Final Report of the Morris Inquiry: The Case for Change

THE CAPACITY TO DELIVER
that early discussion, then I think there is a real opportunity for a lot of these to be avoided,
because it is a theme that comes up time and time again, … it is about our failure to explain
our decisions to people, so they form a view that they have been disadvantaged.”
(Evidence of Esme Crowther, Head of the Employment Tribunals Unit, MPS.)
8.78 There is even the chance that some of the costly and distracting Employment
Tribunal cases that are brought against the organisation might be avoided.
8.79 Such a culture requires all managers to be convinced of the importance of
communication in all that they do.
“The only way to make it work is not simply use of words but it is behaviour as well. But it is
behaviour over a period of time. The number of clients and other organisations I have seen
that have paid huge amounts of money for extremely beautiful communications videos and
the like and have completely failed in effectively communicating and deriving change from that
communication is enough to make one weep; and yet sometimes it is much simpler than that.
As long as the messages are clear and relevant and communicated by behaviour and by a twoway
process.” (Evidence of Nigel Whittaker.)
“… if you are seeking to give some sense of direction to a large organisation, then you have to
deal with symbols. People watch your behaviour, they watch the things that you see as
important, they watch the people that you spend your time, with they watch the way you deal
with doormen, tea ladies, and out of this they draw some conclusions about what you really
believe and what is really important to you. And I think that is a very important lesson that I
learned, that if you want an organisation that is caring, that has integrity, that is open, you have
to live that and you have to constantly reflect on the signals that you are sending out by your
day-to-day activities.” (Evidence of Sir Michael Lyons.)
Managers
8.80 Managers have a key role to play and are pivotal in creating or changing the
prevailing culture in the MPS. How they behave will define the organisation and the
way officers and staff feel about it.
8.81 Our survey found that line managers were rated highly throughout the
organisation. The majority of responses to our questions about line management
produced results which were significantly better than the Work Foundation’s
benchmark scores derived form similar surveys with other public and private
organisations. 63% of respondents stated that they had confidence in their line
manager’s ability to manage them effectively.
8.82 Line managers were thought to be better at the ‘interpersonal’ skills of
management such as trusting staff (88%), treating them fairly (73%) and showing
that they value the contribution of their staff (70%). They fared less well when it
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