Compared to the corporate world, the actions of senior staff in the public sector are often in the spotlight
During the recruitment process for a job as deputy chief executive of Lambeth borough council in south London, Robert Leak was surprised to find himself playing a sort of "musical chairs". At an evening dinner, to which all candidates for the position were invited, he and his competitors remained seated while, as each new course arrived, the councillors moved on a place.
As curious as he found the event, Mr Leak - whose previous role was in the private sector as chief finance officer of the duty free business of BAA, formerly British Airways Authority - says that he actually rather enjoyed it.
The dinner - along with events such as a mock cabinet meeting and sessions with interview panels of eight to 12 people - brought Mr Leak into contact with his future employers and prepared him for the shift.
In one test, candidates were put into a room for an hour and presented with a pile of documents to which they had to respond with notes or e-mails. "To some extent, it made it easier," he says. "The recruitment process was longer and more complicated than for private sector jobs. But the advantage is that you spend lot of time with the councillors, so you have a good idea of what you're letting yourself in for."
These days, however, the shift from private to public sector is not as dramatic as it might have been 10 or 15 years ago - particularly for those in senior management positions. For a start, the pay differentials between pubic and private sectors have narrowed.
Change is being driven, says Andrew Hooke, of PA Consulting's government and public services practice, by the fact that "much of government is concerned with delivering frontline services, and the responsibility and accountability for that is now at the top".
As a result of this pressure to deliver, the public sector is becoming more flexible and pragmatic. "They're having to, because of targets that they've been set," says Jane Robson, a director of Courtenay HR, one of the UK's longest-established recruitment agencies. "They're having to achieve - and if you have to achieve, you have to look at things differently and you have to be more flexible."
However, certain aspects still stand out as big differences between working in the public and private sectors. Perhaps most noticeable to executives making their debut in the public sector is the high profile nature of much of what goes on in government. And interested parties range from the media to lobbyists and the general public.
Steve Nicklen, head of Penna Executive Coaching, refers to the phenomenon as the "goldfish bowl" effect. "When you're in the public sector, your activity and the actions of your organisation are very much in the public eye, and to a far greater extent than in anything but the most senior jobs in the private sector," he says.
When entering government positions, newly-recruited public sector executives must also learn to communicate with a range of stakeholders that is far more complex and diverse than the corporate customers or shareholders they are used to dealing with.
Mr Hooke cites the criminal justice system as an example of this complexity. Seven main agencies are responsible for delivering aspects of the system, along with a 42-area structure that is based on police force boundaries, while other stakeholders include local partnership organisations as well as organisations such as health services and social services.
"When you come in, you have to understand the complexity of that stakeholder environment," he says. "And they're all motivated by different priorities."
The top down approach can be difficult to adjust to for those entering management positions in government agencies. In a politically-driven environment, change often takes place because of policy decisions not because shareholders, consumers or clients demand it. And the need for accountability can prove cumbersome. "Risk-taking in the public sector is always going to be more difficult," says Rob Brown, of PA Consulting's government and public services practice. "It's harder to speculate with public money."
A particular frustration for those with a private sector background can be the lack of cross-agency co-operation. Government was originally designed for a world in which everyone had universal needs for things such as healthcare, education, utilities and transport. Ministries were set up to oversee each of these areas and there was no reason for them to work with other agencies - a civil servant's main priority was to protect the interests of his or her minister while each department had its own targets and budgets.
"People talk about how incredibly interlocked yet separate the agencies are. Everyone talks about collaboration but it doesn't happen," says Linda Holbeche, director of research, Roffey Park Management Institute. "You have to be at a relatively senior level to have meaningful relationships with people from other agencies or departments."
But despite such limitations and frustrations, the rapid change sweeping through the public sector is making positions within it increasingly desirable.
"Private sector people that are brought in to senior civil service-level jobs say that what they like is the really interesting work they get to do, the chance to influence policy and being able to bring private sector disciplines to situations that seem ready for change," says Ms Holbeche
