Public Sector Service Delivery Transformation. Why and How?

I chaired a forum this week on public sector service delivery transformation, so I thought I would share some of my thoughts on the topic.

Background

The forces of today’s society are asking more of public service delivery, and hence the Public Sector is rightly examining how public services can be better delivered in a client focused environment, where the client is put at the centre of service delivery, in a personalised service delivery environment. More pressure is being applied to deliver more with less as we move through fiscally constrained times, by establishing sustainable public service budget savings, whilst increasing productivity. Ultimately these forces of transformation requires us to ask how Government services can make things better for people, and what is required to achieve this?

These points are well summarised by the Queensland Commission of Audit Report (2013) that states:

‘’The Government must achieve better value for money in service delivery. ‘Business as usual’ is not a sustainable option.”

Transformation

So how is transformation being completed, and what are the pillars of public sector transformation? Some thoughts.

Digital transformation is commonly considered a key transformation strategy and allows Governments not only the opportunity to deliver existing services through digital platforms, but take advantage of digital innovations to enhance service effectiveness, transparency, and client experience, hence creating public value. Significant opportunities exist to enhance Government services through online portals and applications; using online collaboration tools (social media) to inform policy development and deliver information; exploring big data; increasing system interoperability; and integrating the use of mobile and wearable devices. These applications must be designed with a customer centric focus and must breakdown existing service delivery silos to maximise the client’s experience.

Contestability goes to the heart of what Governments should be delivering and what the market could best deliver. Today, services are being increasingly outsourced to the non-government sector in areas such as health care, social services, corrective services, transport and shared services. The Australian National Commission of Audit (2014) Report identified two key principles relating to how Government should view contestability:

• “Act in the public interest and recognise the benefits of markets. In competitive markets, customers, not producers, take precedence. Competition and contestability drive lower costs, improve quality and give people what they want. Government should act in the public interest and only intervene in markets where market solutions fail to produce the best outcome for the nation as a whole’’.

• ‘’Do not deliver services if others are better placed to do it. The delivery of public services should, wherever practicable, be handed to those organisations and levels of government closest to those receiving the service and should not be duplicated’’.

Reviewing the contestability of service delivery will continue to be the trend, as Government increasingly becomes a contractor of services, rather than a service provider. There must, however, be consideration for risks that may arise in the process of transformation and safeguards that need to exist to ensure the most disadvantaged in society remain a high priority for service delivery.

 Leadership and culture are ultimately at the heart of Public Sector transformation and the management of the change that is required. Public Sector leaders of today need to be change managers capable of engaging their workforce, and bring them along through a process of transformation. This will require a stronger focus on communication, accountability, openness, innovation and risk management. Societal problems of today and tomorrow are complex and will require Public Sector leaders to join the service delivery dots, and develop deeper partnerships with other service providers be they Public, NGO or Private sector in nature to establish and implement solutions. The Public Sector workforce will also require flexibility and mobility to adjust to changing demands and future priorities. Public Sector leaders will be critical to embracing a longer term strategic view of public service delivery, and effectively utilising risk management to best exploit opportunities. Leaders must ultimately give their workforces the opportunity to innovate, take a chance and take on a greater degree of risk.

Demand management is critical to managing the increasing expectation and demand for government services. This requires increased upstream focus on risks affecting society, and identifying solutions which best address root causes. A good example of this is the recent Australian Productivity Commission Inquiry into Natural Disaster Funding, which recommended Australian Government post-disaster support to Jurisdictions should be reduced, and support for mitigation increased, in a bid to manage demand for recovery expenditure. Another example is the enhancement of effort in tackling mental health, and drug and alcohol problems to reduce demand on social service programs.

Demand management approaches require holistic partnerships across a variety of stakeholders both within and outside Government, in the context of community centred service delivery. In tackling the risks faced by society, however, Governments should not and cannot eliminate or insure for every risk faced by the community. Individual responsibility and choice are a fundamental principle of Australian society.

Conclusion

There are strong opportunities to enhance public value through the transformation of public services. Successful transformation however, does require an enhanced leadership focus on cultural change, communication, risk management and adoption of customer centric approaches.

Andrew is the Director Government Business and Enterprise Risk Management at Risk Frontiers. Contact Andrew at [email protected].