Support roles in public services, such as finance and HR, are vitally important. But they must be enablers of change – focusing on the outcomes needed and not just whether inputs are organised in the right way
Those of us who work in or alongside the public sector need to move beyond the continued but highly realistic narrative about austere times and the tough future that we all face. It is true that the public sector faces years of reducing budgets and we are only around 40% of the way through the government’s planned deficit reduction plan.
But, though it is tempting to graze on this, we need to focus on how we can respond and further transform public services. How can each of us, and the organisations or structures we work within, use our strengths to succeed in this environment?
Support roles, such as finance or human resources and organisational development, have a massive impact, not only in terms of the services provided but the atmosphere we set within organisations. Put bluntly, the test is whether we support dynamic organisations with resources and people that are delivering transformed outcomes, and not whether we have a good set of accounts or a tidy set of HR policies.
If the latter do not deliver the former on a day-to-day basis, let’s challenge ourselves to argue that they are meaningless.
The financial context for support roles is significant. CIPFA’s survey of chief finance officers in local government asked the ways their organisations will balance budgets in 2014/15. It showed:
- 84% plan to reduce spending on back-office functions
- 70% plan to restructure management
- 58% plan to merge similar or complementary services
When asked what areas they would increase/decrease spending, 79% of CFOs said they would decrease spending on finance, HR and IT in 2014/15. This was the most likely area to be cut, with 13% saying that cuts would be larger than 15%.
But if the financial context is harsh, we must also confront reputation. YouGov survey data shows that when asked whether the reputation of an ‘industry’ was ‘bad/very bad’ vs. ‘getting better’, the public said that:
- Government departments: (4th worst between gambling and insurance) - 55% ‘bad or very bad’ and 4% ‘getting better’
- Local councils: (5th worst) - 48% ‘bad or very bad’ and 4% ‘getting better’
Similarly, the public doesn’t always perceive these sectors as good places to work, which may affect the ability to recruit the best talent. When YouGov asked whether they would be ‘embarrassed’ vs. ‘proud’ to work in certain places the public said:
- Government department: proud – 23% vs. embarrassed – 26%
- Local councils: proud – 21% vs. embarrassed – 23%
So how should we view a support role in this context? To motivate our staff, it is important that we promote and extol the value of public service – that commitment to the public and the complex issues being worked on deserves and receives credit. To convince the public, it is important that we act in their interests and not self-interest, with a high degree of competence and respect.
Take CIPFA as an example. We need to make sure that we are totally focused on engendering the leadership of strong public financial management and governance. I am sure that our journey is emblematic for the finance profession as a whole and, indeed, all support roles. It involves change for my organisation and me personally; and I would argue the scale of change makes it personal for all of us.
Engagement should never reduce to a means of affirming that which we already plan to do, but rather make us uncomfortable and demonstrate a determination to meet the restless change needed.
In the years before the banking and subsequent fiscal crisis, the finance profession generally focused on improving value-added capability. In the current climate this is not enough, especially when many transformational opportunities sit within or are materially influenced by the role of finance professionals. This means we need to think about the priority and balance of the four core components that finance professionals deliver:
- The innovator: exploring ways to make the taxpayers’ money stretch further, often in collaboration with other organisations.
- The business partner: influencing strategy and business outcomes; collaborating with managers to further policy goals; offering expert analysis and interpretation; presenting options to resolve problems and exploit opportunities; and developing financial understanding and informed decision making.
- The steward: safeguarding resources from loss, waste, abuse or corruption; giving a reliable account of how resources have been used.
- The provider/commissioner: maintaining the financial operation infrastructure and core financial administration processes, including specialist services, both directly and through commissioning external providers.
In our current context, a highly focused vision must particularly add demonstrable value to the way public services innovate, manage risk and cut costs. Support roles must focus on the outcomes needed and not whether inputs are organised the right way. Professional advice is best on tap and not on top, and so the style of our role to only regulate when essential is vital.
For my neck of the woods, we have asked employers, students and serving accountants how they want CIPFA to equip the profession as an innovator and business partner. The result is to move beyond some of the models that have worked well for 129 years but are not what employers need now. So for example:
- We have successfully launched both our apprenticeship scheme and co-operative accountancy trainee scheme, where organisations can pool the recruitment and employment of AAT apprentices or trainee CIPFA accountants
- We have developed tailored services on issues such as ‘dealing with the cuts’ or the ‘PFI health check’
- We have reviewed our syllabus and next month will announce the detail of new modules and CPD products covering key issues such as commercial acumen, analysis, procurement, commissioning and public service integration to reflect the skills needed for the next decade – our history has never just been about accounting but producing leaders, and this needs new tools and approaches.
Finance and HR must be enablers of change. Organisations need a compelling vision and the right people and resource deployment to achieve it. We must be urgent on the things today that deliver difference in a couple of years time, or else we are just fire fighting.
If together we give advice and services that ameliorate the risks of change, really innovate, engage and create successful diversity and outcomes in the workplace and for the community, then we stand a chance.
Rob Whiteman is the chief executive of CIPFA. This blog is based on a speech he gave to the Public Sector People Managers’ Association on 8 May
