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Measuring public sector productivity has proved to be a challenging and daunting task. For one, the very definition of the term ‘productivity’ varies and depending on the definition you stick to, the variables are different too. Compounding this issue is the perceived complexity of measuring government outputs. In addition, available public sector productivity data is, more often than not, of questionable validity and reliability. So how is it done? The OECD simply defines productivity as to “how much output is produced for each unit of input, calculated as the ration of a volume measure of output to a volume measure of input used”. Simply put, good productivity means higher efficiency. You do more and better and less.

The Atkinson Review. The United Kingdom has been consistently enhancing its public sector productivity measurement since 1993. Beginning 1998, it already shifted from the traditional means of measuring public sector productivity (output = input) and has incorporated direct measures of the volume of government output in the national accounts. The Atkinson Review made a major step forward by recommending that to measure outputs, the total number of each of the activities performed by a given organization must be taken into account. Atkinson further recommended that these activities should then be weighed against each other according to the unit costs involved in producing them. In this step, the unit costs are used as proxies for the value of each of the different outputs produced, given that these are non-market outputs and thus do not have a price.

For national statistics purposes, where the level of analysis is often highly aggregated, Atkinson also recommended that output volumes should be adjusted by quality factors – a controversial and difficult to implement suggestion. The Atkinson Review included the following principles in measuring the output, input and productivity.

Output

  • Output should be measured by incremental contribution to individual or collective welfare i.e. the added value by service concerned.
  • Start from services provided, and seek indicators that give full coverage.
  • Value should be seen as adjusted for quality.
  • Formal criteria should be established for extending direct output measures to further services.

Input and Productivity

  • Measures of inputs should be as comprehensive as possible, and should include capital services
  • Consideration should be given to the split between current and capital spending.
  • Criteria should be established for price deflators applied to input spending series.
  • Independent corroborative evidence should be sought on government productivity, as part of a process of “triangulation”.

The most important general conclusion of the Atkinson Review is that it is no longer possible and desirable to revert to an output = input perspective. This traditional perspective assumes zero productivity and in reality, this is unlikely to be true. Perhaps, the Atkinson Review’s most tangible role is giving information on the state of public services and the effects of reform and technological advancement in providing these services. In adopting the recommendations made by the Atkinson Review, the UK has made significant progress in measuring the output and productivity of their health, education, social care and social security services. While it is true that the Atkinson Review offers not a perfect method in measurement, it is a straightforward, consistent and mutually understood way of determining public sector productivity.

Both the private and public sector have one goal in terms of procurement and that is to get the most “bang for the buck”. The private sector always aims for the best value to maximize profits to shareholders, while the public sector seeks the best value because of the increasingly limited resources available.

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The public sector spends about 45 to 65 percent of its budget on procurement. Given this volume, public procurement is one of the key drivers of international trade, creating value chains that span around the world. If governments make an effort to purchase environmentally and socially preferred goods, it can have a huge impact on green economic transformation. Green public procurement is defined as “a process whereby public and semi-public authorities meet their needs for goods, services, works, and utilities by choosing solutions that have a reduced impact on the environment throughout their life cycle, as compared to alternative products and solutions”. While a relatively new concept, GPP has been gaining popularity as citizens demand their governments to do so. An important aspect of GPP is the lifecycle costing, which is defined in the International Organization for Standardization standard, Buildings and Constructed Assets, Service-Life Planning, Part 5: Life-Cycle Costing (ISO 15686-5) as an ―economic assessment considering all agreed projected significant and relevant cost flows over a period of analysis expressed in monetary value. The projected costs are those needed to achieve defined levels of performance, including reliability, safety and availability”. The use of LCC demonstrates that the price of goods and services does not reflect the financial and non-financial gains that are offered by environmentally and socially preferable goods and services. Simply put, despite being costlier, green goods and services are better options than their alternatives. Public organizations should also consider that additional costs will be largely offset through efficiency gains, cost savings, and lowered risk during the product lifetime. Several countries in the Asian region have already adopted the concept of GPP. In 2000, Japan passed a law on “Promoting Green Purchasing” which requires government agencies to implement GPP. To date, all central government ministries practice green procurement; 47 prefectures and 12 designated cities are engaged in green procurement, and two-thirds of the 700 cities systematically implement green procurement. In South Korea, the government has instituted the “Act on Encouragement of the Purchase of Green Products” which aims to reduce environmental pollution and wasteful use of resources. Local and national government agencies are required to submit their annual plans with specific number of green products to be purchased. Since the implementation of the act in 2005, South Korea’s public green market has expanded to USD 1.6 billion in 2009. It has also created more jobs and reduced carbon dioxide emissions. China’s central government, meanwhile, came up with a list of green products that are environmentally friendly and energy efficient. The list is handed to public procurement centers that are responsible in implementing public procurement plans with the instruction that these products be given priority in procurement. The list includes lists include products ranging from cars to construction materials, office equipment and other consumer goods. Malaysia incorporated GPP in its “Eleventh Malaysia Plan” and “National Sustainable and Consumption Blueprint” which highlights GPP becoming mandatory in all government agencies, both national and local, by 2030. The target is to increase Malaysia’s green purchasing volume by 100 percent. Ministries of Finance, Energy, Green Technology, and Water are in charge of promoting and implementing GPP which is also aimed to increase Malaysia’s competitiveness. GPP continues to be accepted and adopted because of the benefits associated in implementing it.

