Improving Quality across the Fiji Public Service through the Service Excellence Awards Framework Presentation by the Fiji Public Service Commission Regional Forum on Reinventing Government in the Pacific Islands 20 th February 2006
Background The Service Excellence Awards framework was initiated by the PSC in 2004 as part of the Civil Service Reform program The Civil Service Reform (CSR) program began in 1994 due to alarming trends in Government operating expenditure and its lack of responsiveness. Objective was to improve efficiency, accountability and transparency of Government through various initiatives under the three main areas of organisation, productivity, and human resource management It is one of three central agency reforms in progress, the other two being in financial management and public enterprise management
In the first stage of the reform process the PSC focused on developing greater managerial autonomy and accountability through delegation of power and eventual contracting of CEOs (2004), implementation of a planning framework that linked national strategies and objectives to organisations and individual employees, Implementation of a performance management system In the current stage of the reform program the reform is being taken down to agency level and aimed at improving the customer focus and direct service delivery of agencies The Service Excellence Awards framework is a systems approach that provides the basis for enabling total organisation improvement and through this, direct benefits to the public.
Service Excellence Awards framework The Awards framework was adapted from the Fiji Business Excellence Awards (FBEA) that is administered by the Training and Productivity Authority of Fiji (TPAF). Participation in the FBEA has been mainly by private sector organisations with little participation from public service agencies The Service Excellence Awards is confined to the public service and is intended to enable agencies to: Enhance quality and productivity Develop and inculcate a quality work culture Provide formal recognition to agencies that demonstrate improvement/excellence in service delivery The Awards framework was developed with TPAF and approved for implementation from 01/01/05 by the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Productivity that is chaired by the Prime Minster It was communicated extensively through workshops for CEOs, senior management levels, and across all Government ministries
12 PRINCIPLES Mutually agreed plans translate organizational direction into action 2 Understanding Customers Values 3 To improve the outcome, improve the system & its associated processes 4 The potential of an organization's realized through it s people s resourcefulness,enthusiasm and participation. 5 Continual Improvement depends on Continual learning 6 Clear direction allows organizational alignment & a focus on the achievement Of goals 1 MINISTRY DEPARTMENT TRANSFORMATION All people work in a system; outcomes are improved when people work on the Systems 7 Senior leadership constant role modeling of each of these Principles, & creating a supportive environment in which to live these Principles will help their organization and its people to reach their potential 12 Effective use of facts, data & knowledge leads to improved decisions 8 Sustainability is determined by an organization's ability to create & deliver value for all stakeholders 11 Organizations provide value to the community through their Actions to ensure a clean, safe, fair and prosperous society. 10 All systems and processes exhibit variability, which impacts variability 9
KNOWLEDGE & INFORMATION 7 CATEGORIES 12 PRINCIPLES EMBEDDED INTO THE 7 CATEGORIES KNOWLEDGE & INFORMATION 3 4 PEOPLE 1 LEADERSHIP CUSTOMER & MARKET FOCUS 5 2 STRATEGY & PLANNING 6 PROCESSES, PRODUCTS & SERVICES ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE 7 KNOWLEDGE & INFORMATION
Assessment Dimensions The dimension of Approach, Deployment, Results and Improvements are commonly used (ADRI) A Approach Improvement I Strategic Direction D Deployment R Results
Weighting of Categories Results & Points e.g. Leadership & Innovation 1.0 Leadership & Innovation 180 points 1.1 Strategic direction 60 points 1.2 Organizational culture 40 points 1.3 Leadership throughout the organization 40 points 1.4 Environmental & community contribution 40 points Total points for the 22 items in the 7 categories 1000 points
Implementation of the Awards Framework The Service Excellence Committee comprising 7 CEOs and chaired by CEO PSC is responsible for driving the implementation and monitoring of the Awards framework Inaugural Exemplary Employee Awards held in October 2005 recognizing outstanding employees form all agencies 72 evaluators were trained from across all agencies to undertake the evaluation for agency awards A manual was published and distributed to guide agencies through the framework and its assessment criteria Closing date for agency submissions for awards was 18 th February 2006 Evaluation of all agencies will commence from 20 th February 2006 Awards will be held in July 2006 recognizing both agencies and exemplary employees. There are three categories of organisation awards: Commitment Award (300-400 points) Achievement Award (401-500 points) Prime Minster's Award (501-700 points)
Results of Implementation As it is only the first year of implementation and submissions have just been received it is rather premature to declare tangible results What is evident is the realization of the need for improvement and the deliberate approaches now being taken to think and act in the context of continuous improvement and innovation Feedback from agencies although negative in the context of extra work requirements, has been very positive in terms of the objective Participation in the awards is mandatory for all agencies and is considered in the annual assessment of CEO performance
Future progress Government agencies participate and win awards at national level in the FBEA Awards Need to sustain the awards framework and therefore we intend that the process of improvement become part of normal operations of all agencies Dealing with challenges Existing work culture Resistance to change Lack of funding Political will Quality Awards frameworks can be implemented in any country but requires strong commitment of Government and chief executives to drive change It is a systematic approach to effecting change at agency level which central agencies cannot directly control
Thank you