Vol. 476 No. 1
24 Mr. Clohessy asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the steps, if any, taken to date to implement the Strategic Management Initiative in his Department; and the amount of money spent facilitating its introduction. [6215/97]
It is now some nine months since the publication of my Department's strategy statement Promoting Employment and the launch of Delivering Better Government which sets out the Government's plans for change under the Strategic Management Initiative.
Since its establishment in 1993, my Department has continually worked to improve its structure and operations to respond better to the needs of its customers. The Deputy will appreciate that the SMI is a process and that its successful implementation will be reflected in the day-to-day delivery of the work of the Department. It is important to stress that it is not something that should be considered as separate from the proper work of the Department. Indeed, many officials at all levels within the Department are involved in activities within the Strategic Management Initiative as an integral part of their work. The SMI process is supervised by a senior management group consisting of the secretary of the Department, the assistant secretaries and the planning officer, together with the chief executive of Forfás.
Prior to the publication of the strategy statement, the Department undertook a structured survey of staff perceptions of how the Department fulfils its mandate and their role in that process. A number of areas were identified as being in need of improvement, for example, clarification of objectives at various levels, internal communication and staff development, including management abilities, and customer service issues. On foot of this and informed by the broad thrust of the SMI, a number of specific initiatives have been taken and others are in train. Broadly they are as follows: a working group within the Department is at present examining the resources to meet priorities and also examining appropriate indicators of performance. This exercise is central to considering how effectively and efficiently the Department is delivering its service. I place very great importance on this exercise.
Proposals being finalised are intended to allow greater autonomy to the Department's agencies, allied to greater accountability and measurement of performance, to secure a more efficient and responsive delivery of services.
A quality service group is finalising guidelines to assist staff in implementing a users' charter. In the area of staff development, guided by the recommendations of a human resources group, there have been developments in the areas of staff training, staff appraisal and integration of new staff.
