Effectiveness: the next frontier in New Zealand

Central agencies face a critical test on how to approach the resolution of issues and problems related to improving the New Zealand public sector management systems from the author’s perspective. A decade has passed since the legislative changes were approved that initiated major financial management reform, and much of the initial reform energy has faded. It is time to assess what has and has not been achieved, and to search for ways to continue to move forward. There is a sense of anticipation, as well as some apprehension, across the New Zealand public sector, particularly in light of the election of a new Government. As New Zealand moves into a new phase of reform, one of the key challenges is to take advantage of what has already been achieved. New Zealand has one of the world’s leading public sector management systems, and should take advantage of that foundation. The key issue focused on in this article is effectiveness. A critical part of raising effectiveness is enhancing information. Better information is needed on outcomes, and it should be packaged in more accessible and relevant ways. More disciplined evaluation of the effectiveness of what is done is necessary. Systems that encourage public servants to raise their horizons should be improved or put in place. Managers who understand what they are doing and why are critical to reform success. Purchase agreements—or output agreements—will play a pivotal role, but they need to be improved. A fresh approach to output specification to better accommodate the range of output relationships that exist is required. Central agencies can facilitate customization of output specifications by being clearer about the basic output framework, and more flexible about how that framework is applied. Outcome measures should be refined and used along with outputs where feasible. Better ways must be found for managing problems of inter-agency coordination. Technology offers a new set of tools, but IT facilitates rather than creates effective relationships. Other coordination mechanisms that help agencies to communicate and to make trade-offs must evolve. New Zealand can move into a new phase of building a “world’s best” public sector. The public sector has an appetite for action at the moment, and a willingness to debate the issues. How this potential will be used is, to a great extent, the critical issue faced by the new Government.