New Zealand Police - Vetting for Efficiency

Details

Business Transformation

The situation

The New Zealand Police Licensing and Vetting Service Centre ("LVSC") provides information held by the Police to a range of agencies in order to assist with the vetting of candidates for job applications, security clearance and other matters. The LVSC had identified a number of opportunities to improve its manual, paper-based vetting process in order to provide a speedier, more transparent service to its stakeholders. 

Our approach

A traditional approach to addressing the issues faced by the LVSC may have recommended an increase in resources, including additional man hours and associated FTE costs. Encompass Consulting worked with the organisation to identify and change the least efficient steps in current processes and develop new software with vetting focus in order to assist the LVSC achieve its business objectives.

The organisation identified a group of key stakeholders who accounted for the majority of applications received by the Centre and gained a sound understanding of the pressures and challenges faced by these agencies. This enabled the LVSC to amalgamate a range of disparate external processes into a single, centrally-monitored process which reduced delays and improved data accuracy. 

The proposed software solution utilised existing back-end tools where possible, yet retained its focus on greater access and lower maintenance overheads.  Data from the solution was presented in an appropriate form for service centre staff which led to increased productivity and staff satisfaction.

The new solution was introduced in conjunction with a refreshed service delivery model, which placed greater information and ownership in the hands of key stakeholders. The benefits offered by the new model were sufficient to convince external agencies to actively engage with and support the organisation during the period of change.

The result

The solution offered a number of benefits to the Centre and stakeholders, including streamlined processes which led to significant back-office efficiencies. The shift away from paper-based forms and the consolidation of external agency forms into a single application offered substantial improvements over the previous processes used to collect and verify information. Working in concert with All-of-Government technology, the solution offers standardised access for future clients.

The vetting process is more secure as a result of the technology adopted, and also more transparent, with external agencies able to immediately view the state of individual applications. These improvements have led to a substantial reduction in application and correspondence volume as there are fewer re-filed applications, client enquiries and inefficient facsimile transmissions.

Overall, LVSC clients have seen a significant reduction in processing timeframes as a result of the improved service delivery model and the Centre can now offer the guaranteed return of a completed vetting check in a much shorter period of time.