Ey Public Sector Transformation
Ey Public Sector Transformation
Ey Public Sector Transformation
Executive Summary / 4
Research Findings / 5
Industry Perspective / 17
Final Considerations / 18
Respondent Profile / 19
About / 24
The narrative around public sector modernization is often one focused on what’s
lacking, but agencies have been making leaps keeping up with technological
innovations and government mandates. Agencies are working to radically improve
their operations and services through changing functions, processes, strategies,
and technological systems. These efforts, often referred to as transformation
programs, range from extremely technical projects, such as digital service delivery,
to non-technical initiatives related to workforce and organizational issues.
To identify the role data, technology, and process each play in efforts to enhance
government performance, Government Business Council (GBC) partnered with Ernst
& Young LLP (EY) to survey the men and women on the public service front lines.
Methodology
GBC and EY fielded a survey in April and May 2019 to a random sample of civilian
and military government respondents. A total of 771 respondents participated in
the survey.
Respondents identify human resources and information technology as the areas most in need of
transformation, with program delivery, acquisition, and procurement also being top priorities.
Respondents are motivated to undergo transformation programs primarily out of a desire to
redesign outdated practices, but other key drivers cited include imperatives to meet changes in
compliance as well as achieving cost savings.
Acquisition/procurement 37%
Finance 27%
Other 9%
Federal, defense, and state and local agencies are under pressure to transform numerous areas of operation, but human
resources/human capital and information technology are the top priorities. Program delivery and
63%
acquisition/procurement also feature prominently. of government respondents rank
human resources as one of the top
“Other” responses specified by participants included communication, enterprise GIS, contract management, management 3 areas most in need of
training and accountability, and quality assurance activities. transformation.
Research Findings
Other 5%
According to survey respondents, redesigning outdated practices is still the biggest factor driving government agencies to
transform. Smaller yet significant shares of respondents selected changes in mandates/compliance, cost savings, and
51%
modernizing service delivery, indicating that revamping outdated practices is not the only factor pushing organizations of government respondents report
forward. that redesigning outdated
practices is a primary driver of
“Other” responses specified by participants included audit readiness, senior management, government directives, transformation.
politics, and mission needs.
Respondents have seen more success in transformation programs within their organizations, versus the public sector more broadly
“Public sector transformation programs meet their “Transformation programs in my organization meet
objectives.” their objectives.”
35%
49% 33%
23%
24%
21%
7%
4%
4%
1%
Strongly Disagree Neither Agree Strongly Strongly Disagree Neither Agree Strongly
disagree agree nor agree disagree agree nor agree
disagree disagree
Respondents feel that transformation programs within their specific organization more often meet their
objectives than public sector transformations more generally. Slightly more than one-third (39%) of
39%
respondents either agree or strongly agree that transformation programs in their organization meet their of those polled agree or strongly agree that their
objectives. Still, a significant portion (30%) disagree that their organization’s transformation programs organization’s transformation programs meet
meet their objectives. their objectives.
Conflicting priorities, lack of coordination between departments, and inadequate funding are the most common challenges
Other 7%
Percentage of respondents, n=675
Respondents were asked to select all that apply
“Other” responses specified by participants included data privacy limitations to share information, lack of focus on the
mission, weak leadership, and human resource bottlenecks.
55%
of government respondents
encounter conflicting priorities
when implementing
transformation programs
More than half of respondents have participated in a transformation program within the last 24 months
54%
Yes No
46%
Agencies are focused on improving internal processes before looking outward for technology solutions
What was your role in your agency’s transformation How would you describe the transformation
programs? programs in which you participated?
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) 6%
End-user 20%
Cloud optimization 2%
Other 3%
Other (please specify): 5%
Of the respondents who have participated in a transformation program within the last 24 months, 31% were involved as
a member of the project team, 27% had oversight responsibility as a senior agency leader, and 18% served as team or
32%
project managers. of transformation programs were
focused on process optimization.
The most common types of transformation projects were process optimization (efforts to make processes more efficient and
perform better with less money), organizational redesign, and workforce transformation.
At least one-third of respondents hold the opinion that their transformation programs met none, or only some, of their goals
To what extent did your transformation program meet its goals relative to the following?
Did not meet its goals Met some goals Met most goals Met all goals
Communicating and engaging with staff and stakeholders is the most important factor for supporting transformation programs
What tools and resources are the most important for supporting a transformation program?
