Fife Council, Scotland’s third-largest local authority, has revealed it is on track to achieving its £20 million efficiency-savings target from deploying a mobile working solution.
The authority is three years into a five-year programme, which plans to increase efficiency and improve service delivery through the implementation of the TotalMobile App platform.
The platform is designed to streamline workflow and simplify infrastructure by allowing all employees to engage with one simple interface. Back office information is automatically updated via an employee’s device, meaning there is also a saving on paperwork and administration.
TotalMobile was purchased at an enterprise level and is being implemented on a department-by-department basis, which Fife Council decided would yield the best return.
It is currently deployed by the Building Services department within the authority, with a staged roll-out across the rest of the council to follow, including Housing and Neighbourhood, and Streets, Parks and Open Spaces.
Linda Robertson, programme manager for mobile and flexible working at Fife Council, said implementing TotalMobile has led to the development of an entirely new working culture within Fife.
“We are facing an enormous financial challenge and mobile flexible working is one of the key enablers in keeping us on target,” she said. “But this has also entailed changing the way we all work.”
“We have to give staff the tools to do their job in a new way, enabling them to work flexibly and remotely, but at the same time delivering an improved service to the people of Fife.
“User adoption was key to all of this and our Building Services staff were fantastic advocates and early adopters of TotalMobile, demonstrating to the rest of the organisation the clear benefits it could bring.”
Roll-out of the solution officially began in 2011 with the Building Services department, which saw an average of 22 percent increased productivity from each employee in scope, and a consequent increase in the number of jobs carried out each day.
The implementation coincided with a restructuring at Fife Council, with some departments being realigned and others combined together. This meant the need was for a council-wide solution that could be scaled-up according to need and could sit above legacy applications.
The early part of the implementation also involved a lot of infrastructure work to ensure the rest of the council could follow Building Services when required.
“We’ve been undergoing a massive programme of change within Fife, which included improved services and new channels of communication for citizens and work transformation and better work / life balance for Fife Council staff,” said Jill Pritchard, business change manager at Fife Council.
“TotalMobile has helped drive all of this change and knit it together, providing an easy-to-use mobile working solution that has transformed the way Fife Council operates.
“We are deploying TotalMobile in departments where it can make the most difference and deliver the biggest benefits and the improvements in service delivery have been a particular highlight.”
