Baroness Hanham awards Postgraduate Certificate in Shared Services

Published by Shared Service Architects for Shared Service Architects Ltd in Local Government and also in Central Government, Education, Health, Housing

Baroness Hanham, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Communities and Local Government, presented graduation certificates to the second cohort of public sector leaders and managers who have passed the national Postgraduate Certificate in Shared Services, last week in London.The six month postgraduate programme has been designed and delivered through a partnership between Canterbury Christ Church University and Shared Service Architects.

At the presentation, Baroness Hanham praised the work of the university in setting up the programme and the students for completing the part-time certificate. She emphasised the important role shared services can play as an option for the public sector in delivering quality services in times of austerity. Adding the caveat that, as they can be complex to develop and deliver, building public sector shared service skills and knowledge is very important to the success, and rapid delivery, of partnership projects.

Almost 200 councils, fire and police authorities, FE colleges and universities in England have put over 600 politicians, board members and senior managers through elements of the Shared Service Architect’s programme, which is module one of the certificate. From that foundation, over 30 leaders and senior managers have moved onto the postgraduate certificate since October 2010 and the next cohort begins in February 2012.

Dr Wim van Vuuren, Programme Director for the university, thanked Baroness Hanham and went on to say that, “Many politicians and senior leaders and managers have been thrust into shared service activity without sufficient training, putting both their organisation and their personal credibility at risk. Collaborative working is in fact very difficult, as is reflected in the low success rate of mergers and alliances in the private sector. The postgraduate certificate in shared services is a key to implementing successful projects.”

Bukky McGlynn, Customer Experience and Strategy Manager at Surrey County Council Shared Services confirmed that, “Doing the course was a fantastic opportunity to learn more about the shared services models, what makes them work and why many of them fail. I now understand the importance of developing a shared vision and collaboration in creating successful, sustainable partnerships. I have used the learning from the course to inform our partnership and commercial offering discussions.”.

Graham Rogers, Deputy Vice Chancellor, University of Wales (Newport), also a graduate on the programme, has been putting the learning into action in the development of closer working across the HE sector in Wales. Graham believes that, “The course has provided the essential skills and a toolkit to establish a successful shared service, together with insight into how to avoid the pitfalls. It was excellent value for money.”

The university is now inviting applications for the February 2012 cohort. More information on the postgraduate certificate is available from Canterbury Christ Church University or Shared Service Architects