Public Sector faces risk of key skills departure

BCM - Public Sector BCM Planning

Pay differentials threaten Public Sector Planning  

Over the last 18 months the Continuity Forum has been extensively researching the market salaries for BCM professional and we fear that our findings points to a skills crunch that has co-incided with the arrival of the Civil Contingencies Act.

Much of the issue revolves around the serious pay differentials now developing between the Public and Private sectors. In the Private sector, salaries have been steadily growing with our latest research showing that the private sector is paying experienced planners significantly more than their Public Sector colleagues.

For example, in our 2005 salary and responsibility survey (which received over 500 responses), the base differential between Public and the Finance Sectors was nearly £15,000. For more senior positions the differential was even greater, with experienced managers in the Finance sector earning more than £20,000 more than a comparable position in the public sector.

It is also relatively common for the most senior professionals in the private sector to be paid over £100,000 compared to a rare £50,000 in the public sector. The highest reported Salary was £150,000 with consultants working in the service provider arena being rewarded with highest average group salary.

Matters are unlikely to get much better in the short term either, as over the past 4 years salary increases have generally been limited by the constraints of the public purse.

The best year for the majority of Public sector planners was in 2002, when 44% of our respondents received increases of around 5%., but in 2003 & 2004 this rate dropped to less than 2.5% (and that was received by only 40% of respondents). Each year for around a fifth of Public Sector planners there is no salary increase at all which seems to be linked to public sector pay rounds and further limits the value of any increase.

Compare this situation to the market average, which over the same period saw salary (or bonus payments) increase by between 5% and 15% for 47% of professionals in 2004 with nearly 10% receiving a 20% or greater increase with broadly similar patterns being seen in the previous 3 years.

All of this is hardly surprising when it is pointed out that for 85% of our respondents there had been no change at all in total allocated budgets for the last 2 years, and most received less than 5% over the past 5 years. Money isn't the only differentiator causing friction though; other common issues are the lack of internal support and access to training.

Our research shows that those working in the private sector receive up to 3 times the training of those working in Government departments and Local Authorities with some 60% of respondents citing this situation as seriously affecting their professional development.

Another issue facing the planners is the general lack of resource and support with 60% saying they are worried about their organisation's level of planning and their real capabilities. In addition, 83% state that more guidance and support is needed from Central Government and 67% state that they lack confidence in their organisation's supply chain partners.

70% of those working in the public feel that more skills are needed within the organisation to develop really effective planning. This issue is further highlighted by the responses to our questions on the embedding of BC in the Local Authorities, which shows a belief that most believe it will take a further 2 or 3 years before the process can be completed (90%).

This is due in part to the requirements, yet to be formalised, within the Civil Contingencies Bill, but closer examination also highlighted that the primary concern is the basic resource issue again as the planning team is often far smaller than its commercial counterpart.

In the Public Sector there is a wealth of loyal experience, as these professionals change roles only a third as often as those in the private sector. However, this loyalty needs to be rewarded far more appropriately as the pressure from the greener fields of the private sector are starting to be seen as a very attractive option indeed.

If you have any comments on this article or would like to find out more about the work of the Continuity Forum please contact the Continuity Forum directly on 020 8993 1599 or info@continuityforum.org