The man, the Myth, the legend.
Richard Johnson has left the stage…..
It is indeed true to say, that under the leadership of Richard Johnson, Serco launched itself financially but more importantly, emotionally into the welfare to work sector.
The Batman and Robin duo of Messrs Johnson and Williams strutted impressive figures on the W2W stage.
Serco made its mark during FND1, however it was during FND2 that Serco did indeed begin to soar like an eagle.
I have to declare an interest here… yesMinister were heavily involved and embedded with the Serco team during FND2.. in fact we were indistinguishable and fitted seamlessly into the team which the dynamic duo had put together… by the way we were also paid on time – this bodes well for Serco’s supply chain!!
The ethical Monolith
Having worked in the sector from the TEC days it was reassuring for me to see and hear high ethics and commendable aspirations being enunciated from within the belly of the monolith which is Serco. What was said internally was communicated externally … there were no double messages, hedged bets, or duplicitous actions… this made it easy for Serco but even easier for yesMinister to engage with Serco and its supply chain.
Pastures New
Richard has gone on to pastures new but lets be clear… many Prime contractors stood quietly whilst Richard expounded on the pros and cons of the new commissioning framework, on the impact of payment by results on providers, beneficiaries – now there’s a word that’s rarely used -, and government. Richard has indeed been a ‘critical friend’; many have silently benefited from his insights. Richard definitely applied his skills of oratory, his attention to detail and his ability to discern which was bolstered by his confidence in the research that his team had been doing on the ground and which was further supported by the modelling, statistical analysis and attention to detail…
The new level of transparency of accounting which is characteristic of the sector came from RJ. The innovative 3 Step Delivery Model was born out of the belly of the Dynamic Duo…
Machiavelli
As Machiavelli says.. the innovator is at most risk because on one hand he has those who have benefited from the old system and are fearful of losing out under a new system.
On the other hand, those who ‘could’ benefit from the proposed new system are fearful of that change and of what it will mean….. this leaves the innovator in a precarious position … still innovating but with others waiting, waiting, waiting and trying to time and negotiate their own advantage……
I dont understand why the statement the 3 step approach came from the duo. When in fact the 3 step approach has been in operation for lots of years used by small providers that were excellent at putting clients first and acheiving outstanding results. These providers have ended up being sidelined for the big is beautiful syndrome adopted by the government and therefore alot of them have either been forced to shut or are in partnerships that they really dont want to be in because of the ethos of the big boys now having all of the power. So i take exception to the big boys taking credit for the 3 step approach. They have taken enough from genuine client focused providers without being creditted with that also.
Is it just me but WHERE ARE the performance figures of the Work Programme? Are they on the DP web site? Prime contractors web sites? You know what I mean – the ACTUAL – REAL – delivery outcomes by providers? Time to have a chat with the Freedom of Imformation Officer at the DWP? What do you think fellow travellers?
Very interested to know where RJ’s attention is going next.
and to know whether the approach will be congruent with the outcome.
Best of luck.
I liked him until he posted that rubbish on Indus Delta about there being a surpluss of jobs then I realsied, SERCO was led by a man who assumed people were unemployed by choice – which put great question to the suggestion that there were true ethics behind the SERCO approach to unemployment.