Stephen Jack: Can the public sector become a transformational leader?

The public sector of New Zealand has provided rich pickings for satirists in the past. Photo / Warren Buckland, File

Opinion

OPINION:

Research between lockdowns this year revealed 59 per cent of organisations lack a strategy to develop digital talents, 58 per cent don't have a centralised budget for digital transformation and only 3 per cent consider themselves to be digitally agile and able to adapt to changing circumstances quickly and effectively.

We are becoming used to living with the constant impetus for change but these figures show a need to improve our ability to evolve quickly.

With this year almost behind us, something of a relief for many, we are looking ahead to a New Year. However, the operational challenges for organisations remain profound and there will be both trepidation and opportunity in the months ahead.

There is also the continuing stream of questions about how we will move into the so-called "new normal".

Operational models, working structures, how we deliver products and services, are shifting. The term "organisational agility" has moved from a shiny new vision to an absolute necessity. There's a general and urgent need for New Zealand organisations to focus on digital transformation.

The time is ripe to digitally enable core processes, deliver better outcomes for customers and employees, and to do so at a lower cost by accelerating technology deployment using a new generation of solutions. A growing number of organisations are already onboard
but many others are still lagging.

What's clear is we can't go back - we can't waste the experience of what we have been through.

The public sector has had a bad rap when it comes to efficiency - it's been shouldered with labels like "bureaucratic", "red tape" and "cumbersome" for as long as most people can remember. It's an unwanted legacy and not necessarily true either.

New Zealand boasts some of the most efficient e-government initiatives and processes of any country. Technology has been embraced and put into action to deliver a truly 21st-century service. However, the "inefficient" label remains and the public sector is still seen as a follower of the more nimble commercial sector.

Covid-19 changes this. It has created a level playing field and an opportunity for innovation, and the adoption of agility never seen before. It is the catalyst and has brought a blank canvas to what can be created.

Leadership, innovation and agility are three concepts for the public sector to embrace as the economy resets.

There's a reinvigorated conversation happening about adapting to the new way of working, understanding operational resilience, prioritising innovation and the role of technology. The public sector has a role to lead this discussion while evolving its own practices.

Recent experience shows it's very good at achieving a lot in little time when need becomes a must. Just look at the wage subsidy implementation and the delivery of critical public services as the country closed down, offices became virtual and remote working normal – New Zealand's response has been world-leading.

However, this is based on how our public service organisations have worked for decades, which begs the question; if we worked differently, how much more could we achieve?

At times of disruption, organisations that are bold, agile and pursue opportunities, are those that will be successful.

This is as applicable to the public sector, as it is for commercial businesses. Covid-19 has exposed weaknesses in business models and older technology that has been relied on that can no longer guarantee business continuity and effective operations in the future.

After the lockdown experience, there's also a desire for more flexibility, as long as there is balance between home and work life, and an organisation's ability to manage operations effectively. For public services, with the stakeholders being all New Zealanders, it's vital any transformation makes life easier and has obvious benefits for all.

The pace of how organisations operate is ever increasing, while at the same time customers are demanding higher standards and simpler interaction. With services dealing with probably the largest and most diversified population base, the public sector has
the ability to lead this transformation and steal a march on some of its commercial peers.

Stephen Jack. Photo / Supplied

This needs to include more emphasis on cloud computing as a single platform and less reliance on legacy systems that are unable to support agility in the same way.

Digital transformation is no longer an option but a matter of survival. Covid-19 has emphasised this. Those seeing this as an opportunity will emerge stronger and more relevant.

If the public service can fully embrace this, there's potential it could shake off those less-than-complimentary labels about bureaucracy and inefficiency - time will tell.

• Stephen Jack is managing director and vice president of Workday Australia and New Zealand, a provider of enterprise cloud applications for human resources and finance.