All correspondence should be Addressed to: The Principal Telephones: Direct: 321249 Switchboard: 321325 Fax: 321138 E-mail: libes@libes.edu.zm In reply please quote No.:.. LIVINGSTONE INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS AND ENGINEERING STUDIES TCM/KRS/702/1018 P. O. Box D 27, LIVINGSTONE 28 February 2007 The AAPAM President AAPAM Kenya Attn: John Mitala Dear Sir, RE: AAPAM AWARD FOR INNOVATIVE MANAGEMENT We are delighted as an institution to make our submission to enter the AAPAM award for innovative Management. We have attached our submission and we look forward to hearing the results of the award. Yours faithfully THOMAS KALANTIYA PRINCIPAL cc. Training & Consultancy Manager
AAPAM AWARD FOR INNOVATION MANAGEMENT COMPETITION 1. Name: Livingstone Institute of Business & Engineering Studies Box D27, Livingstone, Zambia 2. Name of the Project: Restructuring the institution 3. Contact Person: Thomas Kalantiya Title: Principal Fax Number: 03-321138 E-mail: libes@libes.edu.zm 4. Number of employees in organization: 48 5. Restructuring the Institution INTRODUCTION Livingstone Institute of Business and Engineering Studies (LIBES) is a training institution under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Vocational Training (MSTVT) and it offers Technical Educational and Vocational Training (TEVET) in Business & Engineering Studies together with 22 other institutions around the country. The Institute, established in the 50 s by the Missionaries, was primarily offering Craft Engineering skills in Carpentry and Bricklaying. In the 70 s, after Independence, LIBES was expanded by construction of workshops, classrooms and male hostels, to enable the Institute offer some craft courses at a larger scale to Southern Province and the country at large. In 1997, Government adopted a Public Sector Reform Programme aimed at decomposing the management of Public Institutions and delegating governance of the Institutions to public. A Technical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training Act Number 13 was enacted by Parliament of the Republic of Zambia, to enhance the Public Sector Reform Programme. The policy of the act aims at: balancing the supply of skilled labour at all levels in line with the demands of the economy acting as a vehicle for improved productivity and income generating, and provide an instrument for the minimisation of inequalities among people of Zambia. In line with government policy, a Management Board was instituted at LIBES in the year 2000. to implement the TEVET policy.
IMPETUS FOR CHANGE The policy required delinking of employees at the Institutions from the Public Service Payroll and Management Boards were to re-employ Institutional workers and staff, and determine their salaries and wages. Staff affected by this change became very un cooperative with Management Board. The change was perceived suspiciously as it took away the job security that characterized employment under the Public Sector. In an effort to finding a lasting solution to the problem the Management Board decided to retrench all the staff and re advertise for positions under the restructured establishment. By the end of August 2003 and September 2003 the Senior Management team had been put in place. PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVE OF CHANGE provide technical education, vocational and entrepreneurship training, develop curricular for the Institution, Ensure that standards prescribed in the TEVET Policy are maintained by the institutions, Provide training for the staff of the Institution, Administer the affairs of the Institution, Subject to the approval of the Minister, charge and collect fees for tuition, boarding and other services provided by the Institution, and Do all such things as the Management Board may consider necessary to promote technical education, vocational entrepreneurship training. THE INNOVATION ITSELF The Management Board entered into a Performance Contract with MSTVT for 2004 to guide management on the requirements of the reform strategies and the TEVET policy. The Performance contract addressed primary issues of the government s reform programme which included restructuring the institute s staff levels and training portfolio. The agreement was that the Performance requirements and objectives were to be seen and accessed as a whole and that the total resources available to LIBES would include earnings from training and other services provided by the institution. The performance contract covered areas such as: Recruitment of qualified persons for key positions Re-orientation of training programmes to reflect labour market trends Improving linkages with labour market Improving the financial management and control systems Improving the Management of Human Resources Improving the physical assets, maintenance and safety in the work environment The Performance Contract was financed by the Ministry of Science Technology and Vocational Training through the Sector Support Programme under the TEVET Development Program. This was funded by DANIDA. Monitoring and attainment of successes was to be done by Technical Educational Vocational Entrepreneurship Training Authority through their Training Standards Department. TEVETA will also to
