Malaysia does not need to cut down on public servants

 

Picture used only for illustration purposes

        Since it is difficult for the government to downsize the public service, the Malaysian Government need not reduce the number of public servants, but it needs to at least be able to deploy them to more productive work. 

        While I believe the law should still be reformed to allow sacking of underperforming staff in the public service than what is permitted now, their contribution towards the economy of the country should be significant and turned into their Key Performance Index.

        As it is, currently, ten workers are involved in road repairs by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), but only three workers would be seen working while the rest just stand there to watch. 

        This scenario which I saw at a junction at Jalan Bukit Maluri recently is no difference from the joke that once prevailed when people talked about JKR workers. There should fewer people, but more teams to cover a wider area.

        In the corporate world, this would never have happened. I remember when the recession hit the country, the New Straits Times had to downsize their photography department. Photographers had to cover events for all several newspapers within the group. 

        These days, with the help of phone cameras, journalists even have to provide their own mugshots instead of having to send another photographer just to capture the face of the interviewee. 

Deploy & Form QCCs

        It is unfortunate that many of our politicians hardly have any management experience. When appointed to helm a ministry, they are more interested in carrying out projects than ensuring that their ministries perform the purpose they are set up for.

        Ministers and deputy ministers, like managers, should not micromanage. But they have to be hands-on and know what is happening on the ground in order to make effective policy change. 

        This is why Management by Walk About (MBWA) cannot be done away with. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim exemplifies this himself. Despite his busyness, he has time to be on the ground.

        Ministers can no longer afford to do their rounds of inspection only at the first 100 days in office. If they do that, people will immediately know that these are the 'hangat-hangat tahi ayam' ministers. 

        Ministers and deputy ministers can delegate tasks to their officers, but the responsibility will always remain theirs. They should keep their communication channel open at all times for them to receive feedback from the public. 

        Ministers' role should set directives for the ministry to achieve. The bulk of the time should be to think of more pragmatic ways to achieve their KPIs. And, to monitor the progress, if they are serious with what they are saying. 

        After Anwar has said that he wanted the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate into any form of corruption even by his own party members, he should also follow up with the MACC why complaints lodged by the public against his party member, for example, has been kept under wrap. Who is the bottleneck in this place?

        Another good example is when a friend of mind, Imraz Ikhbal happily announced that the DBKL mayor, Mahadi Che Ngah had informed him that Anwar wanted DBKL to make an example of the enforcement officer that this unity government would not tolerate officers who went around collecting big angpows.

         Mahadi, for example, should clear his name if he had not said such a thing. On the other hand, whether Anwar, if he had given such a directive, should ask what happened to the case at DBKL and MACC level? Silence after that does not speak well of political will of people concerned. 

         In Japanese workplace, they have the Quality Control Circles (QCCs) made up of a few individual employees who would meet often to discuss using the Ishikawa diagram and other methods to find out the root cause of problems they encounter. The outcome of the discussions are solutions that could be implemented to solve a particular problem. 

       With so many redundant positions in a government agency or a ministry, the Government should set up QCCs where tasks can be delegated for them to solve. Thereafter, the minister's team only have to monitor the progress of all the tasks delegated because they are tied to his KPIs. 

        At the end of the day, the QCCs with the most problems solved should be rewarded. Once they are involved with their work, everyone would automatically develop an ownership in the agency or ministry that he/she is serving in. 

        The ability to solve challenging problems should be recognised and complimented if we want to have quality workforce that continues to enjoy high morale at work. 

        So, yes, while we cannot reduce the workforce significantly, the public servants should be deployed for more productive work. 

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