Strategic Transformation through People
Leveraging the £3.25 Billion Fund for Sustainable Efficiency in UK Public Services
By Dr Blessing Enakimio | Chartered OD&D Partner

The UK Government’s £3.25 billion Transformation Fund isn’t just a budget line. It’s a generational inflection point – a call to reimagine how public services function, feel and deliver value. But let’s be clear: the real transformation won’t be engineered solely through AI models or digital interfaces. It will be architected through people.

At its core, this fund aims to deliver £2.2 billion in annual savings by 2029–30. That ambition is bold but without cultural alignment and organisational clarity, it risks becoming just another well-funded underperforming initiative. This is where Organisational Development and Design (OD&D) becomes mission-critical.

As public sector leaders prepare to bid, here’s the question: Are your people and processes ready to deliver on the promise of transformation? OD&D offers the blueprint – a structured human-centric pathway to sustainable efficiency.

Here are three strategic pillars to embed within your transformation approach:

1. Start with WHY: Align on Purpose Before You Deploy

Transformation without clarity of purpose is change for change’s sake. OD&D helps teams anchor their efforts to a shared ‘why’ – not just saving money but enhancing lives. When frontline staff understand how AI will free up time for human connection or how digital upgrades will reduce inefficiencies in critical services like probation, transformation becomes meaningful.

This requires more than top-down messaging. It calls for facilitated OD&D interventions that co-create vision and translate strategic intent into operational commitment. Purpose is the fuel and clarity is the ignition.

2. Create Safe Spaces for Innovation: Communication and Psychological Safety

Uncertainty is the cost of progress. As job roles shift and systems evolve, public servants will need clarity, confidence and voice. This is where OD&D plays a critical role – crafting communications strategies that inform and engage while fostering psychological safety that enables teams to adapt.

Leaders must normalise experimentation, welcome feedback loops and reward transparent problem-solving. When employees are free to explore, question and contribute, the real potential of transformation is unlocked. Culture becomes the infrastructure of innovation.

3. Build Shared Ownership of Efficiency: Empowered Teams, Smarter Processes

Efficiency doesn’t scale through mandates, it scales through empowerment. OD&D provides the tools to redesign workflows, elevate digital literacy and enable teams to own continuous improvement. When staff are equipped to identify opportunities, test solutions and measure impact, efficiency becomes embedded, not enforced.

This means aligning job design with new capabilities, establishing team-based performance metrics and recognising contributions that drive strategic value. Empowerment isn’t a buzzword. It’s an operating model.

From Allocation to Actualisation

The £3.25 billion fund is a powerful enabler but it’s not the solution. PEOPLE are. And the public sector’s ability to modernise depends not just on deploying cutting-edge systems but on designing cultures, capabilities and conditions where those systems can thrive.

The future of public service delivery is strategic, technical and human. OD&D ensures all three align so that transformation is not just funded but fully realised.

If this resonates with the transformation ambitions of your team or department, it may be worth exploring what OD&D could unlock for your workforce, culture and leadership clarity.
I regularly engage with senior leaders navigating change who want to ensure their strategy translates into sustainable outcomes. Let’s have a chat when you are ready.