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Roundtable Discussion on Work in Progress

Christiaan Gort, Peter Schreuder, and Jacques Pijl of Turner, in collaboration with Flevum, organized a roundtable meeting for executives and board members in the Public sector. The topic? The report *Werk Aan Uitvoering* (Work on Implementation), which has gained renewed relevance due to the benefits scandal. Participants in the meeting discussed the report’s findings. What is needed to reform implementation?

Work in Progress: Roundtable with Implementing Organizations

Implementing organizations are under pressure. How can they meet the expectations of citizens, institutions, and policymakers—both now and in the future? Last year, the report *Werk aan Uitvoering* was published, featuring a comprehensive analysis of the issues and recommendations for improvement. On February 9, Turner and Flevum organized a virtual roundtable discussion on this report for executives and directors of supervisory and implementing organizations. The 25 participants received an explanation from the report’s author, Hans van der Vlist, and discussed the findings together. What are the conclusions? And what is needed to turn the tide?

The report

The findings speak for themselves. The report concludes that implementing agencies have been weakened over decades by multiple rounds of budget cuts and a proliferation of laws and regulations. This has led to legislation that is difficult to implement and explain, as well as to a one-sided focus on efficiency and digitization. The result? Implementation can no longer meet expectations, and the human touch has largely disappeared. Vulnerable citizens, in particular, are bearing the brunt of this. It is in this context that the benefits scandal at the tax authority was able to occur.

More Customization and Collaboration

The report recommends restoring the possibility of in-person contact with citizens and giving civil servants much more latitude to tailor their approach when implementing policies. Providing services to vulnerable citizens requires that implementing agencies collaborate more closely to arrive at sustainable solutions. Municipalities have an important role to play here as coordinators and as a point of contact for citizens. During the roundtable discussion, it was noted that this requires much greater collaboration across the chain. Implementing agencies already find it difficult to work together, let alone when municipalities are involved. Nevertheless, it is essential to get started on this in order to reach vulnerable citizens.

Better relationship with policy departments

A key theme in the report concerns the management triangle between the owner of an implementing agency, the various clients, and the implementing organization. During the roundtable discussion, it was noted that there are significant differences between ministries and that the governance triangle does not function effectively everywhere. We discussed the leadership required to address this and agreed that experience in implementation should be a prerequisite for top management positions. Changes to accountability are also needed. The current one-sided, quantitative KPIs and micromanagement by the departments must be overhauled. Qualitative elements deserve more attention. A “rich” accountability framework is needed. The implementing organizations must proactively take the initiative on this themselves. They are called upon to become more self-aware in this regard and not to wait for the policy departments.

"Public organizations generally have a clear strategy and engage their stakeholders effectively, but they lack the ability to execute."

Jacques Pijl, author of *Strategy Execution*

Best Practices

As the report points out, there is plenty of work to be done in terms of implementation. But how can these changes be put into practice? A review of best practices has already yielded some excellent examples. Consider, for example, administrative agencies that have started using “customer journeys” to make their services to citizens more meaningful. Or the expansion of civil servants’ discretionary authority when implementing new policies.

Peter Schreuder of Turner gave an example: “Public organizations tend to overthink things (80%) and pay too little attention to execution (20%). By reversing this approach for one of our clients, we increased production at 35 locations by 20%, significantly improved customer satisfaction, and created more room for personal contact and a human touch.”

Research on Impact

Turner is conducting a study on the effectiveness of public sector organizations. During the meeting, we presented the first notable findings from the ongoing study. It turns out that 80% feel a need and urgency to change, but 80% also indicate that they are not making enough choices in that regard. We also see that, in portfolio management, 60% lack a sufficient balance between improvement, renewal, and innovation.

Despite the pandemic, everyone’s change agenda will continue in 2021. This is made possible by the use of digital tools. For each change initiative, 75% report that stakeholders are well engaged. Nevertheless, more than 50% are unable to successfully scale up changes, and when it comes to benefits management, 70% report having limited insight into the achievement of objectives.

“Public organizations generally have a clear strategy and engage their stakeholders effectively, but they lack the ability to execute,” notes Jacques Pijl of Turner and author of *Strategy = Execution *. “Changes aren’t being implemented effectively because too many initiatives are tackled at once and there isn’t enough focus on results.”

Let's get moving—for real this time

The issues highlighted in the “Werk Aan Uitvoering” report have already been identified in many studies over the past few years. Why will we now succeed in implementing the necessary changes? A great many stakeholders were involved in the preparation of the report, and there is broad support for the recommendations. Moreover, there is a sense of urgency among policymakers to address this issue. The benefits scandal has helped push this topic to the top of the political agenda.

Christiaan Gort, Public sector Practice Leader, concludes: “Current events now demand that implementing agencies take decisive action to restore that human touch to public services. For this to succeed, the relationship with policy departments must change, and new and innovative forms of collaboration are needed.”

"Current events now call for implementing agencies to take decisive action to restore that human touch to their services."

Christiaan Gort, Public sector Practice Leader

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