  • GPP drives innovation and provides the public sector with incentives to switch to environmentally friendly and energy efficient goods, products, works and services.
  • GPP promotes savings for public sector agencies, particularly if you consider the life-cycle cost and not just the purchase price.
  • Governments implementing GPP are better equipped to meet the evolving environmental challenges.

In developing a functional GPP program, governments are advised to build on existing good procurement practices such as transparency, accountability, non-discrimination and competitiveness. Governments should also consider including GPP in their national action plans roadmap to send a strong signal to other sectors to venture into green enterprise. Through the implementation of GPP, governments take the lead role in shifting the entire market to green.

In 2014, Deloitte published a study entitled “The Overworked Employee” which highlighted the fact that employees have too much access to information and how this negatively impacts work productivity. One way to address this growing problem is to simplify work processes and HR systems.

Designed by ijeab / Freepik

Work simplification means thinking about the best ways to do the task in order to save time, energy and resources. It also means accomplishing more tasks within a given amount of time. The concept of work simplification was introduced in the 1930s and it advocates for people who are actually doing the job to recommend ways on how to improve it. The management, on the other hand, must demonstrate commitment to work simplification and trust their employees. For specialists in time study, work measurement and methods analysis, the best way to encourage employees to think creatively is to give them incentives to make improvements. To ensure the success of work simplification method, it is important to involve as many employees in all levels of the organization. There should also be a session that will motivate the employees to be fully engaged and committed in implementing work simplification. The employees must be given training in improvement methods and tools. Work simplification involves the following steps:

  • Selecting a task/tasks to improve.
  • Getting all the facts.
  • Making a process chart.
  • Challenging every detail, asking all possible questions; listing possibilities and improving necessary details.
  • Developing the preferred method.
  • Introducing it.
  • Checking results.

Work simplification has been implemented in many companies and organizations across the world and most of them have been successful in delivering cost-reducing and profit-increasing innovations. In the public sector context, work simplification involves clarifying and simplifying regulations internal to the government. One of the realities of working in and within the government is the cumbersome paperwork it entails. While some procedures are necessary and justified, some are simply redundant, bureaucratic, and excessive. Red tape in the government often involves filing out unnecessary paperwork, and complying with too many administrative procedures such as in starting a business. Simplification strategies in the government should be promoted to reduce regulatory complexity and uncertainty, and at the same time, to cut the red tape in the bureaucracy.  Implementing simplification strategies in the public sector benefits the employees, the agencies, and ultimately the citizens transacting with the government.  For employees, simplification would reduce time and resources allocated doing the paperwork and this will give them more time to do their actual work. For the agencies, simplification would make the delivery of services more effective and efficient. For the citizens, it would mean having a more accessible public services.

Work simplification, like most productivity and quality tools, must be adopted for the long-term and should fit the whole-of-government perspective. Some of the things to consider in implementing simplification efforts in the public sector are the measurable objectives, resources, timing, outcomes, and monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) came up with a list of good practices that will ensure the success of simplification in the public sector.

