The first ever International Institute for Productivity and Public Management (IPPUM), has been launched to address productivity concerns in Ghana and across the African continent.
The inauguration paves way for the maiden productivity and public management institute to kick-start its operations.
The Institute aims to research, strengthen capacities of institutions and disseminate research outcomes to interest parties to augment productivity growth and efficiency management in both private and public sectors of the economy.
“IPPUM came about as a result of a need I identified at the public service during my tenure as the CEO [Chief Executive Officer, Fair Wages and Salaries Commission], government having to pay huge sums of money to the public sector,” Mr George Smith-Graham, Founding President and CEO of IPPUM said during the launch.
“The question everybody keeps asking is how possible it is to link Public Services Pay to Productivity,” he added.
“Research shows that linking pay to productivity is highly possible as there are indicators that can be used to achieve this goal and that is what IPPUM is here to do.
“The whole idea is to feed institutions with scientific and implementable research work that can help transform their organisations,” he said.
Mr Smith-Graham said the institute would carry out research and translate discoveries into practical procedures to enhance productivity and efficiency in public management.
“As an Institute we believe that promoting and achieving productivity in the public sector can have a positive spillover effect on other sectors and ultimately drive private sector growth,” he said.
He said IPPUM as a foundation sought to support graduate students from universities in Ghana who to took up thesis topics in the area of productivity and modern public management.
“The results of these theses will be published and the Institutions that these research covers will be encouraged to implement.”
IPPUM in collaboration with FirstBanC and Strabsnet also held its maiden colloquium on productivity and public management named: “Moving Ghana to a Higher Middle Income Economy: The Role of a Productive Workforce.”
The President of Association of Industries, Mr James Asare-Adjei said IPPUM has been set up at the appropriate time as Ghana was not doing very well in terms of productivity.
He said productivity was an important tool that businesses ought to embrace and called for collective and deliberate efforts to address the concern of low output.
“We are in a country that the more we pay people, the less they deliver, can we really change the situation,” he quizzed: “yes we can”.
Researchers took turns to present their studies that mostly covered resource governance, performance of local enterprises, credibility in governance and economic behaviour, health insurance, illegal mining and productivity.