Over the last 50 years there has been a great expansion in public services. As a consequence, when there is a difficulty in a community the most commonly asked question is 'what is the Government going to do about it?'
However, it has become quite clear, as successive government led initiatives have struggled to solve community problems, that a much better question is 'what can we all do together?'
Furthermore, in the 21st century the demand for personal choice and personalised service provision continues to rise in all sectors of society. The challenge is therefore to encourage 'shared rewards and responsibility'to deliver locally valued choices of services.
The process of community engagementcan help this challenge to be met. The potential shared benefits to communities and organisations are summarised here.
Benefits of Community Engagement to Communities and Individuals
Community engagement makes it possible for local services to be
- Tailored to the needs of each community
- Targeted more accurately to reduce costs
This is because local needs can be prioritised by communities and service providers working together. This helps the process of targeting resources more effectively and changing poorly used services into more popular ones. Reduced public service costs could reduce taxes!
Community engagement encourages local pride, respect and active citizenship
Where communities are able to play a significant role in improving their neighbourhood, or in planning and developing a project or initiative; they are more likely to develop a greater sense of responsibility and protection towards it. This makes communities stronger and safer.
Community engagement provides information, understanding and new opportunities
Sharing information helps local people to gain an understanding of regional policies, priorities and possibilities. It also helps to manage expectations, as authorities are able to explain what can and cannot be achieved; why something is or is not being done and what constraints or opportunities exist.
Research has revealed that agencies that are more effective at communicating with the public score higher levels of service satisfaction and identify more market opportunities. For local communities this means improved relationships with more confident and innovative service providers, which in turn leads to better services.
Community engagement checks performance where it counts
In an ever-increasing culture of performance management, community engagement is an effective way of establishing outcomes that make sense to local people and can genuinely improve local well-being. Effective local performance monitoring can also increase efficiency and reduce waste.
Community engagement enables local people to get the best out of democratic processes
Community engagement can create a more open and accessible relationship between authorities and the public. Confidence in elected representatives will grow provided that real improvements in public services are achieved. This strengthens credibility in the democratic process and puts local people in the driving seat.
Benefits of Community Engagement to Authorities, Organisations and Service Providers
Reduced service costs through evidence to:
- Target services more accurately
- Assess the performance of partners
- Check the validity of performance information
Reduced service costs by gaining the collaboration of local people and community groups to:
- Bring community resources to add value to those of the service provider
- Reduce local criticism that can result in costly responses
- Increase local goodwill
Improved services by providing evidence to:
- Shape services around local needs
- Replace poor services with more effective ones
Improved reputation by:
- Establishing good working relationships with local people and their communities
- Building trust and confidence through openness and accessibility
- Enabling an organisation to see how it is perceived locally
Stronger organization by providing evidence to:
- Identify new market opportunities
- Determine which (geographic) areas of operation are working most effectively
- Reduce complaints and the time spent responding to them
- Create the best avenues for research and development