23 Apr 2018

The acting country director of Institute of Development Management (IDM), Mr Jimmy Kwati says employees have to be motivated in order to deliver quality service.

Mr Kwati was giving a keynote address at the inaugural 2018 Southern District Council service awards held in Kanye on Thursday.

Mr Kwati said public service in Botswana played an important role in the lives of Batswana and in the competitiveness of the country.

‘’Through the work that it does , public service provides infrastructure, education, health, law and creates the right environment for our people to earn a good living, raise a family and lead a fulfilling life,’’ he said.

Mr Kwati stated that the delivery of quality service had to go beyond efficiency and effectiveness if they were to make a positive impact in the communities adding that occasions such as this one were paramount as they motivated employees to do more while at the same time making them more relevant.

He said quality service should be looked at as an important part of the equation at home as well as in the international stage for businesses and investments to thrive.

‘’Not only do citizens and businesses compare our public service delivery with what they receive elsewhere in the world, they also compare the quality of the government services with what they receive in the private sector”, he said.

He said what was considered good in the past may not necessarily be fitting today, adding that what was considered fast may now be considered much too slow, given the adoption of latest technology by  institutions and its rapid change.

He said it was important for service providers to strive to remain relevant to the needs and aspirations of the public they served, hence it was crucial to recognise and appreciate good work.

‘’We deal with a complex customer who understands and demands relevant services compared to the customer of yester years. Furthermore, motivation can affect both the acquisition of people’s abilities and the extent to which they utilise their skills and abilities,’’ he said.

He said the concept of motivation referred to internal factors that compeled action and to external factors that could act as inducements to action.

 Mr Kwati shared the mandate of IDM which continues to remain relevant in providing training programmes that help shape the quality of service offered by both public and private sector employees to fellow citizens.

He said IDM was established to assist in providing training to public service employees to deliver quality service to the public at the time when Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland attained independence over four decades ago.

“It offered in-service short-term human resource up-skilling programmes to address the skills and needs, mainly in the civil service, but later expanding into the private sector which played and continues to play a pivotal role in job creation for our people,” he said.

He said IDM produced a world-class product offering, helping the government meet management needs through management development activities, training, and research and consultancy services.

Moshupa -Sub district senior assistant council secretary Mr Isaah Odirile said the awards appreciated those employees who had been able to go an extra mile in order to demonstrate and justify the relevancy of the Southern district council to the public it served.

He said Southern District Council has the quest to make a difference in the lives of its customers. There were various categories of awards including best Intern, best employee, most improved and promising employee, best department, best performing sub-district, best overall employee as well as long and distinguished service award.

Mabutsane -Sub district scooped the best sub district, best intern was awarded to Mr Masego Gaonyadiwe from Good Hope, Mr Nonofo Tshikantwa from KAA and Matla Ramponang from Kanye.

The best overall performer was Mr Keboneng Mathule, and Ms Faith Molapisi and the best Tirelo Sechaba participant was awarded to Mr Samuel Baratedi from Good Hope, Ms Lelentle Angel from Good Hope and Ms Tshoganetso Mohe from Mabutsane. ENDS