Public Sector Shared Services and Outsourcing
October 1, 2009 in Corporate Services, Public Services, Shared Services and Outsourcing
Photo:Covilha, Flickr
As purse strings tighten, high-quality front-line public services should be protected as much as possible. Nonetheless, core services shouldn’t be treated with kid gloves or complacency. Both front-line and back-office teams need to be proactive in identifying how to save money.
Back-office teams will face pressure to adopt outsourcing and shared services to save costs. Evidence shows these solutions can reduce costs and improve quality, though examples of failure aren’t hard to find.
New services don’t always deliver the lower “headline” costs expected and poor quality can create major hidden expenditure linked to correction and re-working activity. A short-sighted focus on cost-cutting can weaken effectiveness across the whole organisation.
Management should consider how effective back-office teams contribute to cost-control across the business. It would be unwise to reduce costs in one area but find the organisation spends far more elsewhere. Read the rest of this entry →
