OUTLOOK — By Ali Al Matani — Reforms to the state administrative apparatus continues. The communication services and civil authorities at the ministries are also being sustained to promote the services provided to the Omani citizens and impose some sort of supervision on the governmental performance with the objective of promoting the work done in this sector and increasing the effectiveness of the governmental units.
The sublime directives of His Majesty the Sultan to establish a call centre for governmental services at the Secretariat General of the Omani Council of Ministers came as a means of supervision to evaluate the governmental performance.
This centre is expected to work according to modern technical mechanisms as a step forward to enforce an effective system that contributes in promoting the governmental agencies in a better way compared with its status today. This could accelerate the services provided to the citizens by the governmental authorities; activate the self supervision inside these authorities in a better way.
Undoubtedly, the step of launching a call centre — to work as a means of supervision at the Secretariat General of the Omani cabinet — gains great importance on many aspects; the most important of which is that this centre will contribute in imposing some sort of supervision on the performance of the government, evaluating the course of work by these authorities to achieve their aims and disciplines on one part and to develop the way of work inside it so as to cope with modern updates on another part.
The creation of a channel that has a clear mechanism in evaluating the performance at the Council of Ministers indicates the achievement rates and its nature at the ministries and governmental authorities precisely. It shall explain deficiencies at the governmental apparatuses and rectify them. Furthermore, this centre will increase the productivity of the governmental sector in a better way compared with its status currently.
One of the most important aspects with regard to the establishment of this centre is that it will undertake the task of receiving opinions coming from different sections and sectors of the community regarding the services provided to the citizens by the governmental units. It will also follow the actions taken to implement these visions with the respective authorities.
It seems that the centre will be responsible for submitting a periodical report to the Council of Ministers about the extent of response by these authorities towards these services. This will pose some sort of pressure on the governmental authorities and encourage them to complete the dealings of citizens immediately, work with faster mechanisms and not to obstruct or postpone their transactions indefinitely.
The role of the Secretariat General at the cabinet in setting the rules that regulate the management of this centre and the course of work inside it — in a way that achieves its objectives — could crystallise many mechanisms that drive work inside the governmental sector in a way that helps in improving the performance, decrease the mistakes, save time and efforts and improve the performance.
These systems are used in the internationally renowned companies, which apply the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Such companies specialise departments and units that work to achieve many obligatory performance indicators annually.
Therefore, the company promotes its performance. Consequently, this improves the service and increase the productivity inside the companies and institutions. On the contrary, sanctions are posed on the workers who do not achieve such KPIs. This is an internationally recognised system that has many gains on many standards and levels.
We hope that these centres would be a start to develop the work at the governmental apparatus in a way that is commensurate with the needs of the next period. We also wish that this step will make the governmental authorities work high efficiently to achieve the best performance for the benefit of our country and citizens.
