Project Khaedu – Implementation Realities

10 November 2008

FEATHER MARKET CONVENTION CENTRE

PORT-ELIZABETH

BY : LAWRENCE TSHWARO TSIPANE

The Batho Pele Learning NetworkLeadership Accountability in the Implementation of Batho Pele

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CONTENTS

iBrief Introduction to Project Khaedu and its aims

iKhaedu to date – by the numbers ( Compliance)

iKey lessons in delivering Khaedu

iWay forward

3

i In 2003, a survey was conducted on the effectiveness of Batho Pele- Some departments showed service delivery improvements- Many others were found to be treating Batho Pele as an

isolated set of principles

Project Khaedu came about as a result of a survey regarding the effectiveness of Batho Pele

In August 2004, Cabinet mandated that all SMS members should, during each performance review cycle, spend time observing and solving service

delivery issues at the ‘coal face’

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DPSA was tasked with implementing the cabinet mandate… and developed Project Khaedu*

Core Skills Development Deployment to the ‘coal face’

• Supervised 5-day deployment to the ‘Coal Face’

• Problem solving not an ‘Audit’

• Must leave site with a report on 2 to 3 key issues that is accepted by local management as practical

• Build ‘Core Skills’ for solving service delivery problems

• Highly practical• Case study based• Team based problem solving• Hard work but fun

*Khaedu is a TshiVenda word meaning “challenge”

PROJECT KHAEDUPROJECT KHAEDU

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The cabinet mandate has been added to the SMS Handbook(Chapter 4 – “Performance Management and Development”)

(6.8) INTEGRATION OF THE PM&D SYSTEM WITH ALL OTHER ORGANISATIONAL PROCESSES

…(c) Cabinet decided on 4 August 2004 that all members of the SMS must undergo a compulsory 5 day deployment to a service delivery point during a performance cycle as part of the senior management service delivery challenge. The service delivery challenge has subsequently been provided for under item 6 (developmental requirements) in the pro forma PA at annexure D.

(7) LINKING THE PM CYCLE TO PLANNING AND BUDGETING

…(e) As part of development as well as to strengthen Batho Pele, all SMS members must be exposed to the coalface of service delivery for a period of at

least 5 days in a particular financial year (preferably during the Public Service week).

…(f) In order to make the deployment meaningful it is advisable to undergo 5 days of preparatory training through the Khaedu Service Delivery Challenge (offered by DPSA) which will be necessary only for the first year of deployment.

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Utilising a proven team based Action Learning format for practical skills development

Source: US Government analysis of training efficiency, 2002

By doing Throughobservation

Lecturingwith exam

Lecturingwith no exam

64%

37%

19%

8%

0

20

40

60

80%

Skills retention after 6 months

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Project Khaedu has 2 main components…in some departments a third leg has been added

Core Skills Development

Deployment to the ‘coal face’

Follow-up within a manager’s own

department

• Supervised 5-day deployment to the ‘Coal Face’

- Participants analyse service delivery problems and write a short report

• Follow-up in the manager’s own environment

• Use Core Skills to solve a current delivery issue

• Facilitated process of continuous Action Learning

• Build ‘Core Skills’ for solving service delivery problems

- 4.5 day course- Case-based- Very practical

Khaedu

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i Project Khaedu was never designed to ‘fix’ all of a department’s problems in a two week intervention. It is primarily a management learning programme.

i An added bonus, however, has been a number of high quality deployment reports that some departments have made good use of (and others have not)

i In addition, there have been many instances of local Best Practices that could be made better use of at a departmental, provincial or even national level.

PROJECT KHAEDU AIM

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Township hospital

EducationPeri-urban Home AffairsUrban Social Welfare

Township police station Thusong SC Border post

Agric Extension Office

Many excellent deployment assignments have been completed in nearly all departments

Public Works

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contents

iBrief Introduction to Project Khaedu and its aims

iKhaedu to date – by the numbers ( compliance)

iKey lessons in delivering Khaedu

iWay forward

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Khaedu has been delivered to over 3,000 managers in all nine provinces & many National Departments…

Wks, Rds& Trans

Health &Soc Dev

Edu

Loc Govt& Hous

Agric &Land Aff

OTP

Treasury

DCS

SRAC

JusticeCluster

Eco Dev& Tour

GCIS/Comms

DPSA/OPSC

Labour

Other

Sci &Tech

Home Aff

398368364

301

247225

198173

131129 127

8570 70

48 46 42

0

100

200

300

400

Number of Project Khaedu participants

E CapeFSGPKZNLimpopoMPNationalNCNWW Cape

Note: OTP = Office of the Premier; DCS = Dept Correctional Services; SRAC = Sports, Recreation, Arts & Culture

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The programme is rated very highly by participants…

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

4.64.9 4.8 4.7 4.7

4.54.8 4.7 4.6 4.7

4.54.7 4.6 4.5

4.6 4.7

0

1

2

3

4

5

Average score out of 5 per group

Groups

Excellent

Very Good

Average = 4.6

Good

Poor

Very poor

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Typical participant comments on the impact of the programme include…

“Now I understand what managers really have to do to deliver.”

