PUBLIC SERVICE

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIX, Issue 8776, 4 July 1914, Page 6

PUBLIC SERVICE

COMMISSIONER REPORTS WORKING OF THE NEW SYSTEM. MANY IMPROVEMENTS CLAIMED. The second annual report of the Public Service Commissioner was laid on the table of the House yesterday afternoon by the Prime Minister. The Commissioner (Mr D. Robertson) makes it clear at once that lie considers that there has been a marked improvement in the efficiency- of the service. He says; —“I stated eight months ago that tho service was not, broadly speaking, found to be in so efficient a state as it should have been, but that there was a marked improvement and an enthusiasm on the part of members of the service, and a desire to improve the working methods, which was not before known. lam glad to be able to say that the improvement has been continuous, as will bo seen from the following pages, but there is still much to be done, xls was to bo expected among a body of eleven thousand officers, there has been a good deal of passive resistance shown by a few officers to the operations of the Commissioners; but, on the other hand, it is difficult to praise too highly the enthusiasm with which new ideas have been supported by others. That an aversion to improvements should be natural in men of mature years is not surprising; it is still less surprising when the necessity for innovation is the result of slavishly following the methods of the past.” “SLOW AND PONDEROUS.” Tho Commissioner goes on to complain of former systems:—“The slow and ponderous movements of some departments, and tho seeming paralysis of others in times pf emergency, are the result of causes' which go far back, and which have been difficult to realise under a system—often the result of legislation —which has overloaded Ministers with details, mary of which require not only the personal care oi the Minister and the permanent head of the department, but tho attention of the Goveruor-in-Counoil. In all new countries, when the population is limited, affairs which now appear to bo trifling assume considerable importance. The Governor, for example* begins his rule by taking a personal part in such minor details of the public service as would at the present day fall to the duty pf a subordinate controlling officer. Under the same conditions, tho Governor-in-Oouncil is a body to which is referred and which' passes orders in affairs which appear to us now of little moment; while legislation generally concerns itself with official procedure in detail. The highest efficiency can more rapidly be attained by improvement from above than from below; and in order to put matters on a business footing, I would recommend as a preliminary that steps be taken to have existing Acts of Parliament examined with ' a view to eliminating such provisions in regard to procedure as may be at the present time considered to be mere formalities which could be avoided altogether or discharged in the department.” The Commissioner goes on to deal at length with labour-saying devices introduced into various departments during the year. “The class formed in Wellington last year,” he says, “for teaching the uses of mechanical officeappliances i was well attended by ty- - pistes in the general service, by telephone cadettes, and by female employees in tho Government Printing Office. At the conclusion of the course of instruction a competitive efficiency examination was held, for which thirty candidates sat. The 'result of tho examination, the first of its kind to be held in the Dominion, was very satisfactory, as eighteen of tho examinees secured a pass, and one a partial pass. All the successful candidates are now employed in the departments where these appliances are in use; hut as tho first examination did not produce sufficient qualified machinists to meet all tho demands of the service, a second class was formed early in February of this year, and the course ot instruction is in progress. A number of the women attending this class are at present sufficiently advanced to enable their services to be utilised by departments.” SAVING £15,800 PER ANNUM. Summing up on this subject, the Commissioner says:—“Even in tho short time that has elapsed since their introduction, together with the use of the new forms, multiple and compound schemes, tho economy arising therefrom has been demonstrated to bo £15,800 per annum. It will be obvious, of course, that it is still not possible to estimate the full economic effect of installing the machines, as so much depends on the skill and efficiency' of the operators; but as the latter become mors expert, so too will tho beneficial results be more apparent.” MORE ECONOMY EXPECTED. The Commissioner stated in his last report that he expected to economise in various departments to an extent of £47,000. He now das a d.tteioiic lat,of the amount —an additional £20,000, which ho estimates to come from the following:— Positions not required to bo filled 8,000 Temporary staff not required ... 3,000 Economies underestimated —- Department of Internal Affairs 1,200 New record system 600 Improved methods of performing work 1.500 Unseen economies owing to better disposition of staff, , say 2,000 State Coal Mines—Reorganisa- _ tion 800 Electoral—lmproved method of purging rolls 3,000 t •Not effective for some months. tTriennially. “If expectations are realised under all headings,” he says, “the annual economy should be £67,000. instead of £47,000 as estimated last year. In addition, a further £4,500 is in sight on account of improved methods of' working in tho Post and Telegraph Department. To avoid the risk of overlapping items, I think it may safei be said that within a couple of years a full annual saving of at least £65,000 will bo apparent. A growing difficulty is the fact that too many of the officers released by departments are drawing such salaries that it will take

