03 Mar 2015

Botswana society is becoming more sophisticated, articulate and diverse in its demands, says Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Frans Van Der Westhuizen.

Speaking at his ministry’s Work Improvement Team’s (WITS) convention on Tuesday March 3,  Mr Van Der Westhuizen said as a result, staff members should be able to address issues and ensure that they provide timely and good service to Batswana.

“This is a challenge that all have to face head on hence the need to employ robust and different strategies such as WITS. The ministry is more than ever before challenged to be more responsive, proactive, efficient and effective in its service delivery to address low productivity and enhance competitiveness.”

Mr Van Der Westhuizen urged ministry leaders to set the tone and direction as well as provide inspiration and energy to drive both the staff and the organisation.

“When the right tone is set, it should inspire everyone in the organisation and enable all leadership to create a culture of performance that would be easily cascaded to all levels of the organisation,” he said.

The minister noted that while the vision and direction of the ministry were driven from the top, he said any organisational mirror and results found fruition and got delivered at operational level.

He also noted that the operational level was the first line of contact with customers. “It is no coincidence that the solution to the ministry’s service delivery problem should also be granted at this level that WITS promotes,” he said.

Mr Van Der Westhuizen urged the ministry’s leadership to pay attention to employees and empower them in order to have an inspired, motivated and customer focused workforce to ensure delivery of good results and customer service.

The WITs strategy, he said, facilitated problem solving through the use of specially trained teams. He added that the teams must be given the authority to determine how to handle and solve each challenge.

“In other words, WITs teams are both a problem solving tool and an improvement strategy that requires the engagement of both the leadership and the general staff,” he said.

The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development permanent secretary, Mr Boipolelo Khumomatlhare said the convention aimed to present on projects which were initiated to solve recurring problems within the ministry and to share best practices.

Other objectives, he said, included sharing information on issues that impacted positively or negatively on the ministry’s performance.

The convention was held under the theme: Continuous improvement for higher customer satisfaction. It showcased projects which had a positive impact on service delivery in the ministry and strategised on how to improve service delivery. ENDS