Rupert McNeil, who has just joined the civil service as chief people officer, has set out his priorities for his new role.
Writing on the civil service blog, McNeil describes his main priorities as constructing a “coherent plan to build the civil service workforce of the future” by refreshing the civil service workforce strategy; strengthening HR capability both at the centre and across government; and “getting the basics right” by improving the services HR teams offer to their colleagues.
Related articles
Where next for Whitehall's human resources plan? Interim HR Chiefs Debbie Alder and William Hague look to 2016
Details on greater specialist pay freedom expected in the spring
White paper: Recruitment challenges in the NHS
McNeil also says he will be “focusing on aligning civil service departments more closely through the use of data, evidence-based reasoning and capable and credible centralised services”.
The HR chief describes the diversity and inclusion agenda as “another priority – but also a fantastic opportunity”. He wants the civil service to be “a role-model employer in the UK market” and describes a “truly diverse employer” as “one that welcomes and champions all kinds of diverse groups” including staff from different socio-economic backgrounds or those with flexible working patterns.
McNeil, formerly the head of HR at Lloyds Banking Group, is the head of profession for Whitehall’s 3,500 HR staff and is directly responsible civil service HR teams based in the Cabinet Office, and for managing the cross-government HR centres of excellence: Civil Service Learning, Employee Policy, Organisation Design and Development, and Resourcing.