Management Styles in the British Council

I've always been interested in different theories about leadership and management, so I thought it might be interesting to do a brief analysis of the British Council in relation to this.  There are many ways of approaching the issue of management.  However, one of the most effective and easy-to-understand is through the Blake Mouton Managerial Grid (below), as it lays out the different styles in a clear visual form. So it is using this that I will explain what I consider to be the main changes that have occurred within the British Council over the decades.

As you can see from the grid, there are two main criteria, concern for results or tasks and concern for people.  Obviously, both are very important. However, it's finding the appropriate balance for a particular context that is probably the key factor in producing the best outcome.  Different situations require different combinations.  For example, the army would almost certainly opt for the bottom right corner, using a strong directive managerial style, as time is at a premium.  A company in severe financial crisis might adopt a similar strategy, as results alone will be at the front of their minds.  However, most companies or organisations would probably opt for a more balanced approach in normal circumstances.

The British Council goes back a long way, actually being founded in 1934.  Teaching centres have sprung up at different times around the world ever since the 1950s.  However, we could take the 1970s or 1980s as our starting point in the modern era, as by then teaching centres were pretty widespread.  During these decades, the British Council offered high quality classes for predominantly upper middle class people, i.e. people with plenty of loot. Learning English with the British Council was definitely not for the masses, and was really more of a luxury pursuit for high class people.  Moreover, the BC was then still fully supported by the UK government. 

All of this was reflected in the management style of the Council then in that there was a distinct lack of urgency or concern for concrete results.  In addition, teachers were well paid with plenty of perks and given light work loads.  In fact, this era was probably the golden era from a teacher's point of view, since the management style was undoubtedly Country Club, as in the top left hand corner of the Blake Mouton grid, i.e. high concern for people but low concern for results.

From the 1990s the British Council Teaching Centres started to professionalise with a much clearer focus on results. This was particularly true from the mid 90s with the advent of IELTS and the need to provide courses.  Nevertheless, teachers' conditions remained very good, well above the industry average.  To get a job with the BC was still a kind of Holy Grail for EFL teachers.  Really at this stage we could say it was Middle of the Road management according to the Blake Mouton grid.

This situation probably lasted quite a few years into the new millennium, and may have lasted longer.  However, it was the momentous decision towards the end of the first decade to stop direct governmental funding of Teaching Centres that caused a major shift in managerial style.  Teaching Centres were to be run as businesses and be self-sufficient.  In fact, at time of writing 85% of the British Council's income comes from Teaching and Examination Centres. 

Thus anyone joining the Council after about 2010 will have noticed the much stricter type of management with a clear focus on results. In fact, taking the Blake Mouton Grid as our standard, the ball has now been firmly in the bottom right hand corner pretty much ever since. Manifestations of this new style have been seen in tougher teaching schedules, lagging salaries, reduced perks, and lack of appreciation from the management.  In fact, staff turnover has increased hugely during the period.

Progressing Your Career

It is normal for any employee anywhere to look to advance their career, and British Council employees are certainly no different.  Most companies or organisations have reasonably clear career paths, and most employees can expect to make progress if they are committed and play their cards right. 

So how is the British Council different?  Well, the most important factor is that almost all managerial positions are based on what is called the competency based interview, which is basically a series of questions designed to test your development in specific skills areas.  That's fine as far as it goes.  However, importantly, no consideration is taken of you holistically.  For example, your years of service, your achievements, your contributions, etc, none of these will count.  It's simply how you handle the set of questions you get on the day that matters.  It's also possible to coach oneself up for these questions, as they tend be highly formulaic, as is so typical within the BC.  So what happens is that the most suitable candidates don't necessarily get the position.  It's more likely to be someone who is clever at handling that type of interview.

Incredibly, within the British Council, there is no management training.  Basically, managers pick up the job as they go along. It also means that teachers trying to move up the scale are often caught in a Catch 22 situation.  For example, a candidate might be asked, "Describe a time when you ...." relative to a management role.  However, if you've never been in such a role, how are you going to answer that question?  Most people either make something up or try to bluff their way through.  It also opens the door for teachers applying from outside the BC who have managed at other schools, because they can easily leapfrog you.  The reason this is of concern is because, as per usual, the British Council shows no loyalty to its own.  When I was with the BC, I saw so many managers come in from other schools, often bringing in a completely different corporate culture and associated values.

So what's the solution? Well, one obvious one would be simply to start giving proper management training courses, specifically tailored to the needs and values of the British Council.  That way, any teacher interested in progressing could do a course, such that when he or she then applies for a management role, he or she will be in a strong position and fully clued up.  It would also make it much easier for existing BC personnel to progress ahead of external candidates.  The other obvious improvement would be to expand the interview, so that any candidate is assessed holistically.

One would think that someone somewhere in the British Council's Human Resources department in London would be coming up with ideas like this and more. Sadly, however, this is not so.  The big shots in HR seem only to be concerned with recruiting big names for the upper echelons of the BC.  They seem completely unconcerned about the situation at ground level in teaching centres. And in many ways, this is the whole problem with the BC, in that the rot starts from the top.  It's that complete lack of interest and indifference toward the lot of the average teacher that personifies the British Council.

Let's hope the HR leaders in London can start doing something to justify their high salaries.