the hr professional's guide to digital transformation

eduserv.org.uk

The HR Professional’s

Guide to Digital Transformation:

Becoming a Digital Leader inthe Public Sector

The HR Professional’s Guide to Digital Transformation:

Becoming a Digital Leader in the Public Sector

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Acknowledgements:

The support of the ‘Public Sector People Manager’s Association’ (PPMA), and the Eduserv

Executive Briefing Programme (EBP) has been essential in producing this unique guide for HR

professionals in the public sector. Each organisation has given time and expertise in the

production of this guide.

Particular thanks go to the EBP Manager, Natasha Veenendaal, who conducted the interviews,

structured the roundtable events, set up the webinar and undertook much of the survey analysis

work, including producing a report on the findings in 2017. Thanks also go to Wigan Council for

hosting a roundtable event, where much of the content was discussed. We are also grateful to a

wide range of individual PPMA experts for their contribution, especially Karen Grave the Vice

President of the PPMA. Louann Donald from the Local Government Association (LGA) has also

been especially helpful in reviewing and commenting on this guide.

The EBP carries out a range of independent and freely available digital research projects, aimed

at helping the public sector (and local government especially), to understand and to exploit

better technology and digital opportunity.



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Index:

1. Acknowledgements

2. Preface

3. Introduction to the Guide

4. Digital– What do we Mean?

5. Executive Board and Leadership Behaviours

6. Organisational Development, Design and Risk

7. Learning and Development

8. Culture, and the Impact of HR Policies

9. Democratic Processes and Politicians

10. Citizens, Partners and Suppliers

11. Conclusion – the Role of HR

12. Appendix A - Summary Infographic of this Guide

13. Appendix B - Post and Pre-Digital Age HR Characteristics

14. References and Other Material



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Preface:

This guide and the research on which it is based, has been carried out jointly by the ‘Public Sector

People Manager’s Association’ (PPMA), and the Eduserv Executive Briefing Programme (EBP). We are

grateful to the LGA who have reviewed and commented on the final draft.

It looks at the role of HR professionals in digital transformation – attitudes, roles, maturity, readiness

and approach to ‘digital’. It is based on broad and deep evidence-based research, including in-depth

surveys and interviews, workshops, a webinar and roundtable discussions across the UK, consulting

with a wide range of professionals within and outside HR.

Our work indicates that much needs to be done to reposition HR professionals more centrally in digital

transformation programmes in the public sector. It also suggests that a clearer explanation is needed

about what ‘digital’ really means in practice.

Today, as most organisations grapple with the impact of technology on existing business models,

clarity is increasingly important. In particular, since people lie at the centre of business transformation,

and ‘digital’ is truly transformational in terms of service design and delivery, then it is reasonable to

expect HR leaders to be at the heart of digital change programmes – designing new organisational

structures, processes, roles, cultures and performance systems. But too often this is not the case, and

this absence undermines the potential value and benefits from digital programmes.

This guide gives practical advice to HR professionals to help them to equip their organisations for the

future, by playing a more significant role in digital transformation and challenging the status quo. Not

all organisations will be ready for the scale of change envisaged in this guide - the pace and depth of

digital adoption in each organisation will in practice depend on individual HR leaders, their teams and

the organisation’s digital preparations.

If you don’t want to read it all, there’s a handy summary graphic at the end!

Caroline Nugent Jos Creese President Principal Analyst PPMA Eduserv EBP



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Introduction to the Guide:

Human Resources (HR) professionals are experts in business-optimisation through people – motivational techniques, skills, job design, recruitment, retention, behaviours, organisational development and more. These are the critical and sometimes poorly executed parts of digital transformation programmes.

‘Digital’, we are told, is more about ‘cultures and behaviours’ than it is about technology. Yet digital change programmes are often led by digital consultants, IT experts, heads of resources and specialist change managers, with HR professionals only having a passing advisory input.

Digital programmes succeed or fail because of people, not because of the technology:

• Not anticipating employee or citizen fear or concern about new methods

• Misjudging job and role impacts of new digital operating models

• Poor design of new automated processes that do not reflect how people work

• Poorly planned benefits realisation and user take-up incentives

• Over-selling IT benefits or ease of adoption, resulting in lost time and money.

Typically, successful digital programmes focus on customer and user benefits first and on efficiency second. Anticipating needs, preferences and the human aspect of change are more likely to deliver cost-savings and efficiency in the longer term, but the reverse is not true: designing digital programmes for efficiency without considering the human impact results in poor adoption practice and under-performance against business expectations.

Organisational Development (OD) components of digital change programmes are often complex and can easily be overlooked or marginalised. As a result, some digital transformation programmes end up being more about automation and new technology than about truly transforming what an organisation does and how it does it.

HR leaders need to re-evaluate their role in digital transformation and the contribution HR can bring. This may be an uncomfortable challenge to the HR profession itself, to consider new skills, style, cultures, principles of leadership and new HR processes and policies.

Public service organisations that embrace digital opportunities competently and effectively will be future leaders in service value, efficiency, productivity and ultimately the satisfaction of citizens. At the same time, over-ambition or setting expectations for digital benefits that then cannot be delivered, damages the reputation of digital programmes and those that lead them. It also creates unnecessary risks, distractions and resource wastage.

EBP research in 2017 showed that over 25% of HR professionals have no role whatsoever in leading or even influencing digital planning and delivery in their councils. This guide encourages HR professionals to be bold in assuming a bigger remit, to improve the success rate of digital programmes and the benefits that digital transformation can bring to their organisation, employees and, citizens. This includes challenging more strongly and more confidently the way digital programmes are conceived, designed and delivered to reflect user interests, needs, preferences and concerns.

