| Cost
conscious at the Subcourts |
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| The
Subcourts leverages on technology
to reap savings. |
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Despite the Subordinate
Courts’ (Subcourts) lean operating budget,
it achieved more than $400,000 cash savings in FY
03. That is 100% more than its target! This story
explores the seven key thrusts that contributed
to the success of its Economy Drive (ED) efforts.
Top-down
approach
The commitment of senior management is crucial.
Senior management provides strategic inputs on reviewing,
prioritising and economising on big-ticket items.
The internal ED Committee, chaired by Senior Director
(Corporate Services), comprises sectional managers
who meet regularly to share best practices. Besides
identifying ways to brainstorm, plan and implement
ED initiatives, the committee drives the cascading
of the ED message.
Sectional managers also form smaller teams to disseminate
the ED message. This ensures effective reiteration
of the ED message throughout the organisation.
This approach has sparked many successful initiatives:
For example, more people are encouraged to conduct
online legal research, hence the number of hardcopy
legal publications being purchased are reduced.
More training courses are also being conducted in-house.
Bottom-up approach
Operating staff are also urged to contribute suggestions.
Examples include optimising the use of paper and
envelopes; rationing the number of telephone lines,
fax machines and photocopiers; and improving coordination
in engaging foreign language interpreters.
Sectional managers also constantly look out for
ED ideas from the ground that can be applied to
other sections or across the organisation.
“It is encouraging to know that our little
suggestions to save resources can snowball into
huge savings for the organisation,” said Ms
Mahani Adam, Supervisor, Family Registry.
Ongoing internal communication
ED efforts are sustained via regular ED Committee
meetings, sectional
ED team meetings, emails, and keynote messages at
organisation-
wide events.
Transforming mindset
The Subcourts nurtures a culture where staff are
proactive, cost conscious and eager to create value.
Its motto is “Knowledge is not enough; we
need to apply. Willing is not enough; we need to
do.” The emphasis is on active participation
at all levels.
Said Registrar Lau Wing Yum, “We aim to continuously
think about ED, talk about ED and identify and implement
ED initiatives so as to sustain a ‘value-for-money’
mindset and corporate culture.”
Incentive system
Sectional managers award cash incentives under the
Staff Suggestion Scheme for all ED suggestions.
Suggestors and implementors of initiatives that
result in significant cash savings are awarded higher
cash incentives. Their ED efforts will also positively
impact their career progression.
An integral part of
continuous innovation
Sectional managers highlight that identifying and
implementing ED initiatives are an integral part
of the innovation process. Furthermore, ED efforts
enhance creative thinking at all levels and cultivate
leadership abilities.
A multi-prong framework
Proven management tools like the Six Sigma, NEV
and benchmarking are used to review, streamline
and re-engineer work processes to optimise resource
usage. NEV and Six Sigma initiatives that lead to
ED savings are accorded higher priority.
The Subcourts also leverages on technology to reap
savings, such as by migrating the ATM network to
the Gigabit Ethernet Network.
The Balanced Scorecard methodology is used to align
its organisational structures, processes and resource
management with its mission, strategic objectives
and core values. |
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