Modified demands on employees resulted from eGovernment Presentation by Julia Heising, FHöV Cologne

2 Content (1)General information – Status Quo in Germany (2)Optimization of processes (3)Incorporate employees (4)New administrative structure (5)Qualification of employees (6)Knowledge management (7)Effects on employees

3 (1) In General eGovernment = Usage of electronic media in administrative agencies Goals:  More effective administrative processes  Relief for employees  More customer orientation This means:  Changed of ways of working  New demands on employees

4 (1) Status Quo Germany Beginning around year 2000 Well-known project: „BundOnline 2005“  Federal administration planned to offer all possible service online until Levels of eGovernment  Information  Communication  Transaction  Integration

5 (2) Optimization of processes I Not just the usage of new IT, also changes in way of working Old processes have to be optimized  1. Defining  2. Analyzing  3. Optimizing  4. Controlling

6 (2) Optimization of processes II Define the process  Define aim, beginning, end & steps Analyze and optimize the process  Are all steps necessary?  How to reduce transport and wait times  Possible support through new media Control the new process  Did we reach the aims?

7 (3) Incorporate employees I Employees can help to optimize processes Know the process and workflow better than the person in charge of eGovernment Can help eGovernment to become successful

8 (3) Incorporate employees II eGovernment is new and unknown for all parties Incorporation as early as possible  Employees feel included => motivation  Can tell about their worries and problems  Let them now they are important Fast successes in order to keep motivation high

9 (4) New structure New self-conception = changed way of working Different organisation to show the dimension of eGovernment Divide the administration into front- office and back-office Multiple channels to access the administrative agency

10 (4) Front- & back-office I Front-office  First place where citizens go with their matters  Front-office answers general questions, application  often a centre for all services Back-office  Matters which can‘t be worked on in the front- office go further to the back-office  make the final administrative decisions

11 (4) Front- & back-office II Employees in the front-office need a comprehensive knowledge in order to release the back-office employees Front- and back-office don‘t have to be at the same place

12 (4) Multiple accesses Not all citizens own the technical equipment to contact the administration online Offer various access possibilities All accesses have to activate the same process Same way of working on all accesses

13 (5) Qualify employees Employees are the basis of eGovernment, new technique doesn‘t work without them Motivation and qualification are important to be successful One needs a mellow qualifying system

14 (5) Example Call-Center Cologne I Call-Center offers the citizens many services High demands on the Call-Center employees concerning knowledge about IT and the different services All employees have to take part in various training courses Most of the training courses are held by administration employees

15 (5) Example Call-Center Cologne II Max. 10 attendants Duration: 4 hours – 20 hours (= 5 days) Topics:  Basic software (e.g. Microsoft Word, Outlook, Excel)  Specific Call-Center software  Specific topics concerning the actual work in the Call-Center (communication, data security)

16 (5) Example Call-Center Cologne III How to introduce a unknown software Duration: several days How the training works:  Teacher explains the theoretical basis  Employees can try the new software and check whether they understood everything  Asking questions whenever a problem occurs

17 (5) Example Call-Center Cologne IV Attendants get a documentation how to use the software Also: learning by doing After all: employee is the basis of a successful qualification!  Needs to be willing to work solid and continious  Qualification can‘t change the attitude

18 (6) Knowledge management I Knowledge of the employees is an important value which has to be kept. Useful to make this knowledge available to a certain group of people (e.g. a department) Put it into practice through a knowledge management software

19 (6) Knowledge management II One enters information about various processes and workflows By means of a search (such as Google) the employees get information about their matter without asking e.g. other departments Important that these information are kept topical

20 (6) Knowledge management III Advantages:  No need to call another department when one has a question about their matters => no break of processes  More understanding among the departments  More efficiency

21 (7) Effects on employees I When successfully introduced eGovernment has positive effects on the employees:  Filling in a application form online saves time as there is less wait time  Electronic files: possible access from everywhere, no searching  „Usual“ questions can be answered via the Internet or a Call-Center

22 (7) Effects on employees II Employees can concentrate on more important matters, should work faster and more efficiently Better relation to the citizens and also more satisfaction on both sides.

23 Any Questions? Thank you for listening!