Public services throughout the world are experiencing daunting challenges due to current political and economic demands—among them are aging populations, growing fiscal uncertainties, and rising citizen expectations. But governments can overcome these obstacles by making public services more effective and efficient. Research highlighted in “Radically Rethinking Public Services,” a new article from Accenture’s online journal Outlook finds that governments are underutilizing existing public-sector talent, and it proposes that governments should help public-sector workers transition to “public entrepreneurs.” 

Authors Bernard Le Masson, Brian J. Moran, and Steve Rohleder write, “Public entrepreneurs focus on creating value, forging new relationships, collaborating across traditional boundaries and breaking through organizational silos to get things done. They partner to deliver value and take calculated risks, understanding that while some efforts may fail, others will not. The shift to public entrepreneurship repurposes the machinery of government to stimulate economic outcomes, collaborate and multiply the impact of government investments.” 

In addition to policy and legislation changes to address changes in education and workforce development, the shift to public entrepreneurship requires governments do three things. 

• Collaborate to boost impact. Using new delivery and organizational models can drive innovation and stimulate better economic outcomes; these efforts often involve spinning entities out of the public sector.

• Develop labor pool skills. Public entrepreneurs can attempt to help businesses flourish, but if a nation’s workforce lacks the skills to compete globally, the efforts are unlikely to succeed. Given the complexity inherent in the skills development challenge, coordination among the public, private and social sectors is critical.

• Introduce intelligent stewardship. Governments have many ways to capitalize more fully on the resources they manage. They can use their sizable procurement budgets to catalyze innovation, make better use of the data they collect, or use technology to simplify interactions between business and government.

About the Authors

• Bernard Le Masson is the management consulting managing director for Accenture Health & Public Service. He is based in Paris.

• Brian J. Moran is the managing director of Accenture’s Public Service Operations & Management group. He is based in Cleveland, Ohio.

• Steve Rohleder is the group chief executive of Accenture Health & Public Service. He is based in Austin, Texas.