State services productivity in focus

Further improving productivity in the state sector is the focus of a new productivity kit launched by Labour Minister Trevor Mallard today at the P3 Productivity Partnership and Public Value Conference.

The State Services Productivity Kit provides practical advice on how the public sector can improve workplace productivity and the delivery of services to the New Zealand public. It also features case studies of public sector organisations with excellent workplace practices that have improved productivity, including: ACC; Department of Labour, and the Inland Revenue Department (IRD).

"Productivity is high on this government’s agenda and state services are an important part of this. However, state services productivity is different from productivity in the private sector. It is about improving public value based on the public's satisfaction with the service rather than just dollar returns," Trevor Mallard said.

"We already have some good examples of how public services can be improved in this way. For example the Department of Labour’s development of a mobility tool for its Health and Safety inspectors has enabled staff to provide more timely and accurate advice when out in the field. Service improvements in the Immigration Contact Centre reduced staff attrition by one third and dramatically improved customer satisfaction ratings.

"Through building relationships with industry leaders and providing more user-friendly and better targeted communications, the IRD has significantly reduced unintentional non-compliance amongst small and medium sized enterprises.

"These state organisations have achieved improvements in the quality of services they provide in a number of critical areas. I am confident that their example will lead to similar successes across the state sector," Trevor Mallard said.

In order to measure the effectiveness of the services the state sector the government has also launched Kiwis Count.

"This is the first all-of-government national survey that asks New Zealanders about their perceptions and experiences of public services as a whole. Their views have provided us with a wealth of practical information about what public services are doing well and where services can be improved. Results are available at www.ssc.govt.nz.

"The release of this kit is one more step towards our goal of delivering world–class state services," Trevor Mallard said.

The kit is available at http://www.dol.govt.nz/workplaceproductivity/productivity/index.asp