14 Dec 2016

Issues of non-adherence to service standards, poor work ethics, delays and poor implementation, unnecessary red-tape and the processes that do not yield meaningful results are a concern in the public service.

The Assistant Minister for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration, Mr Thato Kwerepe said this at the Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM) Pitso on human capital management on December 13.

The pitso was meant to dialogue on the development of DPSM strategy for the next five years (2017-2022).

The human resource, Mr Kwerepe said, was the driving force behind delivery of quality services, adding that “the demand for better and quality services by the public service requires new approaches for service delivery.”

Therefore, to address all concerns in the public service, he said there was need to re-look at deployment and management strategies.

“More often than not strategic plans tend to address the “what” and “how” and leave out the critical element of change management. I do hope you will get to the bottom of what will cause us to change behaivours and attitudes in the delivery of services to communities,” he said.

The re-organised ministries and departments, he said, could not succeed without strategic human capital management.

This pitso came at the time when Parliament had just ushered in Vision 2036 and approved the National Development Plan 11, adding that the extent to which the plan would be delivered depended on the ability to attract and retain requisite skills in the public service.

“Our development as a country placed high priority on building the Human Capital as evidenced by the high expenditure on education from time of independence. Additionally, he said during NDP11, increased education funding still remained one of government’s priorities.

Furthermore, he said government was committed to further developing skills and competencies required to transform from a resource based to a knowledge based economy.

“As the public service we are accountable to our citizenry and more than ever before, challenged to be more responsive and proactive for enhanced efficiency and effectiveness. We cannot achieve this without the requisite HR,” added Mr Kwerepe.

In an environment of dwindling resources, we are challenged to do more with less and to collaborate more as different entities within government through the whole of government approach. This calls for the public service to consistently introspect and design new ways of configuring not only the workforce but to seek ways to collaborate with the private sector for improved outcomes.

We therefore have to espouse the spirit of whole of government approach to issues. We all need to see the bigger picture and contribute together than focus on unhealthy competition that can be more destructive. This will greatly help us maximise the meagre resource we have.

In her welcome remarks, Director of Public Service Management, Ms Ruth Maphorisa, emphasised that there was need to reflect on people as a critical resource in national development “as we begin our journey towards 2036 and transit from NDP 10 to NDP 11, focusing on sustainable development for prosperity.”

“I consider it to be logical that having approved the NDP 11 and the budget attached to it we pause and ask ourselves whether we have people to implement. Not only do we have people, but do we have people with the right skills, in the right positions, attitudes and with the same goal,” advised Ms Maphorisa.

She said it was imperative to ensure that there was the; right policy environment for creativity to thrive, right structures, processes and systems to deliver and to also do a reality check in terms of what was working and what was not working.

“We need to see ourselves through the eyes of our customers. While we can anticipate what services will look like in the future, we have our customers to tell us what, where, how and when they would like to receive the services we offer,” she said.

DPSM’s relevance, she said depended on  how well it responded to the felt needs of its customers and on how agile it is in keeping pace with the fast changing HR landscape, adding that organisations were as good as their people. ENDS