Category: Capability Development

The Development Academy of the Philippines’ (DAP) Productivity and Development Center, through the Government Quality Management Program (GQMP), virtually held the 4th GQMP Symposium: Service Quality Standards – Towards Quality Service for All Citizens on 11 May 2023.

This year’s symposium’s theme “Towards Quality Service for All Citizens” is aligned with the goal of the new Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 in developing broader national government assessments using the whole- of-government approach and business satisfaction surveys.

The virtual event addressed the mandate of government agencies and core principles of public sector actors: that is citizen-centered assistance and service. The event also underscored the need to serve the Filipino people with evidence-based strategies.

In his opening remarks, DAP President and CEO Atty. Engelbert C. Caronan, Jr. talked about the importance of providing quality service to citizens and the role of client satisfaction surveys.

Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and Chair of the Government Quality Management Committee (GQMC) Sec. Amenah F. Pangandaman delivered a keynote speech, where she discussed the significance of service quality standards and their role in improving bureaucratic efficiency and good governance.

Ms. IreMae Labucay of DAP’s Productivity and Development Center (PDC) and Director Monica D. Saliendres of the PDC Productivity Development Research Office (PDRO) presented their study on The Practice Good Governance and Improvement of Bureaucratic Processes with metrics on key services currently being provided by agencies. The takeaway in their study which attendees took interest in is the expedition of services and the simplicity of availing said services. Their recommendation for a citizen-centered approach is to increase employees in each office, satellite hub, or agency to ensure that the efficiency in response time and knowledge on how to address a citizen’s issue will build trust and achieve the standards and mandates of the institutions, making them more productive in their day-to-day operations. Their study was strategically made in highly urbanized cities (e.g., Quezon City, Angeles City, Cebu City, and Davao City) where the offices are and where they conducted the survey.

“The IT enables most transactions, like queuing, submissions, and payment, if implemented properly. But we should not forget the digitally disconnected: the elderly, those with lower education, and those in rural areas that transact with the government, and those who do not have internet,” according to Ms. Labucay.

Eng. Leonor Cleofas of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage Systems and Atty. Joe Cristine Celera of Manila Water Company, meanwhile, presented their respective institutions’ practices in good governance and their intersectional approach to customer-support, services, employee training, and their local to international quality standards.

“In Manila Water, we believe sustainability starts from within. By developing our employees, great service and company growth follow,” said Atty. Joe Cristine Celera.

Some of the key takeaways from the event include the following:

● Good governance especially for government agencies created with mandates to serve the people should be citizen-centric.
● The efficiency problem can be caused by the lack of knowledge of the government employee and the citizen applying or seeking assistance.
● More than serving the customers, it is also important to boost the capacity of employees for them to be empowered to make decisions and be more productive in the work that they do. This in turn also improves client satisfaction.

DAP Senior Vice President for Programs Magdalena L. Mendoza delivered the Closing Remarks, where she mentioned that serving customers right is just one part of the task. To be inclusive, a good customer experience should be felt everywhere–it should be felt at most, if not all, points of contacts of government.

Did you miss the event? Watch the recording here.

The first batch of the Development of Public Sector Productivity Specialists – Foundation Course (DPSPS-FC) officially entered the course’s second phase last 24 March 2023.

The attendees from 10 participating national government agencies–the Bureau of Animal Industry, Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority, Department of Science and Technology Region 6, National Youth Commission, Philippine Navy, Department of Agrarian Reform Central Office, Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office IV-B, National Security Council, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Academy, and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology–had a pitching session of their Productivity Improvement Plan (PIP).

The PIPs were presented for comments and suggestions from their nominating officers and training experts Elena Cruz, former Vice President of the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) Productivity and Development Center and Nina Estudillo, Productivity Expert at Asian Productivity Organization.

Through this session, the participants determined if their PIPs are ready to be transitioned to the pilot-testing stage. This session is part of a four-part stage of the foundation course, which consists of lectures and workshops, pitching, pilot-testing, and knowledge sharing.

The DPSPS-FC, organized by the DAP Center of Excellence on Public-Sector Productivity, is a two-month hybrid training program designed to equip technical staff and officers of the Management Division and related offices of public-sector organizations with the knowledge and skills in measurement, analysis, planning, and troubleshooting to increase their organizations’ productivity.

The Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) as the Center of Excellence on Public Sector Productivity (COE-PSP) organized the lecture and workshop series for the first batch of the Development of Public Sector Productivity Specialists Foundation Course (DPSPS-FC) for 2023, with attendees from 10 National Government Agencies (NGAs).

With a total of 47 participants, the DPSPS-FC concluded the series of lectures and workshop sessions held on 13-17 March 2023 via Zoom platform. The participating agencies are as follows: Bureau of Animal Industry, Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority, Department of Science and Technology Region 6, National Youth Commission, Philippine Navy, Department of Agrarian Reform Central Office, Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office IV-B, National Security Council, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Academy, and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.