HR professionals that are effective digital advocates and can lead digital programmes with the associated business change, will position themselves and the HR profession for the future – including becoming future CEOs.



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Digital – What Do We Mean?

Digital transformation is as little understood as it is an overused term. Many suppliers simply use the label of ‘digital’ to market technology, and many employees and public service leaders (HR included) either don't understand it or don't like to admit that they don’t. So, if you feel confused by the mixed messages of ‘digital’ and a lack of clarity about what it means in practice, don’t be too alarmed – you are not alone!

The problem is that a poor definition of 'digital transformation’ means that digital programmes tend to gravitate back to the technology and what technology potential has to offer. So, we talk about social media, web sites, automation, apps for mobile working, ‘big data’ and Internet of Things (IoT), and ‘digital’ becomes little more than a fashionable and new description for IT. This focus on technology rather than Organisational Development (OD), marginalises the importance of the HR role in business change enabled by technology.

Even the ‘self-service’ and ‘process automation’ offered by digital transformation programmes does not alone adequately describe a digital operating model, and tends to limit digital application to those service areas that already lend themselves best to technology improvement.

The first task for an organisation wanting to 'become digital' or to start a 'digital strategy', is to define the term. HR professionals should challenge any lack of clarity, since this impacts on the HR role in supporting culture and behaviour change and in the OD implications of ‘digital’.

At the same time, there is no strict dictionary definition of ‘digital’, (and neither should there be). Whilst there are common traits, the precise definition should be determined by each organisation, considering:

• Corporate strategy and political ambition, such as developing smart cities and devolution

• Business/service priorities of the organisation in key areas where digital can bring the greatestpositive impact

• Risk appetite and culture – corporately, politically and departmentally

• The sub-sector – different tiers, regions, type of public service may have a very differentapproach to digital

• Scale and complexity – some digital programme impacts are larger and more complex thanothers, and some organisations more diverse so digital change far-reaching

• Style of leadership – some organisations are more traditional than others, and ‘digital’ requiresa corporate, not a siloed approach

• Existing ‘inflight’ programmes – these may be difficult to adapt or change for digital adoptionin the short-term

• Capacity and capabilities of the organisation to undertake digital change

• Existing digital maturity and understanding – there may be inherent political and executivefear of technology for example

• The capacity for uptake– whether we are talking about using digital to transformworkforces or services to citizens. Consideration is needed about how to reach peoplewith digital methods - and if you can’t, then have a strategy in place to avoid anyonebecoming disenfranchised.



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At the same time, there are some common traits of digital, which can be used to help to define how digital will be applied within a public body. These traits are the areas where digital is likely to have an impact on traditional ways of working and style:

• Roles, pay, structures, responsibilities and performance methods are likely to change considerably, in all areas

• Corporate risk profiles, measures and management will need review, with a deepening and singular reliance on systems, electronic information, and new technology such as social media

• It impacts most, if not all HR policies, practices and measures

• Many of the processes and practices across the organisation will change, some become automated, others outsourced and some integrated in new ways around employee need

• It changes many of the processes and practices in dealing with customers and suppliers, with less intervention and more self-service

• Operational activity in professional areas such as HR, Finance, IT and Legal services is reduced significantly, with a greater balance of effort on development and strategy

• Employees, suppliers, managers, politicians and citizens become more empowered, which can feel threatening and destabilising entrenched cultures

• It changes decision-making and other democratic processes in favour of faster, transparent, data-driven methods that empower politicians, citizens and front-line staff

• It challenges the board and leadership styles, including some traditional leadership models that have served well in the past.

Sometimes ‘new technology’ means ‘new equipment’. So, for some people who’ve never used new

technology (say, tablets such as iPads etc.) the way they learn can be fundamentally changed and

usually there is a need to overhaul training strategies and methods.

3 Key Actions for HR Leaders:

• Make sure you know how your organisation defines ‘digital’ .. and if it’s not clear in terms of the ‘human’ aspects of business change, then challenge it!

• Be able to describe how HR professionals can support digital – as a strategy and for programmes – in practical terms

• Specifically, for HR leaders, consider the changes that you need to make to HR itself in readiness for digital operation.

What is

DIGITAL

?

“Digital changes roles, structures, governance,

services, processes, risk models, policies, styles and

cultures…pretty much everything…

It is not about more, or new IT in isolation. Start with a

vision of what it will mean for users, whether they be

citizens, politicians, employees, suppliers or partners.”



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Executive Board and Leadership Behaviours

Research by Eduserv and others repeatedly show that the key to digital transformation success lies in

leadership from the top – the CEO and the executive team, cascading through middle and senior

management.

It is not always easy for a board of experienced professionals to become familiar and comfortable with new digital ways of working when they have probably built successful careers and business practice from a pre-digital age. A comprehensive move to digital operation can seem risky, alien and threatening to existing business models, programmes of work or customer service.

It is therefore important for an HR leader to understand this, and ensure individual board members and other stakeholders are also supported through what is a significant cultural change for them in moving to a digital operating model

HR need to address these fears and concerns, which may not be voiced for fear of seeming out of date, out of touch or just showing weakness. Leadership support is vital, and HR are best placed to help establish suitable support infrastructure which is sensitive and targeted.

This includes ensuring that senior managers are:

• Confident and competent in digital methods, able to lead by example in adopting digital tools and methods, and seeking support when needed

• Demonstrating leadership styles and policies that are appropriate to digital working, not clinging to traditional leadership techniques (old-style ‘management’ or even ‘supervision’) if they are no longer suitable.

