11th July, 2018
Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode on Wednesday aid the future for the Lagos State Public Service is heavily dependent on the systematic, yet aggressive development of capacities and the innovative and creative use of resources so as to do more with less.
Ambode spoke at the conferment of the ‘Award of Excellence and Outstanding in Capacity Building’ on the Lagos State Government by the Nigerian Institute of Training & Development, NITD at its 26th Annual Trainers’ Conference held on Wednesday at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja.
The governor, who was represented by the Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions, Dr. Benson Oke said he had always emphasised that high performances had been known to increase in organisations that exposed their human capital to development through capacity development training.
Ambode added that it had been noted that human capital resources were viewed as strategic assets, and that managers in particular were often identified as a key source of competitive advantage, saying that given their importance, a critical question arose regarding what individuals needed to learn to become more effective and productive.
He said for individuals to become more effective and productive, they must possess technical, administrative, and human skills and citizenship behaviour.
Ambode said any organisation, including the Lagos State Public Service, could benefit from capacity development trainings by increasing productivity, helping to retain people, nurturing future managers, and increasing employee engagement.
“In our envisioned future of work, the importance of eliminating waste cannot be over-emphasised. Countless studies have shown that, with good and sound processes relating to management of time and resources, one finds that meagre resources can be extended to produce outstanding results. In other words, organisations and individuals can achieve more with less,” he said.
Ambode said that public-sector leaders were looking with growing interest at ‘lean’ techniques long used in private industry in order to conserve resources.
“From the repair of military vehicles to the processing of income tax returns, from surgery to urban planning, lean is showing that it cannot only improve public services but also transform them for the better. Crucially for the public sector, a lean approach breaks with the prevailing view that there has to be a trade-off between the quality of public services and the cost of providing them,” he said.