159 International Peer Reviewed Journal On Assessing Public Leadership as Basis for Public Service Enhancement ROMEL B. BASILAN http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1862-9037 Romel.Basilan@shct.edu.om romel_mama1917@yahoo.com Shinas College of Technology Al-Aqr, Shinas, Oman Originality: 100% • Grammar Check: 100% • Plagiarism: 0% ABSTRACT The descriptive quantitative research explored the different dimensions of public leadership in relation to organizational productivity to analyze the service rendered by the Provincial Government of Batangas, Philippines. This focused on the assessment of innovation in terms of inputs, processes, and outcomes with respect to the demographic profile of the locale. With this assessment of innovation, the paper withheld that innovation is significantly affected, and the results vary in terms of age, sex, educational attainment, and years in service of the government employees. Expressively, dimensions of public leadership bestowed relationship to give innovative public service. It also deliberately manifested that in consideration of the profiling of the employees, the government can maximize the human resources to optimal innovation, creativity, and skills, which leads to employees’ effectiveness, creative ideation, and implementation of best practices. This paper strongly agreed that productivity in the workplace is inevitable. In the end, this paper would propose an enhancement program that might help to hoist productivity and innovation among Batangas employees and administrative personnel. Vol. 39 · January 2020 DOI: https://doi.org/10.7719/jpair.v39i1.767 Print ISSN 2012-3981 Online ISSN 2244-0445 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1862-9037 mailto:Romel.Basilan@shct.edu.om mailto:romel_mama1917@yahoo.com https://doi.org/10.7719/jpair.v39i1.767 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ 160 JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research Keywords — public leadership, productivity, enhancement, public service, innovation, demographic profile INTRODUCTION Innovative leadership in the public sector is required to address the same external forces that have been presenting challenges for private-sector organizations, to adapt and respond quickly in a rapidly and continually changing environment, and dealing with turbulence and uncertainty. In particular, globalizations with its related pressures for enhanced productivity and competitiveness, and the ongoing evolution of ICT have resulted in unprecedented levels of organizational complexity. Moreover, citizens are becoming more engaged and demanding that their governments be more open, transparent, and responsive in delivering public services more efficiently and effectively. With this, productivity in an organization is such a vital factor to keep the employees in their best working condition. One way and a major factor to increase the growth of a company are to escalate the employees’ productivity. It is an initiative of the management to do some ways to do this to expect higher productivity in the long run. When the company takes time to comprehend and carry out the factors which lead to company improvement, it leads to a positive investment in the organization’s future. This works hand in hand with leadership (de Griep and Sieben, 2005). Additionally, no matter what the company does, improving the productivity of one’s workforce can boost one’s bottom line. This means that when employees in a certain company or organization receive more support, they are more likely to be more productive compared to those employees who have not. If one’s employees are not making the most of their time, he is losing money. Develop a strategy to improve productivity in the office and watch profits grow. It is notable that the Province of Batangas was awarded the Seal of Good Local Governance for several years now, which guarantees good public service. Yet, there are still innovative strategies and public leadership that may be enhanced by the province. This is what Province of Batangas is viewed to become and have. These kinds of leaders can contribute tothe changing future of Batangas Province government that would play an effective role in increasing employee productivity. Moreover, the Batangas innovative leader would potentially expose the limitless source of creative ideas that can contribute to any organization’s performance. Also, innovative ideas can be contributed to make the most out 161 International Peer Reviewed Journal of the quality and efficiency of the working operations. It is true that there is no organization that can surpass the competitive world if it is not open to change and innovative thinking and ideas. This is a great factor in the growth of any organization. In addition, whether how many employees are there in a company, it is essential to continually review, reinvent and reinvest in the resources that keep it visible and viable in a competitive market (Birkinshaw, 2010). With this, the researchers realized the need for studying how different organizations in the Province of Batangas Government deal with leadership and innovation to be productive in every day public service. Specifically, this would be beneficial as the public servants, and top management analyzes their own job performances, whether they are able to cope up with the advancement of the technological service yet still considering humane and excellent performance. This study aimed to withhold a number of factors that affect the level of innovation in relation to productivity and vice versa. The researcher believes that inspirational or charismatic leaders affect innovation through organizational design and must create appropriate organizational environments to suit the different innovation processes. Also, the researcher found this study significant to the future and present employees of any other government specifically in the Province of Batangas that they can uplift their productivity in the adoption and openness regarding innovation which is not limited to technology but extended to the way of leading, motivating and helping one another in the organization. Furthermore, the researcher who is currently working in a public sector considered this study important as he realized the dynamic world of public service. In the middle of new trends, it is imperative that Batangas Province, one of the most urbanized and leading provinces in Region IV or even the whole country, must be open for change towards innovative leadership to increase the level of productivity of every office in the provincial government. This study would divulge the level of productivity and innovation of the said organization that would help them analyze their own status of service. Lastly, this study would offer a proposed plan of action as a basis for an innovative leadership database that would let them evaluate their offices in the near future. This manifesto is tailored to fit the Province of Batangas that would surely help them to enhance their services. 