  1. Long term and high political support;
  2. There should be an institution specialized on administrative simplification at the center of government overseeing and running the administrative simplification strategy;
  3. The strategy should have clear objectives with reasonable deadlines;
  4. There should be a multidisciplinary team working on administrative simplification trained with a vision for change, who are creative, assertive and who have strong analytical capacities;
  5. The administrative simplification strategy toolkit should include: i) the use of better regulation, ii) organizational reengineering, iii) the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) tools, iv) better information and service to citizens and business, and v) the creation of synergies between administrative requirements.
  6. Incentive mechanisms should be used to promote a “reform” approach to administrative simplification;
  7. The public administration as well as other stakeholders should be included in a three-fold communication action plan: i) general communication, ii) training and iii) consultation processes;

There should be a monitoring system in place that systematically reports to higher authorities and to the general public.

One of the goals of the Center of Excellence on Public Sector Productivity is to develop a critical mass of productivity and quality (P&Q) practitioners. These practitioners can influence P&Q implementation by building partnerships with the local government units, non-governmental organizations, industries, and other stakeholders. A P&Q practitioner is “one who is accountable for the institutionalization of productivity and quality improvement through the practice and application of various P&Q approaches and tools through promotion, training and consulting”.  He/she plays different roles.

Designed by pch.vector / Freepik

As a promoter – The P&Q practitioner is responsible in creating awareness on P&Q by applying P&Q tools and approaches in an organization. He/she is also responsible for steering, monitoring, evaluating and sustaining P&Q improvement programs in an organization.

Designed by yanalya / Freepik

As a consultant – The P&Q practitioner provides her expertise in applying P&Q tools and techniques to organizations. He/she also provides guidance in conducting P&Q climate diagnosis to determine current issues, problems, and opportunities for improvement (OFI).

Designed by pressfoto / Freepik

As a trainer – The P&Q practitioner delivers trainings and learning solutions to organizations. At the same time, he/she shares his/her knowledge and skills in applying P&Q concepts, tools, and techniques. According to the APO Productivity Education & Training Accredited Learning Systems (PETALS) 2006-2007, a P&Q practitioner must have the following core competencies:

  1. Ability to diagnose and identify productivity issues
  2. Ability to work out productivity solutions
  3. Ability to convince stakeholders including employees and management to adopt solutions
  4. Ability to implement solutions
  5. Ability to evaluate results
  6. Ability to sustain improvements

On top of this, the P&Q practitioner must also have the specific clusters of competencies.

Interpersonal

  • Building Trust
  • Communicating Effectively
  • Influencing Stakeholders
  • Leveraging Diversity
  • Networking and Partnering

Business/Management

  • Analyzing  Productivity Improvement Needs and Proposing Solutions
  • Applying “Business” Acumen
  • Planning and Implementing Assignments
  • Thinking  P&Q Strategically
  • Driving  Results

Personal

  • Modelling Personal Development
  • Demonstrating Adaptability

These core and specific competencies are required to be able to fulfil the roles and responsibilities of a P&Q practitioner. After developing and specializing in specific P&Q areas, a P&Q practitioner can later become a productivity specialist. A specialist is someone who only does productivity measurement at firm/organization level. He/she can be a 5S specialist, or a training specialist, or a productivity measurement specialist.

Total productive maintenance (TPM) is a maintenance management approach that looks at maintenance as a productive function, and considers that it should be the concern of every unit in the organization. It aims to eliminate big losses on equipment effectiveness e.g. setup time, breakdown, speed losses, waiting time, etc. TPM stemmed from Productive Maintenance which originated in the United States in the 1940’s and was characterized by developing maintenance techniques to improve the reliability and longevity of equipment. TPM, on the other hand, was developed by the Japanese and is focused on achieving maintenance efficiency through a comprehensive system based on respect for individuals and total employee participation. TPM was initially implemented within the automotive industry, particularly in Toyota, Nissan and Mazda. TPM later spread to America and the West and many companies and organizations began to implement TPM such as Dupont, Exxon, Kodak, AT&T, Ford, Hewlett-Packard, among others. By the late 1990’s, TPM has swept across other industries and was well established as a continuous improvement effort. TPM aims toward four zeros: zero defect, zero breakdown, zero accident, and zero waste. It has seven pillars as shown below:

