROUGH SUPPLY RELATIONS…