All In a Day's Work: Northern Ireland's Civil Service Runs on a Few Laughs

The Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Civil Services' Enterprise Shared Services shares a few laughs from behind the scenes

I always knew that life as the CEO of Enterprise Shared Services (ESS) with nearly 1000 staff providing services to 12 government departments and over 40 other public sector organisations in Northern Ireland would be a challenge! What I didnât expect was the many laughs and light hearted moments Iâve shared with public sector colleagues and private sector suppliers, working on different initiatives.

Now I have always prided myself on my time management skills â but I did learn a valuable lesson recently about punctuality. During an overseas visit to Denmark and Estonia in December, with the Minister of my Department, a few minutesâ tardiness on my part meant that the official car taking the Minister, myself, and some others back to the airport almost swept off without me. Embarrassing though that was, I was reminded of an E. V. Lucas line: "I have noticed that the people who are late are often so much jollier than the people who have to wait for them."

A highlight of my diary are the meetings scheduled with the ESS Charity Committee. I volunteered to chair it a few years back, to help get it started, but I have since remained in the chair as I find it very rewarding and also good fun. Itâs been a great opportunity to get to know some of my colleagues outside their normal day-to-day work. The Committee consists of seven of us, of mixed grades and representing all parts of ESS - all genuine volunteers with plenty of ideas, enthusiasm and a commitment to fund-raising.

To date, ESS has raised over Â£17,000 for local charities. We nominate and support a different charity each year. This year itâs The Welcome Organisation, a Belfast-based charity whose primary goal is to reach out to those who are homeless and vulnerable. One of my most daring fund raising events was a sponsored zip line over the River Lagan in Belfast. I included a picture of myself "zipping" along in our ESS online Staff Brief to help promote the charity. A number of my colleagues might have wanted to see me in the river, but others kindly sponsored me for the event (which was very much appreciated).

The monthly online Staff Brief (supported by monthly face-to-face team briefings with managers and their staff) is the main channel of internal communication for ESS. I use my introduction in the Brief to highlight important messages and often include a photograph to support these. Recent examples include a picture of me carrying a large polystyrene mobile phone. We had it made to use in a photo call with our Minister to launch a new smart-phone friendly format for our NI Direct website, which provides the NI public with 24/7 access to government information and services. On another occasion I found myself the butt of many jokes when I was pictured with a well known NI celebrity and panto star (May McFettridge) to launch our Silver Surfersâ Day, which the NIDirect team organises to help older people get on-line.

Our annual staff survey for the Staff Brief tells us that photos are definitely popular. We also ask for ideas around how staff would like to receive information, but I am not sure I can meet all of the requests. Some witty member of staff suggested a "scroll, wax-sealed by the CEO, and hand delivered by a flock of statisticians." Itâs good to know that we have imaginative folks on the team!

ESS has strong governance and a commitment to excellent customer service, and I am fortunate to have the support of experienced, committed Strategy Board members, who, like the rest of us, enjoy a little dig. Last year, as a senior colleague was excusing himself from a meeting early, another member of the Board kindly suggested he "take care, and drive carefully" â knowing full well that he was leaving early to attend an important appointment on the golf course!