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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

 

 

Some of the challenges facing the public sector today include the need to improve organisational efficiency, minimise risks, enforce organisational policies and government regulations and reduce internal process complexity.

 

However, the perception of “poor” service delivery is one of the greatest challenges facing South African government departments. Usually we put the blame of this perceived poor delivery and decision-making squarely on the shoulders of the people - but look further and you will find no clear process driving service delivery, not to mention quality service delivery.

 

Performance measurement is usually put in place to measure personnel delivery, but against what? How do you measure people if they do not even know what the processes are that they are working on or are responsible for?

 

What government needs is to create a Business Process Management (BPM) culture so that people have an understanding of what their duties are and where the boundary of their decision-making is. Implementing BPM will allow the people in government to work together successfully and break down the barriers between departments.

 

The following benefits can be realised when BPM is implemented properly:

 

• Clear and Visible Processes

 

BPM maps out processes down to the work-instruction level. This ensures that personnel will be able to see what the processes and procedures are that they need to follow

 

• Data-driven Decisions

 

The decision-making process is enhanced with BPM, which enables executives to collect and analyse data and make decisions based on research, rather than instinct, politics or personal relationships. This provides transparency and eradicates corruption.

 

• Maximised Resources

 

The ability to maximise limited resources represents one of the main benefits of implementing BPM, which minimises the wastage of time and energy inherent in outdated and ineffective processes. Automating workflow tasks is a strategic requirement because it enables managers to have control and visibility over implementation of their decisions. Providing automated workflows throughout an organisation eliminates human-intensive tasks and ensures that people are used more effectively.

 

• Improved Training

 

Training can be provided on the “visible” processes, ensuring that personnel not only know and understand what they have to do, but will also know how to do it, when to do it and what happens after they have completed the task. Organisations that implemented BPM have reduced the time to train their personnel by more that 50%, with excellent results in productivity.

 

• Commiting People to Processes

 

Getting people to follow the processes is probably one of the most difficult tasks an organisation faces. Two things are key: firstly, assign ownership to the processes personnel are working on - this creates a sense of responsibility and commitment to the success of the processes; secondly, processes should be measured, ensuring that personnel not only adhere to the processes but also optimise them.

 

• Break Down Organisational Silos

 

Business spans over various organisational units. As such, BPM teams must include representatives from all the organisational areas affected by the process under review. This brings together areas of the organisation that might not collaborate on a regular basis to address problems and create solutions.

 

• Improve Organisational Effectiveness and Efficiency

 

Processing and communication of critical information is done more effectively and efficiently. This has a direct and positive impact on service delivery improvement.

 

• Create a Culture of Better Decision-making

 

The benefit of BPM goes beyond the processes that are addressed by the process management teams. Once personnel become comfortable with processes and process management tools, they will begin to use what they have learned in their daily decisionmaking. This will ensure that decisions are made as and when required without risk of assigning blame.