NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand’s Productivity Commission says productivity growth in the public sector is poor and some PS staff are actively hostile to the idea of measuring efficiency, believing it to be a waste of time.
The Commission said it was still uncommon for State Agencies to measure productivity and some were not asking the right questions.
“Some who work in the State sector are hostile to the concept of ‘productivity’ or ‘efficiency’ in public services and resist its measurement,” the Commission said.
“Far too often, Agencies are risk-averse, closed to ideas from outside and poor at managing change.”
The Commission said budgets could be used to send stronger signals about the importance of productivity.
It recommended allowing non-Government organisations to bid directly for Government funding from Ministers, and tightening the link between Agencies’ past performance and future budget allocations.
“Non-Government organisations and the private sector are important sources of innovative ideas and processes, but can face hostile or unreceptive public Agencies,” the Commission said.
National President of the Public Service Association, Glenn Barclay said he would not necessarily dispute some of the Commission’s findings, but was wary of its proposed remedies.
He did not dismiss the idea that less hierarchical ‘agile’ work practices, which have recently been strongly embraced by some private companies, could have a role to play in the public sector.
“However, trying to drive productivity through funding mechanisms smacks of the old ‘top-down’ mentality,” Mr Barclay said.
“What we would really like to see is what is known as ‘High Performance High Engagement’, with union members having direct engagement within their workplaces to drive improvement.”
He said Air New Zealand and Kiwirail had led the way creating such “higher trust” workplaces, where unionised workforces worked with management to create the right environment.
“We have just come off nine years of austerity within the Public Service and you could arguably say it has become more efficient, but we have got lots of members who say their workloads have got out of control,” Mr Barclay said.
Wellington, 20 August, 2018
