AIG presents first ever Standard Operating Procedure to HOS of Nigeria
The office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HOCSF) has taken delivery of its first ever Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). The SOP which is a set of step-by-step instructions compiled by an organisation to help workers carry out routine operations was presented to the office of the HOCSF by the Africa Initiative for Governance (AIG) on Tuesday in Abuja.
Among other things, the document is designed to achieve efficiency, quality output and uniformity of performance while reducing miscommunication and failure to comply with industry regulations.
While receiving the document, the HOS, Dr Folasade Yemi-Esan, commended the AIG Chairman, Mr Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, for collaborating with her office for successful work on SOPs.
“The development of the SOPs for the departments in the office of the HOCSF, entailed a thorough process aimed at assisting officers understand and document their business processes which is a fundamental prerequisite for digitalisation.
“The processes leading to the development of the 26 SOPs manuals that are about to be formally handed over today were indeed rigorous,” she said.
According to Yemi-Esan, the main objective of SOPs is to develop an effective system that complies with industry-specific regulations and standards to significantly reduce or avoid operational errors as well as unwanted work variations.
She said that SOPs would also ensure the repeatability and consistency of the performance of any type of process as well as help employees to perform complicated tasks.
The HOS explained further that in the era of technological advancement and digitalisation, the civil service could not afford to lag behind or operate in isolation and could not continue to do things in the old order and expect new results.
She said HOCSF office had decided to take the lead and has gone further to approve the immediate Service-wide development of SOPs starting with four selected MDAs as a pilot.
“These MDAs are Federal Civil Service Commission, Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, State House and the Federal Ministry of Transportation.
“To keep abreast, therefore, civil service must continue to be dynamic and innovative.
“What we are witnessing here today, therefore, is a clear testament of our resolve to embrace new ways of doing things that promote the delivery of services in an effective and efficient manner,” the HOS explained.
Speaking earlier before making the presentation of the document, the AIG Chairman said that the initiative was not only important to HOCSF but also to AIG and the entire civil service sector of the country.
According to Aig-Imoukhuede, the Nigerian Federal Civil Service has taken one small step which will take the sector to a greater height.
The SOPs initiative, the AIG Chairman explained, was part of the efforts by the office of the HOCSF to reform the country’s public service. (NAN)
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