The Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) has concluded the deployment of the final phase of the Self-Assessment Tool (SAT) to the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN). The phases include the Abuja which is the Headquarters, all the Northern states which was held in Kano and all the Southern states was held in Lagos.
The BPSR in its quest to deepen and hasten the act of effective service delivery in the Public Service Reforms developed the “Self-Assessment Tool” as one of the key mechanism for the future development of good practices in agencies and parastatals. The tool is an automated on-line template accessible through the BPSR website: www.bpsr.gov.ng/assessment-test.
According to the Ag. DG, Mr. Ibrahim Arabi, the tool is used to assess or diagnose the current health of an organization as it contains elements of independent evaluation aimed at assisting Federal Agencies and Parastatals to assess themselves against local and international best practices in other to improve their performance and service delivery processes.
He revealed that the tools assist organizations to identify those areas that need strengthening or future development and also provide a clear pathway for improvement in the agency.
Mr. Arabi on Friday 8 February concluded the three phases of the SAT deployment to SMEDAN in Lagos. In his speech, he said that the SAT is meant to assist SMEDAN improve on its performance index with the public in line with the reforms expected in delivering their mandate; he therefore urged the Senior, Middle and Junior management staff involved to be sincere in their responses as that would enable for factual assessment and recommendations which would also boost its functions and mandate. He thanked the Director General, SMEDAN Mr. Dikko Umar Radda, the Zonal Coordinators and the management for opening its doors and giving BPSR the opportunity to work with SMEDAN. He noted that the deployment of SAT usually opens the organization to improve on its weakness and celebrate its strength.
Mr. Inyang Anyang-Director (Strategy, Innovation & Research) department of the Bureau facilitated the SAT deployment in the Northern, Southern region and Abuja headquarters respectively. The Zonal Coordinators actively participated.
On the occasion of the SAT deployment, the scores were collated but the facilitator reiterated that the scores were not the main issue but that the lapses observed in the course of the diagnosis should form the basis for the recommendations.
The SMEDAN staff confessed that the SAT was an eye-opener which has enlightened them to see the gaps and weaknesses that exist in their day to day functions and now have learnt the right Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) they need to adopt in other to achieve effective service delivery to their target audience and general public.
In his response, the Director General, SMEDAN, Dr. Dikko Umar Radda represented by Mr. Olugbenga Ogundeji, South-West Zonal Coordinator appreciated the BPSR and noted that it is a good opportunity for Nigeria to know what SMEDAN is doing and to also be able to get technical support from available development partners to improve SMEDAN activities and functions. He further pledged the total acceptance of the DG to the outcome of the Self-Assessment Tool.
Philomena Ogugua Oshodin
DD(Information)
Strategic Communications Department.
BPSR
13TH February, 2019.
