Anyone watching the charade by Parliament’s front door security, as featured on the TV3 News, would have been amazed by the lack of common sense on display. The decision to hide a couple of security staff in a windowless room so that nobody would think staff were standing around doing nothing was a classic case of form over substance.
This innovation has made Parliament less safe, less secure and less convenient, not to mention its likely demoralising effect on the security staff themselves. Nobody wants to spend their working day skulking in a backroom. And not a cent will be saved. No wonder nobody wanted to own up on camera as to who actually made this decision.
In itself it’s a relatively minor matter, but for many in the public service, this type of change is becoming only too familiar. More often than not, the emphasis seems to be is on the appearance of greater efficiency when in reality no real improvement takes place.
In its crusade for maximum efficiency, the Government is intent on squeezing public services – and it wants it done yesterday. The result is that changes are rushed and ill-conceived, demoralising for the staff concerned and having no positive lasting impact. Security staff at Parliament were not asked for their opinion or input. Instead an unpopular and unworkable decision was imposed on them that they have to live with.
We should all take heed of the recent study by researchers at Waikato University, reported in the Dominion Post, that warned restructuring in the health sector can be bad for productivity because it is distracting for organisations and those who work in them.
Parliament’s security travesty could be a metaphor for much of the wider changes taking place in the state sector where appearances are more important than substance.
