Johannesburg, 23 Jul 2015
The most recent South Africa budget speech in May divulged that the deficit is narrower than a year ago at R18.52 billion yet with pressing social and economic requirements the message remains clear: we must do more with less, says Jacques van Wyk, COO of Ricoh SA.
Deficit pressures across the board have forced public bodies to reassess the ways in which they work and deliver value to citizens. Many face the challenge of systematic inefficiency due to outdated systems and processes.
In one sense, public sector organisations are no different from those in the private sectors - technology has the potential to transform systems and processes and positively impact efficiency levels across both.
Recognition of this potential is reflected in a number of technology initiatives and digital services government has implemented in the last decade or so. South African Revenue Services (SARS) and its eFiling is probably the best known of these yet there is the less known National Traffic Information System (NaTIS) and its associated eNatis Web portal to promote vehicle registrations and licencing, roadworthy testing, driver testing and licencing, and more. Moves are also afoot to create and implement a digital medical records system to promote efficiencies.
Our government is not alone in these initiatives nor the progress it has made. There is still much to be done about creating efficiencies within back office systems and ways of working in these organisations. An example cited in a recent Economist Intelligence Unit report sponsored by Ricoh Europe, which focuses on the Future of Work, revealed that in the past few months, two government offices in the UK have adopted an initiative which concentrates on the results employees deliver rather than explicitly dictating how or where work is done. Naturally, mobile, cloud and networking technologies will have a huge role to play in the success of such a programme - but there is also a significant cultural shift required to ensure ways of working keep up with newfound technological capability.
In the traditional model, where organisations collect employees under one roof, teams were created along functional lines; management was relatively straightforward, people knew who their team mates were and everyone understood what their collective goals were. However, a major drawback to the traditional model is that location-specific workflow doesn't necessarily access the most appropriate talent; it usually has to work with whatever is available. Virtual teams, enabled by mobile technology, can bring together people with the right skills to deliver projects or resolve issues, regardless of location.
Similarly, dispersed or mobile workforces could also include multi-generation or multi-discipline team members. While the benefits of a diverse workforce are clearly articulated, there is also no denying that these teams can prove challenging from a management perspective. As such, technology alone cannot be the defining factor in transforming public sector organisations; changing the processes by which they engage and operate must accompany any technological implementation.
According to a 2013 report from PricewaterhouseCoopers, called Future of Government, to achieve continuous adaptation, organisations must shift from a hierarchical structure to a more networked form of management - in which employees are empowered to take decisions and guidelines of process must replace rigid policies. Apply this to the average government body - weighed down by its multiple stakeholders, legacies and bureaucracies - the scale of the change required comes into focus. Processes, practices and procedures that have been built up over decades are the norm; and often an us and them mentality permeates as a result of hierarchical management structures. While it is not practical to suggest doing away with all of these entirely, there is a definite need to free up new ways of thinking and working to acclimatise to an increasingly connected global environment.
Government bodies that recognise the liberation and transformation that technology presents - and embrace the potential a change in behavioural code can offer - stand to grab a lead over those that stick with existing processes simply because they have become the de facto way to work.
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