Transforming Edinburgh Building Services Alex Burns & Caroline Purcell The Partnership between City of Edinburgh Council and Pinnacle Group

A Winning Partnership! APSE Service Awards 2006 Winner For Best Public/Private Partnership Working Initiative

A huge personal and professional challenge A Personal Insight... What did the Partnership mean to me back in 2003? A personal threat Recognition that old ways not delivering New way & style of managing required Key (difficult) messages to be communicated with the staff SO A huge personal and professional challenge

Partnership Working Aiming for Excellence Team Briefing Building Futures Trading Places First Steps Lunchtime Academy Sofa Club Modern Managers Initiative Teambuilding

Partnership Working Tenants First Lettable Standard Business Process Re-engineering Mobile Working Schedule of Rates Bonus Review Stores Review Financial Reporting Systems Project Management Office

Some Cultural Norms (for those needing a change) Let’s wait until… Why change? It’s too risky It’s too radical The boss / board will not like it We don’t have the money / time / people

EBS Vision “ To be the best building services provider in the public sector - on paper and in practice - providing services that exceed customer expectations, delivered by people who recognise the need for constant improvement”

Partnership Values Be clear on what kind of change is required Plan, plan, plan Pre-empt resistance Set short term goals Prepare employees Walk the talk All hands on deck Avoid complacency

The Partnership Approach Communications plan Cascade of meetings Set agenda focusing on key issues Focus on performance & improvements Know your finances Training & development

EBS Today I Letting the troops decide Communicating from the front Performance matters Letting managers manage Learning from customers New ways of working Helping people perform

EBS Today II 5 days from call to appointment (was 8 weeks!) Empty homes turnaround in 10 days (was over 20!) Complaints reduced five fold Kitchen & bathroom refurbishment halved Training budget grown by 5000% (yes!) 80% of staff now have confidence in their manager (was 20%!)

A Winning Partnership reprise Clear understanding of the objectives of the partnership and respective roles Having agreed the roles, creating space for both sides to operate within the defined roles Being clear, from the outset, about what the objectives mean in terms of delivery On occasions being prepared to challenge and accept the challenge - its healthy in the long run! Clarity Trust Responsibility Honesty