time to find them -tvbrk which is worth the salary paid. SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENTS. “Regulation No. 17, which invites officers to submit suggestions having for their object improvements in the method of working which "will tend to increased efficiency or economy, has met with gratifying response,” says tho report, “many valuable ideas having been submitted during tho -past year. This is evidence of the interest which some officers are taking in the work of their departments. Several of these suggestions have been approved, and are now in operation, with satisfactory results; and others' are under consideration. ■ In some cases, although tho suggestions have not themselves been adopted, they have led to distinct improvements and economies in departmental practices. Other suggestions, which would have proved of value had the existing methods been continued, have been superseded by a complete change in tbe procedure of tho departments concerned. In addition to tho above, suggestions to the number of 109. have been forwarded to the Commissioner, but, for various reasons, have not been adopted. It has been frequently stated by officers that there has been such great objection in some departments to receive suggestions for improvements that the officers have felt it to he useless to attempt to make further suggestions. Having in mind a proved case in which a suggestion by an officer was deliberately withheld from the Commissioners by a department. I am reluctantly compelled to conclude that there must he _ good ground for the general feeling in the service of the inutility of officers approaching their departments with suggestions. While it must happen that suggestions are sometimes impracticable or' have been forestalled, officers should be encouraged to bring forward anything which they consider to be new and worthy of adoption. ADVERTISING OF POSITIONS. “The practice has been generally followed of advertising in the press positions for which special qualifications are required. The competition for Government positions has been very active, and, as in most cases many of tho applicants have good qualifications, it is apparent that the salaries paid in the service compare favourably with those for similar work outside.' and that the conditions of, employment are regarded favourably. Positions for which application is limited to officers alone are advertised in the ‘Now Zealand Gazette,’ in the ‘Public Service Official Circular,’ or in the official organs of the Public Service and Post and Telegraph Officers’ Associations. The opportunity thus given of applying for positions is appreciated by officers.” The number of applications for positions in the public service during the past year was 2401. TRANSFER OF OFFICERS. “ On assuming their duties last year tbe Commissioners decided to allow departments to deal with the removal and transfer of officers from one place to another- This, it was supposed, would he an easy matter to arrange without interfering with the classification of officers. As, however, more than one department made changes which were considered by the officers removed to be in the direction of promotion, and which, if there had been a vacancy in a higher class, would have necessitated others being considered, it was found necessary to require that all transfers of officers drawing over £l5O per annum should be carried out only on authority having first been, obtained.” ELECTORAL WORK. “ During the year the RegistrarGeneral was, through illness, relieved at his own request of the control of the electoral branch, and the permanent head of the Department of Inter-

nal Affairs was placed in charge. This gub-dopartment is now part of the head office, which will result in a saving of salaries alone of £32s,per annum. During past election years (1908 excepted) tho services of a, large number of casual clerks were utilised by the Electoral' Department m the purging of the electoral rolls and the enrolment of electors. This system was found to be an exceedingly expensive one. This year a complete departure is being made in respect t > the whplo of the field work connected with the coming general election, by utilising the services of postmasters, letter-carriers, and police offioe;s. The carrying-out of this work by Government officers will, it is confidently believed, result in its being more efficiently done than was the caso when it was undertaken by persons outside the public service, and at a greatly reduced cost. The visible saving in this direction alone is £BOOO. Other economies will reach a considerable sum, which will be stated in my next report.” The report also contains a multitude of tables, diagrams, etc., to illustrate the Commissioner's observations.