LETTERS: Our life has changed tremendously due to Covid-19. Things that never happened before have become a norm. People have been slowly adopting these norms.
New challenges need new adjustment which eventually these new norms will become a normal later on. Nevertheless, just like the people who has adapted to the new challenge, government should also embrace the change.
Recent history has shown that the public sector has proved their agility and loyalty by giving their best regardless to any government of the day. In a way, civil servants' professionalism in giving their all to the people has been beyond politics.
The question now is how will the government keep up in dealing with unprecedented challenges. In another way, unprecedented challenges need unprecedented measures. Unprecedented measures need unprecedented thinking.
Therefore, the traditional human resources functions when it comes to recruiting, developing, rewarding and retaining talent in the public sector are not enough if we want to achieve greater impact.
Culture that seeds innovation especially in addressing issues related to rakyat should be the priority. Innovation should happen at all levels of the organization.
This is only possible if institutions maintain an inclusive culture that encourages employees to collaborate and share ideas, opinions and goals without fear of criticism or disapproval. Leaders must have a certain degree of leniency to encourage innovation.
Employees meanwhile must be given opportunities and support to innovate. They need freedom to determine the best way to carry out their task. This gives them a sense of pride and accountability to their own job.
For example, ideas of improvement from those who work in the field and meeting rakyat on daily basis are most valuable input to improve service delivery. They know rakyat's reality better.
Md Fauzi Md Ismail
Putrajaya
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times
