25 Jun 2015

Assistant Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Mr Dikgang Makgalemele, has stated that the starting point of any performance initiative was to align management style to make it compatible with the challenges of the competitive world.

“To achieve this, public service managers must continuously set for themselves and those under them a clear framework for results and improved service delivery to the customer, while at all times maintaining a motivating reward system,” he said.

The assistant minister said this while giving a key note address at the Ministry of State President Performance Award Ceremony, which was held at the Gaborone International Convention Centre on Tuesday, where 51 employees were rewarded.

He emphasised that in recent years Botswana’s ranking in the World Economic Forum’s annual Global Competitiveness Index dropped because of perceptions of poor work ethic on the part of both the public and private sectors.

“Improving our work ethics thus lies at the centre of all our efforts to fulfil our mission to realize sustainable development and improved quality of life for all Batswana,” he said.

He also underscored the importance of good ethics and expressed its importance as it was about making proper choices on the daily basis in the work place, which involved choosing to provide quality service on time and also serving customers with a smile while being sensitive to their individual and collective needs.

As the event was held under the theme Leading the Innovation in Public Service Delivery beyond 2016,  the assistant minister said for the country to be competitive in the global market there was need for innovation, a quality that was incompatible with poor work ethics, adding that innovation dictated willingness and commitment to change.

“Ceremonies such as these should highlight examples of excellence that can serve as milestones to guide each of us on our personal journey towards effective and efficient service delivery,” he said.

He noted that he was assured that the process of identifying the recipients of the awards was based on merit and guided by the principles of excellence, fairness and transparency. Ends