  1. Focused improvement – The aim is to return the equipment to a good-as-new condition after usage. It involves the following improvement activities – restoring the equipment to its optimal condition, determining and eliminating productivity loss modes or causal factors such as physical or operator reasons.
  2. Autonomous maintenance – This is aimed to maintain and improve the condition of the equipment. Operators accept and share the responsibility for the performance and status of the equipment. Autonomous maintenance involves detecting signs of productivity losses, discovering indications of abnormalities and acting on these discoveries.
  3. Planned maintenance – Under this pillar, the focus is on devising a planned maintenance system which will result to no failures and no defects. It involves regular preventive maintenance, corrective maintenance, and breakdown maintenance.
  4. Education and Training – Under this pillar, the objective is to fill in knowledge gaps necessary to achieve TPM goals. This applies to managers, operators and maintenance personnel.
  5. Quality Maintenance – This focuses on preventive action (before it happens) rather than reactive measures (after it happens). Equipment and processes are ensured to be always functioning properly.
  6. Early Equipment Management – Also known as Early Management, Initial Phase Management and Initial Flow Control, this pillar is aimed to minimize the life cycle cost of an equipment.
  7. Safety, Health and Environment – Also described as “maintenance of peace of mind”, the pillar works to identify and eliminate safety and environmental incidents. As this becomes an increasing point of focus, it now also includes reduction of energy consumption, elimination of toxic waste, and reduction of raw material consumption.

Studies show that TPM implementation successfully reduced equipment breakdown, minimized idle and minor stops, lessen quality defects, increased productivity, trimmed labor and costs, reduced number of accidents, and encouraged employee involvement. Other indirect benefits of TPM are improved organizational image to customers and stakeholders, increased confidence of employees, and promotion of a standard and disciplined work culture.

 Image by Deming.org

“Quality comes not from inspection, but from improvement of the production process.”

-Dr. W. Edwards Deming

W. Edwards Deming, an American mathematical physicist, statistician, professor, author and management consultant, is considered to be the Father of Quality Evolution. He is famously known for his work on quality management and for his contributions such as the plan-do-check-act cycle or the Deming wheel. Another of his well-known contribution is his 14 points for management which Deming discussed in his book “Out of the Crisis” which was published in 1986. 14 points is Deming’s 50 years of experience condensed in 14 concepts. While many see them as guide to product and process improvement, they also reflect the process for innovation. 14 points can be applied to any type of organization – big or small, service or manufacturing industries, etc. They can be applied to any process within a company.

  1. Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the aim to become competitive and to stay in business, and to provide jobs.
  2. Adopt the new philosophy. We are in a new economic age. Western management must awaken to the challenge, must learn their responsibilities, and take on leadership for change.
  3. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. Eliminate the need for inspection on a mass basis by building quality into the product in the first place.
  4. End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag. Instead, minimize total cost. Move toward a single supplier for any one item, on a long-term relationship of loyalty and trust.
  5. Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service, to improve quality and productivity, and thus constantly decrease costs.
  6. Institute training on the job.
  7. Institute leadership. The aim of supervision should be to help people and machines and gadgets to do a better job. Supervision of management is in need of overhaul, as well as supervision of production workers.
  8. Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively for the company.
  9. Break down barriers between departments. People in research, design, sales, and production must work as a team, to foresee problems of production and in use that may be encountered with the product or service.
  10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the workforce, asking for zero defects and new levels of productivity. Such exhortations only create adversarial relationships, as the bulk of the causes of low quality and low productivity belong to the system and thus lie beyond the power of the workforce.
    • Eliminate work standards (quotas) on the factory floor. Substitute leadership.
    • Eliminate management by objective. Eliminate management by numbers, numerical goals. Substitute leadership.
  1. Remove barriers that rob the hourly worker of his right to pride of workmanship. The responsibility of supervisors must be changed from sheer numbers to quality.
  2. Remove barriers that rob people in management and in engineering of their right to pride of workmanship. This means, inter alia, abolishment of the annual or merit rating and of management by objective
  3. Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement.
  4. Put everybody in the company to work to accomplish the transformation. The transformation is everybody’s job.

