Dr Kerrie Howard, Lecturer in HRM & Organisation Studies, has recently written an insightful research briefing as part of a joint research collaboration with Professor Juani Swart, University of Bath.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21, over 700 Ofsted staff were deployed into local authorities, central and local government, and into vital frontline roles with the police, the NHS amongst others.

This research briefing focuses on the human capital, knowledge and learning practices of individuals during Ofsted's redeployments. In the briefing, Dr Kerrie Howard and Professor Juani Swart (University of Bath) synthesize some top line findings paying particular attention to how knowledge and skills (human capital) were reconfigured by the experience, how relationships across various stakeholders developed vital social capital and how processes and systems (organizational capital) were enriched.

The research was conducted by the authors between August and December 2021, with the findings qualitative in nature. Referring to a sample of 64, interviews spanned different redeployments across different departments. The aim of the research was to understand how individuals adapted their know-how once removed from their professional institution and working in unknown settings.

The report findings suggest redeployments are important tools for accessing and enabling hidden talent and skills sets in the civil service and the wider public sector. This is important because the future of work is in cross boundary spaces where knowledge of complimentary skill sets is significant Findings and recommendations are now synthesized.

Providing an executive summary, a conclusion and recommendations as well as detailed information about the findings, the full research briefing can be downloaded here.