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Efficiency review demands skills management says Infobasis

The demands of the Gershon review of Public Sector efficiency will only be met through effective professionalisation, according to skills management company InfoBasis. Published earlier this month, the review proposes £20bn of potential savings, primarily through job cuts and resource sharing.

"While the press have focused on the job cuts recommended by the report, the greatest part of the savings will come from sharing back office functions and from increased productivity," says Ashley Wheaton, InfoBasis CEO. "In short, the Public Sector will be expected to have fewer, more professional, staff."

Sir Peter Gershon's review, Releasing Resources To The Front Line, fed into the Chancellor's 2004 Spending Review, which has set government departments an annual 2.5% efficiency savings target over the next 3 years. These savings, due for 2006/7 will mostly be realised through better use of ICT, by merging departments and sharing back office functions.

"The emphasis on shared systems and staff will require methodical professionalisation," continues Wheaton. "As staff increasingly work across departments it will be vital to ensure that the professions they belong to are clearly defined - whether they be HR, Project Management, ICT or anything else. Individuals will need personal development plans that help them progress in their profession through mentoring, effective training and on-the-job experience, all of it adequately tracked. In addition, they will want to find and communicate with their peers outside their departments, to share experiences and learning. Finally, managers and those building project teams must be able to find expert professionals with particular skill sets. All this adds up to good skills management."

Wheaton points to successful programmes already in place in this area. "The DWP's Projects Professionals Group project shows what can be achieved, and has already won a Best Practice award from the Office of Government Commerce (OGC). Meanwhile, OGC's own Successful Delivery Skills programme is likely to be the foundation of good programme management throughout the civil service. We can expect such initiatives to become increasingly widespread and formally adopted."

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