Set standards for efficiency

PUBLIC SERVANTS who are criticised for their inefficiency were yesterday advised to “think afresh” and see the job and workplace with new eyes as they set standards for efficiency and productivity. The advice came from Prime Minister Patrick Manning as he launched the Prime Minister’s Innovating for Service Excellence Award Scheme at the Old Fire Station Building, National Library, Port-of-Spain. Manning said the public service must become “a workshop for the development of new ideas and new methods for improved ways of serving the public, a place where efficiency, effectiveness and productivity are recognised and rewarded and where people are encouraged to think rather than routinise, to lead rather than always follow.”

He said the award scheme was intended to nurture and develop a culture of innovation. There will be two awards —  the “Making a Difference to People -the Social Inclusion Award” which focuses on improved service delivery and the “Breaking New Ground Award for Innovation” which will recognise original thought and innovative action in the public service. All Government units are eligible to enter. The deadline for application is July 30. Manning told applicants their ideas need not be grand, complicated or scholarly but simple, easily achieved, able to produce quick results and benefit as many people as possible.

He urged public sector managers to “have a solemn responsibility to provide effective leadership . . . learn to positively manage energy, creativity, enthusiasm and innovation . . . as well as distinguish creativity from indiscipline and without being indulgent to be willing to experiment with new ideas and new approaches.” The Prime Minister said systems and human resources must change and public servants must be rewarded with mobility and adequate compensation and the rules and laws must be “dusted out, modernised and made more relevant, to accommodate the faster pace of development.”

In addition, he said the public service must be made attractive to absorb the “new and dynamic talent that is constantly emerging.”
Manning said new buildings will be constructed and existing offices upgraded to create modern working environments and a customer friendly atmosphere. He said Government had already embarked on plans to construct buildings for several departments, includings the Ministry of Education, Immigration Depart-ment and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). However, no mention was made of the relocation of the Parliament and relocation of the Prime Minister’s Office. He said Government had also embarked on a plan for optimising use of Government’s real estate and property assets and to that end, a computerised Property and Real Estate Information System had been introduced. Land has been acquired for the several regional complexes, the San Fernando Magistrates’ Court and the Belmont Police Station.