Commitment: Together, We Make Things Happen

I found it very striking to espouse your theme focus for this year.  The word commitment has reminded me of several ideas some married men had told me.  Few months before my civil wedding, I became too curious and inquiring that I asked a lot of questions to these married men of how they look at commitment in marriage.  Consequently, I got a good list of terrifying answers.

One friend told me that the secret of a long marriage is to take time to go to a restaurant twice a week, a little candlelight, dinner, soft music and dancing.  He goes Tuesdays and his wife goes Fridays.

Another friend also shared his piece to me.  He said that most women hope men will change after marriage but we don’t; and we men hope women won’t change, but they do.

Then I whispered to myself, “I think men who have a pierced ear and pierced tongue are better prepared for marriage for they already have experienced pains.

Opppss… don’t misinterpret me.  I love being married.  It’s so great to find that one special person you love to be with for the rest of your life.  It is also great to find that one very special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.

What I am trying to say here is that ‘commitment’ is a concept that has more to do with making any vocation works than just plainly being tied together.  Just like in marriage, in any organization, commitment is important because our future as employees and the future of our organization are tied together.  But where do you go from there?  How do you make things happen?

My mentor told me that the first thing an individual should have is to believe in the possibility that this new way is possible.  One has to see it as if it has already happened and is part of one’s life.  Again, will it be easy to attain?  I should say, probably not.  I have found from my own experience that in anything I have ever wanted, commitment is not just a word.  It is an action and action is always the hardest thing to do, because you need to do something.  You have to move yourself out of a comfort zone to a place that isn’t very comfortable at all.

When I was looking for possible scholarships for my master’s degree, I had to sweat myself with a ton of requirements and a set of heavy-sledding screenings against hundreds of other participants.  It is not just a matter of saying I want it, but it should be ‘ I must do it’.   It is always not as easy as a pie to get thru a lot of obstacles as it is not always easy to develop commitment to be used as a tool to overcome these challenges in life.

When I was studying for two years in Tokyo, I had chances of visiting Hiroshima for three times.  The first one when my host family invited me to visit them again, the second one happened after the march eleven 2011 huge earthquake and radiation threats in Tokyo that I had to fly to Hiroshima to escape from it, and finally the third time when I was qualified to join a study mission of some of the well-known businesses that have made Hiroshima economically strong. We know that Hiroshima’s largest industry is the manufacturing industry with core industries being the production of Mazda cars.  We were fortunate to visit the Mazda Museum and its factory.  Being Hiroshima’s dominant company which accounts for more or less 35% of the prefecture’s GDP, I was motivated to know how they keep their employees well motivated and committed.  And so I asked the representative of this said company.  The answer was simple, according to her, to remain in flow, the company sees to it that they increase the complexity of the activities of their employees by developing new skills to meet new challenges.  That is why, Mazda never stops producing new designs of cars and in fact, we have seen the ‘futuristic’ cars they intend to release sooner soon.

Since I am working in a public sector, this has given me a deep thinking about how this successful private company’s best practices be applied in a government agency such as in a local government unit.  During the 1980s, finding qualified employees in the public sector was difficult because the base pay was very low.  But making them committed once hired proved even more difficult. We knew that public employees were considered just another input into the production of goods and services. What perhaps changed this way of thinking about employees was research referred to us by some scholars such as Perry and Hondeghem.  Their study found employees tend to be the most significant resource such as in the Philippine Bureaucracy where in personnel, according to the former CS secretary Sto. Tomas, is an important resource and thus, the needs and motivation of public employees should become the primary focus of any government institution like a local government unit. Moreover, their studies have been supplemented by several empirical studies making these influencing ideas more and more important.  Yet, despite growing evidence in the existence of public service motivation and its effects on employee performance, I am still convinced that we still have little understanding of what that means for management practices.  Thus, one major component of my research in Japan is to find out the best means on how to bridge the gap between our theoretical understanding of how to ‘manage’ employees so that they will remain committed and motivated.

The Philippine experience over the past decade has shown that local governments throughout the country have to meet the challenges of a decentralized set up. Brillantes (2001) confirms that to a certain extent, many of the local government units (LGUs) in the country have been placed in a situation where they have adopted innovative and creative ways to meet the challenges of good local governance. “This understanding implies that local government has to start from identifying the needs of the community and use its resources and powers to respond and meet those needs” (Legaspi, 2001, p. 5). Given its powers and authority, have local governments in the Philippines been empowered in accordance to the spirit of local autonomy? “In other words, the exercise ofLGU’s enabling role would depend on its capacity to respond to the challenges, demands and interests of the community” (Legaspi, 2001, p. 5). But have local governments creatively used their powers to bring about good governance at the local level? In the words of Legaspi (2001, p.5), “It is in deciding which options to take as well as in seeking alternative ways of responding to and meeting the various demands and needs of the community that a local government is seen as an enabling authority”.

In the face of these long-term trends and their associated consequences, the importance to call for a renaissance of the public service commitments in the Local Government Units prompted me to conduct a study related on making employees productive and committed. It calls for a recommitment of the LGU personnel to values allied or connected with government service, among them a sense of duty to advance the welfare of the public interests. The calls for a revitalization of public service motivation presuppose an efficient and timely delivery of public service. Certainly, using personnel motivation in public service as the most important steering mechanism for bureaucratic behavior should be perceived as highly essential in crafting commitment in achieving superior performance.