provide advisory services on the contract for both LIBES and MSTVT on the operations and progress of the Contract. HOW WAS IT DONE From 2004, the Performance Contract has acted as a driving wheel for LIBES which has helped to stabilise operations and improve on the learning environment. The performance was implemented in the following way: Induction Workshop was held for all members of staff to help them understand the institution and the stage it was in. The first step was to assist members of staff understand the Contract then allow them to work on the activities that would meet the objectives in their departments.the innovation was participation of all members of staff in the coming up of activities that were to meet the objectives contained in the Performance contract document. Committees were setup to work on purchases of items such as furniture, books, tables and chairs, computers etc. All members of staff that were involved in the process reported their progress to the Planning Meeting of the institution. Each committee was given time to present and presentations were given a critique and follow-ups were done to find out progress. Planning meetings were held during recess to review the progress of activities and to plan what activities needed to be done in the following term/semester. RESULTS ACHIEVED TODATE 1. Employed qualified staff to deliver quality training 2. A course portfolio was developed which is responsive to labour market. 3. Established unit costs for each course and proposed student fees for 2005 4. Paid out all statutory liabilities which accumulated from year 2000 5. Conducted five (5) short courses in various fields 6. Introduced a quarterly newsletter to disseminate information to the public 7. LIBES was accepted as full member of the Livingstone Tour Association 8. Launched Entrepreneurship Training Programme and conducted two courses at Libuyu Youth Training School 9. Engaged a contractor to rehabilitate nine (9) Engineering workshops, construct ten (10) classrooms, administration block, and library and water reticulation. The project was funded through the TEVET Sector Program Support and started in January 2004.
OUTLOOK FOR THE FUTURE The Performance Contract was developed and signed between MSTVT and Management Board. The Contract has continued to act as a steering wheel for the future. The focus into the future will be to continue to increase the Institute's revenue base through offering a market oriented course portfolio. The increased revenue base is to lead to self sustainace over the years. To be able to face challenges in the future, LIBES will have to: 1. Improve on training delivery for self sustenance. 2. Improve on quality of training delivery. 3. Ensure training equipment is maintained. 4. Ensure it is upgraded from Grade 2 to Grade 1 on the TEVETA rating. 5. Further improve the Financial Management and control systems. 6. Improve on Stores and Procurement procedures to maximize the use of resources. 7. Improve on the human resource base through human resource upgrade of skills and better incentives. 8. Set up a Registration Management System to monitor student movements. 9. Implement an Economic unit cost for each programme is implemented. 10. Ensure the Memorandum of understanding, is implemented between L.I.B.E.S and other TEVETA institutions. POTENTIAL IMPLICATIONS FOR OTHER ORGANISATIONS How many institutions have had their whole Management team, Lecturers and Support staff re-trenched and new staff interviewed and a new Management team put in place? The answer is very few? LIBES is one of the few organisations where this happened and the institution has survived up to now. The answer basically lay in the fact that the Board, Management and Staff firstly were able to realise that they had to unite. The Ministry of Science Technology and Vocational Training provided the institution with the document called the Performance Contract to assist the institution forge forward. The Board could have ignored this document but they embraced it and used it as a tool for unity of purpose. With the help on the Ministry of Science Technology and Vocational Training, LIBES was able to get funding from DANIDA under the Sector Support programme.
6. Executive Summary LIBES is a training institution under the Government of the Republic of Zambia and it offers Business & Engineering Studies courses. Many institutions can learn from LIBES that unity of purpose, a well drawn up plan, resources and a determined team is required for any institution to survive total overhaul. 7. Signature: Thomas Kalantiya 8. Date 28 th February 2007