To achieve consistent quality in government service, staff of the DA-National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (NFRDI) took a training course on service process management improvement on August 5-7, 2024, at the Fisheries Freshwater Research and Development Center (FFRDC) in Butong, Taal, Batangas. The training course is the second of four required training courses towards ISO 9001:2015 certification in Quality Management System (QMS).

A team from the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP), led by Richard Li, who served as the resource speaker, and joined by Maria Veronica Angeles, facilitated the workshops.

Twenty-five select staff from NFRDI, who are also part of the QMS Team, attended the “Training course on Service Process Improvement”. They were composed of staff from the Office of the Executive Director, Aquaculture Research and Development Division; Capture Fisheries Research and Development Division; Fisheries Postharvest Research and Development Division; FFRDC; Planning, Policy and Information Division; Training Division; and Finance and Administration.

The three-day training course aimed to equip the participants with lean concepts and process streamlining tools and techniques, enabling them to improve their processes in line with the development of the ISO 9001:2015-Certified QMS. Workshops and exercises were facilitated to enable the participants to develop action plans to improve identified processes within NFRDI.

NFRDI Executive Director Dr. Lilian Garcia was present during the activity, encouraging the staff to continue persevering with the requirements to be certified. She also thanked the team from DAP for their steadfast mentorship and assistance in improving the establishment and implementation of NFRDI’s QMS.

NFRDI is one of the beneficiary agencies of the Government Quality Management Program (GQMP) of DAP. GQMP aimed to strengthen the institutional capacities of public sector organizations in delivering citizen-focused public services and implementing international standards-based QMS. As a beneficiary agency, NFRDI was selected based on the relevance of its services, management commitment, and organizational capability to implement the project. ### (Rita dela Cruz)