HOW TO DELIVER GOVERNANCE?

BIKASH CHOUDHURY

There is a public discourse about relative efficiency and effectiveness of private sector organization in comparison to the Government organization in the country. There is also a popular belief that if there were significant improvement in the functioning of Govt. then that would have a multiplier effect on the effectiveness and competitiveness of the private sector and thus helping the economy grow faster; eventually, improving the lives of people living in the bottom of pyramid. Governments have a robust recruitment policy that select top talent from among the best as it attracts highly qualified and meritorious job seekers due to the job security that if offers along with good compensation, retirement benefits and on top of it higher social status. In spite of all that public services remains much to be desired. Poor Training and Development protocol and a non-existent organizational culture could be the reasons why people after joining Govt. loose enthusiasm and motivation and that reflect in their work. In contrast ‘training & development’ remains the main driver and principal contributor towards the performance of private sector.

I have once visited Regional Transport Office at Bhubaneswar for a driving license where on an average sixty persons jostle with each other for a photo up for a mere learning license while in the other side two young girls were dealing with license seekers with great difficulty. Apparently, the girls were not trained properly to handle the task at hand for which I had to make six rounds of RTO office to obtain the license. In an identical case in the private sector the same task could have been handled much better with least cost as private sector operator would have mapped the process and developed a training protocol for each process for its employees with a defined standard operating   to respond to the license seekers minimizing the burn out of people in the receiving end as the whole process could have been completed in two or three visits.

 In a comparative study of Training and Development policy of Infosys (one of the largest services organization in computer software Industry with over one lakh employees) and Govt. of Odisha (one of the largest public services organization in the State with over 3.5 lakh employees) It is observed that Odisha Govt. does not have a comprehensive Training & Development Policy for all its employees neither it has organizational arrangement for such a task. Further, Odisha Govt. does not have an induction program for junior personnel, continuing education for middle level and leadership program for senior functionaries. Program design is neither goal oriented nor need based; which may be having a telling effect on its public service performance.