DVLA boss stresses on team work among staff

Mr Noble John Appiah, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Driver Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA), has stressed the need for team work among staff of the authority for improved and better service delivery.

He said the staff needed to work as a team to foster unity of purpose, without which it would be difficult for the authority to overcome its operational challenges to obtain the vibrancy needed to conform to international standards of the driver, vehicle and licensing industry.

Mr Appiah was speaking at a meeting with staff of the authority in Sunyani as part of a two-day working visit to the Brong Ahafo Region.

The visit, among others, was to enable the CEO, who was appointed in November 2015, assess the operational environment of the authority nationwide and interact with workers to acquaint himself with their challenges and identify strategies to sustain the authority.

The CEO said the management of the authority had this year outlined for improvement six key areas, including customer care, corporate image, increased revenue generation, reduction of operational expenditure and effective use of information technology (IT).

Mr Appiah said they must, as frontline workers, make excellent customer care their hallmark because their actions and inactions affect the image of the authority.

He advised them to foster good relationship with the clients to enhance its corporate image and change the negative perception the general public has about the authority

Mr Appiah directed the workers to be more creative to effectively apply their knowledge in IT systems so as to go beyond the normal level of production output, saying coupled with best management practices, the authority would “stand the test of time”.

He cited the City Express Services, a state transport company in the 1980s which collapsed within 10 years when they were given a fleet of buses to work with, because workers could not adjust to the changing demands of the transport industry at the time.

Mr Appiah said the staff must, therefore, embrace the new challenge as an opportunity to render even better services for the progress of the organisation and the prosperity of the nation.

Mr Cheyuo Wienaa Musah, Director, Driver Training, Testing and Licensing of DVLA, said the authority had now moved from manual testing to the era of computerization, where drivers and vehicles were tested electronically.

Mr Musah said that would position the DVLA to be a reputable organisation to meet internationally acceptable standards in testing and licensing of drivers and vehicles.

He, therefore, urged the staff to arm themselves with IT knowledge for effective and efficient production output of the authority.

The CEO and his team, including Mr Kwaku Darko Aferi, Public Relations Manager, and Mr Eric Thompson, Assistant Manager, Procurement Services, had already visited Sefwi-Wiawso in the Western Region and Goaso in the Asunafo North Municipality of Brong Ahafo.

They proceeded to the Techiman Office of the authority and ended the visit at Kintampo, where a new office would be inaugurated soon.