Monrovia – As part of efforts aimed at developing dynamic change agents to strengthen institutional capacities for enhanced public service delivery, ten employees of the Civil Service Agency of Liberia (CSA) have completed two weeks of intensive training on Public Service Delivery Improvement (PSDI) in Ghana.
The Training, organized by Civil Service Training Center (CSTC Ghana) brought together thirty participants from the Civil and Public Service of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ghana and was held May 8 to 19, 2017.
According to a CSA dispatch, the training sought to provide the necessary tools to reassess processes; augment skills and competencies of senior level civil servants, and enhance institutional capacity of the Civil Services in the participating countries for quality service delivery to their respective citizens.
The training amongst others deployed Business Process Reengineering, Project Management, Information Communication Technology, continuous improvement mechanisms and “Kaizen” in addressing the performance gap.
Claudius Broderick, Director for Career Development and Management at the Civil Service Agency, said participants got first-hand information from the workers at these two locations, especially so because experiences from these institutions were theoretically discussed in class prior to the visit.
“We actually got to see things for ourselves and delved deeper with relevant questions that helped us to better understand the BPR and Kaizen methods used to get them where they are today.
These additional knowledge and physical experiences inspired the participants to adopt them in daily operations at work to improve work processes,” he said.
He intimated “a unique feature of the training program is the practical applications of the processes in the form of case studies, which helped us to better understand the relevant modules presented.
Participants discovered that there is no one-best way to solve a problem and there is no problem unique to a particular organization.”
He explained “a similar institution elsewhere must have experienced the same or similar situation thus, the essence of seeking ‘Best Practices’ to help guide in instituting change or improvement from other institutions, either locally or internationally was emphasized.
Notwithstanding, it is prudent that in adopting these ‘Best Practices’, one must note that such should not be seen as ‘best practice’ until it has actually solved the problem at hand.”
For her part, Dr. Puchu Leona Bernard, Director-General of the Civil Service Agency expressed her gratitude and appreciation to the Head of Civil Service of Ghana, Civil Service Training Centre (CSTC) and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for conducting the Public Service Delivery Improvement (PSDI) training course.
“This is an invaluable support that will help transform our Country’s service delivery and improve public service systems. I am most certain participants from this significant training will use the knowledge and skills acquired during the training sessions to improve service delivery in our various Ministries, Departments, Commissions and Agencies”, she said.
Claudius Broderick was elected President of the First Class. Participants from Liberia included Denise Suah, Jacob Davies, Hannah Gweh, Augustine S. Banakor, Cynthia K. Andrews, Jemimah G. Flomo, Boimah A. Sonnie, Reginald Gaye and Rebecca Kaba.