Ramnit Bassi
Employer: Peterborough City Council
Qualifications: BSc sociology, London School of Economics; MSc social policy and administration, London School of Economics
My masters degree focused on the public sector so it was a natural progression for me to get a job in a public sector organisation. I joined Peterborough City Council as assistant equalities officer, which involved supporting the equalities officer in bringing equalities initiatives into the mainstream.
Developing a corporate strategy
My next position was policy officer, focusing on the co-ordination of the council’s corporate policies and developing its first corporate strategy since it became a unitary authority. I then went into programme and project management, working as an adviser on the development of a new project management governance structure to improve efficiency.
Most of the work revolved around persuading people to change their habits and communicating the benefits of change. This included meeting with project managers, directors and heads of service to explain the advantages of the system.
I now work in another new division: business transformation. It is the first time that the council has had a team solely dedicated to making the organisation more efficient and effective. My role is to ensure that the division’s programmes have the appropriate governance arrangements in place and deliver their benefits within the set timescale and budget. It is an exciting and demanding role and it really feels as if we are leading the way on business transformation – not only for Peterborough but also for other local authorities.
Embracing change
The nature of change in local government has been relatively fast, which means that fresh opportunities present themselves quite often. It’s great when a new venture is finally realised and people begin to understand why change was required. You can’t always satisfy everyone but I have learned to focus on the benefits of what I’m trying to do and work hard to get the message across to as many people as possible.