Simulation/modeling 8%
Other 5%
Beyond communication, smaller yet significant shares of respondents say that having a strategy or project plan and
strong program management are key tools and resources for successful transformation programs.
73%
of government respondents
“Other” responses specified by participants included funding, getting beyond politics/reduction of political influence, identify communicating and
leadership, and rapid experimentation. engaging with staff and
stakeholders as important for
supporting transformation
programs.
Government respondents expect data analytics to have the greatest impact on public sector transformation
Looking ahead, what emerging technology do you think will have the greatest impact on public sector
transformation?
Mobility/5G 12%
Robotic processing 3%
Blockchain 3%
Other 5%
Respondents also signal that they expect shared services (24%) and artificial intelligence (23%) to have a significant
impact on public sector transformation. 29%
of government respondents predict
“Other” responses specified by participants included spatio-temporal intelligence, automated vehicles, broadband, and that data analytics will have the
collaboration technology. greatest impact on public sector
transformation looking ahead.
Within your organization, how satisfied are you with What challenges does your agency face in providing
your access to data to support decision-making? data to support decision-making?
33%
Inadequate systems/technology to
57%
28% analyze data
6%
None of the above 15%
While 39% of those polled are somewhat or very satisfied with their access to data to support decision-making, 40% are
either somewhat or very dissatisfied.
40%
stated that they are either
Inadequate systems and technology to analyze data and lack of training for staff rank as the most common challenges somewhat or very dissatisfied with
agencies face in providing data to support decision-making. Lack of quality data presents major headaches as well. their access to data to support
decision-making within their
“Other” responses specified by participants included sharing information, more focus on providing data to public than organization.
staff, agreeing on the data and what they are measuring, lack of coordination between departments, lack of a data
depository, lack of cooperation from stakeholders, and lack of integration of multiple systems.
• Communication and planning are key to success. • Patience; managing change takes time and will generally
Embedding a dedicated business process re- be most successful iteratively.
engineering unit into the organization is key. It is • It has to be more than just personality-driven, the
unreasonable to expect employees to do the day-to- entrenched stakeholders will just wait out the person who
day work and reinvent and transform at the same happens to be pushing this initiative.
time.
• People first! Then processes and lastly technology that
• Train your trainers first. Implement the facilitates the process and is rolled out through workforce
transformation strategy and keep it prioritized training. So very important to start and end with the
appropriately. Set dates for the transformation to people.
phase in and the old processes to phase out.
• Change management is difficult, even in the best
• Don’t be defensive. Be willing to change. conditions. No matter what people will say, they fear the
• Beware of transformation "burnout." Transformations unknown more than a known problem
take time. True transformations will still be a work in • Plan plan plan, then train and inform BEFORE roll-out.
progress when the senior leader who initiated the
transformation moves on. Think and plan for the • Make peace with uncertainty. It is important to accept
long-term--and establish short-term milestones to some degree of ambiguity about the transformation, and
track progress and, if necessary, make adjustments. plan effectively to actively manage implementation and
recalibrate strategy. There will always be one more factor
• Ensure that all key stakeholders have the time and to analyze, and all possible outcomes and eventualities
resources necessary to perform their duties for the cannot be mitigated during the planning stage.
project. Many stakeholders are burdened with their
day to day jobs, and this causes schedule slips and • Communication, early and often, is critical. Input from the
reduces active project communication. workforce is crucial - what looks like it makes sense on
paper often does not make sense in execution.
• To transform, you must build with your customer, not
for your customer. There is no value in surprise • Plan for the long-term, build incrementally, and engage
transformation. the impacted workforce in the transformation process.
EY’s Perspective
Public sector leaders recognize the value of transformation to improve outdated processes, address citizen expectations,
and save taxpayer dollars. They also fully understand how difficult it is to implement change. Some of the most significant
challenges to transformation result from decisions made long before a program begins. Communicating the value of the
program, building workable governance models, assigning program roles and responsibilities across the agency, and
building performance models aligned with agency strategy are among the key activities that can make or break
transformation success.
Whether an agency is looking to tap the potential of artificial intelligence or implement managed services, transformation
planning is more involved than traditional project management. When asked “Which of the following are challenges to
your organization’s transformation initiatives?”, survey respondents identified intra-agency coordination and priority
management as their top challenges. These dimensions are not always addressed in traditional project plans.