162 JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY This study aimed to determine the level of organizational innovation and productivity in the Provincial Government of Batangas Province. More specifically, the study determined the demographic profile of the respondents. This demographic profile was investigated deeper as the study withheld the significant difference of the responses when grouped according to profile variables. Moreover, the study significantly showed the assessment of public service innovation in terms of inputs, processes, and outcomes. In the study, the dimensions of public leadership, when grouped according to profile variables, had a great impact and relationship towards the demographic variables gathered. The workplace was greatly affected by gender, age, education attainment, and years in service. Based on the results of the study, the researcher would propose an action plan to enhance organizational innovation and productivity among Batangas employees and administrative personnel. METHODOLOGY Research Design The descriptive correlation was used to gather the needed information on Organizational Productivity and Innovative Leadership. Pearson-r was utilized to measure such variables. More so, descriptive studies were very valuable in providing facts that may form the basis for scientific judgments. Further, the purpose of descriptive correlational research is, of course, to describe, as well as explain, or validate some sort of hypothesis or objective when it comes to a specific group of people. Participants In this study, the target participants were employees from different departments or offices in Batangas Province. Out of the 2, 019 total population of employees, 360 employees are selected as the respondents of the study. The respondents are from the different offices of the government of Batangas Province. Based on the total population, a sample of 360 participants was selected with an effect size of 0.23, an alpha level of 0.05, and a power probability of 0.95 using G*Power 3.1.9. Stratified random sampling was used to select the participants by the department. 163 International Peer Reviewed Journal Instrumentation The researcher utilized a 2-part questionnaire. Part I includes the age, sex, civil status, educational attainment, length of service, department, job status, and salary. Likewise, a standardized questionnaire was used to gather the needed information on innovation. Also, the researcher used the Innovation of Public Personnel questionnaire from the Office of Personnel Management’s Employee Viewpoint Survey Partnership for Public Service. The questionnaires were keenly scrutinized and validated by five (5) experts from the field of public administration. Through Cronbach Alpha (with the value of .872), the whole set was then treated for validity and reliability by the statistician, have undergone pilot testing in one of the Municipal town government in Batangas Province. After the data was gathered and analyzed, the questionnaire was proven valid and reliable to gather the needed information for the said study. Data Gathering Procedures The data gathering instrument had undergone several processes to be validated and finally given to the respective respondents. The questionnaire was from 3 different sources. They were modified and validated by several experts from the field. After it was being validated by experts, it was pilot tested in a certain government organization. Finally, the statistician treated the questionnaire for the final test of reliability and productivity and attested for its approval for dissemination. The researcher distributed the questionnaire and also sought the assistance of the administrator of the province understudy for the distribution of the questionnaire to employees of the institution. All questionnaires were retrieved personally and through the support of some employees. These data were validated to come up with comprehensive results and discussion. Ethical Consideration It is being taken into great consideration the ethical issues regarding the execution of this research. The researcher had been careful about the treatment of data, consulted several experts on the field to maintain the reliability, validity, and credibility of the paper. Moreover, the researcher honored certain procedures and protocols upon the execution of the data gathering methods. All of the offices in the research locale have been given proper letters to hid permission to pursue the 164 JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research said data gathering. Additionally, the researcher managed to communicate to the said respondents that the confidentiality of their answers was given with utmost objectivity. Statistical Analysis The research sought for referrals of the department head/administrator to qualify for the study. The needed data were tallied, encoded, and analyzed using different statistical tools. This include frequency distribution which was used to present the profile of the respondents, weighted mean was used to determine the demographic profile of the respondents, Pearson Product Moment Correlation was utilized to test the relationship between the level of public service innovation and productivity and Independent Sample t-test and F-test using Post Hoc Analysis was used to compare the responses on the level of public service innovation and productivity when grouped according to profile variables. In addition, all data were treated using statistical software known as PASW version 18 to further interpret the results of the study. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Table 1 shows the demographic profile of the respondents according to age, sex, educational attainment, and years of service. The demographic profile is essential in the study. The profile of the respondents attests to the significant relationship and difference among the major variables. Table 1. Percentage Distribution of the Respondents Profile Profile Variables Frequency Percentage (%) Age 18 – 27 years old 187 51.90 28 – 37 years old 94 26.10 38 – 47 years old 61 16.90 48 – 57 years old 9 2.50 57 years old and above 9 2.50 Sex Male 177 49.20 Female 183 50.80 165 International Peer Reviewed Journal Educational Attainment High School Undergraduate 11 3.10 High School Graduate 14 3.90 College Undergraduate 37 10.30 College Graduate 225 62.50 with MA units 51 14.20 Masters Graduate 22 6.10 Years in Service o – 5 years in service 187 51.90 6 – 10 years in service 64 17.80 11 – 15 years in service 44 12.20 16 – 20 years in service 28 7.80 20 years and above in service 37 10.30 Notably, it can be viewed that most of the employees in the Batangas Province Government range from 18 years old up to 27 years old. It has the highest percentage of 51.90 of the total population. Moreover, the 28 year old up to 37 year old employees have the second-biggest share of the population. It has 26.10 of the total number of respondents; meanwhile, the age range of 38- 40 years old with 16.90. Lastly, the age ranges from 48-57 and 57 years old, and above both got the percentage of 2. 