A London borough is using crowdsourcing to encourage ‘innovative and game-changing ideas’ from staff on how to deal with budget cutbacks.
Lewisham Council needs to save £95m over the next four years and is asking its 3,000 staff to come forward with suggestions.
It has launched a new platform, designed by software firm Wazoku, where staff can submit ideas across various service areas where cuts need to be made.
‘To say that finding such cost savings will be a major challenge is an understatement and to achieve such demanding financial targets we will need innovative and game-changing ideas from all our staff,’ said Lewisham’s chief executive Barry Quirk.
‘But in reducing costs we also have the opportunity to be more productive in how we work and build a better borough for the next decade. Innovative ideas can come from anywhere within an organisation and it is for precisely this reason that we are using this tool.
‘We will involve our staff in the change process and give them some ownership of those changes too.’
The platform could also be opened up to Lewisham residents in the future.
