Working within local government has been an attractive prospect for millions over the years, offering the opportunity to serve their local community and enjoy the benefits associated with a career in the public sector.
However, with budget cuts aplenty and a reported 500,000 redundancies in the 2010s, according to UNISON, serious thought needs to go into how to not only retain existing staff but also incentivise the next generation to join the sector
More turbulence is underway with the proposed local government reforms, so the results of a Trades Union Congress survey are perhaps understandable – it revealed nearly 40% of public sector workers were actively considering or taking steps towards leaving their job.
But all of this change doesn’t have to spell disaster for council recruitment and retention – in fact, it could provide the very catalyst needed to prompt leaders to rethink their workforce strategies, ensuring they are future-fit and fully embrace the potential of digital transformation.
What makes a good future-fit workplace strategy?
Solid recruitment and retention policies are helpful at any time, but during times of significant change they become crucial. With reform underway, the constant introduction of new technology, and continued economic uncertainty, there is a real melting pot of current concerns, which only serve to highlight the importance of having effective strategies in place.
There are multiple aspects to ensuring long-term success and adapting to the evolving workplace conditions, including ensuring individual career development through a continuous learning culture, implementing data-driven decision-making underpinned by practical digital tools, and developing robust talent management practices.
Ultimately, the best strategies lead to higher staff retention, which in turn stabilises the authority and ensures the retention of skills and knowledge. A by-product of this stability is that leaders can refocus on implementing valuable transformation programmes. By utilising the latest technological advances, they can achieve efficiencies without staff cuts and maximise productivity while avoiding overworking teams.
The role of digital transformation
Generalised fears about new technology, particularly AI, replacing people have been circulating for several years – but, according to the Office for National Statistics, local government staff are among those least at risk.
This should give leaders the confidence to reassure staff that digital transformation is a means to assist them rather than a threat. Effective communication and engagement – across the board, not just within digital transformation projects – should enable staff to understand how utilising technology truly can support them and their team going forward, which will then decrease resistance and optimise support for adopting new tools and processes.
The roll-out of new technology is intrinsically linked with ensuring a future-fit workplace, not only because outdated legacy systems become obsolete, but also because the right tools will automate repetitive tasks, allowing staff to focus on more rewarding, higher-value tasks.
Ask local government staff whether their job satisfaction comes from inputting data or directly supporting a resident with a complex query, and it’s clear which they will choose. That’s why local authorities need to change the narrative around technology. Staff need to understand the importance of repetitive and data-led tasks being handled by efficient systems, while they do work that requires expertise and often empathy too.
This approach to digital transformation supports councils in finding the efficiencies required of them by the Government, while also bolstering the impact of their work upon the very communities that the public sector is there to support.
Progressing councils, progressing careers
Whilst developing future-fit strategies that make full use of the appropriate digital tools, councils must consider both the individual and the whole. For many, the roll-out of tech transformation provides an opportunity to learn new skills. This might involve leading the implementation of data-driven decision-making in their department, but for many, it’s likely to be centred around learning how to undertake basic digital tasks.
A FutureDotNow report found that 59% of individuals had limited digital abilities, while 8% of the UK’s workforce could not complete any basic tasks. With a local government workforce of 1.4million, that equates to 826,000 for whom training would be hugely beneficial.
By investing in robust digital training, councils support individuals with their career progression, especially those who currently lack digital knowledge. And that’s ultimately of benefit to the authority too, given Gallup found organisations were 17% more productive when employees received the training they needed, and Built In found 45% of employees were more likely to stay in their role if it involved more training.
A win for all: Digital transformation in local government
By incorporating digital transformation and much-needed training into future-fit work strategies, which the current reforms provide an ideal opportunity to implement, councils can ensure higher staff retention, which in turn supports the council to deliver ambitious plans successfully and puts them in the best possible position in the future.
Rather than an additional cost or concern, digital transformation should be viewed as an opportunity for both personal and organisational growth, offering increased career development and training possibilities, as well as realising the efficiencies that result from properly utilising effective technology within a council. With positive outcomes for staff, residents and the authority itself, a strong future-fit workplace strategy (incorporating an effective digital transformation programme) should see councils become more resilient through the current reforms and the further changes likely to occur in the years ahead.