4 years ago, I learned from my Professor at the Asian Institute of Management about in getting things done.  I was taking up Project Planning Development and Management Course that time and he mentioned one day that supervisors or managers, heads of agencies- all are engaged in getting things done with, and thru, people.  Each must be skilled at the four basic tasks that make any group or organization run efficiently and effectively: Planning, organizing, controlling and motivating.  Of these, motivating is the most sensitive and vital. Why? As it is interdependent on each of the other functions.  Planning for example is the setting of goals and objectives, and the development of the map that shows how these goals and objectives are to be accomplished.  Organizing is the effective integration of resources-people, capital and equipment – in order to accomplish established goals.  Controlling is evaluating results and adjusting actions that have caused outcomes that deviate from expectations.  Motivating determines the level of performance of people, which, in turn, influences how effectively the group or organizational goals will be met.  In other words, failure to motivate people to be committed to the overall goal of the organization causes dissension/rebellion in the workplace, which is reflected in collective resistance, adversarialism, a deep lingering dissatisfaction/ melancholy and other chronic problems.

This expresses an understanding that leadership behavior is an indispensable needed instrument to keep employees committed and motivated in their work admitting the interpretation that supervisor behavior is capable of emphasizing the specific features of the works to be done during goal setting. This interpretation underscores the value of leadership behavior accounting for distinctive motives and incentives in the workplace. Leaders and agency supervisors must then recognize that their roles are very much significant in creating the conditions under which employees can be productive. The question to pose now is what these leaders do to encourage their employees to be committed to be more productive?  “ In a word, everything!” It is therefore a matter of understanding and believing that leaders have the prime responsibility to create the opportunity for employees to perform better. Without a doubt, leadership behavior of supervisors considerably influences the motivation of the employees. From a more positive perspective, rather than just demanding that employees work harder, leaders and agency managers can provide the technology that enables employees to work ‘smarter’.

Studies on transformational leadership behavior point out that quality performance can be attained by the expansion and inspiration of individual goals (Bass et al., 1987). Thus, we can say then that transformational leadership as an important factor for personnel to become productive has positive relations to perceived performance and employee’s job satisfaction. In the light of path-goal theory (House, 1996), it is the leader’s responsibility to align worker and organizational goals and then ensure that employee’s path to goal attainment is clear and vivid.  This is the anology of marriage that I was telling you earlier on.  As employees, we are tied with our organizational goals. However, employees must also be given reasonable expectations which include not so much of the clarity of goal statements, but the feasibility of the goal at all. Leadership therefore helps illuminate the courses to accomplish individual and organizational business aims and objectives.

Being curious on how a flourishing private company acknowledges the concept of leadership in its international undertaking, Mr. Arthur Arana, CFO & Site Office Manager of Maersk Global Service Centres Philippines clearly admitted that in their company, leaders are taught how to coach to guide and empower their employees. He further added, “The job description given to the employees once hired only contains the operational duties of an employee but it does not specify how to solve problems and thus, coaching and mentoring do the trick.15” This only shows that coaching indeed is an effective approach for managers to use in performance management. It can be used to motivate people, to help them develop themselves and to grow their self-responsibility.  That’s commitment.

According to Arana “Coaching only has one major agendum and that is to improve job performance by increasing employees’ capability to managing their own performance”. Apparently, this gives us a concrete feature of coaching as an important additional ingredient of trust in transformational leadership as this helps employees grow and develop and thereby enhance overall productivity of the agency.

Marikina has also an exceptional experience to tell. During the time of Mayor Bayani Fernando who was also the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman, he set an unconventional political leadership style by not terminating anyone in the LGU when he assumed the office. He was convinced that the existing personnel already had the ideas on how to run the LGU and all they needed to perform well is to give them the appropriate guidance. His program comprehensively covered the LGU concerns from governance, livelihood, trade and industry, public works, urban planning and design, finance, sports, entertainment and leisure (Javier, 2002). Hi s planning officer, Mr. Aguilar mentioned that Mayor Fernando quickly got the support from the employees who believe that his leadership is void of selfish political agenda. Employees had realized that his leadership does not reward political loyalty and does not embrace patronage. This is the greatest influence on employee performance which involves fairness with which employees feel they are being treated as they really matter. Bayani was full of enthusiasm and vigor to reach his goal of making sure that not only the LGU personnel but all residents of Marikina should know where the city is going and of what each individual had to undertake as part of this collective project. “He cajoled the LGU personnel with his idea of governance as being the creation of innovative ideas”.  As an important turnout, each employee has been motivated to be innovative and resourceful to improve the LGU’s performance. Local officials have been motivated also to craft policies and resolutions supporting the development agenda. In addition, the rank and file, especially the casual personnel were deployed to a flexible implementation of projects by ‘administration’ from their offices intended to implement or manage a particular program (Javier, 2002). Undoubtedly, all these changes brought about by the vision of the Local Chief Executive had all led to the attainment of making the LGU and its bureaucracy professionally responsive that gives appropriate and timely services to its constituents. “In fact, we just did not develop discipline in the institution but we gradually built self- esteem among ourselves as employees of the LGU. We develop this feeling that we are like a government institution that is ran in a corporate manner.” Aguilar explained.