Many of his principles were philosophical, while others are programmatic. But it is without doubt that all are transformative in nature. The central idea behind Deming’s philosophy is that variation is the biggest bottleneck towards productivity. If organizations subscribe to 14 points, Deming argues, that they will be able to reduce variations and thus, improve their performance and competitiveness. It is worthy to note that 14 points did not provide specific tools in implementation. Deming posited that the organizations themselves should develop the means to successfully implement them according to their own situation and needs. Decades after its publication, the concept and ideas 14 Points still resonate and following these points will surely lead any organization to a culture that encourages and celebrates new ideas.

The 2017 Corruption Perception Index highlights how majority of the countries are making very little progress in addressing corruption. Two-thirds of the 180 countries surveyed scored below 50 (where 100 is very clean and 0 is highly corrupt).  And the most flagrant fact about corruption is that poor countries tend to be the most corrupt.

Photo from Transparency International, https://www.transparency.org/news/feature/corruption_perceptions_index_2017
In Asia-Pacific in particular, the average score is 44 which means that the countries in the region are failing in combatting corruption. Even top scorers such as New Zealand and Singapore had experienced their share of corruption scandals in the previous years, while other countries showed very slight improvements. In the public sector, corruption takes so many forms – abuse of power, taking bribes, misappropriation of funds among others. The systemic corruption impacts the entire sector as it undermines the confidence and trust of the citizens to public offices, impairs the delivery of public services, and ultimately deprive the citizens of the services owed to them by their governments. It also adversely affects the private sector because red tape undermines productivity and sustainable growth. Corruption also means additional expenses for the companies to facilitate transactions with governments. Corruption is pretty straightforward in the public sector:

  • It leads to biased decisions in public expenditures. This is apparent in the many “white elephant” projects that costs so much but with little to no output, and public procurement contracts which rests on kinship and kickbacks rather than value-for-money.
  • It gives prime importance to relationships. In public offices, some people may be hired not because of their suitability to the position but because of their relationship with the management and staff. Instead of attracting the best talents, corruption breeds nepotism and favoritism.
  • It hinders the effective delivery of public service. Because of corrupt activities in generating and collecting public revenues, resources that should have been for development projects go to the pockets of some public sector employees.

Governments have been actively pursuing reforms to address corruption. However, the results are varying and are often minimal. Transparency International recommended the following approach to end corruption:

  • Putting in place laws and institutions that will prevent corruption from happening. In addition, government must ensure compliance in its own legislations.
  • Reducing impunity for the corrupt. Political power play must be minimized. The justice system, prosecution, and enforcement force must be independent and professional.
  • Encouraging civil society to actively participate in anti-corruption efforts.
  • Promoting integrity and values in all aspects. The environment as a whole must foster a culture of integrity through a whole-of-society approach.
  • Advancing a merit-based civil service with adequate pay and benefits to discourage public sector employees in engaging in corrupt activities.

The World Bank further added the need to simplify regulations, particularly in business entry to promote a competitive private sector.  It also emphasizes decentralization with accountability within the government, and budget management to include coverage, treasury procurement, and audit. Finally, this comprehensive approach must be coupled with strong political will among the politicians and civil servants. Otherwise, these reforms will only result to marginal improvements or to no improvement at all.

Some of the most common problems at a workplace are inconsistent cleanliness and orderliness, difficulty in retrieving files, inadequate space, and improper storage of files and things. 5S is a systematized approach that helps address these problems. It also helps in achieving greater organization, standardization and efficiency, all while reducing costs and boosting productivity. In 1972, Henry Ford used the CANDO programme (Cleaning up, Arranging, Neatness, Discipline, and Ongoing improvement) and this technique was later popularized in Japan as 5S methodology by Hiroyuki Hirano.

What is 5S? 5S stands for five phases each named after a different Japanese term beginning with the letter “S”: seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu, and shitsuke.

