Managing Performance for Improved Service Delivery
The advancement of democracy in South Africa has resulted in the
need to strengthen the ability of the public service to render
first class service delivery to its citizens. The challenge of
satisfying the demand for basic services in the current
dispensation has intensified. It is anticipated that once this
initial challenge has been overcome, the tide will turn and
secondary services such as transfer of ownership of forestry
plantations will become the new challenge. The quest for efficient
and efffective service delivery is paramount, regardless of whether
services delivered are basic or not. Performance management taken
at both individual and organisational level, is a necessity for
service delivery. The research findings (focusing on service
delivery within the Chief Directorate: Forestry), demonstrated that
the presence of performance management and other supporting systems
does not guarantee automatic improvement in service delivery. The
distinction is how effective an organisation can apply performance
management in conjunction with a complete set of functional
policies, systems and instruments to improve its impact on service
delivery.
Hudson M. Maila, Human Resource Manager at Rand Water, South Africa. He studied M.Tech Degree Public Management; Industrial and Organisational Psychology at the University of South Africa. He is a full member of the Society for Industrial and Organisational Psychology in South Africa (SIOPSA).
