QCC shortcomings highlighted

PARTICIPATION in the Quality Control Circle (QCC) Convention should involve all levels of management, and not just restricted to middle and low level officers in the civil service, said the Deputy Minister at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

Dato Paduka Hj Abdul Wahab Juned, in his welcoming remarks during the PMO QCC Convention said that involvement of high-level officers was usually restricted to that of a role of facilitator. A study conducted by Civil Service Institute (IPA) last year revealed that the level of knowledge and "competence of the facilitators was low".

"If the level of involvement and competence of high level officers is rapidly declining, what is our basis to expect more in inculcating the work culture of QCC?" asked the deputy minister.

In order to achieve the next level, knowledge and skills learned during QCC should thus be opened beyond middle and low level officers and civil servants.

"The QCC should be practised at all levels to resolve management issues — from the simple to the complex," said Dato Hj Abdul Wahab, adding, "It is time for the QCC among top officials to solve management issues that are complex and challenging."

This is one of the many shortcomings in implementation of the QCC exposed by the study that needs to be addressed, said the deputy minister, even after 25 years of practising QCC.

At the same time, he called for a "change in the status quo" as well as to start implementing changes to the current practices.

"The report among others revealed our own weakness and failure at the officers and departmental level in giving full commitment," he said, noting it also indicated that the QCC was experiencing a "leadership crisis" which related to the weakness in the implementation.

"The study did not comment much on the relevance and effectiveness of QCC itself. Neither did it explore the real potential of the QCC," he pointed out.

The deputy minister commented that: "The issues to be resolved were limited to those that were easy and straight forward and occasionally they were too trivial to require a QCC."

"If we are to measure our accomplishment in our QCC in terms of awards at national-level conventions, we have not seen achievements worthy of the award of gold medal for a long time," he said. "Our accomplishment in the competitions which we have been judging ourselves is consistently only at the level for silver awards."

He also said that attention must also be given to participants who have lost enthusiasm and commitment at work in previous years, noting that if they do not carry forward their commitments, it would reflect that they were not serious towards their duties and responsibilities. He stressed that after 25 years, there should no longer be any excuses.

The QCCs involves a small group of government employees from ministries and its departments that get together to tackle particular problems that may arise in an organisation and present them to management with solutions. The National QCC Convention is held annually.The Brunei Times