Reshaping the GCS
At the start of July we announced plans to reshape the Government Communication Service (GCS). The plans were put forward by GCS Executive Director Alex Aiken, in the context of the wider Civil Service programme of change, being led by the Civil Service Chief Operating Officer, Alex Chisholm.
Change and continuous improvement in GCS is nothing new. We’ve been doing it with formal improvement programmes every year since we formed in 2013. It’s why we continually practise the best as standard and are often acknowledged worldwide for that.
In the last seven years GCS has in fact created ongoing initiatives as part of our continuous improvement programme. Our latest programme, GCS2020, which paused in April with the onset of coronavirus (COVID-19), delivered, for example, a programme to promote diversity in the GCS Senior Civil Service; set up ‘beacon’ exemplar departments; and extended the number of disciplines with heads of profession.
These improvements all endure. But the change that’s been announced this time is a more fundamental reshaping, recognising the desire of the government in how its communications operation works and that the people and societies we serve are themselves constantly changing.
GCS will keep colleagues informed of, and involved in this process through a range of face to face and other means.