50. Additionally, female employees got a larger population share of 50.80 percent compared to the male who has 49.20 percent of the total population. The educational attainment of the respondents, on the other hand, manifested that 62.50 percent of the population is college graduates. The next largest populations from the employees are College graduates with maters unit with 14.50 percent, followed by 10.30 percent of the employees who are college undergraduate. Notably, there are masters graduate in the pool of Batangas province employees. They shared 6.10 percent of the total population. Lastly, there are 14 staff members who are high school graduates with 3.90 percent, and there are 11 staff members who are high school undergraduate who had 3.10 percent of the total population. It is distinguished that most of the employees in the Batangas Province government are in their early years of public service. It is remarkable to note that 51.90 percent of the respondents rendered five years of service and below. Next, the employees who served for 6 – 10 years got a percentage of 17.80. 166 JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research Eventually, those respondents who served the government in 11-15 years got 12.20 percentage. Moreover, public servants of the province who gave 20 years and above service has the percentage share of 10.30. Lastly, 7.80 percent of the total respondents’ population is serving the government for 16-20 years now. More so, great work culture empowers employees. When they do not feel empowered to make decisions or participate in certain projects, especially those that impact the company’s key initiatives, employees may disengage from their responsibilities and struggle with unhappiness at work. On the other hand, it is important that employers give employees a certain degree of autonomy and responsibility for decision-making in their daily work. But it is more than just that. When one encourages the employees to grow, give them a chance to decide, and prove their ways to their own achievement, the employee leads to a better working environment (Hardré & Reeve, 2009). The one that is being placed as the 2nd rank is that the employee felt encouraged to come up with new and better ways of doing things in their work settings. It gathers a WM of 3.49, which is verbally interpreted as agreeing. The moment the employee feels dissatisfaction; this would be reflected in the performance and income of the company. Table 2. Innovation in Public Service in Terms of Input Weighted Mean Verbal Interpretation Rank 1. I am constantly looking for ways to do my job better 3.45 High 3 2. I feel encouraged to come up with new and better ways of doing things in my work settings 3.49 High 2 3. I have a feeling of personal empowerment towards workplace improvement. 3.52 Very High 1 4. I am given a better opportunity to improve my skills in my organization 3.41 High 4 5. My department head provides me with opportunities to introduce new ideas, plans, and projects. 3.39 High 5 Composite Mean 3.45 High Legend: 3.50 – 4.00 = Very High; 2.50 – 3.49 = High; 1.50 – 2.49 = Low; 1.00 – 1.49 = Very Low 167 International Peer Reviewed Journal Department heads can enhance their employees to perform well to give a positive turnover towards the company. Falola et al.  (2014)  found out that compensation or salary, as well as employee recognition and awards, decreased the chances of employee turnover. More so, monetary bonuses to outstanding employees do not need to be at every end of the year. The employees constantly looking for ways to do their job better is ranked as the 3rd one. This has a WM of 3.45 and verbally interpreted as agree. Professional employees continuously improve themselves so as to improve their work. They urge themselves to be skilled so that they can face challenges and endure (Romero, 2003). They were garnering a WM of 3.41; which indicates that employee is given a better opportunity in improving their skills in their organizations. This one is placed as the 4th rank and interprets verbally as agree. This is important in an organization. Training, seminars, and alike gives the opportunities to enhance their knowledge and skills, but many employers see these activities as extravagant expenditures, especially in the present times (Hameed & Waheed, 2011). Moreover, ranging a WM of 3.39, it shows that the employee’s department head provides each of them with opportunities to introduce new ideas, plans, and projects. It is ranked as the 5th place, which is verbally interpreted as agree. Training courses leading to the increased productivity of the employees in an organization. Project success, in turn, will be improved when there is increased efficiency in the process. More so, this leads to the improved company turnover and potential market (Saleem, Shahid, &Naseem, 2011). This table connotes that public service in terms of input composes a composite mean of 3.45 and is being interpreted verbally as agree. Development training programs are offered to employees to have better work performances to assume greater responsibility. Continuous professional pieces of trainings equipped employees to cope up with the fast-changing demands of the working world (Bercu, 2017). Investing in each of the workers is beneficial to the whole organization and can boost the bottom line. Table 3 indicates the Innovation in Public Service in terms of Process. This table reveals that the employee support program or project department heads promote and support innovative ideas, experimentation, and creative processes that are rank as the 1st one. This indicator garnered a WM of 3.51 and interpreting verbally as strongly agree. When working on a project, an individual or any leader needs a helping hand from his or her colleague. Skills can be contributed by other members of the organization by means of collaboration with other employees or inter-department. 168 JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research Table 3. Innovation in Public Service in Terms of Process Weighted Mean Verbal Interpretation Rank 1. I deal with clienteles’ suggestions or complaints urgently and with utmost care. 3.49 High 2.5 2. I constantly emphasize and introduce department innovations (e.g., computer-based administrative innovations, new employee reward/training schemes, new departments or project teams, etc.). 