Center for Governance Managing Director Ms. Imelda Caluen delivered the opening remarks on the first day of the course. The initial stage of the foundation course, meanwhile, was divided into five sessions that aim to equip the participants to develop a Productivity Improvement Plan (PIP). The participants attended the following sessions: Understanding Productivity Concepts, Measuring Productivity in the Public Sector, Diagnosing and Analyzing Productivity, Identifying Productivity Improvement Solutions, and the Development of the Productivity Improvement Plan. The sessions were delivered by AO25 Secretariat’s Director Ms. Ma. Rosario Ablan; DAP Productivity and Development Center’s former Vice President Ms. Elena Cruz; Asian Productivity Organization’s Productivity Expert Ms. Nina Estudillo; and COE-PSP’s Project Officer Ms. Rocio Paloma.

The five-day training workshop was essential in crafting the PIP, which will be presented to each agency’s nominating officers. The creation of PIPs enabled the participants to put into practice their learnings, which can contribute to the collective improvement of public sector productivity.

DPSPS-FC is a training program designed to equip technical staff and officers of Management Divisions and related offices of public sector organizations with the knowledge and skills in measurement, analysis, planning, and troubleshooting to increase their respective organizations’ productivity.

The Development Academy of the Philippines is inviting representatives of any government agency to participate in the Designing Citizen-Centered Public Service (DCCPS) Capability Development Program. The DCCPS is one of the Academy’s strategies to contribute to the effort to raise the productivity performance of agencies, as stipulated in the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 (Chapter 14, Outcome 3).

What is the Designing Citizen-Centered Public Service Program?

The Designing Citizen-Centered Public Service (DCCPS) is a three-month hybrid program aimed at assisting government agencies in developing solutions that address their clients’ needs and expectations. Read the full program here.

The DCCPS program is divided into four (4) phases:

Who can join?

To join, you must form a team of three (3) to five (5) members who satisfy the following qualifications:

• Currently working in the same National Government Agency (NGA), Government-Owned and Controlled Corporation (GOCC), Local Government Units (LGU), and State Universities and Colleges (SUC);
• Delivers the same service
• Performs any of the following functions: decision-making, client support or frontline service delivery, administrative, logistics, and IT
• Optional: A Division Chief or high-ranking official

Requirements from the participants:

Certificate of completion will be issued for those who:

• attended all sessions under each phase of the program: Upskilling, Pitching, Pilot Testing and Coaching, and Knowledge and Experience Sharing.
• submitted the required outputs; and
• implemented and presented partial results of their innovation project in the Knowledge and Experience Sharing Session.

How to join?

Sign up by completing the Nomination Form and submitting the signed Letter of Commitment, which can be downloaded at: DCCPS Forms.

Please send the accomplished forms in PDF format to cfg-coepsp-gse1@dap.edu.ph

• We have 40 slots for this batch and sign-ups are on a first come, first served basis. The deadline for Nomination Forms for this batch is on 14 March 2023.
• This course is free of charge and only requires the full commitment of the nominated participants, including participation to catch up sessions after the workshop.
• If slots are filled, nominees will be asked to join another batch.

For inquiries and clarifications about the DCCPS Workshop, please email us at cfg-coepsp-gse1@dap.edu.ph.

The Development Academy of the Philippines is inviting representatives of National Government Agencies (NGA) to participate in the Development of Public Sector Productivity Specialists – Foundation Course (DPSPSFC) Capability Development Program. The DPSPS-FC is one of the Academy’s strategies to help raise the productivity performance of agencies, as stipulated in the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 (Chapter 14, Outcome 3).

What is the Development of Public Sector Productivity Specialists – Foundation Course?

The DPSPS-FC is a two-month hybrid training program designed to equip technical staff and officers of Management Division and related offices of public-sector organizations (PSOs) with the knowledge and skills in measurement, analysis, planning, and troubleshooting to increase their organizations’ productivity. Read the full program here.

DPSPS-FC activities are divided into four phases:

Who can join?

To join, you must form a team of three (3) to five (5) members who satisfy the following qualifications:

• Currently working in the same NGA.
• Part of the Management Division or related offices whose functions involve:

1. recommending measures to improve systems, processes, procedures, and services; reviewing and implementing of recommended improvements;
2. conduct of training on systems/process improvements; and
3. supervising staff supervision in implementing systems and process improvements.

• Performs any of the following functions/roles: decision-making, technical management, operational management, administrative, planning, etc.

Requirements from the participants:

Certificate of Completion will be issued to those who:

• attended all the phases of the program: Upskilling, Pitching, Pilot Testing and Coaching, and Knowledge and Experience Sharing;
• submitted the required outputs, including the Productivity Improvement Plan (PIP); and
• implemented and presented initial results of their productivity improvement initiative in the Knowledge and Experience Sharing Session.

