New Playbook to Drive Federal HR Modernization
Shared services, when multiple agencies or business lines share a specific function or expertise, can improve quality and delivery of service, reduce duplication, and ultimately reduce costs.
And while the federal government is pushing hard on shared services, the Shared Services Leadership Coalition (SSLC) says the public sector is falling behind the private sector when it comes to implementation. With that in mind, the SSLC just released a new playbook to help the federal government modernize and better implement HR shared services. It is called the Federal Human Resources Modernization Business Case Playbook.
The goal is to modernize federal operations by showing agencies how to write effective business cases to secure funding for modernization.
It notes that it is a “general guide to researching and preparing winnable business cases leveraging a streamlined, unified approach that can be assessed for performance and validated for usability over time” and is “intended to assist federal agencies in effectively planning, funding, and implementing modernization activities to meet emerging and future human resource demands.”
The goal is to modernize federal government operations. It provides guidance for:
· Shaping the modernization effort by identifying gaps between the current and future state operations.
· Identifying and selecting the outcomes(s) against which business cases are developed.
· Developing a comprehensive, evidence-based business case document that is both defensible and actionable.
When preparing to modernize, agencies are asked to define the why, assess readiness, and then develop the value proposition.
“A strong value proposition should include the specific benefit, uniqueness, and feasibility of the modernization activity, while addressing the needs of stakeholders,” wrote the report.
And in terms of funding, agencies are reminded that funding may come from a variety of sources.
“Whatever the source of funding identified, modernization advocates and preparers of modernization business cases should always collaborate with their budget officers to ensure funding lines are available, restrictions and requirements on different sources of funding can successfully be satisfied by the modernization project, and that there is a financial advocate for the intended change,” stated the report.
It also warns of the costs of not modernizing.
“If an agency’s technologies, policies, or processes lag in the current state, failing to modernize will only exacerbate the risk associated with outmoded inputs to critical workforce outputs,” the report said.
Sharing Ideas
The release of the report comes before the Shared Services Summit on Thursday, March 21, 2024 at the Carahsoft Conference Center in Reston, Virginia. The event is cohosted by ACT-IAC and SSLC, and is free to government employees.
The Shared Services Summit will discuss all things shared services, including the impact of artificial intelligence (AI). Attendees will hear from “key government agencies, international organizations, FedRamp, and large national organizations that have enacted a shared services enterprise using Generative AI and other technologies in the process.”
