It’s easy to discover whether a Whitehall department is full of energy or not. It doesn’t take many conversations with Department for International Development officials to sense the passion they feel for their subject. And it doesn’t take finely tuned antennae to sense the lack of energy in some more humdrum parts of the civil service, where process and rules dominate.

Even so, it isn’t always the ‘sexy’ parts of government that are full of energy: it can be found in abundance in all sorts of areas where the subject matter may appear less stimulating. Equally, there are some parts of government where you would think the subject matter would stimulate far higher energy levels than exist. What makes the difference?

For many civil servants, a clear motivator comes from serving the public. They feel a real connection to their purpose. A number of factors, however, can either reinforce or get in the way of this. Leadership, especially changes of leadership, are an obvious point to start.

Changes of leadership – both civil service and ministerial – can mark a turning point (and for this on a macro scale, look to Washington). When a new minister arrives at their desk they usually bring with them a new set of priorities and ideas, threatening continuity in policy and delivery. It is not right, however, to suggest that political change always puts the energy and stability of government departments at risk. In fact, the most effective ministers can give real momentum and a boost of energy to their civil servants.

Look how Peter Mandelson’s arrival (or, rather, re-arrival) at the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has given that department a new confidence at a critical time for the UK economy. This comes in spite of BERR having lost a major and central chunk of its business to the new Department for Energy and Climate Change.

Similarly, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office found in David Miliband a foreign secretary who brought real intellect and strategic thinking, giving the FCO a new spring in its step. And Jacqui Smith has given the Home Office a clear political direction through that department’s new strategy. Her leadership as home secretary has given a quiet and purposeful new confidence to the Home Office, a department which had taken a knocking from some of her predecessors. The results of her leadership, and that of strong top officials, are evident in the recent capability re-review.

The most effective ministers provide more than brute political force. They know how to engage with the machine. Mandelson, on top of his already sharp political skills, has developed a very strong sense of what his civil servants are capable of delivering. He and others of his quality understand that they need to move beyond managing short-term headlines and toward longer-term strategies. They transmit the message to their officials that what they are doing is important. They are also prepared to take the tough decisions, and front some difficult policies.

There’s little doubt that strong political leadership, backed with vision and drive, transmits itself into departments. Better still is when strong political leaders work hand in hand with strong top officials. The secretary of state/permanent secretary relationship lies at the heart of every department: their ability to understand each other, to engage in open debate, to share a vision about what is required and to work the machine to a common end is crucial. The strength of that relationship has a powerful impact on the success of a department in building and maintaining momentum. When it’s good, it provides the context for healthy teamworking and real directed energy.
 
The absence of joint ministerial/official leadership, on the other hand, rapidly damages the ‘climate’ of an organisation. It reveals where a minister’s main concern is with the short term, where the headlines are more important than the substance, or where initiative is piled on initiative. In these circumstances the civil service, however good its leadership, can default to Sir Humphrey tactics, where the greatest good is to protect the minister from doing too many ‘silly’ things. That’s a pretty depressing situation for a good permanent secretary, who can often do little more than dutifully ‘keep the show on the road’.

A difficult minister, however, is also a powerful moment of truth – a chance for a permanent secretary to demonstrate his or her own leadership skills. Equally, when a strong minister does not feel backed by a strong official team, there is likely to be major friction in the system.

It also helps to look at organisational energy in a more scientific, less political way. We see four factors – connection, content, context and climate – which really make a difference to the energy level in an organisation. Connection relates to how far people have a line of sight between themselves – their work and values – and the purpose of the organisation as a whole. Content is about how far the actual work people do is stimulating and provides a sense of achievement. Context looks at how far working practices and the work environment itself are supportive and enabling. Finally, climate is essentially the ‘local weather’ of the organisation: this makes people want to give their best and grow to their potential.

Each of these has rational and emotional elements: organisations are generally good at managing the first, but poor at the second. For example, the rational side of ‘connection’ would be for an individual to know what is expected of him or her, and where that fits with the bigger picture. The emotional part involves seeing meaning in what the organisation does, binding a person to it and making their job seem worthwhile. If leaders can identify their organisations’ stock of these forms of energy, and the balance between rational and emotional elements, they can make changes to fill their organisation’s energy gaps.

Ministers know that they can have a huge impact on energy levels in their departments. Perhaps they, with some help from their permanent secretaries – or, indeed, from the new Institute for Government – might learn how better to manage the precious resource of energy.

Andrew Jackson is a founding partner at organisational consultant Stanton Marris