This is where and when commitment as a strategy had been used as a tool for each employee to be motivated to think creatively and be consciously aware of organizational performance. No doubt, Marikina had garnered a total of 54 national and international awards because of its exemplary performance in local governance as of 1999.

Rewards are definitely important motivators too in building up commitment among employees, and a total reward system includes both monetary and nonmonetary compensation (Schuler & Jackson, 1996). “Here too the idea is to motivate employees by giving them a stake in the success of the organization” (Halachmi & Krogt, 1998, p. 578) be it monetary or nonmonetary incentives. Therefore, be it monetary or nonmonetary, rewards (money, praise, recognition, plaque) remain to be an article of faith for many supervisors and managers to promote superior performance. But again, this is not a simple matter. Supervisors and managers should be innovative and resourceful not just to identify what kinds of rewards to be given but how the approach or system has to be formulated to clearly channel enthusiasm for public sector employees to perform better.

Rewards, therefore, provide employees with both financial and nonmonetary incentives to work harder. One example of nonmonetary rewards is by providing employees a wholesome work environment. This offers something more than economic incentives. This means that supervisors or managers are able to resourcefully provide a work environment that is rewarding, reducing employee’s anxieties, encouraging more participation in the policy-making and decision-making activities, and highly promoting team- building approaches.

Going back to the management strategy of mazda in providing appropriate trainings to their employees, I come into a vivid conclusion that to achieve and maintain the survival and success of any organization, its managers have not only to acquire appropriate people to resource it. Managers also need to train and develop their employees (Beardwell and Holden, 1994) where education is the major contributor thru which individual and organizational growth can thru time achieve its fullest potential. As education directly and continuously affects the formation of knowledge and abilities, it is also believed to affect character and culture, aspirations and achievements (Harrison, 1992). The importance of training and development is therefore very much obvious given the mounting complexity of the work environment vis-à-vis the rapid change in organizations and advancement in technology. In this sense, employees have to be processed like raw materials to enable them to perform the tasks of their job adequately, to fit into their work-group, and into the organization as a whole (Beardwell and Holden, 1994). Training and development therefore helps to ensure that the workforce possesses the knowledge and skills it needs to effect the will of the clients effectively. For this reason, not only must employees go thru an initial period of learning how to conduct their work, as they did in the past, but they must perform that work under constantly varying conditions requiring continual additional training and re-skilling (Van Wart, 2003). Perhaps James O’Toole, a leading quality of work life theorist, has said it best: “Most workers have an innate desire to grow...Apparently being able to satisfy the desire to grow and to learn on the job enhances worker self-esteem, satisfaction, loyalty, motivation, and occasionally, productivity” (Shaftritz et al., 2001, p. 305). This confirms then that training is part of a significant human resource management process that advances commitment and maintains individuals within an organization.

Indeed, there is a variety of arguments that have been displayed in a voluminous literature featuring the significance of personnel motivation in effecting commitment to attain more improved performance. As a government employee, I am motivated by commitment to a public program because of personal identification with the program which is participation in the formulation of good public policies. My research on public service motivations confirms that one of the major challenges met by most government agencies in achieving sound governance has been the management of organizational change where the involvement of the personnel and getting their full support and commitment got the lion’s share in the reform efforts. Yet, public administration and management scholars and practitioners have to hit the books and discover not just how to get personnel’s compliance but how to win their enthusiastic commitment in the process of the reform. This is very much salient for the organization to successfully complete its intentions in its reform development agenda.

This I believe has the same story to tell in a private organization.  Commitment as I said is action. To achieve it, it requires planning and action in what I call ‘baby steps’. Take each piece, one at a time and complete it. Move on to the next one. Soon you will have mastered many of the tasks you found so hard to do initially. Do not forget to congratulate yourself and your comrades/ colleagues on your movement. Be strong! Don't listen to those who want to impede your progress. Do it for you and for your organization!

So the next time you want to do something different in your life and in your organization, take the plunge! Be bold, make a commitment, take action, keep doing something everyday to move your dream forward into reality. Anyone can do this, anywhere, anytime. Everything is possible with commitment.  Together, we make things happen.

Healing and Peace: The Survivor’s Story

Trucks that have been crushed and piled up on one another like aluminum cans, homes that had to be pulled down as part of the rebuild, garbage, rubbish and even boats needed to be dragged away, tons of debris that were disposed, and images of volunteers who have been working tirelessly to clean up the mess left by the chaos…these are some of the photos that I took during the SINTAP’s Tohoku Trip in March 5-8, 2012- a year after Japan was hit by both an earthquake and tsunami in quick succession- these images gripped the hearts of my Facebook friends. And they have asked me, “ Elric, what are the people feeling and thinking right now there?”  It is one thing to at least try to understand what people are feeling at this moment.

I was at my apartment when that earthquake happened and it really made me very scared although before coming to Japan we were told that earthquake is just normal in this country.  Yeah that earthquake in March 11, 2011 started out like normal.  But after a few seconds it started to get stronger and longer and I knew it was going to be really very bad.  And as I well anticipated, it indeed caused such vast and huge destructions. And that was the scariest thing of all. My mind started to play tricks on me. I wondered if another earthquake is coming. Where shall I go? What shall I do? It may sound funny, but the next day when I woke up, I really blamed myself for not studying Geology before coming here in Japan.  And how I wished a friend can come in the evening and give me some sleeping pills which could be very good against the strong aftershocks.