3.40 5 3. I welcome innovation proposals in the organization. 3.49 High 2.5 4. I perceived innovation as too risky yet doable and practical. 3.47 High 4 5. I support program/project department heads to promote and support innovative ideas, experimentation, and creative processes. 3.51 Very High 1 Composite Mean 3.47 High Legend: 3.50 – 4.00 = Very High; 2.50 – 3.49 = High; 1.50 – 2.49 = Low; 1.00 – 1.49 = Very Low On the other hand, motivation was enhanced, possibly when a motivational strategy is used. It can also be the other way around. There are so many considerations to do so, such as the uniqueness of the situation and the diversity of the concerned group (Cossette and Hess, 2012). These considerations are the main concerns of management. In the same way, the employee deals with clientele’s suggestions or complaints urgently and with the utmost care, and they welcome innovation proposals in the organization, which is placed as the 2nd rank with the same WM of 3.49, that is being verbally interpreted as agree. It is important that the clienteles; welfare is the prime consideration of the company. Subsequently, having a WM of 3.47 that reveals the employee that perceives innovation as too risky yet doable and practical. It is placed as a 4th rank, which is verbally interpreted as agree. The traditional view in mainstream economics today is that governments have little ability to spark innovation. The state has to be compelled to play as a restricted job inside the economy as possible. The thinking goes; intervening simplest in instances of “marketplace failure.” this is often an extended way from reality. This method that public businesses should be able to take possibilities and about to know from trial and error (Mazzucato & Semieniuk, 2017). If failure is 169 International Peer Reviewed Journal unavoidable, a part of the innovation game, and if the government is important for innovation, society got to be extra tolerant of “government failure.” But the fact is that when government fails, there’s public outcry – and silence whilst it succeeds. Besides, on the 5th rank, which is about the employee constantly emphasize and introduce department innovations like computer-based administrative innovations and etc. This indicator shows a WM of 3.40 and interpreting verbally as agree. Computers play a vital role in most aspects of life today since they’re employed in business, in medical-related fields, in education, and even in enforcement. The exchange of important information through various government agencies is additionally made easier through the utilization of computers (Venkatesh, Chan, & Thong, 2012). Lastly, but most importantly, in the government, they need data storage. Storing data in actual paper files is known to be unsafe since theft and calamities, such as fire outbreaks, can destroy vital information. Public service in terms of the process has the range of the composite mean of 3.47 and which is verbally interpreted as agree. With this, like businesses, state and federal government offices use computers. The computer uses in government offices also include various e-mail functions, payment distribution, record keeping, and even coordinating mailings (Krishnaraju, Mathew, & Sugumaran, 2016). Table 4 is about the Innovation in Public Service in terms of Outcomes. This table divulges that the employee who has a high level of respect for their organization senior leaders’ innovative strategy. It is placed as the 1st rank, which composes of a WM of 3.55, and it is verbally interpreted as strongly agree. In the current century, organizations are facing unprecedented changes in their working environments. In order to remain viable, organizations must learn to adapt to the changes they face. The influence of senior leaders on organizational learning is from the employees’ perspective (Waddell & Pio, 2015). 170 JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research Table 4. Innovation in Public Service in Terms of Outcomes Weighted Mean Verbal Interpretation Rank 1. I have a high level of respect for my organization, senior leaders’ innovative strategies. 3.55 Very High 1 2. I am satisfied with my involvement in decision making that affects my work. 3.50 Very High 2 3. I am rewarded for being a part of providing high-quality products and services 3.41 High 5 4. I am rewarded for my creativity and innovation. 3.45 High 4 5. I deal with clienteles’ suggestions or complaints urgently and with utmost care. 3.49 High 3 Composite Mean 3.48 High Legend: 3.50 – 4.00 = Very High; 2.50 – 3.49 = High; 1.50 – 2.49 = Low; 1.00 – 1.49 = Very Low In this context, by employing an explorative, exploitative and transformative organizational learning framework, and a transactional and transformational model of leadership, the findings contribute empirically to the limited body of research surrounding how senior leaders influence organizational learning. To build an understanding of how communities of practice create organizational value, we suggest thinking of a community as an engine for the development of social capital. The social capital resident in communities of practice leads to behavioral changes, which, in turn, positively influence business performance (Lesser and Storck, 2001). It has also identified four specific performance outcomes associated with the communities of practice we studied and linked these outcomes to the basic dimensions of social capital. On the 2nd rank is that the employee satisfies his/her involvement in decision making that affects their work. This has a WM of 3.50 and interpreting verbally as strongly disagree. It is a great satisfaction for the employees to be involved in decision making. They feel important having the chance to contribute and be involved in the process. Ranging a WM of 3.49 is that, the employee deals with the clienteles’ suggestions or complaints urgently and with utmost care. It is placed as the 3rd rank, which is verbally interpreted as agree. An employee that is being awarded for his/her creativity and innovation is ranked as the 4th one. It has a WM ranging 171 International Peer Reviewed Journal of 3.45 and interpreting verbally as agree. It is possible to use science to defining an agency’s highest-priority journeys and measuring customer satisfaction across those journeys, not just at individual touch points. It is also possible to use design elements necessary to structure the organization in an exceedingly customer- centric manner and make it adaptable as citizen needs and conditions change (Liu & Fang, 2009). Ranked as the 5th is about, the employee is being rewarded for being part of providing high-quality products and services. This indicator reveals a