Simplify, streamline and standardise: people management

Digital transformation has moved far beyond being a buzzword and arrived solidly in mission-critical territory, with touchpoints in virtually every facet of business, including the public sector. And, in a world where ‘budget’ is on the tip of everyone’s tongue, digital transformation continues to be a high priority. The Australian Government is predicted to spend more than AU$15.5 billion on IT in 2022, an 8.8 per cent increase on 2021 levels. For many departments, this spending needs to help government truly transform at a base level: its people.

Putting money where the movement is

The Australian public administration and safety sector is projected to grow by over four per cent by 2025. Combined with the shift towards hybrid and remote working, this means there will be even more public servants to be managed across an increasingly dispersed workforce. Subsequently, this growth suggests that the time is ripe for government to consider a more comprehensive people and workforce management approach.

It can be challenging, especially in the current climate, for government to effectively organise, engage, manage, and schedule a moving workforce. As such, departments increasingly need to find effective solutions that give them comprehensive visibility into workers and their productivity across different locations. This doesn’t just mean ensuring that government employees are using work time to complete essential tasks, but rather ensuring there’s a level of consistency and standardisation across the board, regardless of the employee and their location.

There are two key ways that investing in a modern people management solution can help government departments:

1. Reduce compliance risk: modern solutions leverage automation to standardise timekeeping and award interpretation across the entire department, guaranteeing all employees across all locations and awards are paid correctly. Governments need to invest in software that is able to run the Better Off Overall Test (BOOT) for all employees to avoid costly intervention from Fair Work. Modern solutions can also more easily, accurately and completely capture time by using multiple methods (eg, time clocks, geofenced mobile, kiosks).
2. Improve productivity: people management solutions can help government departments to effectively gather data on costly workforce trends that can be used to further improve efficiencies. This can be enhanced by analytics and reporting capabilities, which ensure the right information is always available.

Identifying the ideal solution

Standardisation is essential for government organisations. However, it’s important to understand that not every modern people management solution will be created to the exact specifications of a particular government department. Subsequently, it’s crucial for government departments to look for a provider that is able to configure its proven solution to individual government models, letting them deliver the best possible level of public service for their constituents.

Beyond delivering a consistent experience, it’s also important for government departments to deliver a solution, based on a modern cloud platform, that meets employees where they conduct their work. For example, a solutions provider that delivers a mobile-first system will help government departments to engage a multi-generational workforce who are able to manage their payslips, leave balances and time-off requests with ease right from their smartphones.

A good people management solution lets governments deliver the same experience to all employees, regardless of location, to achieve greater transparency across the board. A comprehensive digital people management solution will also help departments ensure compliance is met, labour-related costs are controlled, employee engagement is improved, and that people are free to focus on what matters: the public they serve.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Andrii Yalanskyi