In the Book of Matthew chapter 24, as Jesus is describing the period of time just prior to His return, He said that there will be a marked increase in natural disasters.

These disasters include droughts, tsunamis, hurricanes, typhoons and floods and have been increasing over the past 25 years. What does this tell us?  Revelation 16:8-11 reminds us that such natural disasters or accidents should humble us, helping us to see our dependence on God to sustain and deliver us.  Philippians 4:7 says it is a necessary sign to turn to God and for us to begin to experience His Peace that passes all human understanding.

On our first night at Oshima, when we were watching the news and replays of what happened a year back, eventually, we saw numbers like “ 10,000 missing”.  What we somehow failed to see are numbers like, “500,000 people have had their family, homes and lives taken away and we didn’t get to see how they are feeling! From minutes and hours of being in the middle of the tsunami, to the hours and days, weeks and months afterwards, have we felt what it feels like to be one of these 500,000 people?

One survivor that we happened to interview was Mrs. Kikuta who said that there are so many emotions running through her soul now that she can hardly process all of them.  One of the speakers that gave us a brief orientation at the cityhall mentioned that it is only very recently when he feels such sadness and loss for in the first few months, he had been busy cleaning up houses and helping others.  Now it becomes overwhelming and sometimes he just had to sit and stare to nowhere-likely in shock for until now, he still failed to find the bodies of his father and other relatives. Then he tried to think his way out of it until it just becomes overwhelming again.  And then the cycle starts all over again.  Then I was reminded of the power of the cross and the purpose of Jesus’ death in bringing reconciliation between God and his greatest creation-mankind.  Jesus was wounded, bruised and crushed so we could have healing and peace (Isiah 53:5).

They are still scared, I can sense that.  Their revelations are saying that if that had happened, then probably another one will happen at anytime. This time, you wont be able to forecast it. Certainly, a part of you becomes numb by just simply thinking about it. This is very frightening. And worse, during the tsunami, if you have people that you have lost, then you are not sure if you should go look at those bodies or stay away. And if you stay away, what kind of respect are you showing. Yet, if you go to the bodies, what can you do?

After a year, realization begins to set in. They have lost everything including memories. And their emotions are all over the place. They go from being thankful to be alive to the realization of what they have lost. And they cry for both. They cry to themselves. They cry on the arms of shoulders of people around them. They just cry.

The question to ask ourselves now is “What can I do to them?”  If you meet someone who has gone thru the said devastation, what can you do?  Their needs are changing everyday…so what can you do? Most have more than the trauma of the tsunami waves to deal with.  So what can you do? 

When asked what and how can we help them, Mrs. Kikuta surprisingly answered me, “We don’t want to forget what happened to us here.  That’s why we have to tell people what’s going on here” as she was pointing to her heart. And she added “People need to know why we survived and why we believe that the darkness is gradually fading now.  Please share our stories.” I eventually asked her what stories or lessons she has learned that she wanted us to tell to others. She quoted the famous lines from the book of Antoine de saint-exupery’s Little Prince- “One sees clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eyes.” By saying these lines, I felt how God transformed Mrs. Kikuta’s viewpoint about life.  I know she has started to hear and obey God’s voice. Isiah 48:18 says that to have God’s peace, we need to hear and obey God’s voice.  I am positive that Mrs. Kikuta already has seen the light.

But such process is not easy. Mrs. Kikuta said, “I tried hard to step forward. It may be 3 steps forward one day, and 4 steps backward the next day..and sometimes I don’t know which direction is forward.”. I eventually translated her words as a wish for “peace”- without peace, these people won’t be able to survive. This is the kind of peace which is the climax of the priestly benediction in Numbers 6:24-26.  Summing up, it would seem the best one can expect from God.

One female volunteer who had left her home and school and opted to stay in Oshima said, “ It is too soon to think about the future but we have to do this while the will is there.”  And she realized that indeed there is a lot of ways to help the survivors.  Her statements reminded me of Isiah’s description of the coming Righteous King, providing for Christians one of our favorite titles for Jesus: Prince of Shalom as a symbol for all that is good. Without a doubt, the vast devastation incidence can be very terrifying but, at the same time, one of the most inspiring.  To know how people help others in their time of needs is the full meaning of peace that is summed in one Hebrew word: Shalom.  It is the kind of peace given to us by God that never ends and only those who live under His government can know this peace.

I can feel that despite their smiles now, the survivors are still struggling.  I discern they are not psychologically and emotionally well yet. Their stories have given me the viewpoint that there are hurting people all over the world that have a miniature window of time called life, who need to hear the Gospel.  I can’t wrap my mind around how people who don’t have a relationship with Jesus Christ can manage with the loss of a family member or a friend.  They need to have Jesus –the SON of God.  For my 4-day stay there in Oshima, before going to bed, I was praying to a supreme God as an intercessor for people I just met because it’s the least and the most I can do-It’s who I am- I’m a Christian.

