• Commonwealth:
• Promoting quality and productivity management in the public sector

Promoting quality and productivity management in the public sector

16 June 2008

Singapore-Commonwealth Third Country Training Programme helps boost service quality

Constant improvements in service quality is the key to efficiency and excellence in public service productivity. Participants from across the Commonwealth who attended a two-week workshop in Singapore from 2 to 13 June 2008 learned about the importance of enhancing professional standards and customer satisfaction. The workshop on Improving Service Quality was conducted under the Singapore-Commonwealth Third Country Training Programme. It was jointly sponsored by Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation.

Twenty participants from Bangladesh, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Cyprus, Grenada, Malawi, Mauritius, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, Montserrat and British Virgin Islands attended the course which offered an Advanced Certificate in Quality and Productivity Management.

The workshop was aimed at equipping participants with the knowledge and skills in improving quality and productivity in the civil service.

Mohammad Jasimuddin, Asia Adviser in the Governance and Institutional Development Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat who designed and co-directed the programme with the Productivity and Standards Board (PSB) Academy in Singapore, said the participants were coached on the impact of productivity and quality improvement on their organizations and national economy.

“The workshop enabled participants to learn about developing productivity and quality improvement programmes at the organisational and government levels,” said Mr Jasimuddin. “They were encouraged to draw up implementation plans and to set goals for achievement within a time-frame. Performance management and tracking progress in various areas were also emphasised through a module on Total Quality management, which looks at the overall enhancement of service delivery. This includes minimising costs and maximising profits, while maintaining high productivity and performance standards.”

The workshop participants said they had benefited from the course which included a visit to the Jurong Town Corporation where they were briefed on the work of this government-run organisation involved in infrastructure development for industries, including business parks and warehousing.

One of the participants, Nikolas Mitiadous from the Ministry of Finance of Cyprus, said: “I found the workshop useful, particularly in areas such as service excellence in quality and productivity management. I will recommend to my organisation to set quality standards for each and every service it provides. If this is applied successfully, then I will suggest this initiative to the government to apply quality standards to all services offered by the public sector.”

Magdalena Maugroo of the Government of Seychelles said she would like to recommend that all ministries set up productivity sub-unit to promote shared goals of efficiency and quality performance.

Alfred Kapeleta of the Malawi Institute of Management (MIM) said he has gained new knowledge on how to deliver quality public services and would like to introduce a quality framework in the delivery of programmes at the MIM.