The last eighteen months have seen a rapid acceleration in digital transformation as businesses and governments responded to the pandemic. This also increased expectations of what good, interconnected experiences look like. Australians expect government agencies to provide the same level of customer support they receive for everything else - from booking a doctor’s appointment to ordering groceries.
New research by Lonergan shows that government agencies still have some catching up to do, but there are also many examples of government agencies providing seamless, proactive and connected customer experiences.
What are these agencies doing differently?
Quite simply: they are using the technology available to them to enhance the secure exchange of customer-related information to remove delays, streamline processes and resolve customer queries faster, more efficiently, and more intelligently. They are marrying this insight with a vision of future costs, effort and an acknowledgement that digital transformation is an ongoing process of continuous improvement, which needs to be flexible enough to adapt to changing legislation, policy, external threats and customer demands.
The imperative for automation and innovation
The Australian Government has a vision to provide seamless and personalised service delivery in line with the Digital Transformation Agency’s five principles of: putting people at the heart of policy and service design; proving trustworthiness; partnering to deliver value; continuously exploring and implementing innovation; and delivering the best possible value for money for the public.
To succeed with this vision, Governments are recognising they need platforms that enable a simple, interconnected and frictionless experience using intelligent automation: both for employees, and for customers.
Impending skills shortages require better systems
This is becoming even more important as skills shortages loom, meaning that government will increasingly have to compete with the private sector for good people.
In order to recruit the best people, government departments need to ensure their internal processes flow smoothly. Having too much red tape will make it even harder to retain good people. This may be in the guise of basic issues like a payroll discrepancy, or as a result of having too much manual overhead when creating a new position code.
The alternative is a seamlessly connected platform that enables departments to fuel efficiency by giving federal and regional employees the ability to focus on high-value work rather than time-consuming, repetitive, manual tasks. They also free up employees’ time so they can deal with more complex issues and requests promptly.
Intelligent automation can lead to greater operational efficiency, reduced operating costs and a reduction in errors, all of which can improve the speed and quality of services delivered to customers.
Those familiar with the need to adopt interconnected technology are familiar with this narrative, but how does it actually work?
How interconnected enterprise systems reduce complexity
Traditionally, multiple systems, departments and people are required to interact to resolve customer requests: whether a manager needs a report written by a team, or a citizen needs the right documents to travel overseas.
This was the case at the outbreak of the pandemic when overseas travel was banned, unless you had an exemption. A new process was required for people to request this exemption, and the initial response by the Department of Home Affairs was to require applicants to send an email to justify their reasons for travel, with supporting documents. Invariably applicants would not provide all the necessary information of documents to justify their case, so when their emails were read, they would often be knocked back, sometimes for trivial reasons such as incomplete information.
Home Affairs recognised this was not sustainable, and they realised they could use their existing ServiceNow platform to enable people to make their applications via an online form that would do all the simple checks to make sure the application was complete and satisfied the basic requirements before it was even submitted for a person to review. This meant that only valid applications needed to be reviewed by Home Affairs, cutting the time back for responses from weeks to days or even hours. Applicants had a better experience and faster response during what was often a stressful and difficult time, and Home Affairs employees could focus on valuable work which would enable them to approve applications more frequently and give them greater satisfaction in being able to support those in need.
This was just one example of how ServiceNow is being used by Home Affairs that CIO, Radi Kovacevic, explained:
“the platform has already found more use cases, including powering three portals that Home Affairs needed to quickly set up to handle covid-related activities for the government.”
Seamless everything through a single system of action
Taking this example to the next level, imagine a single system, accessible to all, that could create world-class employee and customer experiences in one place to manage all workplace needs, experiences and transitions.
Already in use by government agencies in Australia, the United Kingdom, the USA, New Zealand and many more countries around the world, this is precisely what integrated, connected systems deliver. A single platform can connect all people, employees and customers, providing a seamless world of connected experiences as part of a complete, end-to-end solution.
At the heart of this solution is a workflow: the sequence of steps which a task passes through to achieve a specific outcome. And digital workflows are what make all this possible.
For example, ServiceNow can streamline and automate processes and reduce or eliminate red tape - ultimately lowering costs for agencies and improving an employee’s experience.
An interconnected platform that allows problem-solving through workflows, enables those existing disconnected systems to become connected. Problems that required multiple engagements become streamlined. As a result, stressed employees become able to solve more interesting and complex challenges, and customers get streamlined, personalised experiences making their interactions with government easy and efficient.
The simplicity is made possible by three levels of systems:
- A system of engagement – a common interface to interact, request and engage with information.
- A system of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and analytics – to improve workflows and give executives insight into what’s going on.
- And a system of action – that ties all the underlying systems together to ensure results happen seamlessly and elegantly.
Examples of improved efficiency, fewer errors and better-quality services for Australians
One example is the vaccination management platform being used to manage the administration of millions of vaccine doses in NSW. Indeed, following from the success of the COVID-19 vaccination rollout, NSW Health is now looking to deliver other digital services to improve the customer experience including a platform that will help parents manage and record all the interactions that their newborn child has to have with Health providers, and provide parents with electronic reminders for when their child is due for their next routine health check.
Benefits of implementing a single system for government departments and agencies
Once simple, interconnected and frictionless systems are put in place using shared foundations, everything becomes simpler: Service employees can gain a 360-degree view of the customer they’re serving. Both customers and employees are given time back, creating productivity gains and an enhanced user experience. And all this results directly in a better customer experience.
Additionally, utilising intelligent automation allows for cost-savings at multiple levels across the organisation.
At the department-level, when the swivel chair and repetition of work can be reduced, costs are removed by improving efficiency and reducing frustration with manual or menial tasks that can result in costly errors. Staff can also spend time on more complex issues that require more consideration and are more personally rewarding, potentially increasing staff retention.
At the organisational level, platforms like ServiceNow allow Governments to reduce the number of systems or applications required to run their operations.
Finally, at a higher level, platforms can help eliminate disconnected operations and create a joined-up business environment where leadership teams have improved visibility and can make better investment decisions. This enables governments to evolve as customer requirements evolve and improve the experience of everyone participating in the flow of work.
The beauty lies in one interconnected platform
With one platform, underpinned by a single data model, it is possible to create workflows that enable consistent, end-to-end employee and user experiences. That’s the beauty of a simple,
interconnected, frictionless platform. And that’s why we’re proud to say that the workflow revolution has arrived.
What happens next? It simply remains for ServiceNow and the Australian Government to work even more closely. Together, as one.