Tuesday 21 April 2009

Move back office functions out of sight

“Belief in targets, incentives and inspection; belief in economies of scale and shared back-office services... these are all wrong-headed ideas and yet they have underpinned this government's attempts to reform the public sector.” (Ref.)

Top managers don’t want be bothered with back-offices. So on the up, you’ll need to demonstrate you are actively managing back office functions. Consolidate support units into one. Subcontract support services. And move them all to a remote location if you can.

These initiatives may turn out be expensive failures; they may damage customer service and destroy customer confidence (consider your own experience of call centres); but top managers find these proposals irresistible.

Ref. “Systems Thinking in the Public Sector: the failure of the reform regime... and a manifesto for a better way” John Seddon. (2008)

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