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Digital Services Drive Enhanced Constituent and Employee Experiences Post-Pandemic

Kevin Flanagan, associate vice president for government and higher education sales at Hyland, discusses how digital services can help agencies address emerging workforce challenges and enhance constituent engagement.

The below article is an edited version of the interview between Steve Towns, deputy chief content officer of e.Republic, and Kevin Flanagan, associate vice president for government and higher education sales at Hyland.

DIGITAL SERVICES DRIVE ENHANCED CONSTITUENT AND EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCES POST-PANDEMIC

Kevin Flanagan, associate vice president for government and higher education sales at Hyland, discusses how digital services can help agencies address emerging workforce challenges and enhance constituent engagement.

What long-term impact did the pandemic have on the government workforce and how agencies deliver services?

The move to remote work may have been viewed as a temporary measure during the pandemic, but it’s driving a lasting change. Many employees now want to work from home or in a hybrid model, and if an agency can’t support these options, it will be hard to compete for talent. In addition, although government accelerated the delivery of digital services when offices closed, constituent expectations for online, seamless engagement continue to increase.

What is the connection between digital services and a remote or hybrid work model?

It’s difficult to empower a remote or hybrid workforce if you haven’t fully adopted a digital model. Of course, if a constituent wants to come into the office, an employee must be there to accept paper forms and applications over the counter. But the more content and processes you move online, the more flexibility you can offer employees around where and how they work. Agencies can create a new work culture and address today’s hiring and retention challenges.

How can a modern content services platform enhance constituent engagement?

Government has long talked about an omnichannel approach for serving constituents — whether it’s via mail, email, in person, mobile or online. The pandemic showed us there is still a lot of work to do in this area. Modern content services enable greater flexibility and agility in service delivery. By digitizing documents and allowing access from any location, agencies can reduce their dependence on in-person or paper-based processes and take services online faster. Digitizing documents also improves in-person transactions by allowing employees to move paperwork into an automated workflow for more efficient processing.

What difference does automation make for employee effectiveness and satisfaction?

Automating manual tasks frees up employees for more valuable and interesting work. Staff spend less time moving paper around and more time serving constituents. Employees also have more time to look for the next problem to solve and the next process to improve.

The pandemic accelerated innovation in government. How can leaders maintain that momentum?

One key strategy is to create a digital transformation office or dedicate a role to process modernization. There will always be a process that needs improvement or a service that can be moved online. Having someone focused on the work of solving those problems allows agencies to institutionalize the positive changes made during the pandemic and keep modernization moving forward.