Towards greater efficiencies in the public sector

​BY DOUGLAS IMARALU

When global players in aviation industry pinned their hopes on twin-engine jetliners, experts believed it was a good bet. Jetliners like the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner proved super-efficient due to ground-breaking composite designs. But with the planes set to take over more and more transoceanic routes, there were genuine challenges ahead.

To follow the most direct routes between global cities (which can save hours and lots of fuel on ultra-long-distance flights), planes can fly far from land over remote stretches of ocean. However, losing one of its twin engines could leave these jets searching for a place to make an emergency landing as quickly as possible.

Like jetliners, developing countries run on twin engines. And to transform their economies, a tested approach is pairing a dynamic private sector (corporates and SMEs, which employs a bulk of the population) and an efficient public sector. But unlike the private sector (driven by competition and innovation to match demands of customers and clients), the public sector arguably lacks that extra motivation and professionalism that makes businesses tick. Same thing the Dreamliner had over the first Airbus A350. So how do developing countries like Nigeria plug this challenge? The answer lies in composition.

To a large extent, the efficiency and profitability of organisations boils down to composition.  And by composition, I mean staffing. Of course, other factors like strategy and technology impact the efficiency of 21st century organisations. Whether public, private or non-profit, the impact of proper strategy and technological integration cannot be overemphasised. But the single unifying factor is that institutions are run by people. Also, it is people that implement strategy, and utilize technology to achieve greater efficiencies. Thus, while hiring and maintaining the best talents is key, great companies in the private sector take it to the next level – they invest in developing the capacity and competencies of their people.

So what can the public sector learn from this? According to one of the world’s most respected and celebrated CEOs, Jack Welch, great companies demonstrate a real commitment to continuous learning and development; not lip service.

One way organisations can invest in its people is through Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programmes. CPD refers to the commitment of professionals to upgrading and improving their skill set throughout their careers.  It combines different methodologies to learning, such as training workshops, conferences and events, e-learning programs, global best practice techniques and ideas sharing, all focused for an individual to improve and have effective professional development. It is one of the sure ways of investing to keep staff highly competitive to achieve greater efficiency.

Grafting such practices into the public sector will arguably foster creativity and innovation while helping to improve the competencies and capacity to align with technological innovation and the delivery of public goods. A good example is Dubai.

If you have read about or been to this United Arab Emirates city you will agree that its ultramodern infrastructure and architecture are almost incomparable. However, what is more important is that its development and culture of excellence was not private sector driven.  In fact, Dubai’s excellence takes its root in the implementation of astute government policies. Many of its government departments continuously measure public opinion about their services and design training programmes and cost efficiency plans accordingly. This, in turn, improves the impact of public policies it implements, and is quite similar to what obtains in a business.

To paraphrase a chapter in Dubai leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s book, My Vision: Challenges in the Race for Excellence, programmes civil servants take go beyond traditional public sector courses, to include development of team spirit, customer service, efficiency and productivity. According to him, the public sector facilitates international conferences, workshops and seminars that allow civil servants the chance to meet experts and specialists in the fields of management, economy and technology. Civil servants are also allowed the opportunity to make better use of all available human and financial resources, international relations and human interests; and transfer the experience and knowledge they acquire through attending such events to the next managerial level in their departments.

“Such an approach institutionalizes excellence in the public sector by promoting awareness among civil servants and motivating them to develop and keep pace with international progress,” Al Maktoum opines, and I daresay it is a winning model of increasing efficiencies in the public sector. The iconic leader also goes on to talk about not using legislative instruments to institutionalise excellence, but breeding a culture of excellence by enshrining it in the society. The logic: civil servants eternally compete to deliver excellence because the citizenry are not used to anything less.

Back to Welch. The master manager and former chairman and CEO of General Electric philosophies of management are globally-acclaimed. In his wisdom, he suggests five principles that make great companies stand out. Perhaps, if adopted, it could influence staff performance and bring about greater efficiencies in the public sector.

Great companies are meritocracies. The private sector is arguably driven by meritocracy – you don’t become a manager if you don’t have the requisite competence and capacity to handle such responsibilities. “Pay and promotions are tightly linked to performance, and rigorous appraisal systems consistently make people aware of where they stand,” opines Welch. Cue: Make the public sector a meritocracy.

Great companies understand that what is good for society is also good for business. “Gender, race, and nationality are never limitations; everyone’s ideas matter. Preferred employers are diverse and global in their outlook and environmentally sensitive in their practices,” says Welch. If this culture is imbibed in the public sector, it will help public servants understand their role in driving society forward. For example, if public servants understand the global impact their roles could play, they will perform better because the reality is: although, they implement domestic policies, Nigeria’s foreign policy is a reflection of its domestic affairs, and it goes a long way in advancing its interests in the international community.

Great companies keep their hiring standards tight. Welch opines that great companies “make candidates work hard to join the ranks by meeting strict criteria that centre on intelligence and previous experience and by undergoing an arduous interview process.” It should be the same for the public sector. Securing a job in, say, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) is based on talent, not gender or ethnicity. That way, the NSE presently has a pool of great talent and will continue to attract more talent.

Great companies are profitable and growing. “A rising stock price is a hiring and retention magnet. But beyond that, only thriving companies can promise you a future with career mobility and the potential of increased financial rewards,” Welch says. But in the public sector success is measured by impact and the delivery of public goods. So transferring private sector yardstick for measuring success might not be appropriate. But a forward-thinking government department that continuously evaluates its position, rewards hard work and challenges staff to do more, embodies the spirit of a thriving company. Cue: Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS), which continues to make sue Lagos State’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) remains the highest in the country while investing in people and stimulating the delivering of public goods.

Great companies not only allow people to take risks but also celebrate those who do. Risk taking encourages innovation. “As with meritocracies, a culture of risk-taking attracts exactly the kind of creative, bold employees companies want and need in a global marketplace where innovation is the single best defense against unrelenting cost competition,” Welch opines. For the public sector to thrive, managers and government department must be willing to take risks to deliver public goods.

Remember the twin-engine Jetliners? Apparently, the Airbus A350 was a little below par compared to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, when it was launched.  According to an article on traveller.com, a “clamour for both cabin comfort and better economics eventually forced Airbus into a fundamental shift in strategy.” The result: Airbus A350XWB.  However, “it took another two years of sales setbacks and doubts at the highest management level before Airbus agreed to build the A350XWB,” which matched the Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, a super-efficient jet boasting 30% fuel savings thanks to a carbon-composite design.

So, just like the initial Airbus A350, Nigeria’s public sector arguably lacks the culture and innovation that brings about greater efficiencies. But, perhaps, all it needs is borrow a leaf from the private sector by implementing a fundamental shift in strategy – investing more in its composites and enshrining a culture of excellence.

Imaralu, MILD (@jefumare), a communications, international relations and development professional, writes from Lagos