Adaptive Leisure Center Management Local authorities throughout the United Kingdom provide a range of publicly funded leisure facilities for local (tax-paying) residents, including the provision of swimming, gym, and other sports facilities at purpose built "leisure centers." Over the past number of years, public sector reforms and austerity measures introduced following the global financial crisis have seen increased pressures placed upon such centers, and have forced managers to think carefully about how they can manage and seek to get the best results from their staff. This case illustrates how the managers of one such center, located in a deprived inner city area, have managed to achieve exceptional performance levels through the adoption of an adaptive and flexible style of leadership. As is common with much of the public sector, local authority leisure centers operate within a very bureaucratic framework, with clearly established rules, policies, and procedures designed to cover all aspects of organizational functioning and service provision. However, unlike other centers within the city, management within the center in question have made a conscious decision to make the objective of providing a community-based amenity as the central focus of their efforts. To this end, the bureaucratic context is viewed as a framework to be pushed, challenged, and worked around, rather than an end in itself. This contrasts markedly with the traditional approach adopted in other leisure centers in the city where administration of the bureaucracy as defined by senior management at local authority level has become the central focus of the management process. In adopting this approach, management have sought to place key organizational stakeholders (including the local community, employees, and healthcare providers) at the heart of the management process and to ensure resource maximization through addressing the needs of these constituencies. The result has been that the center has become the highest performing unit within the local authority area. So, how has this been achieved? As management view the center as a community amenitywith the over-riding objective being to provide services and facilities which the community desiresextensive efforts have been made to engage with the community in a meaningful way. A local initiative has been developed to ensure engagement with residents and welfare groups, schools, and social and sports clubs, within which center management have made concerted efforts to visit and meet with these groups, both to inform them of the facilities available and to listen to the ideas and suggestions for improvements to provision. "Open sessions" have also been arranged whereby these same organizations can visit the center to discuss their needs. As a result of this engagement, management have introduced a variety of new classes and activities, for example, junior football competitions and summer clubs, and have rescheduled center opening hours in response to local demand for early morning opening. Indeed, acting on its own initiative, the center was the first in the city Cases 419 to cater to this need. Besides this community engagement, management have also established good relationships with other public service providers in the local area, notably healthcare providers; as a result of this, the center now offers a range of rehabilitation programs for individuals referred by health service practitioners. Besides ensuring that the center better performs its role as a community amenity, initiatives such as these have had added positive outcomes. For example, the community now values the center more highly, as evidenced by a marked and rapid decline in incidents of vandalism against the center, and the staff in turn are proud to be part of the center team as they can see its positive impact on the community. This commitment to community engagement and service, coupled with the development of enhanced provision, exceeds service levels required by the bureaucratic system, and within the austerity environment placed considerable demands on center resources. These demands have been addressed through a number of initiatives which again reflect an adaptive and flexible approach to leadership within the center. Management have been proactive in establishing contacts with other local authority departments, and through this process have successfully secured access to additional facilities. For example, they were able to successfully negotiate access to additional outdoor recreational park space through contact with the authority's Parks Department, an initiative which once again illustrates management's willingness to step beyond the confines imposed by the bureaucratic structure. Obviously, the provision of enhanced services and extended opening has had major implications for staff within the center. However, management have been successful in ensuring staff buy-in to the process by developing a shared culture between management and staff, centered on open-communication, shared decision-making where possible, and above all by investing in staff and providing opportunities for personal growth and development. Historically, staff were confined to specialized and narrowly defined job roles (e.g., pool attendant, gym instructor, receptionist, and cleaner) and were expected to display nothing more than routine mechanical compliance with established rules and procedures. However, staff are now encouraged, and provided the opportunity through center funding, to undertake certified coaching programs and, importantly, are then given the opportunity to use the skills developed within the center. Staff are also encouraged to exceed the role expectations and exercise initiative and judgment, and are given the opportunity to obtain management experience through short-term secondments to management positions. Micromanagement of roles and processes is shunned by management. This has resulted in the development of a highly motivated and committed staff team and a center which is characterized by high levels of trust between management and staff. This in turn ensures organizational flexibility and responsiveness to the needs of the local community, which facilitates high levels of customer service and customer satisfaction. The final piece of the jigsaw relates to relationships between center management and senior management within the authority's Leisure Services Committee. As noted above, center management see the prevailing bureaucracy as something to be challenged and pushed, and have taken the initiative in attempting to drive new policy at Committee level. At the same time, extensive efforts have been made to shield the center and its staff from less workable directives emanating from Committee level, and management have indeed been prepared to take risks and step outside bureaucratic constraints, preferring instead to be judged on results in terms of fulfilling the center's community mission. In short, management have been successful in developing a community led facility, in which service provision is driven from the "bottom up," rather than the traditional approach in which key decisions have flowed from the "top down."

 

1. Which of the mediating variables from the multiple-linkages model did the management consider in this case?

2. What are the potential short and longer term effects for employees of the management strategies at this leisure centre? 

3. Relate the case to the guidelines of adaptive leadership. Which of the guidelines have management relied on in seeking to deliver superior organizational performance?