Recruitment businesses supplying into the public sector- how to see through the lean times?

Recruitment businesses supplying into the public sector- how to see through the lean times?

Under the labour government, we saw unthinkable increases in labour demand for the Public Sector. Secretly we knew that this was too good to be true and frankly, it was just another tax payer initiative to mask the increase in unemployment. Although we can argue that money earned has a spending factor of 4, boosting the rest of the economy, we have to somehow face the facts that it is merely delaying the obvious. As a nation, we are unproductive, over paid and lazy. The NHS employs in the region of 1.5mil people, that is nearly 8% of the entire UK workforce. If we extrapolate their losses as a result to sick pay of £1.5bil, this equates to £18bil per annum.WOW. I am all for work life balance, flexible working conditions but the emphasis has to be on "Work". We need to be more competitive that other AAA rated economies and more importantly, have to be extra creative to substitute unproductive jobs for value adding jobs and up-skill our talent to create more value adding jobs. Now that we outsource low-end functions and import commodities (negative trade balance), we need to find a niche in the global economy that sets us apart from other service delivery economies. 

Is Bigger that much better?

Allocate Software received a recent accolade, which upset me. Especially since they are constantly ripping NHS trusts off by over charging for their product and services. As a small provider with a better value proposition, how is it possible to get through to procurement bodies who don't always understand the needs of the people using the solutions. I am sure many of the vendors feel the same but for someone who is passionate about the 3 Blue Dots offering, can't just accept this preposterous situation. 

e-Rostering: Show me the money

Has e-Rostering produced direct cash savings? I for one would like to believe that it does but trying to find hard evidence is a bit more challenging. For one, the cash and resource commitment required equates to an average of 20 NHS Jobs. Many hospitals are cash strapped and in many cases short staffed and inevitably, will benefit even more than the those in a position to invest £500k over two or three years.

The indirect savings- better controls over absence management, productivity and resource utilisation is by far the best justification and is usually financed through recruitment freezes (not replacing the leavers). This becomes not a technology opportunity but an internal process necessity.

What have we learned? If trusts are researching available tools, take the following into consideration: Choose a product that is fit for purpose today, this will greatly increase your ability to introduce the solution throughout the organisation. The more complex, the more expensive the project implementation and adoption. Choose a product which gives you options: rostering, leave management, time keeping and Attendance, Bank Admin, Agency interface, Payment and Billing and ESR interface. Choose a product that does not require additional IT resource but consider a web-based application. Look to choose a product that gives your employees more than just a self-service portal but rather something that promotes and develops their careers.