Honours Without Profit
By Christopher Ward

Those of us involved in the task of promoting better management performance often ponder upon what it is that motivates managers most to excel at what they do.

Is it cash, is it status or is it just the sheer satisfaction of objectives achieved and a job well done?

With this in mind it was very encouraging to note recently that the United Welsh Housing Association, one of the businesses named in Wales Management Council's 2003 top ten "Best Managed Workplaces"  has now made it into the  Financial Times top five Best Workplaces in Britain.

Even more notable was the fact that the association was the first not-for-profit organisation ever to achieve a spot in the FT's top ten.

There's no doubt that the private sector, operating in the white heat of the competitive market, contains many excellent managers and management teams.

But UWHA's success reminds us that the commercial world doesn't have a monopoly on managerial good practice.

Even without the profit motive, managers in many agencies and businesses in the public and not-for-profit sectors deliver highly impressive performances, achieving commendable productivity from their teams.

In some respects managers in the public sector require even greater skill than their private sector equivalents as they need to operate effectively within tight organisational procedures unknown to private firms.

They will often demonstrate an admirable sense of initiative in forging innovative partnerships and levering in funds from unlikely sources to make things happen that might otherwise have appeared impossible.

Realising and acknowledging the strong organisational and leadership skills which exist in public and other not-for-profit sectors is an important step in the whole process of raising Wales' management game.

The commercial and non-commercial fields have much to learn from each other in terms of developing the skills and capabilities of managers.

Moreover the sharing of resources between the two can add tremendous value to Wales' overall capacity to nurture better managers.
For example large public sector organisations can justify in-house management training courses by virtue of their numbers, but such courses aren't always fully subscribed.

On the other hand small firms, whose managers require very similar training, can't always afford to buy places on open courses and won't have sufficient numbers to warrant an in-house course.

In cases like these greater co-operation between the sectors could ensure that spare places on the public sector courses don't go begging but are offered at affordable rates to local SMEs. That way everyone gains.

No doubt there will be many other examples of potential collaboration across the sectoral divide.

Talent and drive can be found in alI parts of the economy, and I believe that by thinking outside silos and making the right connections we can ensure Welsh management acquires greater firepower in the future.

Christopher Ward is Chief Executive of Wales Management Council