Setting out an approach to governance, identification and planning, tracking, realisation and reporting of benefits.
Benefits management is the identification, definition, planning, tracking and realisation of benefits. Benefits must be identified and discussed during the early planning stages of any change project. This allows leaders to weigh up different options to deliver the intended benefits. It also allows the police force to identify how they will be measured and reported on.
Continuous monitoring and reporting on identified benefits throughout the lifetime of the project can improve focus and prevent ‘mission creep’ or any slippage in project scope. This allows leaders to intervene if the benefits are not being delivered as planned.
Until the benefits have been realised, you cannot confirm whether the change programme was a success. Benefits will not be realised until the intended change is permanent. This may require ongoing monitoring after the project has been delivered.
This guide sets out an approach to:
The specific approach you take should be flexible, proportionate and appropriate to your organisation. There is no single methodology that applies to all situations. However, the principles and characteristics in this guidance are consistent across the various models and approaches you could use.
Types of benefit
Some change management benefits will be designed to deliver compliance or to improve quality. Other benefits are designed to improve the efficiency or productivity of the police force.
Productivity benefits for police forces are typically either:
- spending less to achieve the same or greater outputs
- achieving higher outputs, while spending the same amount
Benefits should be categorised according to the extent to which they can be measured and valued:
- Monetisable, cash-releasing – Financial savings, including actual budget reduction, removal of recurring spend, income generation or efficiency savings that reduce labour costs.
- Monetisable, non-cash-releasing – Efficiency gains that can be valued in monetary terms (quantifiable) but are non-cash-releasing. They could be measured by improved productivity, time savings or better use of resources, rather than reductions in spending.
- Quantifiable (non-monetisable) – A social benefit is quantifiable if it can be expressed in numerical terms, but not in monetary terms. Examples include improved performance or quality.
- Qualitative (non-monetisable) – A social benefit is qualitative if it cannot be feasibly expressed in numerical terms and can only be understood using words. Examples include where the benefit can only be measured by gathering subjective data (such as surveys, interviews, focus groups or observation).
Go to the benefit types appendix for examples of how disbenefits are similarly categorised.
It is important to remember that productivity benefits do not result from reducing costs and achieving less (‘cuts’). A project may involve reduced budgets for a department or command. However, if the service to the public at the police force or national level is maintained or improved, this may still constitute a productivity benefit.
Demand reduction vs prevention
‘Reduction in demand’, especially relating to external demand, such as calls for service from the public, should not typically be identified as a benefit. The causes of external demand volumes are rarely within the power of a police force. Attempting to achieve changes to these can lead to unintended consequences.
By contrast, the following are measurable benefits that can improve the service to the public:
- deliberate channel shift
- preventing repeat or failure demand
- preventing harm