Changing and Improving Grade 6 Example — 500-Word Statement

SI was deputy director of an operations directorate of 350 staff delivering casework through five separate processes that had grown up over more than a decade. Unit costs were rising steadily year on year, staff effort was duplicated across teams, and customers experienced the same identity and eligibility checks more than once. Morale in the processing teams was falling, and the directorate faced a challenging spending review settlement that made the status quo genuinely untenable.

TThe director asked me to lead a directorate-wide redesign to simplify the process, reduce cost and improve the customer experience. I was personally accountable to the board for both the design and the safe delivery of the change, and for keeping essential services running throughout.

AI set up a small redesign team mixing grades and professions, because the people closest to the work usually see the waste first, and I made sure every shift pattern was represented. I commissioned an end-to-end review: we followed 60 real cases through the system and found that 40% of activity was hand-offs and rework. Rather than impose a target operating model from the centre, I ran design sessions with over 100 staff and a customer panel, testing three options against criteria we agreed openly at the start: customer time, cost and staff impact. I presented the preferred option, one process with specialist pods, to the executive board with a phased 18-month plan and an honest assessment of risks, including a temporary dip in performance during the transition. I secured board approval and ring-fenced funding for backfill so frontline teams could take part in the design without the day-to-day service collapsing around them. I managed the programme through a weekly delivery board, tracked benefits against a baseline I had agreed with finance in advance, and adjusted the phasing when early data showed training needed longer than planned. I kept communication two-way throughout: monthly all-staff sessions, a question inbox I answered personally within three days, and regular engagement with the trade union side. Where middle managers felt threatened by the loss of process ownership, I redefined their roles around coaching and quality, and two of them later led workstreams themselves. When one region fell behind, I moved experienced staff there temporarily rather than blaming the local leadership, which kept trust intact. I also introduced a simple continuous-improvement routine in each pod, so the new process kept evolving after the programme closed rather than freezing on day one.

RWithin 15 months, end-to-end case time fell by 35%, unit cost dropped by 18% (around £1.2 million a year), and customer repeat contacts halved. Staff survey scores for how well change is managed rose by 14 points, and the model directly informed redesign work in two other directorates across the organisation. I presented the lessons, including what I would do differently, at a cross-departmental delivery conference, and two of the pods went on to win an internal award for further improvements they made themselves.