• Able to take and to define managed risks in moving to digital operation, beyond the intention to become ‘digital’ – those risks are not the same as the traditional risks that have faced councils

• Willing to cede responsibilities to digital programmes outside departmental silos to achieve digital consistency and to make decisions to shift resources (people and money) to reflect digital priorities

• Confident in how to deal with cultural resistance to digital change, even in their own departments, and take difficult decisions in favour of digital methods, dealing firmly with non-compliance

• Making ‘digital’ a board level issue, for example in personally sponsoring digital programmes often across traditional departmental leadership boundaries

• Competent in information analysis and data management. In the digital world councils are increasingly data-driven, and senior managers need to bring new skills to unlock potential, ‘intelligence’ resource into business value. They also need to understand the new risks and roles that data-driven businesses will have.

Significantly, this requires a strong corporate cohesion – joint accountability and decision-making across the executive board for cross-business digital activity. This may require some departmental responsibilities to be ceded elsewhere, challenging traditional boundaries of sovereignty. This is because ‘digital’ is almost entirely a cross-cutting activity, where processes need to be redefined across boundaries and common digital functions are integrated across business streams of activity.



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In the past, corporate priorities were often determined by:

• Who has the biggest budget and team?

• Who has the biggest business problems?

• Who carries the biggest clout, shout or sway with the CEO?

These are all counter to the ethos of digital operation where different departmental interests must cede sovereignty to the corporate digital programme, at least for a period. Digital ethos demands leaders who are by nature collaborative influencers, able to define a vision and create a climate for this to be delivered through others. There is less place for the all-powerful hero-leaders.

Informal team groupings that cross professional teams and matrix management can help to break down artificial boundaries. For example, directors of HR, IT and Finance working together routinely to support their respective professional activity and to ensure cohesion of corporate service support in transformation programmes is a powerful example of breaking down boundaries.

Digital leaders need to be comfortable taking decisions based on their own review of data and information with consultation and advice, but often with less certainty, greater delegation, increased transparency and more accountability. This is a faster-moving world, with faster decision-making and the ability to adapt and adjust as necessary rather than pursuing a fixed and pre-determined path.

HR can assist in identifying any short-comings in ‘corporateness’ and help to make the case for digital collaboration across board functions, working with the board as a whole and the CEO in particular.

This may not be easy, and the CEO’s attitude to digital will be a determining factor. However, on the basis that the CEO understands and seeks the benefits that digital programmes can offer, they will be amenable to ensuring the board acts cohesively to achieve these ends.

HR need to ensure that there are an appropriate set of leadership guidance, support, policies, practice and behaviours in place to support a modern digital business providing public services, so that all senior executives not just fully support the direction of travel, but role model behaviours which will drive the adoption of a digital culture.



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• Develop a set of leadership policies, competencies and behaviours that align with digital working, agreed with the board for cascading through the organisation

• Challenge outdated leadership styles constructively across the business, especially where silos are embedded, and corporate attitudes are weakest

• Specifically, for HR Leaders, work closely with your CEO to ensure top backing for your role and the importance of this topic emanating from the top.



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Organisational Development, Design and Risk … new business

models

Digital is a fundamental shift, impacting everything about an organisation. It is, in effect, the biggest Organisational Development and Design (OD) challenge facing HR since the industrial and agricultural revolutions, and HR didn’t exist then!

Indeed, it is arguable if we had had the benefit of HR professional guidance through past revolution the human cost would have been lower, the change would have happened more quickly and smoothly, and the benefits would have been felt more quickly.

Therefore, in planning for a move to digital, HR need to be closely involved in a holistic approach to business change:

This takes time and capacity, and many organisations simply do not give enough resource to this activity, simply using HR professionals to assist with job-redesign and workforce reprofiling and restructuring (often just recruitment and redundancies).

To be successful, a digital programme must justify itself with more than fact-based business cases and benefits realisation plans. Overcoming cultural resistance needs to be part of the change plan, with sufficient capabilities and capacity dedicated, with the authority to act.



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Often, only small changes are needed in OD to create a ripple effect that cascades across an organisation. In other words, once a change takes hold and a critical mass of support is reached, digital change takes over and dominates. So, whilst proper preparation for digital change is necessary, the fear and concerns over the impact are often mitigated by doing it rather than just thinking about it. Areas where HR needs to be involved in this process include:

This is going to be highly disruptive to existing methods of working and ingrained employee and team habits. HR professionals have their work cut out in being open with employees and leadership teams about the scale of the change, which more often than not means restructuring and job reprofiling (new roles, new responsibilities and even fewer jobs in some areas). Openness about how the organisations will be impacted is essential:

• Most roles and activity will change with a growing dependence on technology from automation to self-service. The new skills required should strengthen career options

• There will be fewer traditional roles over time, but new roles will emerge and many of the repetitive roles will be automated where appropriate

• A willingness to change and a positive attitude to digital is essential and there will always be a place for people with digital skills and enthusiasm about the future.



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• Define the sphere of HR influence in digital and seek Corporate Leadership Team level endorsement of the vision for future HR OD

• Create an HR change management competency framework that supports cultural change and business case models for digital

• Be open about the impact of digital on ways of working, job roles, structures but sell the positive benefits too.



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Learning and Development in a Digital World

Eduserv Executive Briefing Programme research in 2017 indicated that over 40% of councils lack any sort of plan to address internal digital skills gaps. Yet this is against a backdrop of a growing global shortage of these skills which is pushing up salaries and making recruitment and retention more difficult. Perhaps more worrying is that the EBP research also found that only about 3% of HR professionals in councils rate the digital literacy of front line staff as good.

