Enhancing the Quality of
Public Service Delivery through Implementing Quality Management in
Public
Administration
Commitments of the Ukrainian
government made during Orange Revolution
put pressure to invest in improving the performance of the public
sector. In
order to meet the rising expectations of the society, public
administration has
to become more business like. That is why public administration, in its
process
of improvement, should introduce some solutions from the private sector
regarding customer service, external communication, innovation, process
improvement, human resource management, internal communication, and
motivation
to provide high quality of services. The ultimate aim is to achieve
tangible
improvements in the quality of public services delivered to citizens.
Quality management has been used
in public sector in a number of
countries. In Ukraine, as the government
is searching for ways to increase efficient of its public
administration and to
improve service delivery, quality management can offer solutions.
Objective
The objective of this fellowship project is twofold:
1) Developing a methodology, management framework and guidelines
for implementing quality management in public administration in Ukraine
based on the case study of the Main Department of the Civil Service of
Ukraine;
2) Carrying out policy
campaign involving stakeholders and developing policy recommendations
for
implementing quality standards in public administration.
Methodology
The methodological approach to achieve the objective
would
entail:
- Studying the
concept of “quality” in public
administration and analysis of what constitutes quality management in
the
public administration.
- Selecting quality
measures and indicators as well as
assessment instruments that can be applied in Ukrainian context. These
may
include the ISO 9000 and third party certification, citizens’ charters,
quality
excellence models, European Foundation for Quality Management and
others.
- Analysis and evaluation
of best international practices
and lessons from introducing quality management in public
administration. A
number of European countries have adopted various approaches to
improving
public service quality through implementation of quality management
models.
Experience of the newly accepted EU members would be particularly
appropriate
for Ukraine.
- Developing policy
recommendations on the strategy and
concrete actions to introduce quality management techniques and tools
tailored
to the Ukrainian context. This would also include guidelines for policy
makers
when planning and undertaking quality initiatives in the public
administration.
- Developing a
methodology to review, clarify and
document the processes, documents, etc management and accountability
structure,
and resource framework to enable a government agency to effectively and
efficiently provide services and implement government policies.
- Define the management framework
for introducing
quality management mechanisms in the government identifying the roles
of
stakeholders in quality assessment. This will be done through
structured
discussion with key personnel in the central government agencies
(Secretariat
of the Cabinet of Ministers, the Ministry of Finance (Budget
Department), Main
Civil Service Department) as well as a cross section of public service
providers.Assess the
costs for introduction of standards in one
ministry or sector, covering one policy area.
Outputs
Green paper on
problem formulation will be used for policy consultations and for
promotion of
quality benefits. To assist interested ministries with the introduction
of
quality management system the following tools will be developed:
- Typical regulation
for internal organization of a
ministry work
- Typical methodology
of document management for a
ministry
- Performance and
quality indicators for a ministry
- Strategy and concrete
steps to introduce quality
management
- Guidelines for policy makers when planning
and
undertaking quality initiatives in the public administration
Implementation
Introduction of the quality
management systems is one of the priorities
of the Main Civil Service Department of Ukraine in its process of
adaptation of
civil service in Ukraine to the EU
standards. The practical instrument of my fellowship is to carry out
pilot
audit of services and processes at the Main Civil Service Department
and
propose recommendations on the possibility of introducing ISO 9001
standard
into MCSD.
Trips to study experience of
other European governments will assist in seeing a “big picture” as
these
countries have made a significant progress with quality management.
Based on the research,
structured consultations with stakeholders, and
analysis of the international practices, a Green
Paper would be developed providing a statement of a problem with
current
public service delivery and offering alternative solutions of various
quality
management models in public administration. This Green Paper would
stimulate
discussion about the possibility of introducing quality standards in
public
administration. Policy campaign will
be conducted to develop a general consensus for and increase awareness
of the
“quality benefits” among key stakeholders and encouraging to
apply the quality concepts in government institutions.
The outputs of this project will
serve as a practical tool for
ministries to assist with practical implementation of quality
management in a
ministry. Getting top civil servants is crucial for the success of this
initiative so training and policy campaign will be undertaken.
The results of this fellowship
research can be useful for any interested
government of CEE or FSU country, as the methodology and policy
guidelines will
have applicability for the entire region.
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