WM of 3.41, which is verbally interpreted as agreeing. Accordingly, employee recognition is that the timely, informal, or formal acknowledgment of a person’s or team’s behavior, effort or business result that supports the organization’s goals and values, and which has clearly been beyond normal expectations (Saunderson, 2004). This table specifies that public service in terms of outcome has a composite mean of 3.48, which verbally interpreted as agreeing. It is very important that the top management or the department heads of the government acknowledges the effort of the employees. This contributes to the great success of the government in serving the people. It is perennial in any other institution that when an employee is being motivated with good compliments, they work with double efficiency and enthusiasm. On the other hand, the employees must serve the clientele with the utmost care, patience, and understanding. However, the way within which the praise is delivered contains a significant touching on its effectiveness. It is reiterated that and acknowledged that only genuine achievements should be praised, which nonsensicality has little or no value. Indeed, unearned praise can do more harm to a person and a workgroup than none at all. It not only prevents employees from knowing once they have to be compelled to improve, but it can diminish the impact of the real praise that’s offered at other times (Saunderson, 2004). Table 5. Summary Table on Innovation in Public Service Indicators Composite Mean Verbal Interpretation Rank 1. Input 3.45 High 3 2. Process 3.47 High 2 3. Outcomes 3.48 High 1 Overall Composite Mean 3.47 High Legend: 3.50 – 4.00 = Very High; 2.50 – 3.49 = High; 1.50 – 2.49 = Low; 1.00 – 1.49 = Very Low 172 JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research It can be seen in the table of summary on Innovation in public service that outcomes indicator ranked first with a composite mean of 3.48 with the verbal interpretation agree. The quality of those services is part of the bedrock on which society and future prosperity depend and is crucial in shaping a more successful, wealthier, and fairer province (Teofilovic, 2002). Further, the process comes next higher with a composite mean of 3.47, agree. Public administration performs its functions through a wide range of processes in which all or considerable numbers of its bodies participate. Therefore, most of these processes cut across organizational and sectoral boundaries. New experience shows that many operational tasks, professional decision-making, execution of supervision, testing, etc. can be decentralized and transferred to self-government or to private entities (Bentley, 2017). Lastly, the input is in the third rank with the composite mean of 3.45, agree. In an ideal world from the perspective of productivity measurement, organizations would produce a single homogeneous good using a single homogeneous input (Mark, 1981). Productivity measurement then amounts to relating the number of units of the good that are produced to the number of units of the input that are used to produce it. The overall composite mean of the innovation indicators to execute public service is 3.47, agree. This means that innovation is visible and practiced in the government of Batangas province. The general public sector has traditionally been considered inhospitable to innovation, particularly innovations initiated by middle managers and front-line staff. Unlike the private sector, the general public sector is characterized by asymmetric incentives that punish unsuccessful innovations far more severely than they reward successful ones, by the absence of working capital to seed creative problem solving, and by adverse selection by innovative individuals against public service careers. This table implies that productivity at the workplace has a composite mean of 3.58, which is being interpreted verbally as strongly agree. Productivity is essentially the ratio of an organization’s outputs divided by its inputs. For many years it was treated as always being static in government agencies. In fact, productivity in government services should be rising rapidly as a result of digital changes and new management approaches, and it has done so in some agencies. However, Dunleavy and Carrera show for the first time how complex are the factors affecting productivity growth in government organizations – especially management practices, use of IT, organizational culture, strategic decisions and political and policy churn (Dunleavy, 2013) 173 International Peer Reviewed Journal While there have been a variety of studies concerning government worker motivation and productivity, few, if any, studies have focused specifically on state government workers’ perceptions about what factors affect their productivity. Government workers appreciate having freedom and autonomy, like their jobs and the sense of achievement, and welcome teamwork, but feel limited by poor supervision and management, poor communications, and insufficient budgets and staffing. To improve productivity, the workers would eliminate bureaucracy, supervise better, and improve communication (Haenisch, 2012). Table 6. Difference of Responses on Innovation in Public Service When Grouped According to Age F-value p-value Interpretation Input 6.019 0.000 Highly Significant Process 2.678 0.032 Significant Outcomes 2.505 0.042 Significant Legend: Significant at p-value < 0.05 To foster innovation, organizations like government must establish a culture that embraces failure, cultivates talent, and empowers employees with autonomy and creative freedom. Indeed, managers have a direct impact on their employees’ effectiveness and creativity, yet most managers fail to implement the best practices associated with maximizing their employees’ innovative potential. Complicating this issue is the emergence of the millennial workforce. According to a panel held at a recent Bloomberg Business Summit in Chicago, 69 percent of corporate recruiters say that it is difficult to manage millennials (those born in the 1980s and 1990s and also referred to as Gen Y). As it is predicted that millennials will make up the majority of the workforce by 2025, managers must learn how to drive innovation from their younger employees if they hope to support their organization’s survival in the increasingly competitive operating environment. Before one gets into the specific behaviors and actions that managers can implement to drive more innovation from their younger workforce, they take a look at the reasons why people need millennials in the organizations in the first place. Managers must drop the negative stereotypes associated with the younger workforce and realize that their success depends on the successful integration of millennials with other