Citizen-oriented organization

Success begins in the heart: service-oriented organization

Digitization is certainly the biggest current challenge for local authorities and their administration. They can reinvent themselves for once. Those who rely solely on the technocratic implementation of existing processes in the digital world are squandering the greatest opportunity that public administrations have ever had. An efficient organization that is appreciated by citizens and in which employees work with purpose and enjoyment. This could be your administration.

The race for the best administration has long since begun

The corona pandemic has opened the eyes of the last of us. Things can't stay as they are. Our administration is not even able to implement the simplest issues such as appointment management or certificates in a customer-friendly and digital way. Everyone knows that this must and will change quickly. Our citizens have been familiar with simple and customer-friendly digital processes since they started shopping at Amazon at the latest and expect these from their municipal administration as a matter of course. The question arises as to what is the most promising way to transform the administration.

Learning from business and industry

The first attempts at digitization in the industry were sobering. In many cases, the blunt digitization of existing processes led to overloaded systems and frustrated employees and customers. We learned from these experiences and determined which success factors lead to the best results.

Success factor 1:

The clear target image

In order to transform an organization, you need a clear vision that all employees and managers can align themselves with. This vision is attractive, motivating and ambitious. It places citizens at the center of all activities, but also takes into account the needs of employees. Ideally, the development of this vision is the first change measure. The greater the involvement of employees and citizens in the development of the vision, the easier it is to anchor it in the organization.

Success factor 2:

The management team

Many old patterns of success need to be questioned for the digital transformation. The role model function of the district administrator or mayor and the management team is of paramount importance for the success of the municipal transformation. It is not so much the pithy, full-bodied speeches that are needed, but rather the backing of the employees for decisions and the design of processes that are consistently geared towards citizens. Especially when the management team itself still has some digital catching up to do, it can be a role model for learning and personal development. This role model effect does not come about automatically, but requires leadership from the district administrator or mayor. mayor and continuous team building of the management team.

Success factor 3:

Taking responsibility for process and performance

The biggest step for municipal transformation means employees not only taking responsibility for the activity and the process, but also shaping the process. The frequency of change in technologies and framework conditions is increasing dramatically, meaning that it is no longer possible to commission every change to the process externally. Employees will work more and more on the organization than in the organization. For many employees, this means a completely new field of activity with enormous challenges, but also the greatest personal development opportunity of their entire professional life.

Success factor 4:

Coordination and control

Municipal transformation is like a large construction site with a large number of simultaneous trades and countless dependencies between activities. Even with agile working methods, these relationships need to be actively coordinated and managed. In addition to budget, schedule and resource management, other management aspects such as risk, security and Change Management are also part of the program management remit. Experience has shown that these requirements exceed the capabilities of the municipal organization and must therefore often be filled by external resources. Even in this constellation, it is important that the overall responsibility for the transformation remains in the hands of the mayor or district administrator.

Success factor 5:

The feeling of security

Despite empty municipal coffers, the general conditions for municipal transformation are good. Many positions are vacant and there is no sign of them being fully filled. It is therefore clear that the aim is not to reduce staff numbers, but to increase service quality and efficiency. It has been proven that employees can only learn fundamentally new ways of working if there is a fear-free, positive atmosphere that also allows for mistakes. Creating and maintaining this freedom to learn is a top management task and is the responsibility of the district administrator or mayor.

Join us in the fast lane

If you want to achieve the seemingly impossible with your administration:

Be the person responsible for making this transformation possible.

Discuss your project with us: