Council IT staff 'don't respect' their chief execs

Fewer than half of council IT staff respect their chief executives because they lack the ability to lead and inspire, according to a new survey.

Only 43 per cent of the 150 local government IT professionals polled by networking community Public Sector Forums said they respected their chief executive.

Leadership skills and the ability to inspire staff came lowest when asked to rate their chief executive's performance, although they scored best on vision and setting high standards.

Overall chief executive performance was rated as 'good' by 38 per cent and 'excellent' by 10 per cent although 16 per cent rated it as 'below average' and five per cent rated it as 'poor'.

The IT staff in the survey also cited directors of finance and social services as those executives in the council who provided the best leadership.

Ian Dunmore of Public Sector Forums said chief executives need to listen to staff more in order to get a better understanding of the organisation and help deliver on key e-government initiatives.

He said in a statement: "Chief execs often have poor understanding of what's happening at ground level and therefore are unable or unwilling to drive through key initiatives that could improve their organisation."