employees. Fortunately, many employees and managers 174 JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research are indeed shedding the assumption that millennials are lazy, entitled, and selfish. According to the previously mentioned panel, 74 percent of non-millennials agree that millennials offer different skills and work styles that add value to the workplace. The world in which millennials developed is a much different place than the world in which Gen Xers and Baby Boomers developed. Younger employees are more tech-savvy than their older counterparts and are more comfortable working in fast-paced environments characterized by loose schedules and multitasking (Wile, 2019). In addition, millennials are less resistant to change and better able to cope with extreme loads of changing information due to growing up with the Internet, social media, and mobile technology. The effective integration of millennials into the organization is critical in order to facilitate the diversity of ideas required for true innovation in emerging. This is especially so when most organizations seek to introduce and implement new technologies into their work processes or strives to bring new technology-based products and services into the market. In essence, enhancing the creativity of millennials comes down to keeping them engaged, but managers should seriously consider these six key workplace values and motivations that are directly related to creative performance and innovation: Millennials want to be challenged. Research shows that millennials are confident, individualistic, and have a strong achievement orientation. This means that to keep them engaged, they must be given challenging assignments at work where the success or failure depends primarily on the level of effort that they put into the project. There is nothing more intrinsically motivating than being intellectually stimulated and forced to test the limits of one’s skills and expertise. The feeling of accomplishment after achieving a challenging goal is a primary driver that will keep your millennial employees engaged and committed to the organization. Furthermore, the challenge is a precursor to flow, the state of “being in the zone” that is also linked to creative performance. Studies show that too little challenge relative to one’s skill level leads to a state of boredom, while higher levels of challenge (but not too high as to be anxiety-inducing) push people to become totally engaged with what they are doing and ultimately expand their skills and capabilities. As a person’s expertise and capabilities develop, so too does their potential to generate and implement innovative ideas. In addition, the flow state brings with it a rush of positive emotions, which have been linked time and time again to heightened levels of creative ideation. 175 International Peer Reviewed Journal Millennials want to personally and professionally develop. As mentioned above, high levels of the challenge by itself will not ultimately lead to higher levels of creative performance— millennials must also feel as if they have adequate skills to take on these challenges. This generation has a very strong drive to personally and professionally develop. In fact, millennials even view personal learning and professional development as more important than financial rewards or flexible working hours. Another important reason for the high rate of innovation, millennials want to receive frequent feedback and open communication. Millennials want plenty of feedback and information, and they want it in real-time. One of the best ways to keep younger employees engaged is to give them continuous constructive feedback aimed at helping them learn from their mistakes and their successes. This type of feedback facilitates on-the-job, experiential learning, and also demonstrates that others care about them and their contributions to the organization (Fajans, 2014). Millennials appreciate transparency in the workplace and desire for communication to be open and honest. They can be turned off by communication practices characterized by the withholding of information. This openness of information sharing is characteristic of what organizational psychologists refer to as a “psychologically safe” work environment. When employees feel safe to express their differing ideas, they are more likely to present unique perspectives that ultimately can lead to novel ideas and innovations. Millennials want to make a real difference. Whereas challenge may be the foundational driver of engagement among millennial workers, making a real difference could quite possibly be second on the list. More so than previous generations, millennials have strong values towards public service and making the world a better place. They are more comfortable with diversity, and thus better at perspective-taking (Fajans, 2014). Table 7. Difference of Responses on Innovation in Public Service When Grouped According to Sex t-value p-value Interpretation Input 0.286 0.775 Not Significant Process 0.619 0.536 Not Significant Outcomes 1.371 0.171 Not Significant Legend: Significant at p-value < 0.05 176 JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research The table reveals that all computed p-values were all greater than 0.05 alpha levels; thus, the researcher fails to reject the null hypothesis. This means that the responses do not vary among the respondents. This means that innovation with regards to sex. It is immaterial whether the employees are males or females. It is said that men and women are equally innovative. Optimal innovation occurs when there is an equal mix of men and women using a systematic process. Research in this area may have some suggestions on why. Lynne Millward and Helen Freeman tested several hypotheses and reported the results in their article, “Role Expectations as Constraints to Innovation: The Case of Female Managers.” The essence of the research is that, while men and women are equally innovative, their gender role within the context of an organization can affect how they are perceived and how they behave when innovating and sharing ideas. Men are perceived as more innovative and risk-taking and women are perceived as more adaptive and risk-averse. “Thus, gender roles may interact with the role of the manager to inhibit (in the case of women) or facilitate (in the case of men) the likelihood of innovative behavior” (Boyd, 2013). For practitioners, there is both a negative and a positive aspect to this. On the one hand, innovation workshops need a process to assure that women feel they can innovate “bigger” and share those ideas with the group. If, as the research suggests, women are more likely to hold back, then the facilitation approach has to break through it. Otherwise, one loses the inherent value of the (equal) innovation talent they bring to the table (Boyd, 2013). Table 8. Difference of Responses on Innovation in Public Service When Grouped According to Educational Attainment F-value p-value Interpretation Input 2.153 0.059 Not Significant Process 3.204 0.008 Significant Outcomes 1.861 0.100 Not Significant Legend: Significant at p-value < 0.05 The table presents the comparison of responses on innovation in public service when grouped according to educational attainment. It was observed that the responses differ significantly in the process since the obtained p-value of 0.008 was less than 0.05 alpha level. Based on the post hoc test conducted, respondents’ who are Master’s graduate have higher assessment of the process. 