MD-BISLLC

OUR GOVERNMENT ENGAGEMENTS

We take pride in our ability to understand the intricacies involved in the public
system and have had good success working with department and organization
leadership and their employees to better accomplish the often diverse and conflicting
goals of the organization, while meeting the needs of accountability and oversight.

The fundamental difference between the public and private sectors goes back to
approach, to the question of form and function. Business' primary function is to profit
by providing a product or service and their form exists to support that function. The
public sectors' form is determined by rules and laws, therefore function must adhere
to the form. In business, employees are "at will" and must perform so the business
remains profitable in order to maintain their jobs or receive promotion; the metrics
are clear and direct. In the public sector, an employee is often unclear on how best to
provide and perform many functions within a single rigid form; their metrics are
often based on task performance that has little to do with the actual function of the
agency or department. As an example of this dynamic, in the Washington State
Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, a counselor is measured on clearing case loads,
not on client success. In fact, there exists no process to measure ongoing client
success. The reasoning for this is that a client can always reapply for services; the
problem with that assumption is that the waiting list for services is often in excess of
12,000 people. This type of example exists throughout the public sector making it a
frustrating experience for both client and civil servant. Add to this accountability
programs and you have a truly challenging environment for public leadership. They are
being required to serve the public efficiently and effectively but the form does not,
and in fact cannot change to support functionality.

Areas where our public partners have found our services useful are in the facilitation
of public/private partnerships. We are effective facilitators and translators because
we straddle these two worlds, understanding and working well with both. We have
done significant analysis and work around process improvement, relationship
building, training, communication and accountability.

Before we start an assignment, we perform a holistic assessment. This is a required
portion of our consulting agreement. In the assessment we review all aspects of the
agency or department; function, policy, process, training, hiring practice and
accountability procedures. We generate a report on the overall effectiveness of the
agency or department and detail problems with potential resolutions. We submit the
report to the leadership and discuss options for addressing the issues. Often we find
this process so enlightens the client they are then able to address the problem on
their own, making it a very cost effective solution. The leadership can move forward
with no additional services needed. If the problem is not so easily addressed, the
analysis will provide valuable information on all the factors needing to be addressed
to meet all requirements.

From this report we prepare a proposal which contains the entire scope of options for
resolution. The negotiations that follow will be based on the client's priorities,
budgeting, etc. and will determine which items can be performed in-house by the
client, which services we can provide, and which services the client may want to
contract from other sources.