The NHS has enlisted the supplier services of Arras People for the recruitment of non-permanent project management professionals.
For a public entity like the National Health Service, commercial functions have become a tricky and altogether untenable matter in the present setting. It’s a downward slope the NHS is not particularly keen to see continuing. In ‘Necessity – not nicety‘, author Mark Britnell, Commissioning and System Management Directorate of Department of Health, writes:
‘The strong consensus has been that the NHS and DH need commercial skills as never before. There is also agreement that existing arrangements and status quo will not deliver the step-improvement in capability now required for the challenging times ahead.
‘…Now, more than ever, is the moment to create a new commercial operating model which will address past deficiencies and which is fit to meet the opportunities and challenges of the future. In a colder economic climate, a new commercial operating model is a necessity, not a nicety nor an optional extra.’
A bold new plan titled Commercial Resource Framework hopes to make long-lasting positive change to what was once considered a problem in terms of development, maintenance and focus. The general idea of the CRF, according to their strategy outlined with the DH in ‘Necessity – Not Nicety’, states that the NHS can turn to independent recruitment/consultancy suppliers such as Arras People (which, in fact, they have) for their needs in the recruitment of commercially-focussed non-permanent personnel. These commercial roles vary in levels of experience and sector focus, but ultimately centre on professionally-qualified candidates that come from a solid commercial managerial background.
The long-term benefit of the commercial function is the key, albeit one that is an easily overlook-able and heavily underrated factor for these particular posts. This is so because the posts are fixed-term, contract and temporary: as mentioned earlier, non-permanent. And if the non-permanent project manager with the commercial skills isn’t going to be around in 12 months, what is the commercial legacy for the regional NHS trust? For the local NHS hospital? For the NHS as a whole? Without the ability to make a solid transfer of her/his skills to those who must deliver the results in his/her place, that legacy is likely doomed, and the NHS entity is right back to where it started from commercially.
This is what makes the ability of a candidate to “transfer commercial skills in an effective manner that sustains the commercial development throughout the Department of Health” so essential. Handover skills are a staple of the quality contract PM, and one that Arras People is especially keen to find in new talent. It is not just about the work you’ve done while you were there; it’s about what becomes of that work and how it influences the doings of those who pick it up and run with it after you leave. The NHS’ capacity to recognise this and the need to make it an essential in commercial hiring practices is proof of their level of commitment to improving the commercial side as a whole.
As a supplier for three specific roles in need of recruitment under the Customer Resources Framework plan (project managers, programme maners and project co-ordinators), Arras People have to take this position seriously, and in part have earned supplier status because of their attention to not only target good candidates in transferrable skills, but to target specific needs of the client. All vacancies for project managers, programme managers and project co-ordinators with respect to the NHS will be featured on our job vacancies page, and new updates of our work under the Customer Resources Framework with the NHS and DH can be found at our newest web page.
Flickr image ©peter.murphy999 and used with permission