177 International Peer Reviewed Journal With the employees who are with higher education, they yield more changes and innovation in the workplace. They are open to the notion that employees must be innovative in any and every way they can to cope up with the advances of the technology and demands in the service. Innovation is one of the most important concerns of each organization, and its role in the development and coordination of the market is inalienable. Innovation in all human areas is applicable from product development, methods of management, ways of doing works and etc. In recent decades, the commercialization of education has become more apparent, and the need for using marketing tools is greater than before. Multinomial regression analysis was conducted to identify the characteristics of students, which make their perception about the quality of higher education dissimilar. The findings show that the status of students for scholarship, extracurricular activities, parents’ education, age, previous result, and university they study in have a significant influence on perception about the quality of higher education. Part-time job status has a moderate influence on people’s perception. Notwithstanding, technology is changing the nature of work. The requirements for employee’s skills have also changed. Higher education institutions assure the relevance of their knowledge, identify skills gaps, create a special program and build the right skills that can help countries improve the economic prosperity and social cohesion, adapt workforce development to the economy and changing demand for the new skills, develop relevant skills and activate skill supply, and thus support improvement in productivity and growth. Additionally, the roles of higher education in sustainable economic and social development increase year by year, and this will continue over the next decades. Higher education can be seen as a focal point of knowledge and its application, an institution which makes a great contribution to the economic growth and development through fostering innovation and increasing higher skills. It is looked like a way to improve the quality of life and address major social and global challenges. Higher education is broadly defined as one of the key drivers of growth performance, prosperity, and competitiveness. UNESCO (2017) says its social role provides the link between the intellectual and educational role of universities on the one hand and the development of society on the other. 178 JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research Table 9. Difference of Responses on Innovation in Public Service When Grouped According to Years in Service F-value p-value Interpretation Input 4.921 0.001 Significant Process 5.677 0.000 Highly Significant Outcomes 4.079 0.003 Significant Legend: Significant at p-value < 0.05 As seen from the result, there was a significant difference observed on input (p-value = 0.001), process (p-value = 0.000) and outcomes (p-value = 0.003) since the resulted p-values were less than the alpha level of 0.05. This only concludes that the responses differ statistically, and this was found on those who are in the service for more than 20 years. Senior managers would like to believe that employees are a team of selfless workers who – in exchange for a monthly wage and odd benefits – work exclusively to the benefit of the organization. As the organization grows, the employee receives promotions, salary increases, and additional benefits that encourage her to continue serving the company wholeheartedly. If employees feel disconnected from their firm and feel they gain no personal benefits from the firm’s growth, they will keep their heads down, keep new ideas to themselves and avoid rocking the boat. On the other hand, if employees feel disconnected from their firm and feel they gain no personal benefits from the firm’s growth, they will keep their heads down, keep new ideas to themselves and avoid rocking the boat. 179 International Peer Reviewed Journal Table 9. Proposed Plan of Action to Enhance Public Service Innovation and Productivity in Batangas Provincial Government PPA Strategies Performance Indicator Persons Responsible Innovation in Public Service in terms of: 1. Input 1.1. The holding of Brainstorming of Programs for every major decision, new ideas, plans, and projects should be made in the department. 1.2. Provision of seminars and trainings to upgrade the skills of employees and staff Plan brainstorming meetings of the staff and employees to participate in the decision making, and planning which involves the department Organize seminars and trainings to upgrade the skills of employees and staff. Employees’ involvement in brainstorming and planning held Seminars and trainings to upgrade employees’ skills. Provincial Executive / Administration Office/ all departments Provincial Executive / Administration Office/ all department heads 2. Process 2.1. Creation of an IT Expert Department and Training & Reward Department for computer-based administrative innovations, new employee training and reward schemes. 2.2. Initiation of Seminars and workshops and trainings for doable and practical innovative public service. Enact ordinance to create the program that will support computer-based administrative innovations, new employee training, and reward schemes. Hold seminars and workshops and trainings for doable and practical innovative public service. Computer-based administrative innovations, new employee training and reward schemes created. Seminars and workshops and trainings for doable and practical innovative public service initiated. Provincial Executive / Administration Office Provincial Executive / Administration Office 180 JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research 3. Outcomes 3.1. Establishment of Recognition and Awards Program Committee for providing high-quality products and services. 