“Best course I have been on in 15 years in government”

“This needs to be cascaded down to MMS – this is where real coal face skills are crucial for

implementation”

“All SMS managers should attend this programme, starting from the top with MEC’s and HOD’s”

Chief Director - Health

Speaker of the House – KZN Legislature

Chief Director - Education

Director – Agriculture

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In a survey conducted one year after attending Khaedu, all respondents would recommend the programme

Yes No

99.2%

0.8%0

20

40

60

80

100%

Would you recommendKhaedu to otherSMS members?

Yourself OtherSMS inmy dept

Middlemanagersin my dept

97.5% 98.0% 99.0%

0

20

40

60

80

100%

Would you considera follow-upcourse for...

Source: survey of Khaedu participants, May 2007

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However the attendance of SMS from national departments has been mixed…

DCS GCIS

Labour

ICD OPSC

Housing

Land Aff

DPW

DST

Trans

Home Aff

DPSA

Health

Comms

SocDev

DTI M&E S&R Justice

98% 97%

89%

82%

68%

55%

47% 45% 44% 43% 42%

30%

24%21% 20%

14%10% 10% 9%

0

20

40

60

80

100%

% SMS participation

Att

ended

Core

& D

eplo

ymen

tCore

only

Note: number of existing managers is an estimate based on Persal (admittedly not 100% accurate)

Weighted avg for participation in deploy = 11%

Weighted avg for participation in Core = 18%

Estimated # of SMS: 171 33 69 16 50 49 67 101 66 76 76 83 91 69 60 85 10 436147

(Including MrDiphofarecently)

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…with some departments either barely or not participating at all

National Arts & Culture (3/41)

SAPS (9/640)

SASSA (1/222)

National Foreign Affairs (3/233)

National Agriculture (1/62)

National Defence (0)

National Education (1/78)

National Environmental Affairs & Tourism (0/105)

National Treasury (0/181)

National Provincial & Local Government (1/111)

National Public Enterprises (0/47)

National Prosecution Authority (0/358)

The Presidency (5/59)

National Water Affairs & Forestry (0/119)

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Although the provinces – by and large – are doing well

MP Limp NW FS KZN WC NC EC GP

99%

69%64%

55%47% 44%

32%28% 25%

0

20

40

60

80

100%

% SMS participation

Att

ended

Core

& D

eplo

ymen

tCore

only

Note: number of existing managers is an estimate based on persal (not 100% accurate)NB: the estimate includes SMS in non-managerial roles (e.g. specialist surgeon in health, not part of the target market of Khaedu)

Weighted avg for participation in deploy = 29%

Weighted avg for participation in Core = 51%

Estimated # of SMS: 239 395 278 369 587 366 159 450 733

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Contents

iBrief Introduction to Project Khaedu and its aims

iKhaedu to date – by the numbers ( compliance)

iKey lessons in delivering Khaedu

iWay forward

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Key lessons in delivering Khaedu

iSenior leadership (both political and administrative) is critical and has, in some instances, been lacking

iComputer, financial and generic numerical literacy remain a challenge

iThe team based Action Learning approach seems both effective and popular

iThere are many local Best Practices uncovered during Khaedu that should be replicated across the country

iHowever, there are a number of cross cutting issues that affect a number of departments

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Very few DDGs, DGs, have attended Khaedu…

MMS(levels 11-12)

SMS(Levels 13-14)

EMS(Levels 15-16)

MEC &Ministers

631

2,327

75 00

1,000

2,000

3,000

Attendance at Project Khaedu

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Senior leadership support and follow up

iOnly a few senior leaders have sought any form of feedback or Khaedu follow up sessions in their departments

iThis has lead to significant frustration amongst those attending – again, from the follow up survey:-100% of respondents highlighted the need for all senior management to attend the programme (particularly HOD’s)

-Only 25% of respondents agreed with the statement:

“Deployment findings are received by the right authority”

-Only 8% of respondents agreed with the statement:

“Deployments have sufficient follow-up by the host departments and/or the respective Province’s Premier’s Office”

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From the survey - what is your greatest concern regarding Project Khaedu?

