Dr. Elba Cruz: Respect for academic freedom, excellence, due process and professional ethics. (Photo by Ped Garcia)

Development Academy of the Philippines President and Chief Executive Officer Elba S. Cruz has defined her expectations from both officers and staff of the DAP in terms of the work ethics as well as leadership and management principles that she would want them to observe.

 Dr. Elba, fresh from a speaking engagement she fulfilled at the 59th session of the Asian Productivity Organization’s governing body in Tehran, Iran, issued a 10-point list of guidelines that she said she “expects everyone to practice.”

First, she said that there must be “focused leadership” for the institution’s leaders to accomplish the DAP’s short- and long-term goals.  “I expect the entire management team to be focused on their office’s mandates and ensure delivery of outcomes,” Elba said.

Second, there must be “unity of command and unity of effort.”  She said that to ensure that all efforts are aligned, there must be constant communication and coordination between and among the various DAP personnel, from the staff to the supervisors and program managers to the center heads and group heads.

Documented approvals

Third, approvals must always be “done in writing” and accompanied by completed staff work.

Fourth, all staff members and officers are expected to submit activity reports and client contact reports to their principal within seven days following an event.

Fifth, everyone “should strive to complete assigned tasks within the day.”  Tasks that cannot be completed due to extraneous factors must be justified and completed “within a reasonable time.”

Sixth, DAPpers are also being urged to “benchmark against world-class institutions with similar services.

“Let us strive to be at par with the best institutions in our field of work in terms of technical expertise and… organizational culture and management practice,” Cruz told the employees.

Open lines

Seventh, DAPpers are encouraged to “maintain open lines of communication.”  The DAP being a knowledge institution and an advocate of good governance and productivity, Dr. Cruz said employees should “learn to give and receive appropriate feedback when necessary to and from our stakeholders.”

Eighth, the DAP chief executive said it is “time to simplify and change” procedures and systems to make them more efficient and productive.  “Let us bring in new blood and new ideas that are significant and relevant,” she said.

Ninth, gaming and personal social networking during office hours have been prohibited “in order to optimize the use of (the) DAP’s IT resources for carrying out our functions.”

Respect

Finally, Dr. Elba enjoined every employee to “show respect for academic freedom, excellence (and) innovation, respect for intellectual property, respect for the rule of law, due process and professional ethics, and respect for one another.

“I believe that some of these are already ingrained in the Academy’s policies, and in the Academy’s quality policy in particular,” Elba said.  “Others are my own personal, professional ethic which I believe are crucial in achieving any institution’s goals.

“I would like to share this with you all and engage your cooperation in moving the Academy forward towards its vision.”