Even after adopting a solution a few years back which didn’t work out, City of York were not deterred. They knew that IT had a fundamental role to play in generating serious benefits, via an enterprise mobile workforce system.
However, all was not lost – City of York Council learned a lot in the process. When they came to look at mobile workforce management again, they knew exactly what they wanted, and realised that this time, the focus needed to be on the end user.
The Solution
City of York Council is a unitary Local Authority that employs 3000 FTEs and serves 200,000 residents, 20,000 students and 8,000 council tenants. The council was tasked with making savings of £6.5million in 2016/17 which is equivalent to 5.5 per cent of its net budget (£117.9M). However, the council continues to spend one of the lowest amounts per head per population amongst UK Local Authorities.
City of York turned to us to help implement a solution that not only delivered productivity savings, but also helped boost the reputation of IT.
Totalmobile was initially rolled out within the Building Services Department, with benefits being realised right away. You can watch a short video below, which outlines how it is being used, and the significant benefits they are generating as a result.
Frontline staff champion the enterprise mobile workforce system, saying that they can see more tenants and get more jobs completed per day. Because the jobs come through on their mobile device, they know exactly where to go and what needs to be done, making them more productive, which in turn, reassures the tenant. Frontline staff also find the solution very easy to use, and are delighted that it allows them to get more jobs done.
Since Totalmobile was introduced, the City of York Council are completing jobs 35% quicker than they were before. Because of this significant saving, they are also experiencing a higher workforce capacity, which is completing 36% more jobs than they were prior to Totalmobile.
Cost efficiencies are being experienced and tracked right down to job level with an average saving of £7 per repairs job, and £28 per heating job. Cost savings continue to be experienced throughout the organisation. The council is running an almost paperless office now, and processes are streamlined. This drastically reduces administrative costs for the council.
There are big ambitions for City of York. They are going to fully utilise the enterprise mobile workforce system that they purchased from Totalmobile, and roll it out to the entire organisation. This will enable the benefits of Totalmobile to be experienced in all service areas. They will start off with some HR services, alongside Housing and more of the Building Services areas. They also plan to implement Totalmobile into both Adults and Children’s social care services. Due to the size of staff numbers and nature of this work, mobile working is seen as an enabler to providing a greater quality of service.
Phil Holme, Customer Support and Planning Team Lead, says “It feels like we’re getting to where we want to be and Totalmobile is getting us there”.
To learn more about City of York’s mobile working journey please read their case study.
