Workshop on Improving Public Service Delivery

Program overview:

Improving public services means changing the ways that public services deliver services to citizens. This means first defining responsibilities of government ministries, departments or agencies, then ensuring that ministries, departments, agencies and staff have enough funds, people, equipment and other resources to carry out these responsibilities. Clearly, public service reform can include almost anything that could affect the effectiveness – doing the right things – and efficiency – doing things in the right way – of public service delivery. Setting priorities for improvement contains a guide for conducting self-assessment and performance management for improving public services

 For whom:

Chief executives, permanent secretaries, departmental heads and other senior executive officers who lead the delivery of services to a wide range of public users in ministries, departments, agencies, and Local Government Councils.

 Learning objectives:

At the end of the program, participants will be able to:

• show others how to significantly improve on your existing investment in competencies;
• analyze and demonstrate how performance can be improved in the Public Sector;
• assess the scope for making changes in service delivery through the introduction of new techniques;
• significantly improve any existing Performance appraisal system and explain the benefit to Management; and
• develop good motivation techniques to motivate staff, specifically to improve service delivery in the Public Sector.

 Course outline:

 Day 1: The History, Role and Future Function of Public Sector Organizations

• What is the Public Sector there to do?
• The Historical Context of the Public Debtor
• Present and Future Role of Public Sector Organization – latest trend changes
• Change and the Public Sector – how we can forecast when change is needed?
• Understanding the Results of Change and How Change Affects Us
• Change and the Difference between the Public and Private Sectors

 Day 2: Building Organizational Core Strength in the Public Sector

• The Role of Competencies in the Organization
• How Competencies Work and how they are measured
• Techniques to significantly improve what you already have
• Incorporating Competency Approach In, Recruitment, Appraisal and Training
• Developing Teams to Build Core Strength
• Succession Planning to Retain and Develop Leadership Bench
• Techniques to Retain Talented People

  Day 3: Target Setting and Performance Management Techniques

• What is Performance Management?
• Techniques to Improve Performance in the Public Sector
• Setting Targets for Performance Improvement
• How to get more commitment? – New process /new results/Staff Attitude

• The Measuring of Performance – Whose job is it?
• Linking Performance to Reward System

 Day 4: Using Reliability and Differentiation to Maximize Public Service  

• The History of Differentiation
• Why the Public Sector might consider this as a motivational tool?
• Understanding the Need for Reliability in the Public Sector
• Case Study: The Cost of a Unreliable Organization
• Adding Value through Service Reliability

 Day 5: Setting priorities for improvement Within Existing Resources

• Understanding Government structures and organization,
• Strengthening the ability of ministries, departments and agencies to deliver services, through

• Empowerment
• Leveraging on Human Resource department to achieve targeted improvements

• Techniques for Motivating Staff
• How to translate ideas or goals into measurable actions through Accountability

• Managing work Processes in Public Sector
• Managing and reporting on service delivery

Training Methodology

Lectures, discussions, exercises, and case studies will be used to reinforce these teaching/learning methods.