Операционная эффективность и управление активами: ключевые меры для ускорения госуслуг

Government Efficiency Series Part 3: Operations and Stewardship: This article is the third installment in a series on government efficiency. Article one focused on budgeting and spending better while part two focused on modern tools. For many state and local leaders, “government efficiency” is not a slogan—it’s the day-to-day work of delivering services that are faster, clearer, fairer, and good value for money. For governors, mayors, and county executives a key part of delivering on that ethos is efficient government operations and effective stewardship of public funds. In particular, facilities, permitting, payment integrity, and hiring determine whether frontline services are reliable and cost-effective. A common thread runs through all four topics: they are about helping public employees do their work well. Staff can get their work done better and more quickly when buildings fit the way teams work, when forms are clear and triage separates simple from complex, when eligibility checks are accurate, and when hiring is fast and predictable, staff can spend more time. Facilities: Use the Space You Need—and No More Barriers. Governments own and lease a lot of space, yet hybrid work has left offices underused. In many cases, leases are renewed on autopilot without solid data about how (or if) they are being used by staff. Field teams are scattered far from where services are delivered, which increases travel time and reduces time on the job. In addition, having many small locations duplicates storage space and security staff, both of which add more cost. Solutions. One way to begin to right size is to measure how space is actually used. This can be done using data on badge swipes, Wi‑Fi presence, hot desk reservations. This information can be used to drive lease renewal decisions. Another key step is to right-size office space layouts toward current standards (often about 150 usable square feet per person) and consolidate where possible by using flexible hubs with bookable desks and video-enabled rooms. For field staff, creating secure “touchdown” sites near where the work happens means that they can pick up equipment and upload reports without extra travel. What to do next. Publish a short space‑use policy with utilization targets and monthly reporting, and align leases to those targets as they come due. For example, Washington State offers a clear model for statewide standards and tools. Leaders can inventory surplus space quarterly, and co-locate customer-facing services so residents don’t have to crisscross town for related tasks (for example, permits and inspections). Measuring success. Track usable square feet per person, daily utilization, spending on rent and operations/maintenance, and the number of consolidated leases or buildings. Good outcomes look like steady progress toward 150 usable square feet per person or less, rising utilization in active offices, and lower costs over time. Permitting: Move Simple Cases Fast; Focus Expert Time on Complex Ones Barriers. Paper or PDF intake, inconsistent checklists, and serial (not parallel) reviews lead to rework and delays in permitting. When application requirements are not clear then applications have to be rejected and resubmitted which increases time and effort. Not having real time status increases uncertainty for customers and lessens accountability for staff. Solutions. Governments can publish plain-language requirements and “gold‑standard” sample applications so applicants know what “good” looks like. Using structured digital intake that validates required fields and file types before submission reduces the need for clarifications or re-submissions. Because not every type of application is the same, a good idea is to triage by risk and complexity so low‑risk items flow through same‑day or automated lanes, while complex projects get expert review. In Phoenix, the city allows for self‑sertification permits for eligible work by registered professionals, which reduces permit issuance time while audits on the backend ensure continued compliance. What to do next. Governments can start by choosing 1-2 areas to run a small pilot for improvements. This can begin by looking at service levels by permit type and paying special attention to first time applicants who are more prone to error. Ultimately, the best solutions are those like PermitMidland, which has streamlined its permitting through dropping average review times while increasing inspections without adding staff. Measuring success. Good data is the key tool to improving the permitting experience for customers. This can include tracking days from application to decision by permit type, the share of eligible permits approved instantly, the re‑submission rate, and the inspection‑failure rate. The aim is for faster decisions on simple permits without any safety regression. Fraud Prevention and Payment Integrity: Prevent Errors Up Front, Clear Food Cases Fast Barriers. Many payment integrity checks can happen after money goes out with each program reviewing cases on its own. This