This area therefore, is an urgent area for HR professionals to address, not least because today over 50% of councils already report significant dependence on external consultants and contractors to fill the digital skills gap, adding pressure to already reduced budgets and the morale of internal staff with severe public sector pay constraints.

Digital development has turned Learning and Development (L&D) on its head. Facts are (arguably) easy to come by on the internet, so learning facts is less important, provided you know how to check information provenance, and tools do much more of the analysis and interpretation than was possible in the past. Learning methods have moved away from traditional classrooms to ‘massive open online courses’ (MOOC) and a range of digital mentoring and coaching services.

Yet in the workplace many employees still expect to be spoon-fed on training course on everything from IT to systems, and professional disciplines. Moreover, some see IT skills as still being limited to how to use common systems such as Microsoft word, or Twitter or a corporate system. Yet these should no longer need formal training, given reference material and self-help on the web, and assuming new systems are well-designed for use. Basic IT is a skill that employees should expect to have, along with verbal, written and numeric competency.

Digital skills required today are very different, including being aware of risks on line, handling data, data protection, information provenance assessment, data analytics, reporting skills, common digital security practice and practical technology application in a variety of areas and subjects:



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HR professionals should reflect this in L&D practice and strategy:

• Ensuring employees are self-motivated in developing core IT skills if they lack them

• Working with IT and systems teams to create intuitive, self-explanatory systems

• Noting that IT skills are expected and that the willingness to adapt and to work in different ways is key to digital learning

• Creating a mentoring network and targeted training where necessary in addition to establish sustainable digital core skills.

This can be targeted on three levels of digital competency:

One of the challenges for HR professionals is building internal capacity and competency levels – deciding which skills should be held in house and which should be bought or brought in from outside. This includes the use of contractors, consultants and outsourcing arrangements.

In the past parts of the public sector have stored up problems by following dogma held about insourcing or outsourcing IT. There is no ‘right or wrong’ answer, but the methods can be costly if poorly deployed:

• Over-dependence on the private sector for IT service where the risks, complexity and future need for flexibility is misunderstood

• Long-term locking-in to complex IT service contracts and outsourcing that prove inflexible and increasingly expensive to improve or change



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• Retaining contracts at high cost long-term, with morale issues for internal staff, poor skills transfer or IR35 risks

• Attempts to retain scarce skills in a few people in house where the salaries do not reflect the marketplace and the risk of sudden skill loss or gradual erosion is significant.

So, whilst aspects of technology services and support are today ‘off the shelf’ utility functions, readily outsourced or acquired through ‘cloud’ services, other digital skills are essential to nurture in-house since the organisation will depend on them for wider corporate strategy and asset management (such as people, data, buildings, systems and knowledge).

The trick here is to define the balance of internal and external resources:

• Which skills are core skills and should be held by all staff?

• Which specialist digital skills should be developed in house because they are long-term needs, cheaper to operate and of strategic importance (e.g. around data and cyber risk)?

• What are the new digital skills likely to be needed over the next 5 years (e.g. in response to the General Data Protection Regulation, GDPR) and which need to be held in house?

• Which skills are temporary or best bought/brought in from external help to accelerate change or to reduce risk on digital programmes?

Much of this is a balance of risk, cost and pace, but in a digital model, existing contracts and the principles will need to be re-examined. This is an area where HR should be involved to establish a corporate approach, not leaving this to each area to decide independently.


• Define carefully the types of digital skills expected of all staff relevant to their roles now and in the next 5 years as digital working becomes more embedded

• Develop resources and corporately endorsed learning and development strategies which define how digital skills are acquired, replacing outdated training methods and materials

• Define (but be prepared to adapt) which skills should be nurtured internally and where skills and capacity should be brought in.



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Culture and the Impact of HR Policies

HR arguably has the biggest impact on the culture of an organisation, after the style of the executive team. 'They are the professional group that is responsible on behalf of the organisation for working with key stakeholders to set the approach to recruitment, responsibilities, retention policies, rewards and incentives, flexible working, and many other areas, all of which affect employees’ behaviours and their freedom to act.

It is these things that can accelerate or hold back a move to becoming a digital service. Staff that are frightened about breaking these rules, or being labelled ‘maverick’ if they explore new digital methods outside their pre-defined responsibilities, will always play safe and stick with the traditional ways that are more likely to be safe and not ‘career limiting’.

Culture

Broadly speaking, culture defines ‘how we do things around here’. It is not something that is easily defined, neither does it change easily. It requires time, careful ‘nudging’ and precise targeting of the behaviours required to make the culture required a reality.

That culture particularly emanates from the top of the organisation where the behaviour of leaders substantially impacts staff. But in a modern organisation deploying tools such as social media, new cultures can emerge from anywhere in the organisation. HR leadership can help create the right climate for a culture to be defined and delivered. Digital methods in particular are designed to empower for example, and impact culture and behaviours in many ways already mentioned.

However well-designed, new digital systems will underperform if not supported by the necessary culture that embraces digital methods. This is much more than simply trying to explain the merits of digitisation. For example:

• If it is ok for employees to find work-arounds to digital practices they don’t like and hold on to their old ways of working, then they will do so

• If the main board do not lead by example in adopting digital methods, or do not act ‘as one’ in supporting corporate digital programmes this will undermine digital leadership

• If change management practices are weak or limited in terms of the people aspects of change then change will inevitably be painful or even unsuccessful

• If there is not a consistent focus on change over a period.

