The Public Sector productivity challenge 

The Productivity Gap

Tax and spending were the key issues in the election, with both parties saying they weren’t looking to significantly spend, tax or borrow more.  Labour argued the investment needed to transform public services would come from growth. But that takes time. In the short term, the only answer is to improve productivity and there is plenty of room for improvement.

According to the Office for Budget Responsibility, returning to levels of productivity pre-pandemic (a 5% improvement) could provide £20 billion a year of funding – a strikingly similar figure to the ‘black hole’ found by the new government in spending plans. It’s a sizeable source of investment that is certainly worth going after. So how can we achieve it? 

The growth of Business Applications in the Public Sector 

Improving productivity is complex, as this article from the Economist outlines. It suggests the 2008 financial crisis, Brexit and Covid all played their part in lowering UK productivity. As does relatively weak investment and the lack of a national skills strategy. All of which are mammoth problems to fix. But, as the article points out, “Improvements to aggregate productivity rest partly on pushing forward the frontier of innovation and partly on helping less productive firms to catch up with the leaders.”  

It’s perfectly understandable that the Government wants the public sector to be a productivity role model. According to the IFS, £800bn a year is spent on the day to day running of UK public services. Those services are characterised by vast and complex infrastructure and face a continual challenge in optimising productivity and efficiency. Streamlining processes, improving data management, and fostering better collaboration would all help meet the productivity challenge and can be delivered through Business Applications.  

By leveraging these software programmes that are designed to support, improve, and automate business processes, the public sector can achieve greater efficiency, service delivery, and overall productivity, benefiting both the government and its citizens.

Key advantages of Business Applications  

Simplicity:  using a low-code/no-code approach that allows even those with minimal technical expertise to create functional applications to develop solutions.  

Seamless Integration: either directly or via out the box connectors, allowing users to easily connect and automate processes across different applications and services. 

Scalability: based on establish cloud environments, with all the inherent scalability, reliability and security features.  Growth is possible without worries about infrastructure limitations.  

Advanced Support: Low-code/no-code platforms also allow for custom coding, enabling developers to tackle complex requirements and extend functionality. This ensures flexibility and scalability, combining ease of use with the power of traditional coding. 

Business Applications will be a critical tool in meeting the productivity challenge in the years ahead. While the use of Business Applications by government departments and agencies continues to grow, there is still lots of untapped potential and opportunity to bridge the productivity gap.  

4 Simple ways to improve productivity 

Streamlining Processes 

Public sector entities often deal with complex procedures that can be time-consuming and prone to human error. Modern Business Applications enable the creation of customised workflows that automate routine tasks, such as data entry, form submissions, and approval processes. For example, a case working team can, very simply, develop a Business App to reduce the need for manual data entry and speed up the decision-making process. This saves time and ensures that resources are allocated more effectively. 

Enhancing Data Management 

Effective data management is crucial for the public sector, which deals with large volumes of sensitive information daily. Business Applications can integrate seamlessly with other tools such as ServiceNow, Salesforce, SAP, Splunk, Power BI and other cloud or on-premises environments, providing a robust framework for data handling. Users can create Applications that facilitate better data collection, storage, and analysis. For instance, Business Applications can be used to track person specific information, manage interactions with government services, and monitor outcomes more efficiently. By leveraging the power of data, via secure and accessible Applications, public sector organisations can make more informed decisions and improve service delivery. 

Improving Collaboration and Communication 

Collaboration is essential in the public sector, where different departments and teams must work together to achieve common goals. Business Applications can foster improved collaboration by enabling the development of shared applications that provide real-time updates and insights. For example, a central team could create an application for coordinating activities across various units or departments, ensuring that all staff have access to the latest information and can communicate effectively. Low/no-code Business Applications can also integrate seamlessly with collaboration tools such as Teams, Jira, Trello, SharePoint and Slack, leading to more coordinated efforts and higher success rates.  

Moving forward with Business Applications 

Many UK public sector organisations have already begun leveraging Business Applications to boost productivity, including through the creation of Centres of Excellence and Application ‘Factories’.  They are doing so because they are simple to configure and deploy, they improve experiences for staff, users and citizens, and in-year ROI is the norm. For example, Hitachi Solutions has recently worked with a large central government department to help them get the most value possible from Microsoft’s Power Platform. As well as making the deployment of Business Applications though Power Platform simpler, cheaper and quicker, we’ve enabled the department to deploy more Applications that are better able to improve their services.  

If you’d like to explore how Microsoft Business Applications can help your organisation improve productivity and deliver better services, please get in touch.