How to join?

Sign up by completing the Nomination Form and submitting the signed Letter of Commitment, which you can download here: DPSPSFC Forms.

Please send the accomplished forms in PDF format to cfg-coepsp-gse1@dap.edu.ph

• We have 40 slots for this batch and sign-ups are on a first come, first served basis. The deadline for Nomination Forms for this batch is on 24 February 2023.
• This course is free of charge and only requires the full commitment of nominated participants including participation in the scheduled catch-up sessions.
• If slots are filled, nominees will be asked to join another batch.

For inquiries and clarifications about the DPSPS-FC program, please email us at cfg-coepsp-gse1@dap.edu.ph.

Forty five participants from Asian Productivity Organization (APO) member economies attended the five-day training on Development of Public Sector Productivity Specialists, which tackled concepts and tools that can help improve public service delivery. The training was held on 5-9 December 2022.

Public sector productivity for a better quality of life

Dr. D Brian Marson, President of the Public Service Excellence Institute Canada and Dr. Shin Kim, Professional Research Fellow from the Korea Institute of Public Administration, provided different lectures on the role of leadership, systems, and processes that can help improve service delivery in the public sector. Among the topics delivered by the speakers are the role of the public sector, global trends, performance management, citizen-centered services, regulatory reform, and e-government, among others. This was also accompanied by resource speakers from the Development Academy of the Philippines, Measuring Public-Sector Productivity delivered by Mr. Arnel Abanto, Vice President of the Productivity and Development Center and Approaches for Improving Organizational Productivity handled by Director Maria Rosario Ablan of the AO25 Secretariat.

Implementation of Productivity Improvement Plans

Two local case presentations were also featured during the training to give the participants an opportunity to contextualize their learnings and visualize how productivity improvement plans can help their own offices. The two presenters are recipients of the Academy’s Government Best Practice Recognition (GBPR). Environmental Planner Ronaldo P. Dando, MBA, Director, Integrated Sustainability and Resilience Center from Camarines Norte State College, Philippines presented the Electronic Budget Planning Process 2.0 (EBPPRO 2.0) and Lorena Benjamine Espejo Human Resource Management Officer, Performance Management Section from the Local Government Unit of General Santos City, Philippines discussed i-COPE (Individual Comprehensive Onboarding Program for Employees): A Survival Toolkit for New Entrants.

Director Dando imparted how EBPPRO 2.0 has been proven very useful in the immediate processing of documented information and procurement scheduling. He added that the project helped the state university achieve its capital outlay goals over the last three years, making it one of the best funded colleges in the region.

The i-COPE project presented by Ms. Espejo detailed how it significantly decreased the employee turnover rate and how the annual average performance rating for new entrants exceeded the expected satisfactory rating required from them.

The training workshop aimed to help the participants identify potential improvement actions that they can take in their own environment as they develop a culture of innovation and continuous productivity improvement in the public sector.

The Development Academy of the Philippines, as the country’s focal organization for the Asian Productivity Organization’s Center of Excellence on Public-Sector Productivity (COE-PSP), held a two-day webinar on Enhancing Employee Engagement for Improved Productivity on 1-2 December 2022. The webinar highlighted different ways on how to help align the employees with the organization, and how they can be protected and freely express themselves in the workplace.

Aligning Individual Purpose to Organizational Mission and Vision

On the first day of the webinar series, Josephine P. Perez, PhD, RPsy from the Ateneo Center for Organizational Research and Development, focused on understanding the value and purpose of a vision and mission and how it is important to see one’s role in the organization. She guided the viewers on how to understand their organization’s vision and mission and make their own personal mission statement to be able to re-align themselves with their organization and work more efficiently.

Creating a Better Working Environment

Ms. Maricel Aguilar, a gender consultant for different local and international organizations, looked into the importance of creating safe spaces for sustained productivity in the workplace. She presented different concepts in understanding sex, gender, intersectionality, and inclusivity. She also tackled how manifestations of sexism at work affects productivity, and existing policies that promote and create safe and fair workplaces. Lastly, she emphasized improvements that can be done to create a safe and fair workplace, and how it can foster productivity and better public service delivery.

This two-day webinar is available for replay on Facebook and YouTube. Stay tuned for more webinar series in the coming months.

The Development Academy of the Philippines, as the country’s focal organization for the Asian Productivity Organization’s Center of Excellence on Public-Sector Productivity (COE PSP), held a three-day webinar on Digital Transformation for Enhancing Public Sector Productivity on 5-7 October 2022. This webinar series aimed to provide the participants with an understanding of digital transformation and the different ways to strengthen government digital services to enhance productivity in the public sector. Two government digital initiatives were presented on the last day of the series.

