Frequently Asked Questions
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How do shared services differ from centralisation?
Why is the Government implementing shared services?
How will the Shared Service Initiative benefit the people of Queensland?
How will the Shared Service Initiative affect me as a supplier?
What are the drivers behind shared services in the public sector?
What are the trends in shared services?
Have other Governments in Australia or around the world implemented shared services?
The concept of shared services relates to the consolidation of common corporate administrative systems and functions. The aim of shared services is to streamline these functions from many individual agencies (or departments) in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness across the whole-of-Government and lower the cost of the delivery of these services.
The shared services concept is more than just centralisation of similar activities in one location. Shared services mean running these service activities like a business and delivering services to internal customers at a cost, quality and timeliness that is competitive with alternatives.
How do shared services differ from centralisation?
Shared services means running the service providers like a business and benchmarking the ‘business’ against best practice. For this to occur, the shared service providers need to take a performance and service-based approach to management and be responsive to their customers’ (that is, the agencies) needs.
Traditional centralisation can risk being unresponsive and inflexible, acting more like a remote office than an independent service provider.
Why is the Government implementing shared services?
The Queensland Government is implementing shared services to:
- Achieve economies of scale—This will be achieved by reducing costs of corporate services so that funds can be deployed on front-line services that benefit the people of Queensland.
- Ensure consistency—Shared services provides consistency across all agencies and improved whole-of-Government reporting.
- Promote transparency—Costs of services are transparent to assist agencies with budgeting and enabling service providers to benchmark their pricing.
- Improve efficiency—Duplication is reduced, improving efficiency.
- Consolidate technology—This allows the public sector to best leverage its investment.
- Enable mobility and up-skilling or multi-skilling of staff—Shared services makes it possible for staff to pool ideas and share expertise, providing opportunities to broaden their skill. The cultural and process transformations associated with implementing shared services often results in a better quality of work life for Government staff.
- Address skills shortages—Shared services enable flexible team work practices and knowledge management by using standardised formal processes.
How will the Shared Service Initiative benefit the people of Queensland?
The SSI will free up resources previously expended on corporate service delivery. The resources can then be redirected to Government priorities and direct service delivery to the community.
How will the Shared Service Initiative affect me as a supplier?
Information about purchasing as well as current tender opportunities can be viewed on t he Queensland Government Project Services eTender System web page.
What are the drivers behind shared services in the public sector?
Shared services in the government sector are being influenced by the following drivers:
- Increasing expectations of citizens—This is driving the need to find economies of scale in back office services, in order to redeploy resources to service delivery.
- Increasing expectation that services are constantly available—An example of increased service availability is online banking. These expectations have a flow on effect from the private sector, to the government sector to provide services that are more readily available.
- Increasing expectation that services should be personal—Government agencies who are the clients of the shared service providers expect a high level of service. Shared services can deliver a higher level of service than traditional centralisation, as the shared service providers run their operations like any other customer-focussed business.
- Higher service expectations require more resources—shared services allows cost efficiencies.
- Application of best practice —Shared services have been tried and tested in the private sector over the past decade. This best practice knowledge is now being applied to the Queensland Government.
What are the trends in shared services?
There are a number of trends affecting shared services:
- Standardisation—As technology continues to improve, and services become more centralised, standardised service delivery will become more common.
- Location is becoming irrelevant—For example, some organisations are outsourcing certain shared services to remote locations rather than capital cities.
- Technology advancements—As technology develops it will allow additional automation of processes.
- Partnering for service delivery—As shared service providers become more proficient, the possibility of extending shared services to other organisations may emerge.
- Potential outsourcing—Although not a part of the Queensland Government model, internationally, some governments have choosen to bundle transaction-based services from across several departments and outsource this work to private-sector suppliers.
- Increasing scope—The scope is moving beyond traditional transaction processing to include Centres of Excellence or Skill.
Have other Governments in Australia or around the world implemented shared services?
Shared services have been implemented and are being implemented in Australia and around the world in both private and government organisations. Examples include:
- Western Australia—Office of Shared Services
- New South Wales—Central Corporate Services Unit
- United Kingdom—UK Cabinet Office
- Canada—Treasury Board of Canada
- Ireland—Eastern Health Shared Service.
For a list of links to some of these organisations, visit our useful links page.
What is a balanced scorecard?
The balanced scorecard is a performance management system that provides feedback around internal business processes and external outcomes in order to continuously improve strategic performance and results. The balanced scorecard suggests that the organisation develops metrics, collects data and analyses it relative to four equally important perspectives:
- the learning and growth perspective—we call this ‘capability’
- the business process perspective—we call this ‘improvement’
- the customer perspective—we call this ‘customers’
- the financial perspective—we call this ‘benefits’.
More information about the balanced scorecard approach can be found in the implementation framework fact sheet (PDF 355 K). (PDF - 354kB)
Last reviewed 14 August 2007
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