The Lord is not willing that any person should die or perish, but that all men would draw closer to repentance and have a chance to get hold of salvation and eternal life. For this reason, it brings us into an understanding that there is an eternal God who orders and controls this universe. Ezekiel 37:26 sums up God’s Promise of a blessed future with : I will make a covenant of shalom with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; And I will bless them and multiply them.

To my SINTAP (Service Initiative Network for Tohoku Action Project) family, thank you very much for this wonderful opportunity you have given me to be part of this noble undertaking.  I am leaving Japan sooner soon but SINTAP has given me one of the most meaningful experiences during my 2-year stay here in Japan.  These are the inspiring experiences of people I met in Oshima and the people I worked with in this magnificent mission.  Together, we will continue to share these stories. It is time for other people to know how powerful this covenant of shalom is and how important to listen to God’s Voice and obey His will. Remember what Jesus said before He left this earth, “My Peace I leave with you.  My peace I give to you” (John 14:27).

Finally, I don’t really know all the reasons why God brings or permits specific calamities or why particular people are made to suffer by them.  However, I must trust that in God’s omniscience and fundamental wisdom, He knows how to work out what is most excellent for each one in the end.  This reminds me of the powerful words Mrs. Kikuta told me.  “Every time I wake up in the morning, I consider it as a miracle to be with my son again.”  Being part of a family is a wonderful thing.  We know that we can always call home, or go home, and be at peace knowing that we have someone there for us.  In this day and age, we never know what is going to happen. Life can end in a split second.  The words “I Love You” don't have to cover anymore than those 3 simple words.  They just need to be shared daily with each family member to remind them that we are there for them, that they are important to us. I will close this journey of self-contemplation with a simple question for everybody.  Even if it is only by phone or from heart and memory, have you told your family today that you love them?

Prayer

Let us Pray, Almighty God our Father, In faith we recognize your paternal care over us, your children.  In hope, we trust in your divine intervention of giving us wisdom and courage as we deal with the challenges in life. Bestow perpetual peace to those who lost their lives.  Cuddle in your arms the children who died in their innocence.  Help those who are hurt and cure those who are sick.  Encourage those who suffer the destruction of their homes and properties, and to once again stand up and rebuild their future.  Remind them of the salvation and peace thru the blood of Jesus our Mesiah on the cross. Bless all those who reach their helping hands to those in need of food, shelter and clothing, who share their time, talents and resources with others like Jesus who was wounded and crushed so we could have healing and peace.  Inspire more people with the stories of the survivors to be men and women for their neighbors, convince that thru your covenant of peace, the more they are for others, the taller they stand before you. Spare us please from other natural disasters and devastations if this be according to Your will and for our own spiritual growth. We turn to You, our Loving Father, and ask for forgiveness for our sins.  We plead You to motivate and encourage us all into trustworthy stewards of Your creation, and bighearted neighbors to those in need.  In Jesus name, Amen.

Note: This piece was delivered in May 15, 2012 at International Christian University, Mitaka Shi, Tokyo, Japan during the Chapel Hour.

Let us Share Their Stories

It took days before water receded, leaving them trapped on rooftops. Cries of help echoed around the neighborhood but no one could get to them. They lost all of their possessions, money, jobs and some family members.  For individuals who have lost things - all they can grasp is how much in life they have just lost. Likely, they are missing at least one family member and gone are their homes, their possessions and their livelihood. Tsunami almost vanished everything they had- including good memories. The emotions are all over the place. I can still feel it. They go from being thankful to be alive to the realization of what they had lost. And they cry for both. They cry to themselves. They cry on the arms of shoulders of people around them. In silence, my heart bleeds too.

Those are only a few of the emotions that people feel in the hours, days, weeks and months after a tsunami. I have not visited all of them but I guess their stories are almost the same.  I guess the question now is not how these survivors are feeling but it is to ask ourselves “What can I do to them?”  If you meet someone who has gone thru the said devastation, what can you do?  Their needs are changing everyday…so what can you do? Most have more than the trauma of the tsunami waves to deal with.  So what can you do?  At first, I thought the survivors wanted not to talk anymore about the tsunami as this does not bring any good but only the fangs of tragedy. But when asked what and how can we help them, surprisingly one volunteer and a survivor requested us, “just tell the true stories when you go back to your respective places” …upon hearing those words, silently I said “these people here in Oshima are amazing!”-  they survived a tsunami and they have been consistently pulling together to rebuild their community.    One female volunteer who had left her home and school and opted to stay in Oshima to continue her volunteering activities said, “ It is too soon to think about the future but we have to do this while the will is there.”  And she realized that indeed there is a lot of ways to help other people.  Without a doubt, the vast devastation incidence can be very terrifying but, at the same time, one of the most inspiring.  To see how people help others in their time of needs is truly very magnificent, showing goodness of and to every one.

Now I understand, why these people do not want to forget and ask us to share their stories. Other people need to know why some are able to survive the tests of being survivors.   Other people need to know why the darkness is gradually fading now and will eventually disappear in no time!  Let us share their stories.  I just did!

