Benchmarking

Head The Wall

http://www.ictu.ie/press/2003/10/03/benchmarking-faq/


Some interesting things in there

"Change first, money later"

"Better public services"

Payback time for taxpayers

IMPROVED SERVICE

* Longer opening hours

Opening hours are to be extended beyond 9-5, to 8-8, in the health services. Opening hours will also be extended for local authority services.

* Lunchtime opening
Lunchtime opening is to be extended to areas where it does not already exist (it is already common across much of the public service).



MORE PRODUCTIVITY

* Staff flexibility and change

Public servants are to give full co-operation with ongoing flexibility and change. Previously, this would have given rise to pay claims. Already delivered.

* New technology

Public servants are to give full co-operation with the introduction of new technology. Previously, this would have given rise to pay claims. Already delivered.

* Cross-functional working

Under benchmarking, staff must co-operate with team-working and cross-functional working. This will supersede traditional work demarcation in many areas.

* Flexible work patterns

Flexible work patterns are to be adopted in higher education. In Institutes of Technology, this will include variations in class contact time and better cover arrangements for exam appeals.

* New local government IT systems

Local authority planning and procurement services will be improved with new IT systems.

Haven't people on here been claiming that benchmarking didn't promise more productivity.

Also what about "Staff flexibility" and "cross functional working" also being a part of it. If that is the case why is it now a major feature of the CP agreement, could it be that they supposedly delivered it on paper but in reality thats not the case.


It's no wonder why people harp on about the waste in the Public Sector with this crap taking place

dan_d

Actually all that says is that IT systems will be updated and staff will have to learn to use them and have better work practices, without the 2 year negotiation of percentage payrises.

I'll believe it when I see it.

mikemac

Article from 2003.

So are you saying these are still not in place seven years later?
There is a huge list on that link, why select just this six points out of all of them?

Riskymove

Head The Wall wrote: »

Haven't people on here been claiming that benchmarking didn't promise more productivity.

a distorting of the facts

no-one claimed there was no productivity element of benchmarking

they did however, refute claims from some that because 'productivity' was an item in benchmarking, this meant that all forms of productivity improvements thought of for ever more had to be implemented in exchange for the increases in benchmarking

the facts are that specific actions had to be implemented in exchange and they were

Head The Wall

Riskymove wrote: »

a distorting of the facts

no-one claimed there was no productivity element of benchmarking

they did however, refute claims from some that because 'productivity' was an item in benchmarking, this meant that all forms of productivity improvements thought of for ever more had to be implemented in exchange for the increases in benchmarking

the facts are that specific actions had to be implemented in exchange and they were

It's a play on words really, why didn't they state there would be productivity increases but only in certain areas.

Why then did everyone get increases but only some people had to do more for it?

Riskymove

Head The Wall wrote: »

Why then did everyone get increases but only some people had to do more for it?

people got different levels of increases for a start

The PS is also a very broad church of types of work....what will increase productivity in one are might not in another

It's a play on words really

er..no it isn't....in exchange for a set increase, each group had to agree to do certain things and they did so

dean21

same s**T being talked over and over
time to lock this

Head The Wall

Go on then so if you have the power Dean21. Do you not like people knowing the facts

Godge

An interesting list but how much of it has been delivered?

Do we have electronic medical files of every patient deliverable to any hospital?
Do we have online and off-site delivery of lectures in Institutes of Technology and Universities?
Do we have all payments by Government organisations made electronically to bank accounts?
Can you apply online with every civil service form?
Have we the most efficient local authorities in Europe (with motor tax offices open until 8)?

I think the answer to all of the above is no. So we didn't get what we paid for in benchmarking.

ardmacha

Do we have electronic medical files of every patient deliverable to any hospital?
Do we have online and off-site delivery of lectures in Institutes of Technology and Universities?
Do we have all payments by Government organisations made electronically to bank accounts?
Can you apply online with every civil service form?

We many not have these things, but if we do not was that because of a refusual by unions to introduce them or the incompetance of government who made no serious attempt to improve services. Online services were introduced in things like Motor Tax or Revenue which had the same union agreements as other sectors, it is simply a question of whether an effort was made.

Head The Wall

ardmacha wrote: »

We many not have these things, but if we do not was that because of a refusual by unions to introduce them or the incompetance of government who made no serious attempt to improve services. Online services were introduced in things like Motor Tax or Revenue which had the same union agreements as other sectors, it is simply a question of whether an effort was made.

Stop trying to defend the indefensible, the government is the public sector. You are trying to say that the government ministers are to blame for all the things that haven't been done. They are spoonfed info by Public Servants and they then act on that in the majority of cases.

It's probably easy for you to say it's the govts fault, thats a very blinkered view and I don't buy it. Can a higher up in the Public Sector not say to the minister "We will implement this system etc, etc and it will save €10M" or can these ideas only come from the minister. It just comes across as no one in the whole system wants to get of their arses and do anything cost effective or productive.

The Govt streamlines Revenue and Motor Tax because it's a big cash cow for them and it's in their best interest to make it as easy as possible to do it. I don't accept that it has anything to do with Unions and employee's wanting to move forward with technology.

ZYX

ardmacha wrote: »

We many not have these things, but if we do not was that because of a refusual by unions to introduce them or the incompetance of government who made no serious attempt to improve services. Online services were introduced in things like Motor Tax or Revenue which had the same union agreements as other sectors, it is simply a question of whether an effort was made.

Yes and no. Benchmarking agreed 8-8 working day in HSE. Yet in negotiations before last year's budget the unions felt it was up fo discussion again.

"Mr Begg claimed unions had been left astonished that the Government ended the talks because he said “all its problems had been solved” just hours earlier when issues such as the introduction of an 8am-8pm rota in the health service were agreed."

Surely he means just 6 years earlier the introduction of an 8am-8pm rota in the health service was agreed.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/budget2010/analysis/collapse-of-talks-a-bid-to-drive-down-pay-107209.html#ixzz0uaiBwRqh

Godge

ardmacha wrote: »

We many not have these things, but if we do not was that because of a refusual by unions to introduce them or the incompetance of government who made no serious attempt to improve services. Online services were introduced in things like Motor Tax or Revenue which had the same union agreements as other sectors, it is simply a question of whether an effort was made.

It doesn't matter whose fault it is. We should now be looking back and saying that we taxpayers have paid for these changes and they have not been delivered.

However, I have no doubt that it was a combination of union obstruction and FF political unwillingness to challenge that union obstruction. There are a lot of fed-up hamstrung senior managers out there.