"Some members of the Executive management have not been exposed to this training and do not appreciate the implementation approaches

learned from the exposure”

"Non-attendance of HODs during deployment report-backs and lack of follow-up in deployment reports”

"Lack of commitment and support by some HODs who recall their staff when the programme is still underway”

"The fact that the final decision and policy makers have not yetattended (HOD's and MEC's)”

“Not able to implement because my HOD has not been on the course”

"General lack of top management commitment often denies the department an opportunity to improved institutional performance that would have been enjoyed…consequently it remains difficult to qualify

and quantify the impact”

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Multiple sustained deployments to the same area/deployment seem to have more impact than isolated cases

iDepartment of Labour – a number of local office visits have identified and documented Best Practices in office management that are now being developed into national guideline

iUIF – again a number of visits – well supported by the Commissioner and senior management - have uncovered significant opportunities to improve service that are being actioned

iMultiple deployments in Mpumalanga saw Cabinet Action taken in a number of areas

iDeeds Office – multiple deployments have built upon each other to develop a robust plan for change across the entire department.

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The Good NewsSignificant potential value in the Deployment reports

Perhaps one of the most exciting findings from Khaedu deployments is the number of Best Practices

that are being uncovered across the entire public service.

Many of these are from local managers innovating around process and organisation to produce real, on

the ground results – business unusual!

A challenge we face is to identify, codify and replicate these at provincial, municipal and

national levels - quickly

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Best practice example 1Witbank Hospital queue mgt

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Patient arrives at hospital and goes to OPD

Yes

Joins the queue for screening

Issued with admin # and

colour

Receives file at clerks desk and

pays

Checks vital signs

Consult with doctor

Take file to dispensary and queue to wait for medicine

Collect medicine

and return file

Total process = 2-4 hrs (vs 6-8hrs in other hospitals)

The outpatients process is efficient…

Has an appointment?

Checks vital signs

Case presented to

doctorNo

Doctor decides to see patient

or refer

Assisted by a queue marshal

A electronicnumber system used

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…and well supported

Queue “marshal”

Numbered queuing system

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Best practice example 2Addington Hospital outpatients

and records

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Despite the very high volumes of outpatients (over 1,200 per day), Addington has instituted a number of measures to manage this…

iGood information regarding:-Status of the hospital and services available-Where to go

iRigorous and efficient screening process -Separates PHC patients from appointment and emergency patients

iVery efficient medical records process

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…e.g. patients receive information in their own language

Knowledgeable security guards at all entrances to direct patients

“The voice of the voiceless” – a ‘walk-about’ sister ensures that all patients know where to go and why they are waiting

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…e.g. patients receive information in their own language

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Medical records has developed a number of best practices

iAll O/patients have to have an appointment before they are seen at Outpatients

iAll files logged out on the computer as soon as they are drawn

iAll appointment patient files drawn 2 days prior to appointment

iMoved to respective clinics 1 day prior to appointment

iColour coding system to prevent mis-filing

iRepeat prescriptions separated out and filed in separate area for rapid retrieval

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All files are logged out out on the computer as soon as they are drawn

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All appointment patient files drawn 2 days prior to appointment

Files ready to go to Medical Outpatients clinic

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All files are colour coded…

…to enable quick identification of misplaced files

Mis-placed files

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Repeat prescriptions are separated out and filed in separate area for rapid retrieval

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Best practice example 3SASSA Makhado

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The Makhado Sub-District Office demonstrates best practice in the grant application process

Applicant arrives at

office

Screening and check

relevant docs

Interview and fill in

application form

Senior admin officer manually

verifies & approves

Data capturingSystem

verification and approval

Letter generated and given to beneficiary

Beneficiary collects card at

pay point

Beneficiary collects 1st payment within next payment cycle

Total cycle time = 2 hours!!

