Capability enhancement at HM Revenue and Customs
- OverviewRead more
The Large Business and Employer Customer Unit (LB&ECU) at HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) was tasked with delivering the 'Better Regulation' agenda and improving the dialogue between Government and business.
LB&ECU faced the challenge of building a programme planning capability that adequately represented and managed the activities that were undertaken every day across the directorate. Working closely with HMRC we improved the integration between teams and clarified their understanding of how to deliver objectives. We collaboratively created a strategy chart with the unit Director that linked strategic aims and delivery. We also held training sessions (group and individual) for designated planners to enhance their planning capability and build skills in Microsoft Project. We delivered team level plans, a programme plan and strategy chart on time and within budget, alongside an enhanced planning capability that would sustain ongoing planning activity.
- Our client's challengeRead more
The Large Business and Employer Customer Unit (LB&ECU) at HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is a recently created directorate responsible for building better relationships between HMRC and big business in the UK. LB&ECU face a number of business challenges in delivering their targets.
HMRC was created from a merger between Customs and Excise and the Inland Revenue. In addition to the challenges of integrating staff from two different organisations, LB&ECU had a number of teams with widely varying objectives.
The unit is tasked with delivering the 'Better Regulation' agenda – an initiative to reduce unnecessary complexity in policy and to respond better to the needs of customers. An additional objective is to improve the dialogue between Government and business such that the views of business influence policy making and HMRC's needs are clearly communicated to business.
LB&ECU faced the challenge of building a programme planning capability that adequately represented and managed the activities that were undertaken every day across the directorate.
- Our responseRead more
Our collaborative approach delivered a number of important enablers:
- Improved integration between teams within the directorate and clarified understanding of how to deliver objectives. We organised and facilitated workshops involving the whole unit. . Each of the teams were supported and guided through developing draft plans showing how they were going to deliver their objectives. Further workshops examined relationships and dependencies between plans to inform a programme level plan.
- Link between strategic aims and delivery. A strategy chart, developed in collaboration with the unit Director, illustrated the link between high-level strategic aims and the unit's delivery. The strategy chart is a powerful Director level, communication tool that explains the role of the unit within HMRC; specifically the activities that are undertaken.
- Enhanced planning capability. Training sessions for designated planners were held to build skills in Microsoft Project. Group sessions were followed up with individual training to address individual learning needs . Planners were also coached through the planning process as they built team level plans. A central planning coordinator was coached through the process of coordinating and updating a unit wide programme plan. The practical processes for updating team level plans and how these cascade into the programme level plan were designed and embedded into the organisation.
- The value to our clientRead more
Our collaborative approach delivered a number of important enablers:All the targets for the engagement were achieved on time and to budget. Team level plans, a programme plan and a strategy chart were delivered along with an enhanced planning capability within the unit that was able to sustain ongoing activity.
The workshops were some of the first forums involving all the teams within the Directorate where objectives and goals were openly discussed. They were a vital link in the process of giving visibility to activity within the unit and linking all the workstreams together. The planning products helped to address the issue of how objectives were to be delivered as managers confronted the detail of quantifying their strategic goals.
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