Smart Cities Pilot - Business Process Change - Edinburgh
The pilot aims to improve customer experience, reduce avoidable contact and move towards more cost-effective channels for customer contact by incorporating both “Lean” thinking and Customer Journey Mapping approaches to business process improvement.
- To verify and evaluate a framework to help identify improvements in customer service business processes incorporating both “Lean” thinking and Customer Journey Mapping approaches
- To implement an appropriate process analysis model and recommend mapping / modelling tools to support the framework approach
- To introduce relevant training modules to support the framework
- To transfer knowledge and develop capacity within the council to continue to use the framework for improving customer service business processes in other areas of the council
- To identify improvement recommendations specifically for implementation in the Revenues and Benefits division, targeting 10% cashable efficiency savings.
Approach:
The project approach is based around the following outline work packages, and is aimed at improving customer experience, reducing avoidable contact and moving towards more cost-effective channels for customer contact:
- Work Package 1: Project Initiation
- Work Package 2 : Indicators and Measurement
- Work Package 3 : CJM Training
- Work Package 4 : Process Library/Mapping Tools Implementation
- Work Package 5 : Customer Journey Mapping
- Work Package 6 : Business Process Modelling
- Work Package 7 : Review of the CJM Approach
- Work Package 8 : Process Review Recommendations
- Work Package 9 : Further Planning of BPC Reviews
- Work Package 10 : Benefits Realisation
- Work Package 11 : Project Closure
For more details refer to the City of Edinburgh Council document: “Pilot Business Process Review in Revenues and Benefits : Project Initiation Document”, currently version 1.2.
Deliverables:
- A recommended Business Process Review approach suitable for application across the Council’s customer service processes
- Training packages to support the approach
- A recommended process modelling tool and approach to process mapping for use as a standard across the Council
- Recommendations for improving customer service processes within the R&B division
- A plan to implement changes and monitor resultant benefits within R&B
A Customer Services Strategy and vision for the City of Edinburgh Council was agreed in December 2008. In order to achieve the future vision, a number of inter-related projects and themes were developed, with funding being agreed in June 2009. Business Process change is one of these projects, and has been taken forward as one of the Smart Cities pilots.
The Revenues and Benefits Division within the City of Edinburgh Council has regular contact with most customers (citizens and business) through the processing of council tax and collection of business rates. Improving customer service in this area will impact on the maximum number of service users, and should improve the council’s overall customer satisfaction scoring. The division was therefore chosen to pilot a new approach to business process change in customer services that includes both Customer Journey Mapping and Lean methodologies.
At present, the division is struggling to keep up with the increased demand for benefits as a result of the economic downturn, and a backlog of work to be processed, resulting in additional burdens and lower customer services. The head of the division is committed to improving both efficiency and customer service, and the division was therefore appropriate as a starting point to develop the approach which will be used for similar reviews across the council.
Very early in the work of the Customer Services strategy program it became evident that a fundamental review of customer service processes was critical to the success of all relevant workstreams in the program. This is particularly important to the specification of requirements for technology based products, where a clear business understanding is needed.
It was also clear that any approach to improving business processes would need to be capable of being implemented across all Customer Services functions. Whilst the council has, in the past, focussed on improving internal efficiencies through business process change (taking a broadly “lean” approach), the external customer’s view of the services has not necessarily been considered.
The Customer Journey Mapping approach, as defined by the cabinet office, addresses all of these areas; customer experience mapping, mapping the system (or process mapping) and measuring the experience, and is the approach that will be adopted for the pilot. This also links in with the wider Customer Services Excellence model that is being pursued across the council.
Customer benefits:
- During the pilot, customer service and other improvements will be identified and measurements put in place to monitor baselines and improvements beyond the implementation of the changes
Performance benefits:
- Improvements to increase the efficiency of back and front office activities will be identified for the selected business processes
Employee benefits:
- Knowledge of internal staff involved will increase, allowing them to help out or transfer knowledge into similar projects in the future
Financial benefits:
- It should be noted that there are no direct cashable benefits anticipated from the pilot project itself, but these will follow on from implementation of the recommendations of this pilot project. It is hoped that these will amount to 10% savings in the division.
Project benefits:
- Improved standardisation of business process maps will be provided through the use of a standard approach and tool(s)
| Attachment | Size |
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| Project_Initiation_Document_WP3_Edinburgh_Business_Process_Change_2.pdf | 661.39 KB |