One of the advantages of being a recruiter is having an inside look at what companies believe their market will look like in the coming months and years. The skills and competencies that business seek to develop or extend is a key indicator of the strategy they have going forward. When you’re recruiting for management consultancies that also means getting an insight into what the consultancies think their clients will want into the future.

One of the striking things about my clients in public sector consultancy is their desire for performance improvement specialists. It’s not hard to see why this is the case. Ever since the Gershon Review of 2004-5, increasing efficiency, and therefore saving money, has been top of the government’s agenda for the civil service. Likewise, local government is coming under increasing pressure to make sure that their budgets stretch further and further. How are such efficiencies to be gained? Shared services and outsourcing are both key ways that government bodies have sought to save money but the most recent addition is the application of the LEAN methodology. What is LEAN (here's the wikipedia entry)Well, I’m no expert but as far as I understand it it’s a way of redesigning processes by understanding what the desired outcome is and eliminating any process that does not contribute to that outcome. The result should be processes that provide the customer with what they want at a low cost and high speed. LEAN began, as with most things to do with efficiency, in Japan with the Toyota Production System but it has made its way from manufacturing into financial services and now into the public sector.

Of course, there are questions about whether LEAN can make a successful transition from Japanese car manufacturing to British public services and academics are already starting to produce studies on the issue. However, from my perspective, limited though it may be, it seems that LEAN is set to beat a path through a public sector organization near you. Why? Because so many public sector consultancies are looking for LEAN specialists. That tells me that they must think their public sector clients will want to have LEAN methodology applied to them.

What do you think? Is LEAN just another fad or a shining hope for efficient and responsive public services? Or is it somewhere in between? Are you a LEAN consultant keen to use your skills in the public sector, if so get in touch at gjs@blt.co.uk