Unsolicited Advice to PH News Agency (PNA)

screen cap from PNA website

Because of the latest Philippine News Agency or PNA’s booboo, every time you’ll see DOLE Food Company’s logo, you’ll either laugh or scratch your head and remember the infamous error associating the pineapple logo to that of the  Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). But instead of criticizing them, why not offer suggestions?

Read: Andanar creates editorial board to prevent another PNA blunder

Here’s my unsolicited advice as an executive for People Management and Organization Development, having handled numerous administrative cases involving employee incompetence, serious and gross negligence, and a few sabotaging behavior, in the past.

Read: My thoughts on allegations that bloggers in ASEAN 50 are waste of tax payers money.

What’s could be the problem?

Hiring of an unqualified person

A fresh graduate of mass comm or journalism will be able to distinguish the difference between the two DOLE logos.

I met great people inside civil service commission, having facilitated some workshops in the past, and they are serious in professionalizing the bureaucracy. But there are cases wherein a person is being hired not because s/he is qualified, but bec. s/he’s a referral. Unfortunately, if this practice will not stop, services suffer, and taxpayers’ money wasted.

Someone is remiss of his/her supervisory or editorial responsibility over content and people.

If we have a competent gate keeper, this could have been avoided. However, if even the gate keepers are unqualified, then we have a serious problem.

Current procedures are designed for booboos to regularly happen at the Philippine News Agency (PNA)

New wine in an old wineskin always spell disaster. I’ve heard the good plans of Sec. Martin Andanar for Philippine News Agency. There’s likelihood that existing processes and procedures are not at par to the new direction. Incompetent people plus loose procedures will result to series of blunders.

Someone, or a group is resistant to change. Thus, resorting to embarrass certain high profile Gov’t officials by deliberately committing error, or deliberately allowing someone to commit an error.

I’ve been to that situation in the past, being a takeover manager is not a walk in the park. You have problem people that you cannot remove immediately, but its not an excuse to not meet the expectation of improved service level.

What can be done?

Top of mind, below  are my suggestions for the Philippine News Agency to consider.

• Refrain from hiring people who have no professional background on the job.
• Overhaul the existing policies and procedure and give emphasis on quality control.
• Go to the root of demoralization (if any) to address sloppiness on the job.
• Recognize a good job, address incompetence.
• If possible and doable, remove the dead woods.
  I don’t understand why terminating employee for a cause, after due process, will be difficult for government employees. The people’s money are being wasted on these people.
• Manage dissent and incompetence by timely learning and/or organizational interventions.
• Senior and middle officers to go through change management workshop.

Do you have other suggestions in mind for Philippine News Agency? Share your thoughts and let’s help our state news agency to be at par with other news network.