Why Westminster?
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Westminster is one of the most recognised, celebrated and exciting places in the world. It is at the heart of London, which is one of the leading world cities. Westminster is the seat of government and the Monarchy, thriving business clusters, a focus for culture and entertainment, a centre of learning and research and a hub for commerce and retailing. It is home to many government departments, law courts, places of worship of international importance, embassies and diplomatic institutions and other functions of the state. This activity is centred on the West End, a major national and international asset. It is the largest and most diverse concentration of jobs in the UK.
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Accommodating over 600,000 employees it is also one of the densest employment hubs in the world. Many of Westminster’s attractions and functions, both in the West End and beyond, are emblematic of London itself.
Culture, Modus Operandi, Style of Approach
In order to achieve our vision of being best in class, our team has committed to a culture of excellence in everything we do. This commitment spans the breadth of everyday activities with internal staff but has particular significance in our relationships and interactions with frontline service colleagues. We aim to position ourselves as partners of choice and provide high quality, relevant financial analysis directed towards enhancing decision making and adding value to the council as a whole.
A commitment to excellence implies high performance which is achieved through a number of means. It begins at the recruiting stage: we hire top quality professionals sourced from both public and private sector organisations with a track record of high performance. These highly skilled individuals form the foundation upon which our ambition becomes achievable and in recognition of this we have made their development a core strategic objective.
Our team’s high performance is facilitated by the bar we have set for ourselves. Whilst most other public sector organisations aim to outperform their public sector counterparts, we aim simply to be the best. This ambition includes potential competitors from both the public and private sector. Achieving this has required a mental shift from a purely service delivery mindset to a commercially driven one which has been actively encouraged in our teams.
Communication, Transparency, Collaboration
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We utilise a range of communication tools to ensure excellence in communication, from staff Q+As to Awaydays. We actively embrace technology with Yammer and live Skype broadcasts to ensure effective communications across the team, a number of whom are based off-site, whilst our communications strategy formally outlines the use of appropriate channels and messaging tailored to the needs of the audience, excellence in communication is achieved through our overarching collaborative approach.
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For example, through our “Our Voice” survey and various other surveys performed before and after initiatives are implemented, we obtain input from colleagues across the organisation and adjust our approach where required to meet identified needs or enhance the outcomes. Survey feedback is always presented back to colleagues with initiatives identified to address the outcomes. Staff know that their views count and will be acted on. We have created a culture of open and honest engagement and have been able to respond to the changing needs of our team. Outcomes of this approach include the introduction of an 80/20 policy as seen at similar class leading organisations like Google and Microsoft, the introduction of a mindfulness course for improving overall employee well being and the ongoing development of tailored skills development plans for each team member.
Ethical Standards
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We subscribe to the highest level of professional ethical standards within our team with additional ethical adherence stemming from the requirements of the four major chartered professional bodies.