Aktiviti INTURA Mei & Jun 2014

172 government agencies implement 5S practice

KOTA KINABALU: The implementation of 5S Practice among government agencies is satisfactory with 172 agencies nationwide have been awarded with the Public Sector 5S Practice certification as at May 31.

Sabah Federal secretary Datuk Abu Bakar Hassan said the introduction to the Public Sector Conducive Ecosystem (EKSA) to improve the 5S Practice at end of last year had also seen 22 public sector agencies nationwide, including seven in Sabah, received the certification.

"The number shows the commitment, acceptance and positive performance of public agencies since the introduction of EKSA over three years ago," he said when opening the EKSA Workshop organised by the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (Mampu) here today.

Abu Bakar said all federal and state agencies had also taken the initiatives to rebrand and give a new breath to the practice in line with the current demands to improve their levels of performance and competitiveness.

He said the rebranding process was vital to enable them to enhance their corporate image, encourage activities towards green environment by promoting 'Go Green' campaign and innovation in line with the demand of stakeholders.

The 5S Practice originated from a similar Japanese practice involving Sisih (Seiri), Susun (Seiton), Sapu (Seisu), Seragam (Shiketsu) and Sentiasa Amal (Shitsuke) at workplace.

NST Online

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Integrity tests for agencies

KANGAR: THE National Key Results Area (NKRA) anti-corruption division has proposed that the government implement integrity tests for all enforcement agency personnel, in particular those involved in border security.

Its director Datuk Hisham Nordin said the proposal, which included the use of a lie detector, was forwarded to the Prime Minister’s Department two months ago.

He said the mechanism and approaches for the tests were being discussed at the ministry level.

“The ministry is reviewing the best approach and mechanism for the integrity test to ensure the effectiveness in eliminating corruption among enforcement agencies.

“Among the methods suggested are lie detectors and voice stress tests which have been practised by enforcement agencies in other countries.

“Once the ministry decides on the best mechanism, the pilot project will be implemented on a random basis at government agencies,” he said after attending a seminar entitled “Combating Corruption in Malaysia” here yesterday.

Apart from the proposed integrity test, Hisham said other measures taken to address corruption among officers and personnel involved introducing job rotations at the borders, such as at Perlis , Kedah and Johor, which were considered corruption hotspots.

Hisham said the number of complaints received against enforcement agencies at the borders had been reduced since the job rotation system was put into practice several years ago under the first Government Transformation Programme (GTP).

Earlier, Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azlan Man opened the seminar, jointly organised by Perlis Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and NKRA, aimed at strengthening the commitment of enforcement agencies in efforts to prevent graft especially at the country’s borders.

He later witnessed the signing of a “Corruption-Free Border” integrity pledge by senior officers from the state police headquarters, Road Transport Department, Customs Department, Immigration Department, Smuggling-Prevention Unit and Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry.

NST Online

Defending public values

DOES a public servant have a choice as to which elected government he owes loyalty to? Another question: does a public servant have a right to express his opinion against a public policy? A seasoned public servant would have a ready answer to these questions. That answer will be obvious also to one ingrained in the values of the public service.

Public service ethos, if not the law, dictates that public servants have a bounden duty to serve an elected government, irrespective of their political colouration. This allegiance to an elected government is an enduring strength of and integral to democracy. It aids in discharging the trust reposed by the ministers and the public on public servants.

This Westminster tradition of a politically-neutral public service dates a couple of centuries back. Strictly, it means that public servants serve at the pleasure of the monarch and the elected government that has obtained his royal assent to govern. That is why a senior public servant, other than being a member, cannot hold a position in any political party. Such a restriction further assures his impartiality.

Sometimes, the long rule by one political party may cause public servants to waver in their allegiance to another that has assumed power, more so, if that party had been in the opposition for as many years. Such was the case in Malaysia some time ago. Then, some public servants were in internal conflict as to who their masters were when the hitherto opposition wrested power from Barisan Nasional (BN) in four states.

This initial trepidation in serving the newly-minted government is understandable. Public servants have known no government other than BN since the time of Independence, with the exception of the government in Kelantan that has alternated between these two dominant coalitions.

However, the values of being loyal to the government of the day triumphed. Public servants continue to serve honourably, and with distinction, the elected government of the day wherever they are posted without partisanship. Such non-partisanship is emblematic of the public service ethos and responsible government.

