If you work in government/public services…

[Narwhalsh]

Regardless of your position, can you identify ways that your job or processes you are following (or lack of processes!) could be made more efficient?

It seems to fall to senior management to design ways to try and cut costs (which doesn’t seem particularly effective!) but should the net be spread a bit wider and ideas to improve the systems actually be coming from the bottom, up?

They’re paid to do the process not make the process.

Not to mention alot of the improvements are probably automation, or you reach a point where processes are so efficient less people are needed. People aren’t going to do themselves out of a job.

I'm not management and often float efficiency ideas. Which are then considered and often implemented at a higher level.

It's the norm, surely, if communication is good.

Maybe ask the workforce how they think processes could improve

I work in local government. Everyone is strongly encouraged to put forward efficiency savings and process improvements

I find that the grumbles and inefficiencies generally don't get heard by senior management due to middle management wanting senior management to think they are a good job and think that if senior management hear gripes it will reflect badly on them personally. Senior management need to engage directly with the troops.

I think this is unfortunately a mindset which is very common. Introducing efficiencies and including AI/automation doesn’t do people out of jobs, it frees them up to do other more complex parts of the job or indeed other more interesting jobs…

Allowing inefficiencies to exist because someone is afraid to lose their job will potentially lose them their job because the service costs too much to run!

This I think is how I see the issues too. Management should be there to help people to do their jobs better, not hinder them. When there are layers and layers of management it’s hard to see where the value of them is

This post reminded me why I left local government and will never go back.

All. The. Time.

I also recognise bad leadership, dodgy management and a total disregard for public money - idea upon ideas suggested by me and colleagues but nothing happens.

Its not just my team either - I think it is a culture thing where I work.

It’s a complicated one, and I think it very much depends on the team, and the work they’re carrying out. If your work is very strongly guided by legislation, best practice, etc there can be a lot less room for improvement ideas.

Don’t get me wrong, we very much encourage people to come up with ideas and feel they can tell us when they feel a process isn’t working, but I don’t think it’s their responsibility to improve the processes. Most of the people who are more forthcoming with ideas are the ones interested in progression and development. It definitely does count in their favour, but I don’t think any worse of the others for it.

Maybe it’s different in other local governments but mine has posted a saving strategy which includes the number of job cuts in each department, so some people are very concerned. There has also been a gradual move towards automation and jobs lost following successful implementation.

As long as people are doing their jobs and doing it well I’m happy to leave them to it for the sake of a good working culture.

I think this is unfortunately a mindset which is very common. Introducing efficiencies and including AI/automation doesn’t do people out of jobs, it frees them up to do other more complex parts of the job or indeed other more interesting jobs…

You need to read some history. With computers and automation and machinery, we should all be 'rich'. With time and money. But the actual rich, who own the means of production to quote Marx, need poor, desperate, worried, stressed workers to remain that way. The more AI etc. the richer the rich will get. But we won't all be freed up to have fun.

Consistency would be nice. I work in waste management and recycling bins drive me bonkers. In training the loaders are told to red tag all recycling bins that are contaminated. So they do. Then people complain and then they are told it can have up to 10% contamination. Which you can’t tell by looking at the bin so they empty all the recycling bins. Then there are too many contaminants and the recyclers won’t take it so off to landfill. Then the loaders are told not to take contaminants and the cycle repeats. Millions of pounds every year because people can’t / won’t recycle. Staff on the ground get annoyed as inconsistent. Service users get annoyed as you emptied it last time.

Automation has allowed these things. The washing machine, the dishwasher-women aren’t chained to these domestic chores and have been freed to get into the workplace-so earn a (better) wage, get richer and arguably have time (to work and pay tax to support the government machine). Automation works. The current government model we support does not

I'm a middle manager in the public sector and we constantly ask for and implement ideas from our worker bees