The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) has today released its Public Sector Productivity Toolkit, a new practical resource to help professionals, managers, and leaders across government departments and public service organisations strengthen performance, improve efficiency, and enhance outcomes to deliver greater public value.
Productivity growth – the primary driver of long-term improvements in living standards and wellbeing – has stagnated in South Africa. Since 2009, labour productivity growth has averaging around -0,03%, according to CEIC Data, signalling a near-zero growth over the long term.
The Covid-19 pandemic further disrupted the country’s productivity, causing sharp contractions in 2020 and erratic rebounds in 2021 and 2022. A recent report Productivity as a Frontier in the South African Public Service commissioned by the Presidency of South Africa showed that over 60% of national departments operate below the efficiency frontier.
In practical terms, this means that they could deliver similar outputs with 10% to 30% fewer resources if they matched the performance of top departments.
“Every part of the public sector is under pressure to deliver more while reducing costs to keep public finances sustainable,” says Andrew Harding, FCMA, CGMA, chief executive of The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. “Unfortunately, public sector productivity results post-pandemic have been very disappointing across the global board.
“A comprehensive transformation of public services is urgently needed, and that starts with shifting to outcome-based performance management that aligns strategy, people, processes, and technology.
“Our new toolkit is designed to help public sector leaders, managers, and finance professionals tackle productivity challenges head-on. It offers practical guidance and tools to align strategy with delivery across services and departments. CIMA’s research highlights a lack of integration as a key barrier to productivity – this toolkit helps users identify those gaps and build a performance-driven culture.”
The Presidency-commissioned Public Sector Productivity Report underscores that South Africa’s public sector is both a driver of development and a constraint on the economy due to persistent productivity challenges.
A renewed focus on strategic productivity in the public sector is essential to ensure public services remain financially sustainable, resilient, and trusted in an era of rapid change. Doing so would not only boost economic growth, help address challenging public finances, but also encourage innovation, create employment opportunities, raise skill levels, and drive social progress across the country.
To help address these productivity challenges, the toolkit offers practical tools, checklists, and frameworks to help professionals across finance, HR, operations, and strategy measure, manage, and enhance productivity. It is structured around eight core areas:
- Defining productivity in public services
- Strategic planning and alignment
- Governance, accountability, and reporting
- Improving productivity tracking and measuring outcomes
- Finance as a catalyst for change
- People and organisational culture
- Leadership and management practice
- Digital technology and AI