The second question on whether a public servant can have a private opinion different from that of the government he serves relates to the participation by public servants in a recent anti-GST rally.

The chief secretary to the government had threatened the sack against any public servant found guilty of participation. A constitutional expert had opined that such a sanction was unconstitutional. A political party had asserted that such a threat would take the government, and the public service, down on the slippery road to dictatorship. Who is right?

The loyalty to the government of the day requires a public servant to champion public policies. He, therefore, cannot have a private opinion different from that of the government he serves.

However, that does not mean that a public servant is a zombie. He makes choices every day that invariably have political ramifications. Indeed, it will be a great disservice to society if a public servant does not use his intellect in executing his duties.

As a thinking person, a public servant can well have a private opinion. However, he cannot choose private channels to express his dissent either by word or deed. And that includes actively participating in forums, whatever their merits, which are against an expressed public policy.

But is he deserving of the sack should he do so? The threat of dismissal must be viewed in the context of the broader concern of the government to stem the erosion of its cherished values. Any relaxation of a part of its ethos will eventually result in the unravelling of the whole edifice of the public service.

So, if he cannot publicly express a contrary opinion about a public policy what redress does he then have?

There are two ways to register his opinion. First, a public servant can exercise his constitutional right to choose the government at the ballot box. Second, he can express his dissent through proper channels within the public service.

Healthy dissent within the closed doors of the public service is not detrimental. Rather, it can be vital to innovation and change. Sometimes, it takes a committed dissenter to induce what will be the next great innovative public policy.

Sometimes, dissenters fail to see the big picture. They do not understand the totality of the issues confronting them. They fail to appreciate their role in that big picture. Hence, they champion causes that go against the larger fabric of the system.

Public servants should constantly be reminded of their bounden duty to the government of the day that has obtained the royal consent to govern. Senior members of the public service have a duty to engage with dissenters. Good managers will discuss public service values with them. Good managers will not just hand out a code of conduct for newcomers into the service to sign it; as though the mere act of signing will automatically produce the desired behaviour.

Public service leaders will debate ideas with their troops and learn from opposing voices within the establishment. In the process, public service leaders will not only educate the dissenters to see the bigger picture and the implications of their actions but, in the process, become educated on an alternative viewpoint to a particular government fiat.

When these kinds of discussions take place frequently and with increasing regularity, we may see an end to public expressions of dissent outside the confines of the public service. As Calvin Coolidge, the 30th United States president once said: “Without commonly shared and widely entrenched values and obligations, neither the law nor democratic government will function properly.”

NST Online

‘Auditor’s Report integral to graft fight’

KUALA LUMPUR: The initiative under the Government Transformation Programme 2.0 to table the Auditor-General’s Report thrice a year allows the public increased access to scrutinise and seek accountability on issues highlighted in the report.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala said the A-G’s Report was integral to fight corruption.

“Our report is detailed because of the need for transparency. It highlights not only the improvements required of the government, but also the best practices for ministries or agencies to learn from.

“Doing this review three times a year demonstrates the commitment to accountability by the government.

“I have yet to see an A-G’s Report from other countries as comprehensive as ours,” Idris said in a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Department’s Performance Management Delivery Unit (Pemandu).

On a media briefing on the report led by Datuk Paul Low at the Institute of Integrity Malaysia on Monday, Idris said the open dialogue session with the media was unprecedented but necessary, and ap-plauded civil servants for their commitment to transparency.

He said the government was serious about engaging the public and understood the importance of clarity on certain issues in efforts to move towards a more transparent and open form of governance.

Idris also commended Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa and the ministerial secretary generals for their involvement in Monday’s session.

The 90-minute question and answer session with the media was chaired by Ali Hamsa.

Pemandu’s National Key Results Area director of anti-corruption, Ravindran Devagunam, said high-level government officials were becoming increasingly open about issues highlighted in the report.

“Being audited is a tedious process and to answer for things that don’t add up is not easy but must be done,” Ravindran said.

Pemandu said reporting on the 
A-G’s Report at every parliamentary sitting was the first of three initiatives aimed at allowing for the scrutiny of the government’s expenditure.

The second initiative was an online dashboard to track the statuses of cases reported by the A-G.

