Creating a robust shared services environment for the government has been discussed in earnest for over 20 years that I am aware of.
In 2005, the government designated five agencies as HR shared services providers and implemented a process to reduced 26 payroll providers to four. GSA issued contract schedule 738x to provide private sector shared service. Also during this time frame, eGrants at HHS, Enterprise Human Resource Integration (EHRI) system at OPM and other systems where created to support shared services or consolidate workflows. All these initiatives were fairly successful in and of themselves, but in comparison to other governments and the private sector, true and robust shared service offerings across a number of disciplines and even within a discipline have alluded the federal government.
For years, government has had "Lines of Business" offices, today the focus has been strengthened with the Unified Shared Services Management (USSM) office within GSA, an office charted by OMB to be the integrator of shared services across the federal government. The initial focus areas for USSM are financial management (FM), human resources (HR), acquisition, information technology (IT) and grants management. There is interest on the Hill and support from organizations such as the Shared Services Leadership Coalition, and vendors willing to invest in building the systems.
But I don't think USSM is getting the support and resources needed to make it happen and realize the benefits. It is time to stop talking and start doing, and with this Administration's focus, this is the perfect initiative.
Those involved with shared services can recite the benefits with their eyes closed, but let's level set here. Benefits include:
- Enable agencies to focus on mission
- Consistency of practice and predictability
- Lower cost/economies of scale
- Better/faster decision making
- Consistency of data
- Improved user experience
- Reduced technology footprint and maintenance and security vulnerability
- Addresses legacy system issues
- Easier records retention
- Much improved data analytic capacity
We intuitively know the benefits and it has been proven with other governments and in the private sector. The federal government is lagging, it’s time to move forward vigorously. Any good businessman can see that an investment in this area will achieve great return, improved services, and a reduced government footprint.
With any major change for the better, there are challenges, but these challenges that be overcome. This should be a no brainer to invest in now for a significant and reasonably quick ROI. Like anything else it needs to be well resources, planned, and have cooperation from all.
Some of the bigger challenges and their solutions include:
Leadership is not supporting it.
This is the story for many cross-government initiatives. But it may be better said as leadership is not paying attention to it. There is work to be done and the effort needs to be strongly lead.
Government infrastructure is often not paid attention to when there are many outward facing policy issues. But this is one important place to capture savings and make the government more efficient and effective within a reasonable period. GSA/USSM can and should lead it with the backing of OMB. OMB (and the Hill) need to ensure the investment funds are available, provide guidance and approval, and let all agencies know in no uncertain terms that the government will move in this direction with a defined plan and date certain.
I also suggest that the Shared Services Leadership Coalition host an effort to bring key leaders together to strategically undertake getting it committed to, and action started. Legislation and budget can soon follow, although USSM needs funding now to have a full PMO capability to move this forward.
My agency has unique requirements.
Ninety-plus percent of all requirements can become common, and should. There are differences with various hiring authorities, intelligence community requirements, funding sources, regulations, and more. But by and large, HR, acquisition, grants, finance, etc., can have core requirements, processes, technology, etc. Stop using this as an excuse, find the 90-plus percent core and focus on that. Develop the appropriate data sets, policy and procedures, and reform and reengineer first, then design and develop the technology to support and implement it in a logical, proven, cost effective way.
In these tight times, we don’t have funding.
Now is the time to invest for a return. If a strong case cannot be made for a return on investment within five to eight years, it should not be done. Government leaders have to stop always thinking in one-year cost increments in all cases, and change to an "investment" mental model instead to prepare for the future in key areas. The private sector invests and sees the return, so can you.
There are too many legacy systems to change.
Yes, there are many, and they are costing the government a fortune and getting old. Use some of the planned IT investment fund to adopt shared services. The entire effort will take five to eight years to be functional (not complete) and require this investment.
The process should begin with an inventory of what the government currently has in terms of regulations, technology, processes, data set standardization and capacity. Based on that, a go forward plan should map the approach, develop requirements, transition to a shared services model, develop and implement, and realize the results. A public/private model should be included. The return on investment should be created along with strong meaningful and measurable outcomes.
This road map needs to be created and managed and a strong change management program implemented. It requires seed money at this point, so an investment plan should be created and socialized with the White House and the Hill – and acted upon by them quickly. It can be for 2018 or a supplemental appropriations provided to jump start it now in 2017.
Data is not standardized across agencies.
True. But it is not a stumbling block; standardize it. A lot of work has already been done to standardize grants, HR data and financial data somewhat through the DATA Act (grants and contracts). There is much more work to be done. But that is an early stage activity that can be accomplished within a year.
Establish cross agency councils to work together to standardize the data and recommend what is included in shared services and what is not. Keep focused on the 90 percent rule.
We can’t privatize inherently government work.
It’s not inherently government work and yes you can. In fact, the investment required could be greatly reduced if the private sector provides the support on a fee for service basis – per head, per transaction, etc., under a SaaS model.
I am not suggesting that all activities be outsources, but many of them can, and in a competitive environment, at a lower transactional cost, in a multi-tenant environment.
Security is always an issue, and the private sector can protect data just as well as the government. After all, most government contractors and certified data centers hold national security clearances and have SCIF’s to support it. Performance management of vendors should be considered from the start and a strong model implemented.
These are not all the challenges, but are significant ones that when overcome (and they can be overcome), will move shared services across government quickly. Start now, move forward, It’s time!
Steve Goodrich is the CEO of the Center for Organizational Excellence, Inc., and author of Transforming Government from Congress to the Cubicle. He can be reached at sgoodrich@center4oe.com.
