“That transparency meant that people asked the questions: ‘Why is department A so far behind department B?’,” he tells Departments responded by removing the barriers that had prevented talented women and minorities from rising to the top, widening the management talent pool – and ultimately raising the quality of civil service leadership. O’Donnell used that data to push departments to raise their game. During his time at the top, O’Donnell introduced metrics and targets for the proportion of women among high-ranking officials – and as a result, the country has robust data on gender equality across its senior civil service. “If you treasure it, measure it,” says Lord O’Donnell, the UK’s former head of the civil service and cabinet secretary to three prime ministers.
Matt Ross asks serving and former leaders which policies and reforms got the best results
New research reveals the progress made on closing the gender gap among the UK’s top officials.