The influence of Local Government continues to grow. Led by over 17,000 councillors on behalf of over 50 million people, Local Government agencies provide hundreds of services every day at a cost of £144 billion each year.
- Between 2007 and 2008, 1.75 million people used adult social care services provided by their local authority or purchased on their behalf from partner organisations
- Local authorities maintain 25,000 schools in England with over seven million pupils
- From 2005 to 2006, district planning authorities in England received 645,000 applications for planning permission
To maximise organisational success, local authorities must listen to what constituents want, invest in a high performing workforce and deliver more with less. They must strive for greater efficiency and accessibility across their services. Many authorities see fundamental change as integral in future successes.
However, Local Government also shares many of the same challenges that small and medium sized organisations face, according to the recent MacLeod Report to Government Engaging for Success Report. Key challenges include:
- Increasing levels of employee absenteeism
- Ongoing shortages of managers who reflect diversity of local regions
- Filling key jobs roles and maintaining employee retention
- Understanding how employee engagement relates to their agency
- Determining next steps in action planning and implementing a transformational change programme
In times of recession, public spending is under more scrutiny than ever. Not only are authorities expected to deliver more for less, but they must do so while focusing on the environment, safety, security and personalisation. Organisational performance in improving the quality of life for citizens will be subject to inspection through the Comprehensive Area Assessment—a new way of assessing local public services in England. It examines how well councils are working together with other public bodies to meet the needs of the citizens they serve.
Partnering For Success
Kenexa Government Solutions is the only company in the HR marketplace that has the tools, services and technology to multiply success for the public sector. We help organisations identify the right individuals and create the right environments to enhance individual and organisational performance. Our work is possible because we combine employee science, technology, process and consulting to implement smarter HR solutions that support the entire employee lifecycle.
Our approach is based on true partnership, supporting the delivery of the highest public policy objectives in health and transport, social cohesion and community development. We are passionate about delivering successful outcomes across local government— from broad service reviews achieving substantial annual savings to collaborative working business models aimed at longer term efficiencies via a shared service culture.
We bring extensive experience and transferable skills that Local Authorities can use both to help deliver its own corporate and local strategies and to meet the challenges of Government policy initiatives. Our HR solutions are modular and scalable, can support a single department and authority, or scale up to facilitate best practice and shared services across departments.