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Best practice example 4Home Affairs Taung

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Customer Service is good with many initiatives to improve service delivery

iOutreach programmes to improve accessibility of services

-Rural service points and Mobile Units

-Home Affairs go to Schools (ID registration of 15 yr olds in advance)

iTrack and trace system to inform clients about the status of

their application

-Bar-code scanning of the application at each point in the process

-System sends automated SMS to client about the status of their

application e.g. ID or passport application

iGood Liaison with Tribal Authority

iSpecial requests based on need

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The Not so Good News - there are a set of common problem areas coming out of the Deployment reports

Grouping them into the Khaedu Core Skills areas:

1. Processes

2. Organisation and decision making

3. People & change management

4. Budgets and financial controls

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1. Common process deficiencies

• Weak core processes E.g. Home Affairs ID book production, outpatient capacity management in many hospitals

• Limited effort to understand and balance resources within core processes to avoid bottlenecks E.g. SASSA staffing ‘requirements’ vsvolumes of actual work, social worker and magistrate capacity for Foster Grants

Note: Please see deployment reports for more detail

Core processes Support processes Management processes

• Support processes that don’t ‘support’E.g. Procurement in agriculture, recruiting in general, disciplinary process in general

• Failure to adhere to any form of ‘Corporate Calendar’

• Far too many ad hoc ‘critical’meetings that eat up management time and produce little measurable output

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2. Common organisation/delegation deficiencies (this is viewed as one of the biggest constraints to improvement in service delivery)

1. Weak or non-existent delegations are very common

2. Organisation design very old-fashioned and hierarchical – little or no evidence of modern team based structures

3. Top heavy structures with many more SMS in ‘Head Office’roles versus delivery in the ‘line’ E.g. Provincial Offices of the Premier, education department

4. ‘Matrix’ organisational layers (Head Office, Region, Area, Operating Unit) that deliver little value and largely act as post boxes E.g. DCS, SAPS, (now undergoing major reform), Education, SASSA

5. Very high ratio of ‘support’ staff to line delivery E.g HR twice the norms but everything much slower

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The local office has no delegation of authority …

We cannot even authorise to get a car tyre puncture fixed…we have to

phone the transport office, the transport office has to phone the

service provider, the service provider then needs to get clearance from the

district again…our vehicles are sometimes off the road for 1 week for

very small problems

We cannot do anything on maintenance except inform the district office, which we have already done (regarding the

grounds and the toilets). The municipality says that it is the responsibility of Public Works,

Public Works says it is the responsibility of the Municipality

…but nor does the district office

“The budget is all handled at provincial head office so we just pass on the requests of the local

office to the head office”

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3. Common people and change management deficiencies

1. Engagement with organised labour could improve. E.g. DCS, Home Affairs

2. Head Office not listening to line managers, but planning in a ‘bubble’

3. Limited understanding / recognition of the real complexities involved in major change programmes and therefore not planning adequately (particularly around critical HR issues)

4. Inconsistent implementation across offices in the same organisation and province E.g. SASSA, licensing offices, Home Affairs

5. Lack of proper HR Systems and Procedures key in undermining the Batho Pele Culture

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1. Lack of basic training in practical financial management for all senior managers E.g. Variance analysis

2. Weak numeric problem solving skills among some managers that undermines most efforts to analyse and solve delivery problems

3. MTEF budget cycles and critical support processes not aligned E.g. procurement at DCS (3-year MTEF planning cycle, 1-year procurement cycle where 90% of purchases are repetitive e.g. uniforms)

4. Insufficient or poorly delivered training in basic use of computers and critical programmes such as Excel (70% of Khaedu attendees are functionally illiterate users of their laptops)

4. Common budget and financial control deficiencies

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Contents

iBrief Introduction to Project Khaedu and its aims

iKhaedu to date – by the numbers ( compliance)

iKey lessons in delivering Khaedu

iWay forward

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Process flow of Khaedu strategy: new environment

1. Pay for training, deployment costs2. Participate in Steering Committees3. Implement and monitor recommendations of reports4. Appoint service providers to address service gaps if necessary5. Use Public Service week to monitor service gaps

Departments

1. Coordinate second & subsequent deployment

2. Receive and capture reports on database

3. Identify best practice 4. Publish case study report5. Ensure shared learning

through Batho Pele platforms

1. Identify deployment sites2. Facilitate deployment3. Receive, distribute

deployment reports4. Monitor implementation5. Develop subsequent

deployment annual schedule

Steering Committees(National & Provincial)

1. Coordinate training in conjunction with the service provider

2. Course content3. Supervision of the 1st

deployment

Reports (deployment and monitoring)

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Suggested Next Steps

iReinforce the importance of attending Project Khaedu from the top down – more dedicated HoDs & DGs

iImprove the follow up to deployment reports – the respective departments must take accountability and follow up visits should be scheduled

iEncourage sustained interventions that can create institutional momentum and build up a comprehensive plan of action

iEnsure the use of Khaedu problem solving skills in strategic planning and service delivery improvement plans through dedicated follow-up and feedback sessions in each department

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THANK YOU