3.2. Provision of Professional Development Programs for Employees to enhance creativity and innovation. Launch recognition and Awards Program Committee for providing high-quality products and services. Develop programs for employees’ enhancement of creativity and innovative skills Recognition and Awards Program Committee for providing high-quality products and services established Professional Development Programs for the Employees to enhance creativity and innovation provided Provincial Executive / Administration Office Provincial Executive / Administration Office CONCLUSIONS Innovation in public service in terms of input, process, and outcomes has the composite mean, which has the verbal interpretation of agree. On the other hand, innovation is agreed to be visibly observed, so as it is strongly agreed that productivity in the workplace is inevitable. In this study, there is a significant relationship among variables - innovation and productivity. Therefore, a program to enhance innovative leadership and productivity is proposed. TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH The findings of the study may be best translated to various media of communication for information dissemination. The results must be published and withheld in different forms of social media, mass media, whether TV, newspaper, and radio, that can be used as a mode of dissemination to inform the locale of the significant findings and can be adopted and replicated by other government offices or other organizations. LITERATURE CITED de Grip*, A., &Sieben, I. (2005). The effects of human resource management on small firms’ productivity and employees’ wages. Applied Economics, 37(9), 1047-1054. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/00036840500092074 Bentley, A. F. (2017). The process of governmet: A study of social pressures. Routledge. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2vtccmV https://doi.org/10.1080/00036840500092074 http://bit.ly/2vtccmV 181 International Peer Reviewed Journal Bercu, A. M. (2017). Impact of employees’ training programmes on job satisfaction. Current science, 112(7), 1340-1345. Retrieved from http://bit. ly/39kExdy Birkinshaw, J. (2010). The critical need to reinvent management. Business Strategy Review, 21(1), 4-11. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2VTNmHF Boyd-Franklin, N. (2013).  Black families in therapy: Understanding the African American experience. Guilford Publications. Retrieved from https://bit. ly/2UdTTLR Cossette, M., & Hess, U. (2012). Chapter 12 Emotion Regulation Strategies among Customer Service Employees: A Motivational Approach.  Research on emotion in organizations,  8, 329-352. Retrieved from https://doi. org/10.1108/S1746-9791(2012)0000008017 Lesser, E. L., & Storck, J. (2001). Communities of practice and organizational performance.  IBM systems journal,  40(4), 831-841. Retrieved from DOI: 10.1147/sj.404.0831 Romero, E. J. (2004). Professional Mexican employees: The essential element in Mexican maquiladora quality improvement initiatives.  Latin American Business Review,  4(3), 45-64. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1300/ J140v04n03_03 Falola, H. O., Ibidunni, O. S., & Olokundun, A. M. (2014). Incentives packages and employees’ attitudes to work: a study of selected government parastatals in Ogun State, South-West, Nigeria.  International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science,  3(1), 63-74. Retrieved from http://eprints. covenantuniversity.edu.ng/id/eprint/3316 Hameed, A., & Waheed, A. (2011). Employee development and its affect on employee performance a conceptual framework.  International journal of business and social science, 2(13). Retrieved from http://bit.ly/3arEn4l Hardré, P. L., & Reeve, J. (2009). Training corporate managers to adopt a more autonomy‐supportive motivating style toward employees: An intervention http://bit.ly/39kExdy http://bit.ly/39kExdy http://bit.ly/2VTNmHF https://bit.ly/2UdTTLR https://bit.ly/2UdTTLR https://doi.org/10.1108/S1746-9791(2012)0000008017 https://doi.org/10.1108/S1746-9791(2012)0000008017 https://doi.org/10.1147/sj.404.0831 https://doi.org/10.1300/J140v04n03_03 https://doi.org/10.1300/J140v04n03_03 http://eprints.covenantuniversity.edu.ng/id/eprint/3316 http://eprints.covenantuniversity.edu.ng/id/eprint/3316 http://bit.ly/3arEn4l 182 JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research study.  International Journal of Training and Development,  13(3), 165-184. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2419.2009.00325.x Liu, H. Y., & Fang, S. Y. (2009, August). An approach to explore effective customer-centric e-government. In  2009 Fifth International Joint Conference on INC, IMS and IDC (pp. 1064-1069). IEEE. Retrieved from DOI: 10.1109/NCM.2009.176 Krishnaraju, V., Mathew, S. K., & Sugumaran, V. (2016). Web personalization for user acceptance of technology: An empirical investigation of E-government services.  Information Systems Frontiers,  18(3), 579-595. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-015-9550-9 Saleem, Q., Shahid, M., & Naseem, A. (2011). Degree of influence of training and development on employee’s behavior.  International Journal of Computing and Business Research, 2(3), 2229-6166. Retrieved from http:// bit.ly/2TC4UoH Saunderson, R. (2004). Survey findings of the effectiveness of employee recognition in the public sector. Public Personnel Management, 33(3), 255- 275. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1177/009102600403300302 Mazzucato, M., & Semieniuk, G. (2017). Public financing of innovation: new questions. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 33(1), 24-48. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1093/oxrep/grw036 Teofilovic, N. (2002). The reality of innovation in government.  Innovation Journal, 7(3), 1-22. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2TC5tyP Venkatesh, V., Chan, F. K., & Thong, J. Y. (2012). Designing e-government services: Key service attributes and citizens’ preference structures.  Journal of Operations Management,  30(1-2), 116-133. Retrieved from https://doi. org/10.1016/j.jom.2011.10.001 Waddell, A., & Pio, E. (2015). The influence of senior leaders on organisational learning: Insights from the employees’ perspective.  Management Learning,  46(4), 461-478. Retrieved from https://doi. org/10.1177/1350507614541201 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2419.2009.00325.x https://doi.org/10.1109/NCM.2009.176 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-015-9550-9 http://bit.ly/2TC4UoH http://bit.ly/2TC4UoH https://doi.org/10.1177%2F009102600403300302 https://doi.org/10.1093/oxrep/grw036 http://bit.ly/2TC5tyP https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jom.2011.10.001 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jom.2011.10.001 https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1350507614541201 https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1350507614541201