 |
The X³ experience:
A time to Xplore, Xchange and Xcel |
| |
 |
| The winning
WITS team — G-Force from SLA |
|
|
|
| |
It was certainly an "Xction"-
packed day at the NTUC
Business Centre on 10
November 2006. More than
3,500 public officers showed
up, exhibiting exuberance
and bringing back with them
the "X³" experience.
X³ —"Xplore, Xchange, Xcel" was
the theme of this year's PS21 ExCEL Convention and Award
Ceremony. With the focus on engaging public officers,
it aimed to encourage officers to share, learn from and
improve on each other's workplace improvement ideas.
Ms Yong Ying-I, Permanent Secretary (Health), who is also Chairman of the ExCEL Committee,
summed up in her welcome address that "the ExCEL Convention theme this year captures
what we encourage each agency to do. We hope each agency will 'Xplore' unique ways to
build a culture of learning and innovation; 'Xchange' their experience and knowledge to help
create the right environment for improvement; and through sharing and learning, help the
Public Service to 'Xcel'. It is not an ECA but an integral part of daily work."
On how PS21 has prepared the Public Service for change, the guest of honour, Mr Peter Ho, Head
of Civil Service and Permanent Secretary (Foreign Affairs), said in his keynote address: "In 11
years, PS21 has helped to prepare the Public Service for change, and to make it ready
for change. Today we celebrate the ExCEL movement. The Work Improvement Team
Scheme gets our people to work in teams to find the root cause of a particular
problem. The Staff Suggestion Scheme encourages officers to make suggestions
to solve problems and improve things at the workplace. In other words, WITS and SSS
empower our people in the Public Service to effect change at all levels."
|
| The exhibition hall showcased the top SSS ideas of participating ministries, statutory
boards and organs of state. |
|
| - |
Carrying on the tradition, this year's convention again comprised a one-day exhibition open to all in the Civil
Service and an award
ceremony in the
afternoon attended
by VIPs and invited
guests. Since the
exhibition opened
at 10 in the morning,
the hall was simply
packed with visitors
and bustling with
excitement.
For the first time
this year, the exhibition
showcased the
top SSS ideas of the
participating ministries,
statutory boards and organs of state. Fifteen WITS project teams from across the public
sector also showcased their projects at their creative booths, adorned to capture visitors'
attention and votes.
To enhance participation and promote learning, visitors were encouraged to suggest
how the WITS and SSS ideas could be applied to their workplace or how the ideas could
be improved upon. They could also vote for the WITS projects they deemed offered the
greatest learning value. Their votes would contribute towards the final score to determine
the top three project teams.
 |
Three students from South View Primary School
participated in the MOE team,
The Skywalkers. |
|
| - |
The top three teams were from South View Primary School, Ministry of Education;
Housing & Development Board (HDB), Ministry of National
Development; and Singapore Land Authority (SLA), Ministry
of Law. They went on to make their presentations to an
audience of 600 invited guests
and VIPs.
For the second year running, SLA emerged as the overall winner for its project entitled "To
improve the processing of vesting documents". The WITS team's idea has enabled the authority
to reduce the time spent on repetitive tasks
by 93%, resulting in savings of $33,700 per
annum for SLA customers, and $12,663 per
annum for SLA.
The award ceremony also saw the
presentation of 47 Public Service Awards
for Organisational Excellence to Public
Service organisations that have attained key
organisational excellence standards.
In addition to the overwhelming turnout for
the event, exchanges among public officers
took place online via the event's official
website (www.excel06.gov.sg). In a short
span of one and a half months, the website
generated more than 40,000 visitors' hits with
high participation rates in the X³ and Guess
the Top Team contests.
For those who missed the convention or
have not visited the website, it is not too late.
Visit the website today and be part of the X³
experience! |
|
| |
| |
By PS21 ExCEL Convention 2006 Publicity and Marketing Committee
|