Understanding digital transformation

Mr. Rey Lugtu of the Hungry Workhorse, explained that digital transformation is an integrated, cohesive, and strategic way of transforming the whole organization. He added that digital transformation is a set of strategic actions to accelerate businesses, practices, processes, competencies, and models by fully leveraging on the changes and opportunities of digital technologies and their impact in a strategic and prioritized way, it is not merely changing one component of an organization but the whole of the organization.

Mr. Rey Lugtu of the Hungry Workhorse explains the concept of digital transformation.

In talking about the organization, a Digital Transformation Framework is observed to define the organization in these major components: the operations and business models, the offering (product performance and systems), the customers, and culture and people. Once these components are understood, capabilities to build will be recognized. Only then digital technologies can be identified and applied to achieve digital transformation.

Responding to one of the questions raised during the webinar, Mr. Lugtu said, “We can’t simplify the process, it is what it is… If we look at digital transformation in a simplistic manner, you will invest in technology without reaping the rewards of that technology. It is something we cannot do haphazardly. It has to be done methodically, deliberately; it has to be well-planned.”

Strengthening government digital services

Dr. Erika Fille Legara, a data scientist and professor at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), emphasized that we are in the fourth industrial revolution where the cyber or digital system marries the physical system. She added that the government needs to invest and digitalize its services. Proper use of technology would help the government create public value through efficient and accessible digital services. The public can be assured of efficient distribution of financial assistance by government institutions given the right data. Greater transparency and inclusivity will also be ensured by going digital.

Dr. Erika Fille Legara discusses how government public services can be more enhanced and transformed with data and digital technology.

Looking into the Philippine Digital Strategy Vision, Dr. Legara highlighted some key points that the government is improving to strengthen digital transformation in the country. As the bedrock of digitalization [and artificial intelligence], the government is building up its digital infrastructure  to be reliable, robust, scalable, and accessible.

In her discussion, Dr. Legara said “every Filipino and every government office must have an internet connection.” She noted that the internet today is no longer a luxury but a necessity. Dr. Legara, however, mentioned that the government must ensure that its citizens are protected and secured in the cyberspace should it decide to open its systems and data to the world wide web.

Another key aspect of the government’s strategy discussed during the session is digital literacy. Dr. Legara emphasized that the government must partner with the industry and the academe to promote digital and data literacy for all. She added that Filipinos should be taught how to behave online to be safe, and how to make advantage of the internet to learn more and identify misinformation. Lastly, she noted that learning and development programs on data and technology must be provided to government employees as well.

Pioneering digital transformation initiatives in the public sector 

For the third day of the series, two successful digital initiatives in the government were presented: Digitize Dulag (Digi-Du) of Dulag, Leyte which won the “Best in eGOV Data-Driven Governance” (D2G) category of the Digital Governance Awards (DGA) in 2019, and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) Digital Transformation in Financial Services.

Hon. Mildred Que, with her team (bottom photo at the right), explains Dulag’s successfully implemented digitization project called Digitize Dulag.

Hon. Mildred Joy Que, a lawyer and the incumbent mayor of Dulag, Leyte, presented on their municipality’s fully-integrated computerization project. Digitize Dulag by the Municipal Government of Dulag, Leyte was developed to intensify transparency, accountability, and internal control in different aspects of their local government’s functions. Built with an online office software, Digi-Du is a comprehensive system that utilizes information and communication technology and data science. It has helped enhance the local government’s system for collection and payment of taxes, disbursement of payroll, and application for permits such as business permits. 

From the Technology Risk and Innovation Supervision Department of BSP, Director Melchor Plabasan first expounded the core mandates of BSP that aim for price stability, financial stability, and efficient payment systems. He also discussed BSP’s advocacies, including financial inclusion.  In advocating for financial inclusion, BSP wants every adult Filipino to “have access to safe, convenient, and affordable financial services and own a transaction account that he/she can use on a day-to-day basis.”

BSP is developing its programs to expand to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and startups by building a sustainable and more vibrant financing ecosystem. There have also been initiatives to establish credit infrastructure and standardize business loan applications to make it easier for the stakeholders.

Director Melchor Plabasan, speaking for the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, discusses the agency’s advocacy for financial inclusion.

BSP’s 2021 data revealed that there was an increase in ownership of financial accounts, and a shift in the people’s reference on mode of payment due to the pandemic restrictions. About 60% of the country’s population now uses digital and online channels for payment or money transfers. To further democratize financial accounts, BSP has made possible the creation of basic e-money accounts for financial institutions that would only need a few requirements.

The participants raised concerns on data privacy and security during the webinar. Dir. Plabasan mentioned that the government is in efforts to promote digital literacy to the public and conducts programs to strengthen financial education and consumer protection in the country. He also stressed the necessity for the policy on SIM card registration to be implemented.

This webinar series is available for replay on Facebook and YouTube. Stay tuned for more webinar series in the coming months.