The third initiative was the setting up of an action committee by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

NST Online

Time Management Secrets

There is no one secret to time management. In fact, there are three time management secrets. They are easy to learn and remember. The hard part is making yourself use them consistently. Do that, however, and you will master the time management secrets and you will get more done - in your business and in your life.

The Three Secrets of Time Management

There are three key elements of time management. You have to focus first on using your limited amount of time on the most important things. You have to use that time efficiently. And you have to actually do those things instead of just talking or thinking about them.

Do The Right Things First

Perhaps the most important of the time management secrets is to do the right things first. It's easy to lose focus and spend a lot of time on things that are urgent, but not important. The trick is to stay focused on the important things and not waste your limited amount of time on anything else.

• The 80/20 Rule, also known as Pareto's Principle, says that 20 percent of something always are responsible for 80 percent of the results. For example, twenty percent of the products will have eighty percent of the flaws. This article explains the rule in more detail and tells how you can use it to more effectively manage time and many different aspects of your life.
• You can save time by knowing when to step in and when to hang back if an employee has a problem. Managers need to let employees make their own mistakes so they can learn from them. We can train them and advise them, but actual experience is often the best teacher. A good manager, therefore, will hang back and resist the impulse to jump in every time an employee encounters difficulty.
• One time you can't hang back is the difficult employee. Many managers struggle with managing difficult employees. You may be tempted to not deal with them and hope the situation will get better on its own. It won't. These types of tasks will take less time if you address them immediately instead of waiting and then having to spend more time on them later.

Use Time Efficiently

Even when you master the time management secret of only working on the important tasks, you still need to be efficient with your time if you want to get everything done.

• You Can't Really Multi-task. I used to be a major fan of multi-tasking, but I've become a convert to "chunking". The name isn't as exciting, but the results are impressive. Use Chunking Instead of Multi-tasking and you will get more done in less time.
• Many people try using to do lists to help them with time management. Still there somehow never seems to be enough hours in the day to get everything done. You have to use a to do list that helps you stick with your priorities. Here is the system that has worked for me. It can work for you too.
• One final key to using your time efficiently is to not take on more than you can handle. Many times, that means knowing when to say no to your boss.

Get Things Done

You know the importance of doing the right things first and you are good at using your time efficiently. But neither of those will do you any good without the third time management secret - you have to actually get things done. It is not enough to know what to do, to think about doing something, or to talk about doing it. You have to actually get things done.

• Don't let "analysis paralysis" keep you from getting things done. Planning is an important part of the job we do, but it is not an end goal. Don’t let process get in the way of results. Do your planning, but don't lose sight of the need to get the job done.

Bottom Line

There are three time management secrets. Focus first on the most important things. Use time efficiently. And actually get things done. The more you use these, the more you will get done of what really matters.

By : John F. Reh

Extract from : http://management.about.com/

Drop in punitive recommendations raised in Auditor General’s Report 2013

KUALA LUMPUR: Proactive measures including the forming of 11 investigation committees at nine ministries including departments and statutory bodies has shown a drop of 15 per cent in punitive complaints compared to the report in 2012.

Chief Secretary to the government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa said the Auditor General's report 2012 stated there were 94 punitive complaints from overall complaints while the number had dropped to 80 last year (55 in 2013 series 1 and 25 in 2013 series 2).

Ali, in a townhall follow up session to the AG's report with the media said the investigation commitees were set up to receive relevant statements from witnesses and the alleged officers involved in the misconduct.

"In case if we have a strong case against the officer then actions will be taken against the alleged officer for misconduct leading to him or her being charged at court," he said.

Ali also said there were 121 cases of corruption, abuse of power, misdemeanour and negligence identified in the AG’s 2012 Report.

Ali said that as of June 13, action has been taken in 99 cases from that report, while 22 cases were still being investigated.

Disciplinary proceedings were initiated against 165 officers. Out of that, 67 officers were found guilty, 10 not guilty, while proceedings against the other 88 are still ongoing.

On the latest AG’s 2013 report (second series), 25 reprimands were made.

Ali said that as of June 16, 10 reprimands were made and disciplinary action against 21 officers were taken while the remaining 15 reprimands were found to be free of elements of corruption, abuse of power, misdemeanour or negligence. Instead, those cases were found to require improved rules and procedures.

