Shared Services ‘Not Just About Cost Savings’ – Online Summit

Julie Kane, Head of Shared Services at the Scottish Government, said: "The benefits of sharing services are not confined to financial savings but should also be thought of in terms of "better corporate performance [and] higher quality service. If organisations focus solely on cost savings they are likely to miss the chance to improve service outputs by establishing better processes. Shared Services should also provide career opportunities, workforce development and introduce greater professionalism into corporate transaction functions by establishing centres of skills."

David Sainsbury of Hambleton District Council suggested that in recent years accountant centred business models overemphasise cash gains and ignore other significant benefits. "However, the gains in effectiveness and therefore provision of better value for money often outweigh the relatively superficial gains that can be measured in cash terms. For a small district council, the opportunity to employ specialists rather the Jacks and Jills of all trades can be the single major efficiency to be gained from a shared service option and this may be very difficult to measure in quantitative terms."

The Online Summit continues today and all this week at:
http://www.headstar-events.com/shared-services08/online-summit/
For more information please telephone Claire on 01273 231291.