Smarter, more effective Government services for less

Better Administrative and Support ServicesGlen Johnston – Managing Director

YAS Management Reform LLC

www.linkedin.com/company/yas-management-reform-llc

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Governments spend on average 8-15% of their budgets on administrative and support services

• There is extensive research and data1 confirming that government agencies typically spend between 8-15% of budgets on organizational running costs2.

• The Governments of the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and selected USA agencies are using benchmarking and target setting to monitor performance and reduce government expenditure on administrative and support services.

• These governments are extending the success of these programs by developing innovative ways to improve the current effectiveness and efficiency of administrative and support services whilst also reducing organizational running costs.

1Resarch and data sources: New Zealand BASS Program (The Treasury); UK Audit Agencies (UKAA); and Office of Government Commerce (OGC ); APQC; and The Hackett Group)

2Organizational running costs include: Human Resources, Information Technology, Finance, Procurement, Property, and Corporate and Executive Services

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Governments globally are facing ongoing pressure to reduce spend whilst increasing the quantity, quality and effectiveness of services delivered to the public.

• The current global trends and challenges in public sectors are driving Governments to focus on delivering services more efficiently and effectively; redirecting resources from Administrative and Support (A&S) functions to higher priorities, including services to the public, where possible.

• Many Governments are implementing robust frameworks in order to better understand how much Departmental money is being spent on A&S functions and to identify opportunities for efficiency improvements by reducing waste and duplication

Governments need a solution to better understand expenditure on A&S functions and to identify

how public services can be improved3

Governments are demanding stronger governance and performance management practices from the public sector• Robust governance and performance management practices help

governments to better understand the true cost and quality of their internal services and make resource allocation decisions based on evidence.

• Implementing a robust governance and performance management system requires an understanding of the value of different actions to identify where efficiency improvements can be made.

Benchmarking will enable the government to compare Departments, adopt global best-practice, learn from others, and identify

innovative ways to improve back office support4

Robust performance management practices can provide information on the cost, efficiency, and effectiveness of Admin & Support services in the public sector

Performance management involves:– using performance information to monitor progress against agreed targets;– allocate and prioritize resources; and – track, report, and learn from success.

Performance information identifies top performers and opportunities to share knowledge and best-

practice

Performance management is desirable in any economic climate and is applicable to both A&S services and services to the public.

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Gathering performance information from Departments in a consistent way provides

transparency of a significant area of expenditure and provides an evidence base for assessing and

improving performance.

Governments are implementing programs to improve the administration and support services focused on identifying cost savings possible if Departments reach a range of efficiency targets for each of the following functions: IT, HR, Finance, Procurement, Property, Corporate & Executive services

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These programs address the conflict between service delivery and support functions in departments by lowering the cost and strengthening the effectiveness and efficiency of Public Sector A&S services.

Better Administrative & Support Services Program

Resolves the conflict between the support and service delivery sides

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These programs typically focus on measuring the performance of five administrative and support functions

The set of measures will be relevant, reasonable to collect, and fit-for-purpose for measuring efficiency (cost and productivity) and effectiveness (quality and value). It is likely that the measures will cover:

• Transaction volumes.• FTEs.• Costs (e.g. labour, technology,

outsourcing).• Current practices (e.g. current

level of automation and self-service, technologies used, error rates).

• Level of adoption of leading practices.

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Understanding the performance gap will allow both the government and individual departments to improve the current cost of delvering A&S services

Effec

tiven

ess

A snapshot of the current price, quantity, and standards of A&S services.

EfficiencyCost and Productivity

Quality & Value

Involves analysis of:

•Participating Department data• Comparison to peer

organisations•Comparison to international best-practice

Target Performance

Baseline Performance

Gaps and Opportunities

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Public Sector Service DeliveryAdministration & Support Services

Public Sector Service DeliveryAdministration & Support Services

Improving the performance of A&S Services will help redirect back-office resources ($, people, time) to the delivery of better public services

This transformation requires implementation of a well considered change program that will involve:• reengineering, streamlining, and automating processes.• having effective governance mechanisms in place.• having appropriate skills and capabilities in place.• aligning and grouping people into logical service delivery models.• supporting functions with the right tools and technologies.

Increase Quality of Service DeliveryIncrease the effectiveness of functions through increased focus

on decision support.

Reduce CostIncrease the efficiency of functions

through reduced effort on transactional processes.

YAS can assist you to improve the efficiently and effectiveness of your administration and support services – allowing you to spend more budget on core operations

Glen Johnston – Managing DirectorBAv, MCA Hons (Change Management)

Glen Johnston is the current Managing Director of YAS Management Reform LLC. Formerly a Senior Project Manager at the Dubai Executive Council, Glen provided policy advice to senior government officials in Dubai (and New Zealand) on proposals for public sector reforms (public financial management, organizational designs, service improvements, policy proposals, changes to legislation). All advice is based on solid research, modeling and forecasting using best practices applied to the local environment and culture to ensure benefits realization.

Glen has assumed leadership roles in a number of organizations including: Director of Strategic Planning at the Dubai School of Government and the Managing Director of Focus Consulting Group. Glen has extensive experience in delivering high profile projects at regional and national levels in the Government and public sector. His skills and expertise includes: project management; strategy and policy development/implementation; organizational design; and performance improvement.

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