PNP reliance on teams

DESPITE the novelty of having to formulate a strategy map, with a corresponding set of performance scorecards, for the entire Philippine National Police (PNP) organization, this was a task that the top officers of PNP completed within a reasonably short period of time. This called for participation from personnel at various levels of the organization; but it got done with the involvement of only a few PNP officers and employees. Once approved by the top PNP leadership, the strategy map and the enterprise performance scorecard therefore had to be cascaded down the organizational ladder, at least down to the precinct level.

This proved to be an enormous challenge. Writes Chief Supt. Noel A. Baraceros: “The Philippine National Police (PNP) is quite a huge organization composed of almost 170,000 personnel that are deployed nationwide in more than 2,000 Police Offices and units that perform basic policing roles of patrolling, traffic and investigation and to more specialized forensics, anti-cyber criminality, anti-terrorism and fighting trans-national crimes.” The question naturally arose: how to cascade the PNP PATROL Plan for 2030? The answer looked obvious: simply follow the organizational structure of the PNP. This meant: “Cascading of the enterprise strategy map and performance scorecards so they would be understood and appreciated by each police unit, down to the precinct level. Furthermore, the cascading process should result in the drafting of unit strategy with unit scorecards. In other words, the process of formulating an enterprise strategy map with corresponding performance scorecards had to be repeated by each office and eventually by each unit within the PNP organization”.

Moreover, in undertaking such an initiative, i.e., formulating an office or unit strategy with corresponding performance scorecards, it was necessary for each unit or office to “focus on its core mandate with the end-in-view of satisfying its identified primary customers. For example, the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) would need to develop its transformation strategy, focusing on delivering the services required by its customers such as the pedestrians, commuters, motorists, traffic enforcers, and the transport regulatory bodies (DOTr& LTO). Similarly, The Firearms and Explosives Office (FEO), which is the regulatory office issuing licences and permits for the ownership and utilization of firearms and explosives, would need to develop its transformation strategy for on-time delivery of the services required by its customers, i.e. qualified individuals or authorized agencies”.

All of the above looked neat on paper. But when it came to execution, it demanded countless hours of training, overseeing, checking, and ensuring that each office and unit understood the process and delivered the outcomes. Thus, Noel Baraceros states: ”The cascading process was easier said than done, considering the huge size of the organization, the limited resources, the difficulty of getting ‘buy-in’, and the challenge of an organizational culture that was in great need of change.”

It came as no surprise that “the process was a bit slow, considering the learning curve.” It needed to be given an “initial momentum,” which then had to be sustained. This is where team work and solidarity had to be emphasized through the establishment of the Program Management Office (PMO) that supervises and ensures the implementation of the PNP PATROL Plan for 2030.” This office had to bank upon the “active participation of the top leadership of the PNP in order to give impetus to the generation of ‘buyin’ from the different technical working groups established and above all from the commanders of lower units in the PNP organization.”