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 3. 5 factors driving transformational change in the public sector


5 FACTORS DRIVING TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

Public Sector, Global

from  Unit4 Communications February 2, 2022 | 6 min read

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Change is inevitable - but in the public sector, the nature of change itself is
evolving as organizations work to manage the impact of multiple accelerating
trends.

If you’re struggling to keep pace with a sector that’s rapidly developing in
more ways than one, this article is for you. Let’s explore the 5 trends most
important to the evolution of the public sector - and how you can tackle them
most effectively.


1. COVID-19

We’ve all heard more than enough about the effects of COVID on the way that we
handle work and collaboration across all sectors. But its impact really can’t be
understated - COVID is influencing and driving every aspect of change in public
sector working patterns and priorities. Change management in government sector
organizations has had to evolve significantly to adapt to new pressures, and
initiatives that we expected to be completed 5 or even 10 years from now have
been accelerated rapidly – in ways seldom seen in the public sector.

With the majority of public services now being handled remotely – from HCM in
the healthcare industry to financial and payments services to courts, education,
and elderly care – we’ve seen many more large-scale experiments in government
rolled out in one year than are typically seen in a generation.

For entities like governments – which are in some ways designed to resist change
– this kind of enforced upheaval can seem extremely daunting. In fact, Unit4’s
software solutions for governments are purpose-built to support this large-scale
digital transformation because we know just how daunting it can seem.

But change is inevitable – and like COVID, the 4 other trends we’ll be covering
in this article have one important thing in common. They’re all challenges that
can be met head on with a focus on people, and on the way that organizations use
their technology, their culture, and their tools to empower people to provide
ever better levels of service.


2. TECHNOLOGY CAN CHANGE HOW WE WORK – BUT ALSO OUR CAPACITY TO FULFILL
ORGANIZATIONAL MISSIONS

Managing change and innovation in public service organizations is a slow
process, and improvement is generally incremental – things get faster, better,
or cheaper by degrees. But using AI in the public sector, and other innovative
technologies like cloud computing and blockchain, all have the capacity to
completely re-architect the ways in which we carry out certain workflows and
processes.

We know that digital disruption can be good for the public sector, but it does
not come without challenges. Data has become ubiquitous in recent years – but
securing it and using it efficiently creates new categories of risk, and
necessitates wholly new regulatory approaches. Change management in local
government around this issue has been particularly fraught thanks to decades of
budget cuts leading to exceptionally poor data visibility - with many
organizations not fully understanding where their data is housed, let alone
being capable of processing it efficiently.

But the fact of the matter is technology will bring change to the public sector
– and faster than ever before. We can actually predict which new technologies
are likely to be introduced with some accuracy simply by watching what’s being
adopted in the private sector. Doing this can help give your organization a
head-start on preparing your people for the next round of disruption – through
up- and cross-skilling and by making changes to your strategic plans that
account for the capabilities of the new normal.


3. LEADERSHIP

The future of the government will always be in the hands of its leaders – both
of the present and of the future. To ensure institutions remain relevant and
capable of delivering services and value for money, and that change management
in public sector organisations proceeds smoothly, leaders must be prepared – not
just to address the big external challenges of population aging, the changing
nature of the employment market, environmental crises, and technological
transformation. They must be prepared first to tackle the reform of their own
organizations.

To many government leaders, this task may seem slightly more daunting even than
fully addressing climate change. But if institutions can’t transform themselves,
they won’t be able to transform society. This is another area in which a people
success strategy will be crucial to objective success as leaders and talent
managers in the public sector seek out and onboard new talent – and provide them
and their existing staff with the tools and training to do their jobs unimpeded
by legacy systems (whether those be technological or cultural.)


4. FUNDAMENTAL CHANGES TO SOCIETY AND BUSINESS

Technology itself isn’t the first mover in big shifts in the public sector.
Technology’s development is simply a response to ongoing changes in society
itself. Economic and social pressures, demographic change, and global
geopolitical factors all create challenges that can only be met by technology.

COVID is obviously the most dramatic example of one such “exogenous shock” to
the way we all approach things, having caused a huge acceleration of
digitization and virtualization, and a rapid development of strategic change
management in public sector organisations. One of the more salient examples of
this process for public sector organizations at the local and regional levels is
population ageing. A reality of developed economies which is forcing governments
to change policies across every domain from employment and labor to healthcare,
economics, and the social safety net.

Looking forward to the future, changes to the social climate are also likely to
create pressures which lead to changes in the way we prioritize all aspects of
our lives. Organizations must have the right mixture of talent and technology in
place to address these challenges – and to anticipate the changes they
themselves will catalyze.


5. SYNERGISTIC AND STIGMERGIC EFFECTS

The changes we’re currently experiencing have a character that was much less
significant – if not absent – in previous eras. This is their tendency to
integrate with and feed off each other.

Two concepts leaders guiding change management in public sector organizations
must familiarize themselves with quickly are synergy and stigmergy.


SYNERGY

Despite its status as a buzzword from another era of corporate management,
synergy is a more relevant concept today than ever. Technology is conspiring to
create “synergy” – that is to say, wholes greater than the sum of their parts –
in ways never before thought possible. Wearable technology, predictive
analytics, and “nudge” theory can create medicinal treatments and services far
more precise and effective than in previous decades. Similarly, cloud computing,
robotic process automation, and low-code customization can create operations
platforms that allow their users to create new and more efficient workflows on
the fly.

It’s vital that public service organizations equip their people with the right
synergistic mixture of tools to minimize their direct involvement in low value
tasks so they can concentrate on the delivery of key services and citizen value.


STIGMERGY

This one’s a bit more of a mouthful – but no less important. Stigmergy describes
a process in which the actions taken by one individual or group create
environmental conditions that stimulate the performance of further actions that
allow complex systems to emerge without central planning. (If you’ve ever seen
the patterns created by a flock of birds flying, you’ve seen this principle in
action.)

The stigmergic effects of technology and environment on the performance of your
people will need to become a primary concern if your organization is to succeed
in the post-COVID world. Leaders should be prepared to harness technology to
create working environments that stimulate the right kinds of working patterns
in the organization – by keeping them engaged, motivated, and focused on
outcomes rather than on the minutiae of procedure and repetitive manually
executed processes. Failure to do this will result in increasing disengagement,
elevated staff turnover, and the inability of your organization to handle the
unique challenges posed by the public sector’s future.

And that means the platforms you choose to create your operating environment
must be fit not just to handle today’s challenges, but the challenges today
creates for tomorrow.


HOW UNIT4 CAN HELP

Over the past 10 years, Unit4 has been helping organizations across the public
sector in multiple countries to modernize their operations and prepare for a
digitally connected future. We’re a people-focused business, creating solutions
specifically adapted for organizations whose people are their primary asset (in
industries like professional service, the public sector, higher education, and
nonprofits.) Our Human Capital Management platform is designed to help you
optimize every part of your peoples’ experience from hiring to engagement to
performance, training, career management, and up-, cross-, and re-skilling.

To learn more about what our solutions can do for your organization, click here
to check out our products, or click here to book a demo.


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