Introduction

The implementation of any the LAWs products into an authority will result in changes to the way in which work is processed. There are also implications for new roles/jobs to assimilate the new processes that result from implementing the LAWS products.

This section looks at the likely impact on the organisational capacity of implementing the new technology and processes. It also provides guidance as to how this impact can be determined.

Impact of implementing LAWS products on capacity

Organisational capacity requirements are a function of the following inputs:

Volume of work
Time taken to complete the work
Service level achieved (measure of quality)

Assuming the capacity requirements are the same after as before the implementation, there is likely to be the following impact on capacity:

APLAWS
Increased requirement for staff, due to new processes required and volumes of transactions
Community Modules
Increased requirement for staff, due to new processes required and volumes of transactions
Transactional Services
Reduced requirement for staff, due to decrease in processing required and volumes of transactions

APLAWS is likely to increase capacity requirements

The drivers for implementing APLAWS focus around improving customer service and improving control of and quality of content available on the website, rather than achieving process efficiencies. For an authority that is implementing the content management system for the first time, the likely impact on organisational capacity is that it will need to increase.

Community Modules are likely to increase capacity requirements

Community Modules do not replace existing processes but present brand new ones. Capacity requirement will therefore increase. The key drivers for implementing the community modules are around offering a new service to the community, not to improve existing process inefficiencies.

Transactional Services are likely to reduce capacity requirements

The key drivers for implementing transactional services are around customer demand for this new access channel and improving process efficiencies. Effectively implemented, transactional services is likely to result in a decrease in organisational capacity.

Assessing the impact of an implementation

An example: Transactional servicing for change of name and address. A council implements an online transactional capability with full automation to back office systems.

In the past, members of staff worked full time receiving requests for change of name and address from the public (by phone, fax, post, email, face to face) and updating multiple back office council systems by hand.

With the new online transaction capability staff will use the online form to enter change of address data which will go on to update all necessary back office systems automatically. So staff only need to enter the data once. This should result in a significant reduction of effort by staff.

To assess the change in required staff time or capacity you need to:

Assess the current ‘as is’ process
How long does it take on average for members of staff to update change of name and address manually to all the necessary systems in the council?
Break down these numbers for clarity to see the difference in process time for transactions via different channels (e.g. telephone contact by the public versus email or post)
Assess the new ‘to be’ process
How long does it take staff to update name and address data using the new online form which then triggers automated update to all the required council systems?
Break down these numbers for clarity to see the difference in process time for transactions via different channels (e.g. telephone contact by the public versus email or post)
Calculate reduction in process time
What is the reduction in time/effort required from staff now using the transactional service rather than manual input (e.g. the difference between 1. and 2.?
Assess the likely uptake of Self Service by the public
In addition to staff using the online transaction to automatically update systems that would previously have had data input by hand, a proportion of the public will use the online transaction to update their name and address directly and without any need for council staff to intervene in the process.
Given the various drivers of public uptake for the transactional service (e.g. level of access to internet in the area, marketing by council about new channel etc) you will need to estimate what percentage of the public are likely to use this channel rather than the other channels. This will result in reduction in required capacity on the part of council staff
Assess the service levels you would like to offer customers
Determine the service level you offer today, and whether you would like to match this, or improve upon it. Improved processes via better technology may enable you to improve your service levels, with today’s capacity, but should you simply want to maintain the existing service level, you may be able to reduce your capacity
Estimate transaction volumes for council staff
Estimate the volume of transactions via current channels which must be dealt with by council staff. I.e. The expected total volume minus estimated Self Service volume.
Estimate new capacity requirements
Given reduced processing time for staff to update name and address using the online transaction, calculate how much capacity is required to deal with the new volume of transactions to be dealt with by council staff

Assessing your current capacity requirements

Using the tool below will assist you to determine the annual work load (in days) of the process(es) you are impacting. This will in turn enable you to determine your capacity requirements to handle the current workload.

Note: This example happens to focus on change of name and/or address, however, the tool may be used for any transaction/process. All numbers above are illustrative.

Translating the annual workload of a particular transaction/ set of processes into number of staff required can be done by understanding the average number of working days per year a staff member has. (This information can typically be obtained from the HR Department).

For example – the table below illustrates that in a typical council a member of staff is able to work an average of 7.4 hours per day.

The illustrative example

Building on the example on the previous slide, it can be seen that the annual current workload can be handled by 3.6 full time equivalents (FTEs).

Calculated as follows:

777.5 days of work /214 days of work available ton one employee in a year = 3.6 FTE

Using the same tools and following the same process, will enable you to determine the annual work load (in days) of the process(es) you are impacting. This will in turn enable you to determine your capacity requirements to handle the future workload.

You will be able to see the change in your capacity requirements by comparing the current capacity requirement against the future capacity requirement.

Important considerations to take into account when assessing your future capacity requirements:

Potential channel take up
You will need to make assumptions about any channel shift as a result of the implementation of the new processes and technology (e.g. implementation of transactional services, where you make expect a shift from traditional channels to web based self servicing)
Service levels
You will need to assess whether or not you want to improve your service level as a result of the new processes and technology.
i.e. you may have a very high error rate within your current processing, and may see the implementation of new processes and technology as an opportunity to decrease this error rate, or you may be looking to maintain current service provision. Either way, this may be reflected in your estimations for the future processing time.

The excel tool for assisting you to determine your current and future capacity requirements, is attached for your reference.