The public sector has a serious digital skills problem. The UK government has stated it is ‘rolling out world-class digital infrastructure across the UK, harnessing the power of data,’ and fostering a ‘regulatory regime that protects citizens while encouraging both investment and innovation.’ But the number of people in public sector jobs capable of delivering on that vision is far from encouraging. And this doesn’t just affect this new government-instated policy—it also undercuts the ability of public-facing organisations to deliver excellent digital service.
So what's caused this lack of skills? According to our research, a large part of the problem isn’t with hiring, but retention.
When asked about how well they worked together, fewer IT professionals and C-suite members from the public sector agreed with each other than those from any other sector, and 7% flat-out disagreed that they worked well together. In other words, senior leaders were more likely to believe they had a good working relationship with their IT teams (and vice versa) if they worked anywhere other than the public sector.
These findings were drawn from a survey of hundreds of executives and technology professionals in large and enterprise-sized organisations in the UK and Ireland, examining the status, future, and risks of IT and technology use. The bottom line is that talented people don’t stick around long when they don’t feel like they’re gelling with their leaders.
The human touch
For public sector professionals hoping to address this issue, better collaboration leads to longer tenure; this is easy to say but hard to put into practice. In the survey, 62% of IT decision-makers said they believe their organisation should have offered them more support over the last two years. A year is a long time: long enough for employees perspectives to be informed by a lot of experience. Clearly, something needs to shift.
Part of that shift will be technological (and we’ll get to that shortly), but part of it will also be relational. For the C-suite, that could mean taking the time to meet regularly with IT teams and giving them a chance to discuss their needs and challenges rather than simply presenting them with a list of demands. For IT teams, it could mean being patient with leaders who may not be technologically skilled.
'Support' doesn’t just mean more funding and staff (though those things may well be required). It means genuinely listening.
Right tool, right job
With all that said, in some cases, generic tools won't always work; specific tasks require specific tools. When IT is heavily centralized, non-IT teams are required to depend on IT teams for any IT-related activity, which can have a major impact on overall morale. However, most employees are knowledgeable enough to make their own IT decisions. This calls for decentralization of IT, wherein non-IT employees can access a well-tailored IT infrastructure.
The public sector is significantly slower at decentralising its IT services than other sectors, with only 22% of public organisations decentralising compared to 47% nationwide. The key reasons cited for the public sector not making advances in this area were the need to maintain regulatory structure and preserve security.
The IT department, however, sees things differently. According to the survey, IT professionals believe the decentralisation of IT functions will allow for an increased scope for innovation (55%) and greater acknowledgement of IT’s prominence in the organisation (51%). In other words, decentralisation is viewed as a means of increasing IT’s influence at the top table.
Given that perspective, there’s a strong case to be made that releasing central control of IT systems and enabling a locally led, instance-by-instance approach will have positive effects across the board. IT teams will be able to feed into critical daily functions more directly, frontline staff will benefit from bespoke solutions, and more engaged staff are more likely to stick around for the long term.
The best of both worlds
Finally, 56% of IT decision-makers cite the loss of flexible work as the primary reason for resignation. Following the pandemic, the world of office-based work has changed to a degree that cannot simply be rolled back. People are increasingly seeing the benefits of a hybrid work arrangement, so public sector leaders need to consider how they can enable hybrid practices without disrupting productivity or team cohesion.
A high-quality system built with technology that enables remote work without impacting data security is essential to make this work. Rapid, accurate authentication, robust data access, and seamless collaboration are all prerequisites for a successful hybrid work environment. In other words, the right people need to be able to access the right things (and only the right things), in the right place, at the right time.
A highly centralised, perimeter-bound system is unlikely to enable these things, but public sector leaders should avoid the temptation to let the tail wag the dog. Since its invention, the IT infrastructure has constantly been adapted to better enable efficient working. Tying employees to an office or a legacy system purely to avoid the process of evolution is a false economy, one that will cost the organisation in staff departures.
Keeping the right staff on board isn't easy, and the right approach will differ from organisation to organisation. But with a supportive culture, a well-tailored system, and smooth hybrid work, you’ll have a strong foundation on which to build.
Arun Kumar is regional director at ManageEngine.
