Glasgow’s Govan High School, led by Head Teacher Iain White, is a fine example of a public sector organisation that is incorporating what we would call FSW thinking into their way of working. Their 7th Newsletter describes a number of FSW characteristics of Excellence.

Right upfront, they signal clearly their bold Ambition, which is of “all leavers going into positive destinations in jobs, training, college or university.”

One of the ways that they do this is through establishing links with employers, colleges, universities and other providers. They do this by initiatives such as hosting breakfast meetings for local employers and training providers at which topics like employability skills and what employers look for at interview are discussed. We would position effort of this kind under the Architecture element of FSW.

A strong connection is made between the School’s Ambition and its Performance Measures; in their article entitled “We are still making a difference” they list many success stories of pupils, but most telling statistic is that Govan High School has continued to reduce the number of leavers who are unemployed and has the highest percentage of pupils going into employment of all Glasgow schools. This focus on the legacy impact of the organisation’s work is typical of the Performance Element of FSW.

Finally, in FSW, one of the critical success factors is to ensure that your Talent feel connected with what the organisation is trying to achieve. The Govan High School Student Council has been set up to encourage students to make connections with others schools and relevant organisations such as the Chamber of Commerce. What better way to ensure ownership of the Ambition than to encourage the students to promote that Ambition to others?

In FSW, our take on the setting of performance goals is quite particular; if you are to generate more value for your clients than your competitors, goals and targets must be carefully crafted to encourage behaviour in your people that genuinely adds value for clients. But, for publicly quoted companies, the obligation to deliver value for shareholders often dominates, and some critics would say this skews the focus of what managers notice, measure and reward.

So, it’s encouraging to hear the recent Performance results from the Co-operative Group, the UK’s largest mutual retailer; gross sales are up 15% over last year, with improved profits of 11%. They also report progress on their many social goals, including including a 10% increase in their contributions to community projects.

An employer of over 110,000 people, with around 4900 retail outlets in a range of retail sectors, the group is owned by over 3 million members, who share the group’s ambitions.

“At a time when the economy is struggling and many business models are coming under intense pressure we truly believe that The Co-operative Group is coming into its own….Our focus on financial success combined with social responsibility is more attractive than ever before ” Peter Marks, Chief Executive, 6th May 2009

The group has come a long way since it was first established in Rochdale in 1844, but the co-operative and social aims have remained constant.

Are there any principles from this business model that can be applied more widely in tomorrow’s companies?