Sometimes, after a training period and a bout of publicity and staff communications, there is an assumption that the job is done. But embedding culture change requires ongoing focus and measurement over a longer time span and many organisations completely miss this as they move on to the next project.

Resistance to change may also be magnified in a digital model, because the impact is far-reaching, and, in a traditional corporate environment such as local government, old habits go back many years and are embedded across the organisation, often in middle management cultures.

HR needs to consider carefully how such cultures can be changed.

Roles and Responsibilities

Employees in a traditional organisation usually have clearly defined roles and tasks with a ‘hard-coded’ hierarchical structure. Processes are often hierarchical too, with decision-making steps defined along



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specific action paths through senior leadership. Structures tend to be siloed, with limited connections across different parts of the organisation, resulting in specialised processes optimised for each area rather than corporately.

Digital operation requires a fundamental review of the so-called ‘back office functions’ in particular, streamlining and integrating previously separate functions and processes to create a range of new cross-cutting roles and automated self-service. This is not about ‘front office good back office bad’ – it is about streamlining processes and designing a deeper integration from back to front of service delivery. After all, in a digital model, some so called ‘back office’ functions suddenly become front office through digital self-service, such web transactions and corporate support services become even more essential to front line delivery – such as legal, HR, finance, IT, etc).

This often requires HR to undertake significant restructuring, review of job descriptions, performance reviews, employee development and recruitment. It also is likely to create some conflict - hence the need to ensure top board support, and a robust yet supportive approach from HR.

IT can be an area for worry for HR professionals wanting to ensure that new ‘digital’ changes do expose the organisation to risk of non-compliance with legislation or other less defined risks. HR professionals need to strike the balance between identifying and quantifying the risks of digital change to the business and to people, without becoming a perceived a barrier to change.

For many younger job seekers, organisations which do not use modern tools at work or empower their employees through digital means are less attractive (such as a resistance to mobile and flexible working, the use of social media, personal smartphone use, free choice of digital apps and so on). This is often obvious in recruitment methods. So, HR practitioners need to consider reviewing recruitment practice, style and methods if councils are recruit and retain future talent.

Rewards and Performance

HR has two often conflicting roles:

• To work with key stakeholders and ensure that managers are able to nurture and develop the potential of employees, ensuring that support, training and development maximise the potential of individuals and their ability to perform

• To ensure effective performance regimes exist – including ensuring that managers are equipped to deal with the less pleasant aspects of managing poor or unacceptable performance.

In a digital model, both of these are affected. HR still needs to support managers to be able to nurture employees and design effective performance systems, but the way this is done changes:

• ‘Nurturing’ in this context is about empowering employees to act more frequently, but equipping them with the skills and techniques to do this in a public service context where there is still a higher degree of definition in processes, governance systems and job descriptions than in other industries

• An internal ‘nanny culture’ which protects employees from themselves is replaced with greater common sense and personal responsibility in a digital model – many HR policies need to be amended, reduced or removed altogether, allowing employees to experiment and stretch the boundaries of what they do in the interest of outcomes desired

• Performance targets must be more flexible – often broader and looser, with more judgement made about attitude and effectiveness not just measurable delivery against pre-defined targets, e.g., quantitative and qualitative measures co-habiting.



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Notably, HR needs to shift corporate incentives away from maintaining the status quo, towards continuous change, noting that in a digital culture, traditional methods are often rewarding the wrong people, doing the wrong things in the wrong way for the wrong reasons.

HR Policies

HR leaders therefore need to carefully consider the wide range of existing HR practice, policies and procedures and whether there are digital enablers or digital limitations. Changes will need to be agreed with the Corporate Leadership Team (CLT), since to be effective, backing of the top table is essential.

In particular, HR policies should be minimised in number and length but still support current legislation. In the past, many HR policies and practices were intended to define boundaries that focused on managing risk at the expense of other considerations. But in a digital model, long and outdated policies are too constraining and out of touch with how a modern public service needs to operates.

Whilst public sector can learn from start-up businesses that do not follow a traditional approach, instead opting for few or even no HR policies beyond those necessary to meet statutory commitments and safety; it still needs to find a balance with its regulatory and democratic obligations. For start-ups, the lack of this legacy that allows fast response to change and to compete with the more established businesses using digital means, many of which give competitive edge and business agility.

These start up criteria increasingly apply as much to the public sector, given the pressure to deal with austerity, cuts, growing public demands, digital expectations of citizens, shared services and digital suppliers. The ability to increase efficiency and productivity whilst retaining and attracting the best staff within a public sector environment requires a new approach.



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Some changes are easy and should be made quickly. Consider for example the monthly or weekly team meetings – are they really needed? Do they need to be held in the same place? Why not use videoconferencing or reconsider the whole purpose and way in which team meetings are conducted using digital means? This does not preclude the social value of a team meet – but that is rarely the defined purpose.

HR policies and practice must therefore support a digital culture with its associated new styles of working and new roles.



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Whilst HR has a key role, it can also become left behind itself, because IT has not in the past been

central to HR practice: HR is, after all, about people not ‘technology’. In the past, technology has just

been a means to an end for HR functions, a tool to use – not an instrument for cultural change.

As a result, HR itself as a profession is often not in the vanguard of digital addition, perhaps because of a nervousness about technology which can depersonalise and disenfranchise. This is why HR must address its own internal digital culture. EBP research in 2017 shows that 2/3rds of council HR strategies lack any reference to digital impact and over 60% do not promote digital skills in either recruitment or in employee performance measures.


