Creating the culture for change in local government
4 min read Written by: Sarah Fea
Recently, I had the joy of attending the Creating the Culture for Change event hosted by Perago and Engage Process. The day brought together digital transformation industry experts, some all the way from Amsterdam, and public sector transformation leaders, to explore the latest trends and best practices in process improvement, transformation, and change management.
The event started with an inspiring presentation from Caerphilly Council. Karen Williams, Customer Services Manager, discussed the significant transformation journey Caerphilly County Borough Council is currently undertaking, supported by the Perago team. Karen touched on the projected savings the Council hopes to realise through the transformation project, discussed service redesign and, more broadly, how building a service catalogue is proving to be key to the success of this transformation project.
Torfaen County Borough Councils was next up to share their experience. Nicola Ratcliffe, Customer and Digital Delivery Lead, presented the impressive work the Council is delivering, focussed on service area transformation, aimed at realising cashable savings and overall improved services for the residents and council colleagues. Nicola also discussed how holding a visioning session with stakeholders and the wider change team was key to the project’s success, capturing a wide range of options and analysing untapped opportunities.
In the following presentation, Jessica Allen, Head of Digital Transformation from Rhondda Cynon Taf Council, presented two transformation projects that she recently completed at the Council. The first looked at overhauling some services relating to bin collections and its implications both on residents who use the service and the back-office staff, who needed to learn more streamlined ways of working. Next, Jess discussed how being asked to review the ‘Council Front Door’ kicked off a broader review project, which included collating all the digital touchpoints for all the services the council provides.. which, as you might have guessed, there are many!
The last presentation of the day, but by no means least, was delivered by representatives from Wrexham Council (I’m told the journey from Wrexham to Swansea took as long as the journey from Amsterdam!). The team discussed how they used process mapping to improve customer journeys across several service areas, including bins and recycling requests, taxi license applications, housing repairs, blue badge applications, and to improve children’s social care.
Improving children’s social care was a topic the team delved into a little deeper. Driven by the data uncovered during the discovery phase, the Council built a well-being portal. Working cross-sector with a number of charities and specialist groups, the team built a platform that would support families with disabilities and additional needs. Before the platform was built, all the information was spread across several touchpoints, sometimes contradicting. The new well-being portal brought together all the relevant information, addressing affected residents’ pressing needs and concerns and being a one-stop shop for related queries.
With my background primarily in private sector organisations, I was impressed to learn that all the ambitious projects discussed during the day were not driven by the financial need to make savings but rather by the desire to improve services for some of the borough’s most vulnerable residents. This stood out, particularly for the Wrexham and Rhonnda Cynon Taff examples.
One of the most striking aspects of the event was the collaborative and supportive atmosphere in the room. Attendees from across Wales came together to share ideas, learn from one another, and explore potential solutions. There was a strong sense of community among those passionate about driving positive change in the public sector. While the individual circumstances may be nuanced, all these local authorities shared the same aim: implementing innovative strategies to streamline processes, reduce costs, and enhance service delivery for residents.
As Perago, we now have the chance to take a step back and reflect on the Creating the Culture for Change event. The insights and discussions from the days showed that there is a chance to build a forum for all these incredible changes and digital professionals to share knowledge and cooperate. Still, it needs to be built on momentum; so far, 100% of all sampled attendees have confirmed that they would like to make these events a regular occurrence. We’ll keep you posted as the next iteration of this event takes shape.
If you are interested in learning more about process improvement, transformation, and change management or would like to share your views on what was discussed in this blog, let me know!