Transforming front line service in the public sector

Since 2010, several provincial and local governments, some federal government departments and numerous public sector organizations across Canada have implemented various forms of operational improvement programs based on Lean philosophy. Tens of thousands of civil servants have been trained in Lean techniques and thousands of Lean improvement events have been completed in these organizations.

Improvements have focused on back office processes such as human resource recruiting and facilities maintenance, as well as on front line citizen-touching processes such as timely payments to foster families, permit applications, driver licensing and citizen call centres. Many of these improvement initiatives have resulted in identification and/or realization of significant internal efficiency improvements such as cycle time reduction, cost reduction, new capacity creation (through reduction or elimination of waste and low or no value-add work) and service quality improvements. Unfortunately, the improvements realized initially have been difficult to sustain. This is the Achilles heel of Lean techniques in the service sector.

So how can organizations sustain improvements? What do organizations need to do to make the change stick?