Department for Work and Pensions gets leaner, fitter and more focussed HR: Shared‐service centers, self‐serve and HR business partners (HRBPs) among major changes

Abstract

Purpose

Describes how HR at the British Government's Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) became leaner, fitter and more focused after the department was required to reduce employee numbers from 131,000 in 2003 to 101,000 in 2008, with a further 10,000 being moved to front‐line services.

Design/methodology/approach

Explains that the 50,000 line managers in the businesses were required to be more involved with HR issues and decisions, and required the skills and information to be able to do this effectively. A need to review the overall learning and development (L&D) strategy to meet this scale of change became evident. Traditional classroom‐based training methods would not enable the DWP to achieve what was required flexibly, efficiently or cost‐effectively.

Findings

Shows how the DWP embraced technology to deliver self‐managed learning to 50,000 line managers, 120 HR business partners and 2,500 L&D specialists. The organization dramatically changed HR delivery in four months (from brief to launch date) for 50,000 line manager and eight months for the 2,500 strong L&D community. DWP expanded its skill set by sharing this vision and working with an external partner that could help it to deliver what it wanted, rather than what its internal tools allowed. With Academee's knowledge and expertise in learning portals, the DWP delivered the project on time and to budget.

Practical implications

Investing in technology to streamline and standardize L&D across three core areas, along with breaking programmes down into modules for flexible learning, has enabled the L&D offering to be tailored to each individual.

Originality/value

Gives a clear exposition of the benefits for HR and for the organization as a whole.

Citation

(2006), "Department for Work and Pensions gets leaner, fitter and more focussed HR: Shared‐service centers, self‐serve and HR business partners (HRBPs) among major changes", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 14 No. 5, pp. 6-12. https://doi.org/10.1108/09670730610678190