  1. Seiri (Sort) – In this step, you sort items that are necessary and unnecessary. Items that do not belong in the working area must be disposed properly. In addition, items that are not needed or may be needed in the future must be red-tagged and placed in a holding area.
  2. Seiton (Systematize) – Here you organize necessary items for easy and fast retrieval

Some seiton practices include:

  • Following the first-in-first-out method for storing item;
  • Assigning each item a dedicated location;
  • Systematic labelling of all items and their locations;
  • Making items visible to reduce searching time; use color-coding;
  • Arranging items so they can be reached or handled easily;
  • Separating special tools/devices from common ones
  • Placing frequently used tools/devices near the user
  • Fixing unstable article for safety; and,
  • Keeping space for safety equipment and evacuation passages clear.
  1. Seiso (Sweep) – Seiso is thoroughly cleaning the work area, including tools, machines and other equipment. Doing seiso ensures that everything is in good condition and is ready to be used when needed.
  2. Seiketsu (Sanitize/standardize) – Seiketsu involves maintaining a high standard of housekeeping and workplace organization at all times. You keep each area consistent with one another and ensure that conditions do not deteriorate to their former state.
  3. Shitsuke (Self-discipline) – This entails doing things spontaneously without being told or ordered and training people to follow good housekeeping rules. Instilling discipline is critical to avoid backsliding.

Some shitsuke practices involves:

  • Greeting people with a smile;
  • Being a good listener;
  • Demonstrating team spirit;
  • Being professional in your conduct and dealings with others;
  • Putting things back in their proper place after use;
  • Being punctual;
  • Always keeping your workplace clean and tidy;
  • Following safety rules strictly;
  • Wearing clean uniform/office attire and shoes; and,
  • Observing proper office decorum.
5S week at the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao government office.

Digital 5s. Implementing 5s is not limited to physical space. Electronic storage areas such as servers and hard disks should also be organized to ensure that everyone can easily access the files that they need. To do a digital 5s, a filing policy must be created to know which documents must be kept for what period of time. Every employee will go through all his/her electronic files to determine which ones can be deleted and which ones can be kept. Next step is to give each file/folder a logical place. There must also be a standardized way of naming the documents. Cleaning of servers and hard disks must be done on a regular basis. It is equally important to make sure that everyone sticks with the system. Apart from these, always keep the office’s electronic storage space user-friendly and easy to navigate.

Benefits of 5S methodology. Among the main benefits of implementing 5S are:

  • Work stations become cleaner, safer, well-organized and more pleasant;
  • Floor space utilization is improved;
  • Workflow becomes smoother and more systematic;;
  • Time for searching tools, materials and document is minimized;
  • Machine breakdowns are reduced since clean and well-maintained equipment breaks down less frequently. It also becomes easier to diagnose and repair before breakdowns occur, therefore extending equipment life;
  • Errors are minimized;
  • Consumables and material wastage are minimized;
  • Morale and satisfaction of employees improves; and,
  • Productivity improves simultaneously with the quality of products and services.

Productivity is commonly defined as the ratio of output in relation to the input required.  The inputs are labor, equipment, space and energy used, while the outputs are measured by counting the goods and services produced in terms of monetary value.  To raise productivity, the private sector either increases its outputs or decreases its inputs.  However, productivity in the public sector is more complex since its outputs are provided to citizens for free or at subsidized prices, and they are difficult to quantify because of economic and social dimensions. Public sector productivity is defined as optimizing the delivery of services through the efficient use of public funds, resulting in increased citizen satisfaction, public trust, accountability, cost effectiveness, competitiveness, and quality of life.  It also means enhancing the effectiveness of the public sector in creating a conducive environment to increase the total factor productivity in private sector production. In the face of constant financial and economic concerns around the globe, the need to increase awareness and interest in public sector productivity has gained some traction. Raising productivity in the public sector is actually crucial due to the following reasons:

  1. Governments are major employers.

The public sector has a significant share in the total employment figures of any country.  “Public sector” covers all employees working in all branches of the government at the national, regional and local levels, as well as those working in government-owned and controlled corporations.  Data from the World Bank shows that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has the highest ratio of government employment relative to employment population, in contrast with South Asia that has the lowest ratio in this regard.

Source: World Bank’s 2015 Size of The Public Sector Government Wage Bill and Employment

  1. The public sector is the provider of primary services.

One of the roles of a government is to deliver services in education, health care, infrastructure and social welfare to its citizens, particularly to those who are unable to access them through other means.  It also provides services that are otherwise not available such as justice, diplomacy and defense. Currently, developed countries are expanding their health care and retirement security to accommodate the demand of the rapidly aging population.  This pushes governments to find innovative and better ways of delivering these services.

  1. The public sector consumes tax resources.

A large proportion of government budget, which is derived primarily from tax revenues, is spent on government expenses.  It is channeled towards the procurement of goods and services intended for government use, investments, and transfer payments. In most APO member countries, government expenditures even exceed the revenues.

