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28th May, 2010 to 28th Sep, 2010
From People Management magazine, 6th May 2010, pages 18-23
In a comprehensive article by Jane Pickard on the current mood and initiatives in the public sector given the potential scale of required savings in that sector; she found the picture to be not as bleak as envisaged.
Many HR directors contacted believed they were in a pivotal position and could help lead their organisations to a new dawn of more efficient and effective service delivery.
For over a decade councils have been experimenting with rationalisation, merging, outsourcing in relation to back office functions, adopting lean production techniques and going through multiple transformations in some cases.
Dean Shoesmith, president of the Public Sector People Managers' Association (PPMA), commented that "The recession has created a wonderful opportunity for some innovation, creativity and leadership."
He has personal experience that creating HR shared service centres can realise significant savings (£500,000 in the case of Sutton and Merton councils).
The Gershon report in 2004 and subsequent updates state that 20-25% of savings could still be made in back office operations from business process re-engineering and shared services, saving the government £4 billion per annum.
Wiltshire council is looking to adopt some of the lean production practices used in the Japanese motor industry, and Lean is one of the strategies being deployed in the NHS to do more with less.
A cross-departmental project called Next Generation HR (NGHR) is aiming to drive HR to staff ratios from 1:50 to 1:77 in the next two years, and 1:100 within 5 years, by streamlining systems and suppliers.
Transact HR welcome this mood of optimism in the public sector and fully support the view that the current economic climate provides a real driver to instigate change in the sector and the lean methodology supported by a shared services approach is the way forward.
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