Elric M. Batilaran

JDS 2010-2012

Peters’ Participatory Government: A Commitment in Improving Public Service Performance

Peters’ Participatory Government:

A Commitment in Improving Public Service Performance

Achieving ‘Good Governance’ is indeed not just a piece of cake vis-à-vis political dominance and too bulky bureaucratic system. While it is true that measuring local government performance is always a constructive means of promoting good governance the world over (Konrad – Adenauer-Stiftung, 2004),how should it be done remains a gigantic challenge among scholars and funding agencies.

A variety of techniques or approaches has been employed in attempting to address the problems in achieving good governance.  According to Peters, there are four broad, sometimes overlapping, approaches to reform:  the market model, the participatory state, deregulated government, and flexible government.  One of his strong arguments for the Market Model is that in contemporary times, it is the most obvious alternative to bureaucracies as it encourages the concept of the New Public Management (NPM) in which greater emphasis is given to the role of managers.  To Hood (1995), the first dimension of NPM is ‘active control of public organizations by visible top managers wielding discretionary power’.  Greatly, however, NPM’s most famous slogan “Let the managers manage!” is apparently too good to be true if elected politicians will keep on exercising political dominance in hiring to ensure their political career for the next election where the image of the clear division of labor exalts the authority of the politicians who dominate the administrators.

Under ‘Deregulated Government’ that describes a behavior of less control or decreasing interferer by the tyranny of rules, public sector removes selected regulations on its operations in order to (in theory) encourage efficiency in its noble intentions to produce and deliver public goods and services.  While it sounds utterly convincing, such an approach is apparently not plausible in a society where bureaucratic system is immensely huge.

Another model that Peters is introducing is focused on the importance for the public sector to respond on time or more quickly in order to adjust to the geography of problems. He refers to it as the ‘Flexible Government’ that attempts to extend the jurisdictions of the government according to the needs of its functions.  At first glance, I agree with Peters when he explains that people comprising public sectors be likely to direct more solely on keeping the well-being of the organization and permanence on individual careers more than the mission of the agency itself.  In fact, government agencies have tended to sight themselves as everlasting bodies. But one of its possible major setbacks would be hiring personnel not on the basis of KSAs (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities) but on patronage.  This is where and when the issues on oligarchy in hiring and promotions will possibly emerge and destroy not only the missions of the public agencies but of the entire credibility of the institutions as service providers.  Appointed individuals more often than not come to hold positions on the foundation of such aspects as a political or personal connection to the chief executive.  This scheme is alarming in a bureaucracy with very high political dominance that would eventually lead to political corruptions.

My recent examination of the literature says that there is a convincing constellation of arguments why public sectors are taking an increasing interest in the participatory model.  From the perspective of a bureaucrat, I believe the first and foremost reason has to do more with the attempts by government bureaucracies to ensure our continuing survival than it does with any meaningful embrace of good governance, democracy or empowerment. 

Second, since participatory model encourages more regular citizen participation, the international aid neighborhood has been active in stimulating governments in the developing countries.  With mounting rate, patrons or benefactors are inserting certain requirements on assistances and loans to governments that oblige them to buoy up participatory development programs and projects (Thompson, 1995). Obviously, the patron’s main goal is more than just to inform the public of the government’s decision but more on to unlock the processes of decision-making to more examination. In doing so, patrons or funding agencies profess to be linking participatory approach straightforwardly to government’s accountability and transparency leading towards the attainment of appropriate public development thrusts. As such, this places greater pressure on public agencies to produce outputs that are indeed the appropriate needs of the community.

My own professional experience dealing with the leaders of some significant People’s Organizations in my locality has been the living testimony why most, if not all, public development programs become utterly successful. Thompson (1995) argues that outside perspectives are sometimes more critical than the LGU’s personnel in illuminating internal problems and in identifying a range of possible solutions. In some cases, these outside resource persons are University researchers, private sector professionals, or non-government development practitioners (Thompson, 1995). By doing so, it is possible for the public sector agencies to develop, implement and institutionalize more people-centered projects towards the attainment of quality living.

In the Philippines, the passage of the Local Government Code (RA 7160) in 1991 has devolved to local government units many functions and responsibilities, and yet, nearly two decades after its passage, no serious effort has been made to institute a performance measurement system designed to evaluate the extent to which local governments have been performing these functions and responsibilities.  One set of strategy that has to be reckoned with would be strengthening governance by increasing transparency and accountability coupled with a more effective and efficient production and delivery of public goods and services (Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, 2004).  Unfortunately, currently available analytical frameworks and guidelines on administrative decentralization are not very helpful in assisting local government units to design strategies and reforms aimed at promoting these and other needs (Cohen & Peterson, 1996.  Therefore, much remains to be desired in the construction and adoption of the instruments or tools to be used for this undertaking.  It has become imperative and urgent that such a framework to advance public service performance for local government units be formulated and established. Applying the underlying concept of participatory approach, among these is what should and must be done to professionalize public services in local government units. Some big questions to forecast would be what job skill sets a particular lgu will need?  What necessary and appropriate interventions must be done to professionalize its workforce? What changes must be made now to bring the future workforce into balance with anticipated needs?  What will recruitment and training priorities be to motivate employees to achieve superior performance?  All these important questions can be well addressed depending on how deep we understand the participatory model.

