States staff learn about their own reformation

Friday 11 July 2014

Fewer forms, shorter waiting times, less bureaucracy and more money - they are just some of the benefits of reforming the public sector which are being presented to States staff this week.

More than 30 exhibitors are showing their colleagues the changes they have made in their department, over a two-day event at the Hotel De France called 'Shaping our Future'.

The States Chief Executive, John Richardson, said: “The States are the biggest and most diverse employer in the island and we are serious about engaging directly with our workforce. This event represents one more step in the change process, demonstrating how staff are leading the work to ensure the public sector provides the most efficient service to customers.”

The reforms are focussed in the following areas:

Modern office - reducing the number of office buildings used, selling the others and investing the proceeds into improving the remaining stock.

 Workforce modernisation - reviewing employee pensions to make them fairer, sustainable and affordable; reducing 76 employment policies to around 35; agreeing new HR policies (eg maternity, paternity & adoption leave, flexible working, special leave), basing pay progression on skills acquired not time served; modernising relationship with union representatives

 Lean - 1,000 staff trained to analyse the way they do things and come up with more efficient alternatives. 

 e-gov - moving from traditional service delivery to digital, aiming to raise digital transaction levels from 7.5% to 75% within 5 years, offering more e-payments, online forms and 24/7 access

Senator Alan Maclean is the politician in charge of the reform process: “We are finding ways of controlling spending and delivering better services for less. And I’m pleased to see that the creative thinking is coming from the front line, where staff trained in the business process Lean have been examining their working processes and coming up with faster, cheaper, better ways to do things.

“For example, the Social Security department has been using Lean to deliver significant improvements. Changes have been made to application forms to reduce customer error, and a Change of Circumstances notification now takes three days or less to process, rather than 10 days, saving 973 staff hours.

“A Customer Services training programme for the Income Support team has reduced processing times and increased customer satisfaction. In Health, the number of forms required when appraising nurses has been cut from 11 to one; waiting times at the blood testing clinic are down by 50%, and changes in the way air mattresses are used has reduced the number required by 20%, saving £23,000 in one year. These incremental changes are important and they are spreading across the organisation".