The Third Sector is a term which is gaining increased prominence within society and is central to my prediction for the coming year.
From a recent Project Management Tipoffs article from Arras People. To subscribe to Tipoffs, click here:
The Third Sector has an important role in terms of the social and economic well being of the country. The establishment of an Office of the Third Sector (complete with Minister) within the Cabinet Office reinforces the importance that Government places upon it. With an annual income estimated to be somewhere between £30–50 billions, the Third Sector is making a significant contribution to the GDP; complementing this is a formal volunteer resource exceeding £38 billion.
The Government recognises the value of the Third Sector and has invested more than £350m purely to develop the capacity, whilst public funding of the sector has doubled to £10bilion in less than a decade. The Third Sector has a primary role in transforming the delivery of Public Services and this is reflected in measures contained within the current HM Treasury spending plans.
So far I have painted a picture of a thriving sector working closely with communities, local and central government to deliver services. But why is this of importance to project management professionals?
The Third Sector is characterised by people who are passionate about their communities are driven by a desire to add social value. I believe that many of the resources within the Third Sector are ineffectively used; not through any fraudulent means but purely a lack of management competence. Rarely does someone join the Third Sector to become an effective manager. This is not to say that there are no effective managers within the sector but they primarily are drawn to work within the sector for more personal and altruistic reasons.
Given the project nature of many deliveries, I strongly believe that a market is coming into existence for professional project managers within the Third Sector. Organisations that are now bidding for £multi-million contracts need to demonstrate a level of project management expertise that was unprecedented only a few years ago. In the last month alone I have handled a number of roles ranging from a 2 week bid writing assignment through to permanent positions within National charities and NGOs. One thing I have noticed are that the organisations themselves are beginning to recognise the value of paying market rates; the days of sacrificing salary for social giving appear to be dwindling.
Candidates are not put off by the label of working within the Third Sector. I am sure some are looking at the opportunities we have as stepping stones into the Public Sector but many are looking for a work life balance which gives them a rewarding role that meets a social need.
My predictions for the coming year can therefore be summarised as such:
- Increased delivery of public services by Third Sector organisations
- Increased use of professional Project Managers to deliver outcomes and use resources more effectively
- Third Sector organisations prepared to pay market rate to get the right people
- The Third Sector will be seen as a legitimate career path rather than a sabbatical or early / post-retirement alternative
Hi Lindsay
This is interesting reading – I’m an Australian project manager and the majority of my work is with the third sector and government clients. You are spot on with the observation that the sector is becoming more professionalised – here in Aus we are seeing massive shifts towards the government outsourcing programs (aged care, employment, childcare, mental health, you name it) to the third sector to manage rather than the government managing those programs. The government’s timeframes for implementing programs is usually very tight so many third sector organisations are looking for external project managers to get projects/programmes up and running. Fascinating times!