I believe the question that should rather be asked now is not actually on why public agencies should adopt this approach, but more on how to go about it.  As a bureaucrat, I can say that such an approach is vital in a democratic society.  But how it should be done remains to be a hard nut to crack.  Say, for many, perhaps the first policy pronouncement is to sort out one or a series of training workshops to expose the personnel to the new community-based approaches.  But sometimes or more often than not, we only give little thoughts to the long-term management and organizational approaches (Thompson, 1995). What do I mean with this? With out these long-term management and organizational approaches, as a turn out, public agencies soon bump into the spiky setback of how to put up or develop internal capacity without essentially changing the bulky bureaucratic systems.

In this case, we look at the personnel as just another input in the production of goods and services. What perhaps changed this way of thinking about employees was research referred to us by some scholars such as Perry and Hondeghem. Their study found employees tend to be the most significant resource. According to the former CS secretary Sto. Tomas, the personnel are the important resources in any governmental functions in public administration and thus, the needs and motivation of public employees should become the primary focus of any government institution.  Yet, despite this growing evidence, I am still convinced that we still have little understanding of what that means for management practices vis-à-vis what indeed are the important ingredients of the participatory model.  I believe the next challenge for the public sector in applying participatory model is how to bridge the gap between the theoretical understanding of how to ‘manage’ employees to effect superior performance.  Say for example on training the personnel, the term “training” should rather refer to the creation of interactive learning environments and continuous learning opportunities rather than simple classroom-based teaching and instruction  (Thompson, 1995).   Meaning, professional development opportunities should be given to ensure employees’ technical and managerial skills remain up-to-date and in line with the needs of the people.

To sum it up, I can confirm that indeed transforming a bureaucracy thru the application and understanding of the participatory model for governance demands changes to an organization’s working rules in order to permit its personnel to do experimentations in order to counter more resourcefully and productively to altering circumstances and innovative occasions. However, again this is not easy to espouse.  While it is true that any type of public sector can establish its own service standards on personnel management, yet the turnouts are basically dependent based on what a pubic sector can afford and for which it is comfortable with, considering available skills and technology and attitudes and behavior of the manager. This calls for the revitalization of commitment to public service.  This is exactly what I have been referring to as the next major challenge of how to go about applying participatory model in effecting superior performance.  It takes to have a deeper commitment to do what is ought to be done and how to go about applying Peters’ Participatory Government.  With it, it is a sure fire that a public sector as a service-oriented entity will be able to construct a well-built foundation of development characterized by timely and more improved quality delivery of public goods and services.

References:

Hood, Christopher

1995 The New Public Management in the 1980s. Variations on a Theme: Accounting, Organizations and Society.

Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung

2004 “East and Southeast Asia Network for Better Local Governments.” Local Political and Administrative Reforms. Manila: LOGODEF

Local Government Code 1991 of the Republic of the Philippines (1991): A.V.B. Publisher

Pratt, Dick

2006 New Public Management, Globalization, and Public Administration Reform.  University of Hawai’i Press.

Svara, James H.

2001 The Myth of the Dichotomy: Complementarity of Politics and Administration in the Past and Future of Public Administration

Thompson, John

1995 Participatory Approaches in Government Bureaucracies: Facilitating the Process of Institutional Change. Great Britain: Elsevier Science Ltd

OVERALL -  Good analysis.  I agree with the argument that the how-to is the big question.  Various scholars from diverse fields have argued for participation for many, many years. 

I hope you will continue to explore the paths that are or can be taken to create the strongest basis for increasing participation.

Perhaps I missed it, but I don't find where you identify the core features of the participatory model and why you prefer it to the others , perhaps including the traditional.

Some sources are very dated with respect to how they are used.

In places the meaning is not clear to me.

Timeliness: An important Performance Indicator in Improving Local Governance in the Philippines

Timeliness: An important Performance Indicator in Improving     Local Governance in the Philippines

Time is like air. People are aware of its existence, but few stop to think about it. In the English language, some of the verbs that are usually associated with “time” include the following: have, get, use, kill, beat, buy, waste and save (Oxford Online Dictionary, 2010). Cultures and people interpret time differently. However, one common point is that time flies very fast. Clearly, we are invited to not take this with a grain of salt. William Rogers once said, “Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." This statement reminds us that time is something valuable that it should not be wasted.

While it is true that time is an indispensable thing, yet the Philippine local government units’ awareness of time in the execution of any tasks is not well defined. Despite the country’s fundamental responsibility in representing the interests and the future of the citizens, delays and procrastinations remain obvious in the operations of the local government units. As a result, there have been many complaints about the difficulties in measuring local government’s performance.  Some obvious factors have to be considered in this context: its diversity and contradictory views in addressing its too bureaucratic procedures resulting to red tape and procrastinations. Because of these factors, the LGUs have become tolerant to invest in management techniques.

In some certain degree, it has been a question why do we like to exercise procrastination in the framework of scarcity.  Is this something intentional or culturally instinctive of Philippines?  “Never do today what you can put off for tomorrow.” has become our habit. Or is it because of the gigantic tasks to be done which spawn the macabre of hopelessness and anxiety, thus we consider procrastination as the means to temporarily bring us some relief?  But we eventually wake up the next day and find that no magic lamp has done our work for us.  We began to lose control of ourselves and we failed. 

