TOSMS Boardroom Solutions
Pillar 2: Boardroom Governance Documentation and Training Solution
When global disruptors like the pandemic occur, it makes those responsible for strategic changes that have to be made realise just how important it is that the system of governance is able to respond with clarity of purpose, based on a solid understanding of the impacts on the business, and that there is a plan that can be executed at pace with effectiveness and efficiency because the underlying structures, practices and standards are fit for purpose and prepared for those changes that start with policy.
Nowhere was this more clearly brought home than in the biggest government department in Britain responsible for the Universal Credit system that services those who are vulnerable and those who are unemployed, below the breadline and needing the support of the government while they are helped to get back on their feet.
The pandemic closed down many businesses and drove millions to apply for Universal Credit. The pandemic also changed the work patterns of the entire nation due to lockdowns. During this period, there were wholescale changes needed to the policies that governed the Universal Credit service. A simple example was how agents verified a new claimant if they were no longer allowed to attend a Job Centre appointment in person. What the payouts from the government were, that claimants were eligble for, and the qualifying conditions that applied, changed overnight and were constantly being updated.
Against this backdrop, consider that the government had to supply tens of thousands of agents with computers to operate from home. An additional twenty thousand agents had to be employed overnight to deal with the additional millions of claimants. Then, on top of this, the entire agent workforce of over fourty thousand staff, and supporting call centre operators, had to be trained on all the new policy changes happening daily across a vast policy framework.
There were two major platforms that required reprogramming to deal with the policy changes - the Universal Credit system used by the claimants and agents, and the intranet content management system that managed the seven thousand pages of policy that were delivered in the form of various products from guidance that was a user-friendly interpretation of the legal policies to comprehensive online training.
The image below provides an overview of the governance documentation and training areas that are key to automate and allow governing bodies to carry out their duties even under the most trying circumstances.
