2 Evaluation of Activities in the Public Sector
Another reason why productivity in the public sector is rarely discussed is that evaluating the output of a government is an extremely difficult task. Input, whether it be by the private or public sector, can be measured in terms of expenditure in areas such as personnel, office supplies, services or operational costs. Output in the private sector can be measured directly by profit. In public organizations, however, it is extremely difficult to measure output as there is no clear standard method available as to how to evaluate it.
In addition to this underlying difficulty, public employees have a basic tendency to resist evaluations of their policy. The main person or unit behind the planning or operation of a policy will be required to take responsibility and abolish or adjust it if the output is judged to be insufficient. Under public scrutiny, government officials may evaluate their output more favorably than is true or fail to disclose potentially damaging information or material when someone else evaluates their policy.
The disclosure system for government information will make it more straightforward for the general public to evaluate government activities. More fully informed, people will become more judgmental towards public administration. The government is presently required to evaluate its own policies and make the results of these evaluations open to the public. The section in charge of each policy is best equipped to judge its own output. It should evaluate its activities objectively and make its results known to the public. The government is required to adjust its policies according to evaluation results. Undertaken with a positive attitude, this can only serve to gain further public confidence in government administration.
3 Productivity Awareness
To increase productivity, organizations and employees must be made more aware of the importance of this. Emphasizing the benefits of increased productivity to staff is essential. Productivity is often equated with the efficiency of management and this frequently results in a reduction in activities or cutbacks in the workforce. Staff are therefore liable to resent steps taken to improve productivity. Supervisors must understand that streamlining is just one aspect of productivity. They and their entire staff are expected to pursue yet another aspect of productivity which is to increase output with input remaining at the level it was.
Being sensitive to productivity levels is extremely important but it is counter effective to be too meticulous over measurements of productivity. It is meaningless to measure all activities whether they contribute to an increase in output or not. Attempting to develop a meticulously accurate method of measuring productivity may in itself be a waste of input.