In the Philippines, no serious effort has been made to institute a performance measurement system designed to evaluate the extent to which local governments have been performing these functions and responsibilities (Stiftung 2004: 3). While it is true that Performance Indicators and Standards for Development Administration (PISDA) and Local Governance Performance Management System (LGPMS) are designed to evaluate the performance of governance of the Philippine local government units, yet both have not explicitly emphasized the value of time to effectively and efficiently deliver what the constituents need.  This obviously tells that something has to be done in the performance measurement system indicators to make it more aggressive to a greater clients focus in the context of timely delivery of services.

Urgency in the Context of Scarcity

 In the case of America, when President Clinton signed the Government Performance and Results Acts of 1993 (GPRA) into law, this commitment to quality was immediately institutionalized (Gore 1997: 1).  Federal agencies were required to develop strategic plans for how they would deliver high-quality products and services to the American people.  In this regard, timeliness creates efficiency. Thus, the formulation of its annual program goals is an obvious indication that timeliness is always considered with utmost importance in measuring the agency’s performance in America.

As policy makers, to be timely in delivering the services to our constituents is our prime duty. The reality is, the community have immense needs for us to attend to.  However, in many complex range  of attempts to address the herculean problems of the community, it is the threatening shadows of scarcity that stop us.  In doing so, we have not seen ourselves bit by bit plunging into the sea of procrastination draining time as an important resource.

Studying the American concept of promptness, I found a commonly held belief that the impetus to move, or to move more aggressively, to a greater clients focus is the very real sense of urgency. In this case, the LGUs have to insistently build their own sense of urgency.

It may be painful to accept but it is true that procrastination especially in most of the Local Government Units in the Philippines is already a practice and we feel it is just a part of ourselves. It becomes an automatic response to say, “An hour late is understandable and nobody will upset me.” or to just laugh it off as a character flaw.

In some cultures like Japan, time is seen as a limited resource  which is persistently being used up. It is like having a bathtub full of water which can never be put back, and is running down the drain. You have to utilize it as it runs down or it is washed out totally.  

The Value of Time in Local Governance

United Nations through Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) explains that the concept of "governance" is not new. It is as old as human civilization. The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) (2004) states that governance measures the LGU’s performance through the effectiveness of the  following areas: guidelines, structures, and systems for accounting, internal control and procurement; information dissemination for the public; effectiveness of procedure for regular public consultations; policies, plans, and resources resulting in promotion of equity; legislative mechanisms. As mentioned in the Local Government Code,  a set of criteria for evaluating the performance of local governments in the delivery of basic services and in helping them meet the requirement of accountability consists of appropriateness, efficiency, effectiveness.  Another reference describes the following factors that may be included in the assessment of the performance of local governments would be productivity, quality, and timeliness (Stiftung 2004: 16-17).

Indeed, performance measurement has become an established means by which local governments worldwide strive to improve public services. In Australia, most local government units have adopted performance indicators to measure their performance in the delivery of services to their constituents. The administration of local government units are made through a council and it is reported that such councils have their own set of performance indicators and service standards (Stiftung 2004: 5).

In the United States of America, performance measurement is frequently combined with benchmarking. Benchmarking presupposes comparability of services and performance metrics (Mikovsky
2010: 5).

Take a look at  how Great Britain presented its performance indicators below.  This presentation is taken from Sabine Kulmann (2010: 333) who clarifies Great Britain’s scope and intensity of a performance measurement.

1       Process indicators record the decision-making and implementation procedures (for example, coordination, management and transparency).3

2       Output indicators measure the quantity and quality of ‘production’ and administrative decisions (for example, the number of decisions, the quality of services).

3       Input indicators monitor the resources used (for example, personnel, costs, the time required).

4       Impact indicators record the reception by the beneficiaries (for example, customer satisfaction, the acceptance of measures and offers, compliance with bans and commands).

5       Outcome indicators focus on the societal effects in a more global context, the degree to which objectives have been achieved and the long-term consequences of policy measures (for example, reduction in social inequalities, economic growth, environmental effects).

           

It is very obvious that “Timeliness”  has been emphasized as part of its “Input Indicators”.  Indeed, the “time required” to deliver the services is utterly important in assessing the performance.

This is an example of the performance indicators in Germany which illustrated by the management chart for the citizen services authority. Sabine Kulmann  (2010:339) only selected a few of the proposed 66 performance indicators. 

·       Average waiting time for identity papers.

·       Average waiting time for an income tax card.

·       Average waiting time to reach the required administrative department on the telephone.

·       Average waiting time for visitors/at windows (in minutes).

·       Time required to register at the town hall.

·       Proportion of visitors going to the incorrect administrative department.

·       Cost of producing an income tax car

·       Proportion of costs covered for the  production of identity papers.

·       Proportion of costs covered for the production of identity papers.

·       Proportion of costs of services covered.

Time is indeed the fundamental issue here. Government should immediately implement the programs and put into effect the laws. Against the issues on red tape and too bureaucratic procedures in the Philippine local government units, this set of indicators of Germany is an enlightening means to be efficient and productive in delivering our services. Clinging on with our traditional and tedious bidding practices face to face with time constraints will never set off good governance. It is high time now for our authorities to move fast and establish significant reforms to reduce the number of practices in the bidding process and make it more responsive to time.