Source: ADB Key Indicators in Asia and Pacific, 2014 and 2015
Given the share for which the public sector accounts, any changes in the public sector can have significant implications.  Low productivity means wastage and misallocation of resources, while high productivity means efficient use of public funds. High productivity in the public sector benefits a wide spectrum of stakeholders – the government agencies themselves, the private sector, the economy, and, most importantly, the general public. There are huge potential savings and quality improvement that could come from increasing public sector productivity.  More productive public services would also boost the economy’s productivity growth and this will have a positive impact on the national basket of services that are delivered to every citizen.  Ultimately, these will all lead to increased citizen satisfaction and quality of life, and to a restoration of trust in public-sector institutions as well as in the processes of governance, participation, and accountability.

The Philippines as APO Center of Excellence on Public Sector Productivity

The Asian Productivity Organization, an international governmental organization which aims to drive the productivity movement in Asia and the Pacific, has been implementing the Center of Excellence program which designates national productivity organizations in specialized fields in recognition of their initiatives and expertise.  A COE’s role is to share its knowledge and best practices to other NPOs through trainings, workshops, and study missions. There are currently four COEs designated by APO – Business Excellence (Singapore), Green Productivity (Taiwan), Public Sector Productivity (Philippines), and Information Technology in Industry 4.0 (India).

What is the COE-PSP?

In 2015, APO recognized the initiatives of the Philippines in raising the productivity of its government departments and agencies and designated the country as the COE in Public Sector Productivity. As the COE, the Philippines leads the public sector productivity movement in the region. The Development Academy of the Philippines as the country’s NPO works to address common and critical issues on public sector productivity, foster cutting-edge research, facilitate training and knowledge-sharing, and support outreach to raise productivity levels. Currently, the COE-PSP operates under four components: Knowledge Bank, Innovation Laboratory, Capability Development, and Research.

Knowledge Bank develops an online library of pertinent data, information, materials and references on public sector productivity including a database on experts and knowledge products. It accumulates, codifies and publicly disseminates PSP knowledge products derived from APO projects, experiences of NPOs and relevant studies on public sector productivity.

Capability Development offers a range of face-to-face or online training and other learning solutions to develop new capabilities and hone competencies on productivity methods, tools and techniques as applied in the public sector to develop a critical mass of P&Q professionals. In 2017, the COE on PSP conducted the Workshop on Public Sector Leadership, Common Assessment Framework Training, Workshop on Performance Management, and International Conference on Public Sector Productivity.

Innovation Laboratory provides a venue to stimulate strategic thinking and innovation, understand, experiment and obtain first-hand experience in applying new solutions to address critical public sector productivity issues, under the guidance of technical experts.

Research conducts focused studies on contemporary and emerging trends, assessment of productivity performance, best practices, adaptation of P & Q tools, effectiveness of P & Q technologies, etc. A compendium of innovation and productivity initiatives is published annually. The COE-PSP also serves as the hub of ‘web of collaborators’ on innovation and productivity in the public sector.  As the hub, the COE-PSP establishes a network of NPOs and relevant regional and global institutions with knowledge and expertise on public sector productivity. It is partnering with the Institute of Public Administration and Bruce Searles of Global Benchmarking Network and Benchmarking Partnerships. The center is also exploring possible partnerships with the UN Public Administration Network, the EU Public Administration Network, the OECD Public Governance and Territorial Development Office, other P&Q organizations, and academic institutions.

Way Ahead

In the next years, DAP aspires to further expand and strengthen the COE-PSP.  It plans to establish a future center which is aimed to be a creative platform for collaborative innovation on public sector productivity. The center will also serve as a repository for PSP knowledge and information library for civil servants and the public to access PSP-related data, information and resource. It will include high-tech and high-touch facilities to help create innovative solutions for the public sector. The COE-PSP is also working on conducting a demo project on productivity measurement and a technical expert’s service on Knowledge Management for the Public Sector. Further, it plans to undertake comprehensive research on baseline data for better appreciation and sharing of best practice in public sector productivity movement among APO member countries.

To learn more about who we are and what we do, you may watch this video: The APO Center of Excellence on Public Sector Productivity