Mr. Brendan Howlin, T.D., Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, and Mr Brian Hayes T.D., Minister of State with special responsibility for Public Service Reform and the OPW have jointly opened PeoplePoint, the new Human Resources and Pensions Shared Service Centre for the Civil Service. At the launch both Ministers spoke of the importance of this project in demonstrating the Government’s commitment to implementing the reforms set out in the Programme for Government.
Minister Howlin said "the opening of Peoplepoint was a significant achievement for the civil service. PeoplePoint is delivering on our vision for change with a strong focus on customer service, working in new ways, driving efficiencies in our HR processes and utilising enabling technologies. This centre is the first of a number of Shared Services projects underway in the civil service. It provides a real opportunity for us to drive workforce reforms that will support the civil service into the future."
Minister Hayes with special responsibility for Public Service Reform and the OPW stated that "Shared Services represent a new way of doing things and are, I believe, symbolic of a new approach to public administration in this country. PeoplePoint is the first significant project to change internal service delivery in the Civil Service. It is a concrete example of what can be achieved when Departments and Offices work together to enable significant change in the way we do our business and is an example of how shared services could work right across the Public Service."
The Peoplepoint centre when fully operational will provide HR and Pensions transactional services to 40 Departments, Offices and Agencies. Six Departments have transitioned across and the next Tranche of Departments/Offices are due to transition at the end of August 2013. It is envisaged that all Departments/Offices will be transitioned (through three subsequent tranches) to PeoplePoint by the end of 2014. Once the remaining Departments and bodies have transitioned and PeoplePoint becomes fully operational, savings estimated at €12.5 million annually will be achieved, with a reduction of 17% in staff numbers in HR.
Some 120 staff have transferred to the PeoplePoint office in Clonskeagh from other Government Departments/public bodies to staff the operation and it is envisaged there will be over 300 staff in place when PeoplePoint is fully operational.
PeoplePoint is a key structural change that will transform the way HR services are delivered in the civil service. Minister Howlin said "this major change in the way we deliver HR not only allows us to introduce a model for improved and more efficient service delivery it also gives us the opportunity to transform how we manage our most valuable resource – our people - across the civil service. It facilitates the realignment of our focus to more strategic HR activities, such as workforce planning, succession planning, and talent management."
Notes for the Editor
·Shared service arrangements consolidate administrative functions in areas such as finance, IT and Human Resources (HR) which allows organisations and Governments to focus their resources on core activities leading to administrative efficiency and reduced cost.
·In a HR context, the focus is on consolidating transactional HR activity in a Shared Service arrangement. Over time this can be extended to facilitate higher level HR activity if doing so adds value for an organisation.
·The types of activity classed as transactional or administrative are for example, the processing and recording of all leave options, recording and management of all employee records, recording and reporting of sick absences, pensions administration etc. It is also intended to automate PMDS to improve compliance and reduce administrative overhead costs.
The benefits of implementing a shared service arrangement include:
·Reduced cost of HR service delivery whilst maintaining quality;
·Greater efficiency in HR service delivery through standardising and optimising transactional HR processes into one Shared Service Centre;
·Increased focus on ensuring consistent high quality customer service; and
·Fostering of strategic HR capability which will drive capacity and capability building within organisations
The new shared service, PeoplePoint has officially been operating since March 25th 2013. Six Departments have transitioned their transactional HR activities across. These Departments are:
Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine
Department of Finance
Department of Justice & Equality
Department of Public Expenditure & Reform
The Central Statistics Office
An Garda Siochána Ombudsman Commission
The next Tranche of Departments/Offices are due to transition at the end of August 2013. It is envisaged that all Departments/Offices will be transitioned (through three subsequent tranches) to PeoplePoint by the end of 2014.
There are 40 Departments, Offices and Agencies involved in this initiative.
HR Shared Services have been established in the public service in other jurisdictions including the UK, Holland, Germany and the US. The implementation of shared service projects is not without risk but where they are successfully implemented they achieve significant cost reduction and increase efficiencies.