Improving performance through public service reform

Improving performance through public service reform

Graeme Macmillan, Jakarta

The Public Service in Indonesia is too big, too slow and too
dysfunctional. It is the huge anchor retarding progress towards
Indonesia's rightful place as a respected international and
regional leader.

The structure of government is full of ministries and
departments that do not work effectively, people without real
jobs and many who use the authority of public position for
personal gain. A lot of processes and procedures within the
public sector are unnecessary and do not add value or improve
public services, provide better infrastructure or make regulation
stronger.

Little advantage has been taken of the huge advances in
information technology. Where there should be good government
policy there is often nothing -- and where there is no need for
government intervention there is often conflicting and confusing
legislation that shores up privilege instead of protecting
people's rights. In short, it is a mess. Indonesia will remain
the cellar dweller in Asian performance until the Public Service
problem is fixed.

Why should the Public Service reform itself now when it has
successfully resisted change for so long? The reasons are both
political and economic, both based on achieving better
performance. Firstly, if politicians want to get elected or re
elected, they must show how they will deliver a stronger economy
and a fairer society, summed up in creating more jobs.

In the recent campaign for the first round Presidential
elections, all candidates were promising increased employment
opportunities. There was no close questioning of exactly where
these new jobs would come from. Were they to come from increasing
public sector employment, or by higher economic growth and an
expanded private sector, or by just leaving it to chance? Voters
tend to decide along the lines of what is in it for them, and
discard politicians who talk much but deliver little.

People who are hungry, without a job, have no permanent
shelter or cannot afford education for their children because
their money is diverted to corrupt officials will vote for
politicians who can help them. The Economist (July 10 -- 16)
cover story, Indonesia's shining example, is about Indonesia's
successful move to democracy -- the next step is to make that
democracy really work.

The second reason for reforming the Public Service is straight
economics. There are not enough resources available in Indonesia
to provide all the public services or infrastructure to those
that need them most, therefore difficult decisions need to be
made on how to allocate these resources. Governments usually deal
with this allocation process through the Budget.

Because decentralization of government is relatively new,
methods of equalizing access to public services for all
Indonesians in the Budget need refinement. An immediate
improvement would be achieved by increasing revenues through
higher tax collections, and demanding economy, efficiency,
effectiveness and appropriateness in all public expenditures.
These imperatives go straight to the heart of Public Service
reform -- the need to do more with less.

Should Public Service reform be a gradual, participatory
program using extensive "socialization" and discussion of the
issues, or does it require a more rapid and direct "top down"
approach? Other countries, faced with very similar problems, have
used either approach depending on their circumstances and the
urgency for reform.

The common feature of their reform programs was the focus on
improving public sector management. If good public sector
managers can be obtained through whatever means -- buying,
contracting, training or development -- performance of public
sector organizations will improve thereby contributing to higher
economic growth and improved quality of life for all citizens.

There are already excellent public sector managers throughout
Indonesia in central and regional governments who are forging
ahead with creative activities and getting results. The
difficulty is that these champions of change are in a minority
and their success stories are not widely known, plus they are
operating within a system of government that uses antiquated
administrative procedures and confusing legislation to restrict
thinking outside the box rather than encouraging it.

A whole-of-government initiative to improve public sector
management across all levels and entities of government would
lead to better performance as a Nation. Addressing the
improvement in quality of public sector managers is a long term
strategy because it deals with changing minds and behavior, not
just introducing some new management tools or different Budget
forms. It would need to be addressed in an institutionally-
neutral manner in order to receive cooperation from all levels of
government and public sector entities, including government
business enterprises.

The generally accepted principles used in public sector reform
programs include using outputs, or results, to manage performance
instead of just trying controlling inputs like cash payments;
letting the manager manage; using strategic planning as the
driver; applying a customer focus; reducing the span of control
to manageable limits; requiring structure to follow strategy
instead of the other way around and having managers apply good
values and ethics consistently in their dealings with the public.

The task facing the incoming President is to lift the
economic, social and environmental performance of Indonesia. The
only way this will be achieved is through improving public sector
management under a concerted, comprehensive long term strategy
with bipartisan support from all governments. Many problems, such
as corruption, inefficiency and neglect, would be solved if there
are more good managers in the Public Service. The choice is with
the leaders.

The writer is Director, Public Management International
Institute -- an international management training organization
involved in public sector reform in Indonesia and other Asian
countries. He can be reached at Graeme.macmillan@ciptanet.com