Introduction
World
over, governments strive to accelerate economic growth thereby providing better
quality of lives for their citizens. However, in their pursuit, they are
constantly challenged by limited resources and evolving public expectations.
The objective is to deliver better outcomes more efficiently; however, this
would mean taking some unconventional measures.
So
far, Indian government’s administrative set up has been well managed by the
executive and bureaucracy. Nevertheless, to attain the transformation & effective
development, the government need to draw intellectual capital (professionals)
from the private sector and apply them in a way suited to the public sector. Renowned
economist Ho Joon Chang says, “The foundation of economic development is the
acquisition of more productive knowledge.”
The
professionals, as facilitators of change, bring specialised knowledge in their
respective areas, innovation and structured approach. They would complement the
existing set up in enhancing productivity to boost economic growth and ensuring
reach of welfare schemes to those in need, more effectively and efficiently. The
State of today needs to be ‘Strategic’.
‘Strategic
State’ & Capacity building
Morris Chang, CEO TSMC, says, “Without strategy,
execution is aimless. Without execution, strategy is useless.” Whether in
private or public sector, proper strategic planning and its rigorous execution are
critical and indispensable to each other – in bridging the gap between where we
stand and where we want to be. The ‘Strategic State’ would ensure these
elements with an objective of doing more with less. This might mean reviewing
and cutting programmes that no longer deliver value, using new reward and
recognition structures promoting change and results, and leveraging latest
know-how, technology and adjusting policy reforms towards transformation and
efficiency.
Large-scale government transformation programs are
easy to talk about, but difficult to execute; one research tells only 40% of
such efforts meet their objectives. For turning big ideas into big wins, the rules are different, the skill sets are
different, the focus and the energy are completely different. Thus, developing
economies like India should strongly emphasise on ‘capacity building’.
Significance of
Professionals & Newer developments
Essential for ‘capacity building’ is recruiting,
nurturing, rewarding and retaining professionals (specialists). This is even
more important when government needs to be equipped with the know-how of how to
do, what they want to do.
Following are few major areas where professionals
can act as force multipliers:
·
Programme
management
With
an array of projects and schemes declared by the government, the specialised
practice of programme management will ensure methodological, proactive,
disciplined, effective and efficient implementation. In mission mode, this will
lead to the desired outcomes (continued infrastructure development, attracting
investment, reaching of benefits to various social segments). The learning can
then be fed to the planning process.
·
Strategic
Planning
Evidence
based informed decision making and relevant policy formulation form the core. As
statistician Edwards Deming says, “In God we trust; all others must bring
data.” Measuring outcomes is imperative – whether for social programmes, health
or educational expenditure – and basis these outcomes, government need to
choose the impactful programmes. Professionals can drive through big data
analytics, predictive modelling and other statistical learning techniques.
·
Communication
The
government needs to implement initiatives, and make the citizens aware of these
initiatives, for passing the benefits in entirety. In today’s digital age of agile
social media (Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Blog), specialised
professionals drive instant and effective communication. This is also critical
for feedback gathering, making public announcements, redressing grievances and
highlighting government actions.
·
Research &
Analysis
The
government today needs to benchmark and learn not only from the region but also
from rest of the world. Qualitative and quantitative research in areas of best
practices, latest developments and innovation would act as catalyst to the
development initiatives. Further, research aids in providing solutions and
reengineering the current processes.
Professionals in
the areas of risk management, financial analysis & management, data
engineering, quality engineering, architectural engineering and IT would also
boost the existing set up with their unique capabilities.
Conclusion
In order to be productive, effective and efficient,
the government set up must involve the specialised professionals in its policy
making, programme implementation and overall functioning. These professionals
with their depth of subject matter knowledge would facilitate the existing
administrators towards meeting the State’s goals.
The challenge, however, lies in integrating these
professionals to the complex public sector environment and its demands.
Professionals’ alacrity to learn & facilitate and existing system’s willingness
to evolve itself are critical for success.
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“Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of
commitment to excellence,
intelligent planning and focused effort.” – Paul Mayer
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