Maintaining first-class public services at a time when
budgets are being frozen or cut is a challenge.
Doing so while simultaneously increasing motivation and job
satisfaction for staff sounds impossible. However, there is a
solution, to be found in the new way of organising public services,
called shared services.
The shared service model is straightforward and based on a
simple fact: the reason for the existence of your local council,
health board or police authority is to enable the effective local
delivery of front-line services.
It does not follow that there needs to be different back office
or support services (for example, HR, IT or accounting
departments). Instead, these support services can be "shared"
between all public bodies.
Clear advantages
The advantages of shared services are clear. Different ways of
delivering services, which have arisen purely as a matter of
chance, can be harmonised, helping remove the problem of the
"postcode lottery". Best practice can be shared for the benefit of
all.
Those who only use a service occasionally can call upon a
central resource when needed. Plus, staff can be freed up to
concentrate on what adds most value.
This last benefit attracts the most controversy. Is it just a
way of cutting jobs? The recent consultation exercise by the
Scottish National Executive has been met by a stinging rebuke from
public sector trade union Unison, whose concerns are undoubtedly
based on this fear.
But if duplication is eliminated, without affecting services to
the taxpayer, is it a bad thing?
Sharing services does not necessarily mean that fewer staff are
required overall - simply that these staff can be freed up to do
other things, of greater benefit to the public.
Job satisfaction
What is often overlooked is that there are also many advantages
for the staff involved. In coming together, best practice can be
shared, leading to better trained and skilled staff. Public sector
staff can claim to be setting the standard. Greater job
satisfaction can also arise from the opportunities to work within a
dedicated team, with more frequent career advancement prospects,
and to be closer to the "internal customer".
Like all change, its implementation is not without challenges,
such as agreeing common working practices. This involves
consultation and agreement amongst people from different regions
and backgrounds who may have different approaches. A change of
location may also be required, although this is by no means
essential. Finally, there are legal and procurement issues to be
considered.
However, shared services have undoubtedly arrived. In Northern
Ireland two recent projects have seen the entire HR, payroll and
accountancy function of the Northern Ireland Civil Service move to
a shared service model. Elsewhere in the UK, projects are on-stream
or commencing. It is clear that shared services is an idea whose
time has come.
John McKinlay is a partner specialising in technology at law
firm DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary
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