The state of play
A recent announcement by The Chancellor of the Exchequer has suggested a financial ‘black hole’ in the treasury of some £20bn, with government departments told to find substantial cost savings.
While there has been no official pronouncement on local government funding, it can be assumed that – for now at least – local authorities should continue to manage their budgets against a background of underfunding.
Assessing digital infrastructure
As local government departments are now ramping up their efforts in preparation for the new Procurement Act (due to come into force on October 28), this marks an opportunity for senior decisions makers to begin auditing their current digital solutions, ensuring they are fit for purpose.
At the same time, mangers and IT leads should be assessing the cost-effectiveness of their current digital infrastructure. Without carrying out a costly overhaul, which functions need to upgraded or replaced? Which software is approaching end-of-life?
As well as cost, any such audit should consider the user experience – how could new digital solutions save time for employees, remove the need for duplicate input, and reduce administration?
Testing new software
When testing a new piece of software, a reasonable approach is to test ‘locally’ i.e. in a single department (or subdepartment) before rolling it out to a wider function.
This will not only ensure the software works for those that will be using it on a daily basis, but can provide evidence for the board that the solution brings demonstrable advantages. This level of buy-in is key to successful uptake.
Cost savings through the cloud and automation
One of the first things that comes to mind when driving cost savings is cloud adoption. While there are definite advantages to transferring your processes to the cloud (you can read about them here), this must be planned in terms of scale, cost, and the security of public data. Where this data will be held geographically is of key importance – check with your software provider at the planning stage.
At the same time, senior decision makers should look towards digital solutions that automate time-consuming tasks. Financials is a good example here, since it greatly reduces manual input with a host of automated features including accounts payable processes and legislative updates.
Effective people management and inclusion
Attraction and retention is another key area to focus on when it comes to cost savings. Amidst the staffing crisis in local government, local authorities can reduce costs through higher levels of employee retention, and attracting candidates with the required skillsets.
This can be achieved, in part, by ensuring fairness in the workplace. A robust Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DE&I) policy should be put in place at board level. There should also be opportunity for progression, the option for flexible working, and practices to eliminate bias during the hiring process.
These “best-practices” should be augmented with effective people management. Here, the right digital solution comes into play – Performance and Talent makes it easy to provide real-time feedback, clear objective setting, clear visibility on talent, and praise for a job well done.
When best practice and powerful digital solutions work together, this results in a strong Employee Value Proposition (EVP) which will attract the best candidates while giving existing workers a better sense of purpose and value.
Summing up
While technology is by no means a magic bullet, it can certainly help alleviate budgetary pressures faced by local government organisations today. Through a strategic approach, local authorities can begin their digital transformation journey the right way, adopting automated and cloud-based solutions designed to drive cost savings, increase productivity, and improve employee wellbeing.