More than eleven states have already cut state funds to education and more states will do the same. I ask this question. Why would anyone increase class sizes by laying-off teachers and keep a bloated Bureaucratic State Government?

The state of Missouri is an exception Governor Jay Nixon is cutting bureaucrats and sparing cuts to public education. From Missouri Governor Jay Nixon’s State of the State address January 27, 2009:
“To tackle the budget challenges we face in FY 10, we are embarking on an unprecedented initiative to make government leaner and more efficient. To bring about this needed reduction, my budget eliminates or cuts 50 programs. Many bureaucratic positions will be consolidated or eliminated altogether. Hundreds of additional positions that are currently unoccupied will not be filled.

In total, my FY 10 budget proposes the elimination of more than 1,300 positions. We will cut nearly $200 million from overhead by eliminating these positions and cutting bureaucracy. After just two weeks in office, we are proposing the smallest state bureaucracy that Missouri has seen in a decade. The reduction I am proposing today represents the largest single reduction in the state’s bureaucracy in modern history.
And because Missourians will get a government that’s smarter and more efficient, most families will not see changes in the services they count on.”

We will need to wait and see if this is just a bureaucratic personnel reduction or a new commitment to eliminate the bureaucratic form of government. Just cutting bureaucratic personnel will help fix the current budget shortfall but it will not be a permanent change because bureaucracies will simply replace the personnel when there is a budget surplus. A second problem becomes apparent when bureaucratic staff is cut. The tendency is to cut the most recently hired first, the people actually doing the function’s work and not supervisory personnel. This threatens the capability to meet current workloads.

The key to the successful reduction of state government is in establishing standards something rarely done in government. In industry the establishment of a standard through Work Measurement is a necessary part of operations and of staff reductions. The standard establishes a staffing floor insuring that the essential service being provided by the function will not be impaired or reduced. The standard also provides a base for measuring the effectiveness and the efficiency of the organization in accomplishing its tasks. Without this reporting mechanism the remaining staff employees may simply cease doing their jobs jeopardizing the service provided. See the following: Article 5. Government Bureaucracies and Document Turn-Around Time.

I have found that The Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT) has set some standards. One of these is in measuring the function “Highway Stripping”. This is an example of what I call the Cost and Schedule method using time-study to do Work Measurement and set the standard for the function. But in the more people oriented service areas of government Missouri has not yet introduced Work Measurement.

The estimate of staff reductions of 1,300 positions in Missouri government is a bold move by Governor Nixon and can be successfully accomplished. But this number is an estimate and may be somewhat less than the actual number established through Work Measurement. The downside is that the estimated cuts in staffing may be done in the wrong functions jeopardizing services. And without base standards Performance Measurement of the function’s accomplishments may not be valid leaving the state’s functions subject to work slow downs resulting in reduced services to the public.

I recommend that reforms begin with the implementation of Lean. This reform brings a positive cultural change to the organization. Employees become members of Teams and are motivated by empowering them to improve their jobs through innovation. By bringing innovation and continuous improvement to the government’s processes the state will save $ millions through increased efficiency in the future. The reform amounts to a win win situation for government union employees as well as the tax payers of the state by employee empowerment and by ending bureaucratic waste. I have further recommended that after implementing Lean Teams that standards be set using Process Flow Charts. This is followed by replacing the current organization with a two tier form of government based on Steering Management and Functional management. See Article 103. Reforming Bureaucratic Government the Subtle way by Bringing Innovation to Government.

I suggest that Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has boldly stepped out in front of other states and has the opportunity to lead the way in State Government Reform. The elimination of the bureaucratic form of government could make Missouri a model for other state reform efforts.