Barnet Borough Council

The senior management team placed the emphasis on empowering their people, particularly third-tier managers, as the key to unlocking both efficiency and performance.

Skopos supported this transformation by designing a research programme that uncovered employee attitudes, motivations, and practical opportunities for change:

• On-site focus groups across departments, capturing candid feedback and surfacing barriers to empowerment and innovation.
• Quantitative online engagement survey rolled out across the workforce, measuring confidence levels, attitudes towards ownership, and the appetite for change.
• Identification of specific empowerment initiatives, tailored to different teams, which encouraged accountability and proactive problem-solving.
• Recommendations for employee reward and recognition mechanisms, ensuring staff felt motivated, valued, and supported in taking greater responsibility.

The outcomes of this programme contributed to a significant cultural and organisational transformation within Barnet Borough Council:

• Employees at all levels — particularly third-tier managers — felt empowered to take ownership of their roles and responsibilities.
• A culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement was fostered, replacing the previous perception of inertia and lack of ambition.
• The council successfully implemented empowerment initiatives and recognition schemes, boosting morale and aligning staff around a common vision.
• Performance improvements were delivered alongside cost savings, addressing both the financial and operational challenges raised by the audit.
• As a result, Barnet Borough Council was ultimately rated as ‘excellent’ across both resource use and performance measures, reversing negative perceptions and establishing a benchmark for other local authorities.