Dissatisfaction over poor delivery or lack of basic municipal services such as clean running water, electricity, garbage removal, road repairs…sound familiar? What happens when reality does not live up to expectations?
This has become an all too common issue across the world. Many local governments are perceived to be incompetent and riddled with corruption.
Competence in managing public services efficiently is now a key battleground in domestic politics. Politicians, especially those who aim to be appointed to government positions, need to take much more responsibility for the promises they make and the expectations they create.
So how can government officials manage incompetence and eradicate corruption?
With better managed processes. With automated business process management (BPM)
Public organisations don’t make their own rules, they are at the mercy of legislation and regulations. Government business processes are complex and are characterised by constant transformation. In order to live up to public expectations it is vital that these processes are flexible enough to rapidly adapt to change, while still maintaining control and enforcing accountability.
Addressing Incompetence
An automated BPM system captures the knowledge of experienced users, allowing inexperienced staff to simulate the same professional output by means of automated business processes. This method promotes higher productivity with shorter learning curve. Furthermore, employees learn accurate procedures from the beginning and are less likely to pick up bad habits from colleagues.
People
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BPMS
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How does an automated BPM system deter corruption and ineptitude?
Business systems are linked with business process logic as opposed to user behaviour, thereby ensuring executive policies and procedures are adhered to with consistent rules driven outputs.
A correctly implemented BPM system can prevent costly mishaps, indiscretions and delays by:
- Enforcing the segregation of duties,
- Imposing strict legislative conformance,
- And by ensuring employee compliance with business rules, policies and procedures.
BPM ensures accountability for tasks by providing a full audit trail of activities. A detailed audit trail means that even years down the line, it is possible to check exactly who did what, how it was done and when.
In short, automated BPM fosters a culture of accountability and consequence, which in turn discourages corruption.
Automated BPM is a fundamental enabler both of high quality service delivery and cost control.