HR Transformation: Opportunities and Challenges in the Public Sector

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HR Transformation Opportunities and Challenges
in the Public Sector

• Peter Reilly

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Todays agenda

• Whats involved in HR transformation
• What drives it
• What benefits does it offer
• What problems are encountered
• What are the solutions
• Issues for the public sector

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The Holy trinity of transformation
Automation
Consolidation
Standardisation
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Whats involved in automation

• Integrated records systems
• Better MI
• Information through intranet
• Self service
• Stand alone e-systems
• Document management work flow

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Whats involved in standardisation

• Using best practice
• To ensure quality and consistency
• To obtain standard
• Systems?
• Processes?
• Polices?
• To drive simplification

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Whats involved in consolidation

• Bringing together dispersed activities into
  single organisation
• Starts with transactional and informational
• Aim is to share services for common good

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Shared services work areas
CUSTOMERS
Account managers
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The sequence of change
Strategy
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What is driving transformation?

• Top four drivers
• HR becoming a strategic contributor
• The need to improve service standards
• Increased focus on business issues
• Cost reduction

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What benefits does it offer?

• Cost saving
• Better business alignment
• Deeper professional expertise
• More consistent processes
• Improved customer service
• Greater line engagement
• Repositioning of HR/people management on the map

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What problems faced?

• Role definition and skill gaps
• Technology failure
• Segmentation
• boundary management
• poor communication and learning
• unclear accountability
• Service model
• customer complaints
• no recognition of customer differences
• multiple delivery channels
• service gaps - the Polo problem

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The polo problem
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What to do with structures/roles?

• Dont ignore economies of scale
• but join up the dots
• plug the holes
• Design jobs people can do and be clearer in role
  specification
• and be more customer sensitive
• give line more operational support
• differentiated service offering
• think of the external client

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What to do with automation and standardisation?

• Automation
• Dont assume technology will work as planned
• Return to human interaction where
• efficient
• sensitive
• Customise to make systems intuitive
• Make most of better MI

• Standardisation
• Only standardise where real benefits
• processes?
• policies?
• Maximise freedom for management within limits
• Exploit advantages of transparency and
  simplicity

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Public sector and other issues

• Cross organisational sharing?
• Political appetite for sharing
• Common systems (processes)
• Same drivers realisable gains
• Preparedness to agree governance
• Sourcing decisions?

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Spectrum of organisational options on shared
services
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Sharing solutions
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On sourcing services

• Outsource onlywhen there is a clear
  cost/quality advantage
• Consider
• long short term
• non financial implications
• Exercise care where
• market is immature
• your circumstances are dynamic

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Public sector and other issues

• Cross organisational sharing?
• Political appetite for sharing
• Common systems (processes)
• Same drivers realisable gains
• Preparedness to agree governance
• Sourcing decisions?
• Capacity or capability?

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What to do with skills

• Refine the competency list
• Tackle disposition
• Skill up existing HR staff
• training
• development
• Bring in capability
• Improve career management processes
• Learn from other functions

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Public sector and other issues

• Cross organisational sharing?
• Political appetite for sharing
• Common systems (processes)
• Same drivers realisable gains
• Preparedness to agree governance
• Sourcing decisions?
• Capacity or capability?
• HRs role in organisational change

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HRs role in organisational change

• Clarity of change objectives
• business need, not fashion led
• not disconnected from other initiatives
• Obtaining and sustaining top management
  support/engagement
• Proper design process
• project disciplines
• appropriate staff involvement
• Attention to implementation
• communication
• training
• roles and responsibilities

Adapted from Whittington and Molloy
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Questions

• What scope is there for process improvement? How
  would you tackle it?
• What are the opportunities for cross
  organisational sharing in service delivery? What
  are they how would you achieve them?
• Have you HR capability challenges? If so, how
  would you deal with them?

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thank you
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