EY recommends that public sector agencies develop a Transformation Roadmap that envisions the transformation from both
a strategic and tactical view. Whereas common project plans are developed from a single function’s (or contractor’s)
perspective, the Transformation Roadmap identifies how people will be impacted, how performance measures will align
with agency strategy, and where intra-agency coordination is necessary – all driven by a change management approach
that matches the agency’s culture. The Roadmap should consider all the transformation levers the agency has
available. Transformation levers include organizational change (e.g., operational model design); process
optimization (e.g., shared services and automation); and infrastructure redesign (e.g., cloud adoption/optimization). In
considering the best approach, the goal of the Transformation Office should be sustained performance improvement, but it
should also recognize the importance of realizing and demonstrating near-term results.
“These are exciting times, as the promise of technology, robotics, and automation inspire public sector leaders to visualize
more productive and impactful government services,” says Roberta Mourão, EY’s Government and Public Sector (GPS)
Solutions Leader. “To realize the promise, as the survey respondents report, it is critical that agencies get the people
dimensions right.”
Acknowledge that people are at the core of any successful technological transformation
Human capital is the largest bottleneck to successfully meeting the objectives of transformation
programs, as many current staff are not trained on new systems, and recruiting top talent proves
challenging. Our survey found that meeting staffing needs was harder to accomplish than meeting
budgetary goals. Agencies must focus on developing strategies for training current staff and
hiring new employees in order to accomplish mission goals. Additionally, to ensure that there is
one unifying and widely-understood strategy and plan fueling a transformation program,
agencies should optimize their available platforms to coherently voice their transformation
objectives.
Improve communication
Government employees feel that open, frequent communication and staff engagement are the most
significant drivers of successful transformation programs. In that same vein, respondents identify
lack of coordination between departments and conflicting priorities as top challenges. While
digital transformation inherently involves new technology, government agencies should use IT
and novel systems to augment collaboration, rather than reduce interpersonal communication
opportunities.
As more and more government agencies integrate smart devices and interactive applications to
their user portals, the number of data points agencies collect is growing exponentially. This can
result in feelings of futility amongst employees and users if the data is not properly utilized.
Survey respondents feel that data analytics will have the greatest impact on their transformation
efforts. As more technology vendors are meeting security compliance standards, agencies should
make use of the abundance of data analytics tools available to optimize their missions.
GS/GM-15 7%
GS/GM-14 13%
GS/GM-13 12%
GS/GM-12 15%
GS/GM-11 5%
GS/GM-10
5%
or below
General/Admiral 1%
Colonel/Captain 7%
Lt. Colonel/Commander 5%
Other 24%
Respondents represent a variety of job functions, including management and technical roles
Human resources 7%
Administrative/office services 7%
Finance 6%
Information technology 5%
Legal 4%
Healthcare professions 4%
Technical/scientific 4%
Policy research/analysis 3%
Education 3%
Acquisition/procurement 3%
Communications/public relations 3%
Transportation/infrastructure 2%
Audit/inspectors general 2%
Other 10%
43%
27%
13%
11%
6%
Roughly two-thirds of state and local respondents work at the municipal or county level
23%
3% 3%
1%
Municipal government State government County or county Township government Independent special Other
(e.g., incorporated cities, equivalent (e.g., district government (e.g.,
towns, villages, etc.) consolidated city-county) utility, fire, police,
government transit, etc.)
Percentage of respondents, n=376
35% 36%
25%
4%
About EY
From strategy to execution, the Government & Public Sector practice of Ernst &
Young LLP provides a full range of consulting and audit services to help our
Federal, State and Local clients implement new ideas to achieve their mission Roberta J. Mourão
outcomes. We deliver real change and measurable results through our diverse, Ernst & Young LLP
high-performing teams, quality work at the highest professional standards,
operational know-how from across our global organization, and creative and Government & Public Sector (GPS) Solutions Leader
bold ideas tailored to each client’s unique mission. We are committed to Email: [email protected]
protecting our nation and serving our people; increasing public safety;
improving healthcare for our military, our veterans and our citizens; delivering
essential public services; and helping those in need. EY is ready to help our
government build a better working world.
Learn more at ey.com/govpublicsector.