Saturday, August 30, 2008 Roperos: Managem ent styles By Godofredo M. Roperos Politics Also
TWO news items I read in this daily yesterday drew my interest, and showed me two differing management styles, different approaches to public service but achieving the same public good. Both items portrayed the way the two government officials tackle their business of administering public service.
The two public officials are, of course, Mayor Tom Osmeña and Gov. Gwen Garcia. They have been seriously at political cross-purposes and yet are able to similarly deliver effective services to their constituents, and quite efficiently, too. To their respective publics, it doesn’t really matter if they are “catty” to each other in the process.
But first, let’s have Mayor Tom’s management style. On top of his decision to dismiss some 500 personnel of the city hospital in case he succeeds in selling it to the University of San Carlos, he said he silently dismissed two members of his management team (MMT) for what he considers a below par performance.
His MMT is composed of some 60 “cum laude and magna cum laude graduates.” They were hired in 2005 to fill up middle management posts, and help “reinvent City Hall, improve its systems and services.”
Saying that he was satisfied with the overall performance of his MMT, he feels the unsatisfactory act of the two does not merit besmirching the public image of the rest of the membership, thus he chose not to make the dismissal public.
He said one had to go for tampering his daily time record, and the other for mishandling private funds, the mayor’s personal fund. It is sound management. While he values their services, he cannot condone misbehavior.
Then there was the governor warning barangay officials that “they risk losing Capitol’s financial assistance if they fail to maintain Provincial Government projects implemented in their area.”
She asked the rural officials “to clean up clogged drainages near roads concreted by the Provincial Government.” She vowed she would not release financial assistance to the barangays unless road drainages are cleaned up.
More than a thousand barangay captains attended the conference called by the province at the Cebu International Convention Center the other day. The governor told them that the conference was called to update them on the various projects that may have been implemented in their respective communities, and whether the projects are well-maintained.
Similarly, the assembly was called not only to update them on the projects, but also to show that no politics is involved in the program.
