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Reforming Public Procurement -- Syquia Capacity building is not only training, but also is a communication tool. In the latter sense, capacity building should push the advocacy efforts undertaken in Step 2 further, so that knowledge and ownership of the reforms are cascaded from the central government, down to the various local government offices. In some countries, so much effort is spent selling the reforms to national level institutions, that the local government units are not sufficiently consulted in the process. Involving all stakeholders in articulating the reform strategy is critical, because a lack of support from one stakeholder group can easily undermine the entire reform program. The capacity building process provides an opportunity to solidify the support of all these stakeholders. First and foremost, capacity building involves training programs that are intended to broaden knowledge of the new law and its procedures, and thus increase its application. If the training programs can be properly adapted to suit the situation of the provinces and localities, these trainings may also be effective communication tools to demonstrate the position of local governments as important stakeholders in the entire reform process. In the larger scheme of the reforms, an ideal capacity building program should first take the form of short training programs, leading up to a full-blown professionalization program for procurement officials in government. There are a few reasons for this: 1. A short training program can be developed immediately and be used to rapidly educate procuring agencies and key private sector associations on the new procedures; 2. A full-fledged professionalization program would involve substantive certificate courses composed of in-depth modules on procurement and related topics, which take more time to develop and implement than do short courses; and 3. A short training program will fill the void and, in a limited way, address the immediate demand for knowledge about the new procedures while the professionalization program is being developed. Although a professionalization program is recommended as a longer term measure for creating a permanent cadre of procurement professionals, it may not necessarily be as effective as shorter training courses in terms of spreading information about the law and in gathering support from the local communities and regional offices, especially during the early stages of the reform. As an interim measure, the government may find it more effective to implement a regional procurement training program and an information campaign on the new procurement law, rules and regulations, for both national and local government agencies. 6.1 Developing a Procurement Training Program The objectives of a regional procurement training program are to: 1. Provide an initial step towards the full professionalization of government procurement; 2. Train procurement officials on the new procedures; 3. Ensure compliance with the new procurement law; and 4. Introduce e-procurement, if this is part of the reform program. The target audience for this program includes members of the tendering or bids and awards committees in the line agencies, the tendering committee secretariat, members of technical working groups for the tendering committees (if any), supply and budget officers of the line agencies, and project management officers. Special attention should also be given to the heads of the procuring Fiscal Reform and Economic Governance Project 15
Reforming Public Procurement -- Syquia agencies, as well as internal auditors and the state auditors, to ensure that both the procurement practitioners and those in the management and control aspects of the system speak the same language. The regional procurement training program should be managed or overseen by the national oversight body (see Step 3). The oversight body will see to it that all regions are revisited periodically to ensure skill retention, and to give new agency staff the opportunity to attend subsequent training programs. For these reasons, it is important to keep the regional training programs short and manageable – not more than three days each if possible. If there is a new procurement law, the training program should include a focus on the provisions of this new law, primarily on the following major topics: 1. General Provisions; 2. Procurement of Goods; 3. Procurement of Infrastructure Projects; 4. Procurement of Consulting Services; and 5. The benefits and operational aspects of e-procurement, if this has been established as part of the reforms. Since a primary outcome of the regional training program may be to push policy reforms to the provinces and cascade these to the local governments, it may be useful to tap the Human Resources or Personnel divisions of the participating agencies to institute internal training and skills development programs to supplement the regional training program. 6.2 The Trainers In the early stages of the capacity building process, it will be necessary to create a team of dedicated and technically competent procurement trainers who can be counted on to run the initial training programs for key procuring entities. Over time, additional trainers should be trained through a comprehensive “Training of Trainers” program, so that these additional trainers can be fielded to educate the broader stakeholder population. In selecting the trainers, emphasis should not only be given to whether an individual possesses technical knowledge on procurement, but also to whether s/he is a good communicator, since, in effect, it will be his/her responsibility to sell the law and the reforms to the audience. While a technical expert with an operational background may know the rigors of public procurement, s/he may not have the ability to manage audience participation and consider an issue with a broad policy perspective. Trainers should, therefore, possess the mentality of strategic managers, rather than traditional managers. The latter are internally focused, prioritize technicalities and administrative requirements over substance, are overly concerned with day-to-day bureaucratic routines, and may generally suffer from tunnel vision. The former are outwardly focused, able to adapt to external environments, even when circumstances are unpredictable and processes nonlinear, and are able to step out of the box to see the broader implications of an issue. Strategic managers do not find it difficult to accept other points of view and tend to see opportunities for improvements in what may otherwise be seen as mistakes. In procurement reform, it is much harder to build support and promote implementation once lines are drawn. On the other hand, even if the trainer has the characteristics of a strategic manager, s/he would find it extremely difficult to instruct and sell the reforms if s/he does not appreciate the technical realities and difficulties surrounding procurement operations. As such, in the same way that a technical expert would not necessarily be a good trainer for a capacity building program that doubles as a communication tool, an experienced teacher or manager would also not be an effective communicator to an audience composed of seasoned field officers and implementers. Therefore, it is important to identify both characteristics from the beginning, as a failure to consider these could easily lead to the failure of the entire capacity building phase of the procurement reform program. Fiscal Reform and Economic Governance Project 16
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