A metropolitan local authority and a regional emergency service established a collaborative shared service in March 2017 to deliver HR shared services to both organisations, alongside a small number of additional bodies including schools and leisure services. Based at a civic headquarters, the shared service employs approximately 100 staff and provides first-line HR advisory services, HR transactions, payroll, pensions, and systems and data support to around 20,000 employees and volunteers.

Governance and oversight sit with a Joint Management Board, comprising senior representatives from both organisations, which in turn reports to an Executive Committee.

The Executive Committee commissioned a post-implementation review to provide an independent assessment of whether the collaboration is delivering its intended objectives and benefits, and to inform decisions on the future direction of the shared service.

Our approach began with a detailed review of the day-to-day operations of approximately 100 staff to assess the extent to which the shared service was delivering the benefits set out in the original Consolidated Full Business Case. This was complemented by benchmarking against recognised best practice to identify opportunities for early “quick wins” through simplification and optimisation, alongside longer-term opportunities to future-proof the HR target operating model, processes and procedures in line with the strategic objectives.

At the outset, we worked closely with senior leaders to agree the overall approach, timetable and resourcing. A stakeholder mapping exercise was undertaken to ensure all relevant groups were engaged, supported by tailored communications that reflected the sensitivities associated with reviewing roles across the service.

The work significantly strengthened performance insight and decision-making. New data visualisations and reporting formats provided clearer, more timely insight at executive and committee levels, while a shared analytical vocabulary across people leaders enabled more consistent, evidence-based performance conversations and a stronger organisational grip on workforce data.

We then undertook user surveys and one-to-one interviews with key stakeholders to understand perceptions of service performance, using this insight to develop a SWOT analysis that highlighted the strengths, weaknesses and improvement opportunities within the existing operating model. Building on this, we facilitated a series of workshops with a representative cross-section of stakeholders, working directly with staff to understand key risks, issues and constraints, map core activities and identify opportunities for improvement and automation.

All findings were consolidated into a clear report with practical recommendations and an outline business case for improvement, including a prioritised delivery roadmap, training requirements, risks, mitigations and key assumptions. The findings and recommendations were shared and validated with key stakeholders prior to finalisation to ensure alignment, ownership and buy-in.