However, he said those 15 reprimands will be examined further by getting in the Public Service Department, the Finance Ministry, the National Audit Department, the Attorney-General’s Chambers, and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to ensure that there really is no corruption, abuse of power, misdemeanour or negligence.

"For corrective reprimands, chief secretaries and secretaries-general in state governments have been requested to improve rules, procedures and work processes immediately after the exit conference, which is a joint meeting with the chief secretaries to get additional information, and after receiving the confirmatory letter, which contains details of the audit reprimands for each ministry,” he said.

When asked why financial mismanagement and procurement problems kept plaguing government ministries over the years, Ali said that total perfection was impossible.

“We can’t be perfect 100 per cent. There’ll be glitches, but we are trying to be perfect,” said Ali.

Among those who attended the session which was held for the first time was Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Paul Low Seng Kuan, Public Service Department director-general Tan Sri Mohamad Zabidi Zainal Abidin and Auditor-general Tan Sri Ambrin Buang.

12 C's of Team Building

For a successful, focused work teams, these things need to be kept in mind:

• Clear Expectations: Expected outcome for the team's performance should be shared with all the members of the group.

• Context: It is very important for each and every single team member to know the reason for working in a group and the outcomes expected out of it.

• Commitment: If every team member is ready to put time and effort into the work that needs to be done.

• Competence: If the group is consisted of the right people with everyone bringing different skills to the team.

• Charter: Having a mission, vision and strategies to accomplish the goal.

• Control: If the group has enough power to make decisions and accomplish it's goals.

• Collaboration: If the team members are working effectively together to accomplish their goals and also if the rules and responsibilities are being fulfilled by everyone.

• Communication: There needs to be a clear communication between the team members with the rest of the group. Through communication, most of the conflicts can be handled and taken out of consideration.

• Creative Innovation: If everyone's ideas are taken into account and listened to. Another factor to consider here is to think and understand if the change is necessary.

• Consequences: Everyone needs to responsible and accountable to the team achievement. For the team members to be responsible and reliable, there needs to be rewards and recognitions for fulfilling all the goals.

• Coordination: If there is a leader in the team, who coordinates all the meetings or any changes to the schedule.

• Cultural Change: If the viewpoints of people from different cultures are taken into account, so that no option will be left for rejection.

These were some of the important things to keep in mind while building and managing a team.

Extract from : http://humanresources.about.com/od/involvementteams/a/twelve_tip_team_3.htm

Disciplinary action taken against 20,434 public servants since 2009

KUALA LUMPUR: Disciplinary action had been taken against 20,434 public servants in the last five years since 2009 for various wrongdoings, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim.

He said of this number, 4,743 public servants were sacked, 125 demoted and not to be considered for promotion within a period of 48 months, while 963 were given a salary cut and not considered for promotion within 36 months.

"Another 2,048 had their salary movement suspended and would not be considered for promotion within 30 months, while 3,491 were stripped of their rights to emolument and not considered for promotion for a period of 24 months.

"Also, 3,373 public servants were fined a maximum of seven days' emolument and not considered for promotion within 18 months, while 10,531 were issued warnings and not considered for promotion within 12 months," he said in reply to a question from Datuk Johari Abdul (PKR-Sungai Petani) in the Dewan Rakyat, here, today.

Shahidan said the total figure also took into account the multiple disciplinary actions taken against some of the civil servants.

To a supplementary question from Datuk Ar Wan Khairil Anuar Wan Ahmad (BN-Kuala Kangsar), Shahidan said so far, no disciplinary action had been taken against civil servants who did not show loyalty to the government of the day.

Wan Khairil wanted to know whether the government would reconsider the proposals and terms of new appointments as practised in the private sector, involving 'hire and fire' and 'reward and punishment' to improve the quality of public servants.

"Warnings, fines, salary cut, demotion and sacking are sufficient punishment at the moment.

"Besides, the integrity unit set up at the public agencies will continue to undertake efforts to raise public servants' level of integrity and accountability towards excellent service delivery," said Shahidan.

NST Online

Berita@INTURA Mei 2014

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Majlis Perasmian Kursus Advance Leadership and Management Programme (ALMP) Siri 44, Bil. 2/2014 (INTAN Wilayah Utara)