Improvement of Productivity in the Public Sector

Serving the public or the masters? Critical reforms, such as reforming outdated management techniques or depoliticising the workplace, are required for a flourishing public sector

- By W.A. De Silva

Peter F. Drucker, professor of Social Science and Management at Claremont University, California, in his book titled “Management Challenges for the 21st Century” has specified that “the productivity of the manual worker has created what we now call developed economies”.

“Fifty years from now (the book was first published in the year 2001), if not much sooner, the leadership in the world economy will have moved to the countries and to the industries that have most systematically and most successfully raised knowledge worker productivity”. Although Drucker has focused on the productivity of workers, the productivity concept applies to the entire Human Resource of any organisation, covering the top-level management up to the bottom-level workers.

Productivity means the ratio of outputs in terms of inputs of any organisation. The measures of productivity must be in ratio terms, such as the ratio of benefits to cost, output, or time, which represents the general form of these measures. Efficiency is the most appropriate synonym for productivity. The improvement of productivity means improvement of efficiency in the process of the procurement of products or services by any organisation. In that context productivity of Human Resources is considered as utmost important.

What are the inputs and outputs in Public Service?

Output in public service is an accomplishment of any service or product delivered to the general public for their satisfaction. The inputs are man-power and all other facilities required to deliver the targeted outputs.

Some of the important amendments needed to improve productivity in public service are given below;

A. Depoliticising of Public Service

B. Trimming down the bulky volume of Human Resources to the level of effective and manageable size

C. Effective application of the Human Resource Development (HRD) process

D. Enhanced application of motivational factors