• Review all HR (and related) policies to see which are counter to digital operation and prioritise a programme to refresh these across the councils backed by CLT

• Set some practical scenarios of how digital working will look in the future – for example in areas such as recruitment and team working

• Ensure that this considers HR itself, being able to set a lead in adopting digital ethos and practices for others to follow.



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Democratic Processes and Politicians

Much of the activity of the public sector, and government in particular, centres on democracy:

• Political policy and priority setting - e.g. both national and local party manifestos

• Decision-making, often in public - e.g. expenditure, procurement and resource priorities

• Representing public interests - e.g. holding surgeries and consultation, using open data

• Consultation on key changes - such as planning, road closures, service changes.

There is a whole machinery to make this work openly and effectively, including formal and informal briefings, written reports and proposals, meetings and scrutiny panels, decision-making boards, committees and cabinets, mayoral functions. In addition, in cross-service areas there are also elected Police and Crime Commissioners and various politically-led boards for health and social care.

Whilst some these may seem like costly overheads that slow down decision-making, they are also critical parts of democracy and our ability, as citizens, to hold our publicly funded services to account. Digitalisation offers the scope to simplify, streamline, reduce costs and to speed up decision-making, without compromising public scrutiny, challenge and wider involvement:

• Transparency can be achieved in other ways (or alongside) public meetings

• Self-service of information and support applies to politicians, not just to citizens and staff

• Discussion and communications for making decisions does not need to be done in formal meetings with long and complex reports

• A different style of information analysis and insight can be used to support decisions, such as using social media analytics, artificial intelligence and video content

• Electronic systems and information available to all, with appropriate analysis tools, can avoid the need for long and complex research and reports.

This is not to say that the traditional means of conducting government business should be replaced, but it does mean that there is an opportunity to remove some of the layers of hierarchy and process that slow down decision-making and add significantly to overheads from the top to the bottom of organisations such as councils. Importantly, digital means can empower citizens and politicians.

It is essential that the human aspects of this redesign are considered carefully to avoid:

• Discrimination or digital disenfranchisement

• Bias in political processes and decision-making, or even election and other fraud

• Loss of trust and confidence in the transparency of government

• Fear of (or reality of) depersonalisation or becoming out of touch with community needs.

Politicians, such as councillors in local government, whether they have specific IT or digital responsibilities, need to be comfortable in using modern IT. This is both to ensure they understand and can support digital change programmes, but also so that they do not, inadvertently, slow down digital development by demanding retention of traditional methods for their own functional activity. This would create a huge knock-on burden for a council, given the deep impact of democratic practices within a council.

Typical skills required as identified as important for politicians in our roundtable discussions include:



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• Competency in the use of modern IT (e.g. tablets, systems, apps, social media)

• Navigating systems to ‘self-serve’ data, information and common transactions

• Understanding social media opportunity for citizen engagement and service design

• Recognising and being alert to cyber security risks

• Virtual meeting skills and digital methods to support modern, digital democracy.

In Many councils the majority of councillors use technology, and paper is avoided wherever possible.

Councillors are expected to use digital means, undertake personal research on line, using electronic

papers and agenda for meetings and not depend on traditional paper-based spoon-feeding from a

team of democratic services officers.

Many politicians are already aware of the power of digital methods to influence, control and win elections (look at the impact of social media on the EU and Scottish independence referenda in the UK, and the US elections). It is not surprising that many of the newly elected mayors have set their digital agenda high in their list priorities. Advocacy and leadership for digital by politicians can have a powerful and positive effects on the success of digital programmes.

HR should work closely with political leaders on digital programmes and priorities, especially members with a specific mandate for IT and digital. This includes raising awareness and stressing the importance of culture and behavioural change. HR can also provide help with digital mentoring or support, for example, on a one-to-one basis or as part of member induction training.

This can help to ensure that politicians are willing and able to adopt and to promote digital working methods and the digitalisation of democratic systems. It can also help to ensure there are politicians able and willing to become ‘digital champions’ in the interest of transparency, customer service, efficiency and modernisation. In an ideal world, politicians are well-placed to lead digital change, given the fundamental impact on services, citizen, democracy, efficiency and devolution.

There is also a role for HR in related areas such as ‘smart places’ and ‘smart city’ development as ambassadors for changing working practices, encouraging partners and others to support the benefits of digital on the wider regional economy and jobs market.


• Ensure HR has a key part to play in reviewing digital impact on democratic processes across the council, advising politicians and CMT to accelerate digital adoption

• Risks of digital change on democratic processes need to be considered carefully and minimised. Given many of these are ‘human issues’, HR has an important part to play.

• HR leaders in particular, need to work directly with political leaders to encourage digital adoption generally and to provide digital support, such as in member induction and elections.



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Citizens, Partners and Suppliers

Digital activity must be centred around user needs and citizens in particular, if it is to be successful:

• Simple and intuitive access, designed around citizens preferences, not internal organisational structures or unconnected individual electronic transactions

• Automation wherever helpful, using artificial intelligence engines and self-service systems to avoid the need for manual intervention

• Carefully designed ‘hand-offs’ of service requests from electronic to personal support or mediated help, where complexity, risk or need requires

• Being able to deal with growing service demands with reducing budgets – especially in areas such as health and social care

• Reflecting changing public attitudes and a younger, digitally literate generation in particular, who expect access to all services at any time, in any place with any device.

It is not difficult to design electronic systems for secure, direct public access (though a little harder to do so across multiple inter-connected technologies). What is hard is understanding how best to do this from the user point of view. Collaborative design with citizens which genuinely reflects (and anticipate) needs and preferences is challenging and time consuming. But it does deliver better and more sustainable outcomes that are more productive and more efficient.

