Information,
Education And Communication (IEC) Programme: INCREASING
OUR RANKS OF 'HIGH COMMUNICATORS'
To be a successful organisation
in the Information Age, any organisation must have the two key assets: people
and information. The ability to process and communicate information has always
been the key to the survival of the human race. If this was true during the
primeval age of humanity, communication capabilities becomes even more crucial
for survival in the Information Age.
Acquiring information that is beneficial
to an organisation, but not shared and applied by a majority of its people is
as good as knowledge that does not exist. An organisation which is staffed by
brilliant technocrats, analysts and planners, none of whom is equipped with
the ability to impart and share their knowledge to others, is practically doomed
to failure. However, an organisation with a good number of 'high communicators'
among its rank of employees, is guaranteed to achieve success. It is well proven
that anything which improves the quality and quantity of information available
to a professional organisation, or that which improves its ability to receive,
process, apply and transmit information, will improve that organisation's productivity.
In much the same token, anything that improves the quality or quantity of information
available to a professional and/or improves the professional's ability to receive,
process, apply and transmit information, will improve that professional's productivity
and creativity.
The ability to recognise, assimilate
and apply new ideas, processes and materials are important to sustain professional
capabilities among the work force. An individual's information-communication
capabilities also determine his creative potentials, thus, affecting the results
or products of professional activities within the organisation.
While all human are naturally endowed
with the ability to handle information, there are some individuals who can facilitate
and enhance information flows into, within and from an organisation. These individuals
are the so-called high communicators.
The high communicators raise
the total information capabilities and content of an organisation. They are
also credited with ability to share and disseminate information with ease among
their colleagues, and as aresult, are often turned to for information needs
by their peers. They have the capacity to understand how information flows within
the organisation, and how to manage that information so that it benefits the
organisation. Hence, a high communicator should be able to relay informations
from the top management to the rank-and-file and at the same time, will have
the ability to solicit feedback from the targeted recipients of the information.
Thus, they keep the information cycle going around smoothly and effectively.
It goes without saying then that
the more significant the number of high communicators are in an organisation,
the end result will be a boost in productivity as well as enhanced professionalism
and creativity.
It is with this in mind that the
State Secretary's Office in the Chief Minister's Department is currently implementing
the Information, Education and Communication (IEC) Programme for
the Sarawak Civil Service. The IEC programme aims to increase the ranks of high
communicators within the Sarawak Civil Service. It combines communication
audit, communication planning and competence-building activities to enhance
information-communication capabilities of the civil servants.
The end result of this programme
will be the development of information networks within the Sarawak Civil
Service. These information networks are envisioned to work with each other in
setting up and linking information delivery systems and feedback-generating
mechanisms throughout the Civil Service. Each network will consist of core communicators
who will be given training that will sharpen their capabilities to generate
support and participation from their peers as well as from the community.
Individual members of the information
networks will also be given training to upgrade his or her communications skills
on areas such as writing, presentation skills, media relations and public relations.
The IEC programme will also build up their individual capabilities to plan and
devise strategies to successfully implement communication campaigns or programmes.
Potential members of the informationnetworks
are initially drawn from among civil servants currently involved in handling
communications-related work. However, as it is the intention of the programme
to increase the number of high communicators within the Civil Service,
those who voluntarily wish to be involved in the programme are encouraged
to join.
The State Secretary has stressed
that "involvement in the programme is voluntary. Only those who have a strong
desire to improve their information - communication capabilities will be taken
into the programme. Another essential quality of anyone who wish to take part
in this programme must be their willingness to get involved in community-oriented
activities."
|
The IEC programme is being implemented by the State Secretary's Office jointly
with the University of the Philippines' College of Mass Communication (UP-CMC)
and a Sarawak-based communications training and consulting company, APL
(Malaysia) Sdn Bhd. Training programmes for the IEC programme will be conducted
jointly with the Centre for Modern Management (CMM). RAKAN Sarawak's Managing
Editor, Maria C.M. Cortez, is the programme's overall project manager. |
|
