Harnessing the potential of digital collaboration: Reducing budget pressure and securing skilled workers in local authorities 

Local authorities are under enormous pressure: mandatory tasks are growing, budgets are shrinking and the shortage of skilled workers is exacerbating the situation. While many savings potentials have already been exhausted, digital collaboration and flexible working models are opening up new ways to reduce costs and increase attractiveness as an employer at the same time. In this blog post, we look at how these approaches can help to overcome these municipal challenges and even achieve improvements for citizens and companies in the process.

1. Digital collaboration as the key to budget relief

The financial scope of many municipalities is limited, and savings must be targeted at areas where there is still untapped potential. Two key areas offer opportunities here:

Reducing workplace costs by working from home

According to calculations by the KGSt (Kommunale Gemeinschaftsstelle für Verwaltungsmanagement), a workplace (AP) costs an average of 6,250 euros per year. By increasing the home office rate, local authorities can significantly reduce their expenditure on office space and infrastructure. It is true that the space infrastructure cannot be calculated on a linear basis. Such space management is easier for larger administrations, but even for smaller administrations with one or a few locations, subletting, for example, can help to reduce office space costs. Almost any increase in home office use can have a positive impact on the budget.

Efficiency through inter-municipal cooperation (IMC)

The division of work between municipalities offers enormous potential: inter-municipal cooperation (IMC) enables resources to be used more efficiently, tasks to be carried out jointly and specialized skills to be pooled. Digital tools promote location-independent collaboration, making processes faster and more cost-effective. It is important that the wheel is not reinvented for every area in which municipalities cooperate as an IMC. A solid technical basis can serve as a “production platform for intermunicipal cooperation”.

2. Flexible working models as a response to the shortage of skilled workers

The shortage of skilled workers is also hitting public administration hard. This makes it all the more important to position yourself as an attractive employer - and flexible working models play a decisive role here.

Increasing employer attractiveness

Flexible, location-independent working options make municipalities more attractive to potential applicants. Younger generations in particular attach great importance to work-life balance and modern working conditions.

Expanding the search radius

The option of remote working allows local authorities to significantly expand their search radius when recruiting new specialists. This makes it possible to attract qualified employees who do not necessarily have to live locally.

Retain existing employees

Flexible working models are also an option for existing employees. They promote work-life balance and satisfaction and help to retain staff in the administration in the long term - an important factor in times of skills shortages.

Increasing efficiency

Flexible working models also make it possible to use resources more efficiently: Substitution arrangements become easier if colleagues from the neighboring municipality can step in. Employees can carry out their work from any location, which reduces commuting times and promotes more productive ways of working.

3. Better customer service through digital solutions

In addition to the internal benefits, digital collaboration and flexible models also offer opportunities for better service to citizens and businesses:

• More flexible office hours: Home office and ICC make it possible to offer more flexible or even extended consultation hours - for example through virtual consultation hours in the evening.
• Digital counseling services: Online appointments or video consultations enable digital consultations to facilitate access to the administration.
• Digital processes not only help to process citizens' concerns more quickly, but - assuming sensible end-to-end digitization - also significantly reduce the workload of the administration.

Conclusion: Together into the future

The digital transformation not only offers local authorities the opportunity to relieve pressure on their budgets, but also to increase their attractiveness as employers and provide a better service for citizens. With a clever combination of home office options, inter-municipal collaboration and flexible working models, municipalities can meet the challenges of our time - more efficiently, more modern and more sustainable.

With our digital administration center based on ivCAMPUS, many of the potentials described can be leveraged. We look forward to an exchange in which we can discuss the specific implementation options in your municipality without obligation.

Book your personal consultation appointment directly here.

Arrange meeting