The same is also true for services used by other external parties and in the growing number of external relationships, as services become joined up and integrated across the organisation, e.g.:

• Ensuring all suppliers can interact electronically in a consistent fashion (yet straightforwardly) for orders, invoices, tendering and work tracking

• Considering supply chains in a digital model and how these are best designed for ease of business activity and control

• Supporting shared service systems where commonality of IT is expected, and necessary but political and business priorities will not be identical across different partners.

In all these external relationships, understanding the needs and the expectations of the user community and working with them in the design, delivery and on-going development of services is essential to success. Without it, take up will be low or trust may even be lost. This happened in some of the attempts bring digital methods to the NHS. The principles of human design characteristics that apply to internal digital transformation programmes are, therefore, typically the same for externally-facing digitalisation, and HR should, once again, be central to this aspect of technology-driven change.


• HR has a key part to play in designing citizen facing digital services to maximise take-up and trust in those systems – make sure you take that part

• Supplier interactions and shared service systems design also need HR input to be effective

• HR leaders in particular, should ensure user-centric digital principles are developed and adopted to create a common approach in access design, inclusivity and usability.



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Conclusion – The Role of HR

Local Government has an acknowledged ability to streamline, innovate and to collaborate, more so than other parts of the public sector. Often quietly and with little publicity, it is making bold strides in digital adoption with relatively limited budgets compared for example with the recognition and resources seen in central government.

Yet there is so much more that needs to be done, and it is often the human aspects of digital change that hold back exploitation, not the limitations or robustness of technology. For this to be successful, HR needs to take centre stage in defining impacts and opportunities from digital, helping to design for users – whether internal or external.

This means they need a deeper awareness and knowledge of digital and IT – what is possible, risks, and the best approach to digital design and implementation. Developing a digital skills plan for HR itself is therefore advisable, using this guide as a basis. This is not about trying to make HR ‘geeky’, but it is about shaking off a ‘soft and fluffy’ persona and making HR business-fit for the future.

This discussion aligns with a broader piece of research that was undertaken by the University of Birmingham (UoB), titled the ‘21st Century Public Servant’ (CPS). This work identifies 10 characteristics which exemplify the worker, and workforce of the future. Digital is both an enabler and a fundamental dependency for delivering such workers (and workforces).

PPMA continues to work with UoB, LGA and the Society for Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE) to define what this workforce looks like in practice. Additional research on the ‘21st

Century Councillor’ by the UoB looks at elected members which is critical to the previous discussion on Democratic Processes and Politicians. It is wholly reasonable to suggest that aligning these critical research outcomes with a digital strategy is a key step in integrating digital with HR & OD practice in a way as to make them seamless.

This current guide is for HR professionals, particularly those who work in the public sector and especially those in local government. It seeks to explain why their role in digital transformation is so important and how they can get more involved and take a more central role.

There is much material here, but we hope it will help to guide HR professionals and allow a new conversation to take place about the role of HR. The Infographic at Appendix A summarise the whole document as a shortened ‘ready reckoner’.



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HR professionals have yet, in general, to grasp their true place in the digital world, and we are all the poorer as a result. Our research identified that some HR professionals find digital challenging and IT unappealing. Some of the negative impacts of this include:

• Digital programmes that fail because they do not spend adequate attention to the impact onpeople, roles and training

• Technology that is not effectively used because it is badly designed or implemented or justpoorly supported through transition from old ways of working

• Take up by citizens of new digital services is below plan or potential because of citizenconcerns, such as confidence in data and confidentiality or intuitiveness of design.

To resolve this requires more than organisational awareness of the true cultural and human implications of digital transformation. It requires HR as a profession to change, dispensing with many of the practices, methods and policies that have served well in the past, in a pre-digital age, as described in Appendix B.



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Appendix A



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Appendix B

Pre-Digital Age HR Leadership: Digital-Age HR Leadership:

STR

ATE

GY

HR is involved in the IT strategy of the organisation, leading on HR aspects of ERP delivery and the development of personnel policies regarding computer and data use. HR strategy tends to say little about technology although there is recognition that business change and technology are linked.

HR is central in the development of cross-cutting digital strategy, such as process co-design, risk modelling, citizen interfaces, business value and productivity measurement. The HR strategy has digital components throughout it, defining the culture, activity and priorities of a digital business providing public services. There is a single digital road map for the organisation, with a leadership board including HR which has a mandate over every service area and department. Operational HR activity is for the most part automated and HR become strategic advisors.

CU

LTU

RE

HR helps to shape the culture of the business through policies and procedures – such as performance methods, recruitment, pay and disciplinary matters. However, the model tends to see IT as a tool, often optional. Whilst electronic self-service may exist for leave requests and managers may be comfortable with IT, technology is there to support the business, to respond to business needs, not to drive and create change.

HR sets the culture by defining new ways of working in a digital model with new rewards systems, greater flexibility and few policies that define what is ‘right’. HR is closely involved in defining new risks from digital, which tend to be people-based (understanding technology, keeping safe, knowing digital risks and making appropriate judgements about them). Technology is an opportunity that defines new ways of working, not just to support them, and through HR support all employees are digitally literate, aware of their digital responsibilities and contribute to digital innovation.

LEA

DER

SHIP

an

d S

KIL

LS

HR has a place on the main board and support leadership programmes, training and development, including using e-learning methods. HR leaders will be competent at project management and methods. Technical skills may be necessary but most skills required are based on traditional business activities – numeracy, literacy, projects, management. Most staff would rate themselves as technically competent, but not digitally literate.