results in reviews that are slow, costly, and produce lots of false alarms. In some cases, identity verification may not be consistent across systems or don’t routinely cross-check payment information with other government data. As such, real issues can be missed while staff chase noise, especially when low-risk and high-risk cases move through the same manual queues. As a result, the vast majority of legitimate payments get delayed alongside the small proportion of potentially suspicious ones. Solutions. Governments can improve their payment integrity by using pre‑award and pre‑payment checks so problems are caught before money goes out. For example, the U.S Department of the Treasury’s Do Not Pay can be built into vendor and beneficiary onboarding and payment runs to identify issues up front. For cross‑program integrity, state and local governments can connect Unemployment Insurance to the NASWA Integrity Data Hub for fraud detection, including attempts at multistate benefits claims. Further, the US Department of Agriculture’s SNAP National Accuracy Clearinghouse can prevent duplicate enrollment across states. Applying risk scoring can allow staff to move low‑risk cases move quickly, leaving reviewers time to focus on cases with potential integrity issues. What to do next. A good start is to automate Do Not Pay checks at award and payment, Along with standardizing identity proofing across programs, this can deliver efficiency gains. While centralizing suspicious‑activity reviews with clear service‑level targets and automate routine matches allows investigators spend time on real signals. Measuring success. Using data to track improper payment rate, dollars prevented or recovered per dollar invested, average time to clear flagged cases, and false‑positive rate are all ways to provide accountability and measure impact. A further innovation could be publishing a simple integrity dashboard so leaders can balance speed and accuracy. Hiring: Fill Roles Faster With Clear Postings and Predictable Steps Barriers. For state and local governments, qualified staff are their most important asset. But jargon‑heavy postings, confusing titles, and unclear hiring processes deter potentially qualified candidates from applying for public sector positions. Furthermore, minimum qualifications don’t always match the job duties, postings are decentralized, and long decision cycles drive drop‑off and extend vacancy days—especially for IT, data, and skilled trades. Solutions. Many governments are finding success in hiring by using plain‑English, doing skills‑based postings, running pooled hiring for common roles (such as inspectors or IT service desk staff). This can often be paired with time‑boxed hiring sprints (often 30–45 days to offer) with structured interviews and job‑relevant exercises to speed hiring in key areas. In addition to standardizing interviews and candidate scoring rubrics, publishing time‑to‑hire dashboards can improve speed while increasing consistency and accountability. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s hiring experience materials provide a wide array of templates and sample processes that states, counties, and cities can adapt. What to do next. As a first step, governments could stand up a small, centralized hiring studio to rewrite postings, run virtual job fairs, and pre‑screen candidates. This can be paired with creating cross‑government registers for recurring roles. In addition, unifying background checks and onboarding with simple status tracking can allow new hires to start quickly. Measuring success. Key metrics for governments include tracking time to hire (from posting to offer), offer‑accept rate, vacancy days in critical roles, and candidate satisfaction. For governments and candidates alike, the goal is less waiting, clearer communication, and faster starts for key positions. What Success Looks Like When operations and stewardship improve, residents feel it: permits move on predictable timelines, benefits reach eligible people while fraud is stopped earlier, and calls and visits drop because processes are clear. On the staff side, fewer hours go to manual re‑entry and status checks, and more to work that requires expertise and judgment. A small set of measures—completion times, first‑submission quality, integrity outcomes, and time to hire—can show whether changes are sticking and where to improve next. That’s the practical version of “government efficiency”: day‑to‑day reliability for staff and value for communities. (The Center for Digital Government and Governing are cataloging practical, actionable ways to improve government efficiency. Read part 1 in the series: “Better Budgeting and Spending: Practical Efficiency Ideas for State and Local Governments. and part 2, Modern Tools for Real Government Efficiency.) Jed Herrmann is a director in the state and local government practice at Guidehouse, where he co-leads the firm’s grants management and program implementation practice. A senior fellow at the Center for Digital Government, he previously worked for state and local governments as well as the White House Office of Management and Budget.