A postgraduate course with a focus on shared services in the public sector launches in October and course organisers say that in six months senior managers can get to grips with the skills they need.
"Many organisations in the public sector are looking at cutting budgets by sharing core elements of their back office processes, for example HR, finance and procurement services." says Wim van Vuuren, programme director at Canterbury Christ Church University.
"And most councils are moving a step further and considering sharing resources on a number of their statutory functions, for example planning, highways, building control and revenues and benefits."
Despite this, van Vuuren says, time is not on the public sector's side and while research carried out by the university suggests that the average time it takes to develop the skills and knowledge in shared services was around three years, the course – the first to offer the qualification in the UK – estimates a certificate is achievable in under two years.
"The problem is that we no longer have the luxury of three years," says van Vuuren. "So the six-month postgraduate certificate will equip managers in the public sector with the skills and knowledge to accelerate and deliver shared services more quickly."
The university teamed up with public sector education company Shared Service Architecture (SSA) to design the course, and believe that the training could save organisations more money in the long run.
"The three modules that make up the certificate will equip students with 70 highly practical tools, templates and techniques for rapidly developing shared service business cases in-house," says Dominic Wallace, director of learning and development at SSA.
"So for organisations that do not have money to burn on external consultancy, these tools, if applied properly, could save up to £25,000 on external consultancy cost per service being considered for sharing. If a council is considering half-a-dozen options that is over £100k."
The postgraduate certificate will start in late October 2010.
From Bubb's Blog
From Whitehall Watch