HR deploys a wide range of new learning methods and self-development, including Moodle. HR supports and develops digital leadership programmes defining new styles of management. Long established non-digital processes and working practices are challenged openly and positively, led by HR. In a digital model, a range of new skills are defined, required and supported in learning and development – e.g. change leadership, digital modelling, information architecture, system etc., and all staff embrace cultural change from digital operation.

PER

FOR

MA

NC

E

Performance methods are carefully defined for different levels of feedback, SMART target setting and career development. There is effective monitoring and reporting of performance by individuals, teams and projects to track performance in terms of cost and benefits, with routine reviews of progress.

More fluid methods of performance based more on business impact in a fast-moving changeable environment and less on pre-determined traditional metrics. Back office and front office definitions are rejected in terms of a new integrated and fully digitised process. Value outcomes from digital investments are part of chief office performance targets and IT performance is measured in terms of digital outcomes not IT in isolation.



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SER

VIC

E D

ESIG

N a

nd

CU

STO

MER

HR involvement in service design is very limited – this is left to customer services managers and line of business leaders. In the organisation, most processes may be automated for electronic delivery, with the necessary IT resourcing, but HR leadership on these is somewhat limited. HR will be involved in web design and the organisations may already adopt customer services such as ‘live chat’ for staff and citizens. Customer choice is prioritised, whether for staff or citizens, recognising not everyone is ready for ‘digital’.

HR is closely involved in service design as ‘use architects’ and ‘digital by default’ is the norm. HR help to ensure necessary digital support networks are in place, such as intermediaries and online help. This reflects how people will use systems and therefore how they can be designed (and co-designed) for maximum take-up and effectiveness. Structures are redesigned and defined in the organisation around service users and digital methods, not just on traditional efficiency grounds, and are expected to change dynamically around a common digital platform, processes and working practices. HR involvement incudes the digital interface with staff, partners, suppliers, leaders, politicians and ultimately the public. Choice of access is more limited with digital, but designed around the customer need and supported by HR practices. Technology is integrated, not bolted onto service design, whilst ensuring no one is left behind in the move to digital delivery.

TEC

HN

OLO

GY

HR is typically not heavily involved in technology and IT in general, leaving this to the IT department. Even where HR ERP systems are concerned, this is not often in the vanguard of technology exploitation, with over-complicated and poorly integrated solutions (e.g. role profiles linked to security systems). Whilst the IT may be outstanding, the organisation is not yet fully digital.

HR is heavily involved in technology across the business, ensuring that design and implementation is holistic – such as skills linked to cyber security, role profiles, performance methods and tools for employee productivity. Tools such as ‘social media’, ‘cloud’, cyber security, ‘big data’, video and tele conferencing, identity management etc are understood by HR, but seen as tools to support new ways of working. HR is closely involved in defining what is needed from IT in creating a digital platform, capacity, capability, methods, principles of digital and the prioritisation of IT activity to achieve this.

INN

OV

ATI

ON

HR is typically there to assist the business with change, not to drive the change in the first place. They will lead on aspects of restructuring and role profile adaptation. Internal and external transactions will be available on line, social media is widely used and mobile and flexible working is commonplace

HR is at the heart of digital transformation, fundamentally redefining what the organisation does and how it does it. HR professionals are seen as a source of digital leadership, change management, entrepreneurial activity and digital innovation.



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References and Other Material Resources

The 21st Century Public Servant: https://21stcenturypublicservant.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/21-

century-report-281014.pdf

The 21st Century Public Servant Summary:

https://21stcenturypublicservant.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/21-century-report-4-pg-report.pdf

The 21st Century Councillor: https://21stcenturypublicservant.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/the-

21st-century-councillor-main-report.pdf

The 21st Century Councillor Summary:

https://21stcenturypublicservant.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/4-page-summary-report-the-21st-

century-councillor.pdf

https://21stcenturypublicservant.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/21-century-report-281014.pdf

https://21stcenturypublicservant.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/21-century-report-281014.pdf

https://21stcenturypublicservant.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/21-century-report-4-pg-report.pdf

https://21stcenturypublicservant.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/the-21st-century-councillor-main-report.pdf

https://21stcenturypublicservant.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/the-21st-century-councillor-main-report.pdf

https://21stcenturypublicservant.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/4-page-summary-report-the-21st-century-councillor.pdf

https://21stcenturypublicservant.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/4-page-summary-report-the-21st-century-councillor.pdf



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About Eduserv EBP

Eduserv is a not-for-profit IT services provider dedicated to helping public sector organisations and charities to

make better use of their IT.

The Eduserv Executive Briefing Programme (EBP) provides independent opinion and peer learning, helping the

public sector to take advantage of digital.

For more information on this research and the work of the EBP, or to get more involved with our research,

reports and events, please contact Natasha Veenendaal, Executive Briefing Programme Manager:

[email protected]

About the PPMA The Public Services People Managers Association (PPMA) is the first-choice association for Human Resources

and Organisational Development professionals working within the public sector. We are a collective voice for a

highly qualified, passionate, committed and diverse public services HR and OD community. We play a critical

role in influencing key decision-makers and stakeholders involved in people management and workforce issues.

Copyright © 2017 by Eduserv and copyright © 2018 by the PPMA and Copyright © 2018 by Jos Creese.

This guide is owned jointly by Eduserv, the PPMA and Jos Creese (the Primary Author). Eduserv and the PPMA can make use of all their contents for its own use, without limit. This includes reproducing and transmitting in any form, or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher or the Primary Author. The Primary Author retains full copyright of all the diagrams and tables herein.

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