By Dennie Quill, ContributorA BRAVE voice for public service efficiency and accountability rose in the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament on Tuesday. Too bad many people did not hear Carol Palmer's statement about the indifferent, even slothful service being delivered by employees of the Ministry of Justice which she serves as permanent secretary.
The permanent secretary painted a picture of a cumbersome non-performing civil service where work is more like an infringement on one's personal life. Talking specifically about administration in the island's Resident Magistrate's courts, Ms. Palmer revealed that only four of the 22 court administrators were performing up to par. Their efficiency was measured by the Auditor General's Department and found wanting.
She also spoke about the attitude toward performance evaluation and disclosed that resident magistrates have been reluctant to write unpleasant things about their staff. In other words, their assessments have not really been honest. In such a scenario, the standards of integrity, proper conduct and professionalism are being seriously undermined.
The administration of justice is far too important to be treated in this callous manner. The under-performers should be helped to improve or should be dismissed from the service. At no time should it be forgotten that the public interest is the essence of the existence of a civil service. It is time for the minister and the head of the civil service to map out a fresh approach to improve the capabilities of civil servants, for service delivery has a direct impact on the pace of a country's development.
Admittedly, there were few surprises in Ms. Palmer's testimony because many citizens have long lost faith in the government service. True, this attitude is not peculiar to government employees.
PERVASIVE ATTITUDE
Indeed it is a pervasive attitude observed in all sectors including the private sector. Managers and supervisors do not want to offend their staff so they are averse to record the misdeeds of employees or even to reprimand them. Since service delivery is aligned to success, successful managers know they are required to perform some unpleasant tasks but they progress with confidence knowing they are empowered to enforce the rules to ensure the smooth operations at the workplace.
Having said that, to be fair, one must recognise that sometimes the appraisal mechanism is poorly designed and the process is tedious. Both reviewer and the reviewed dislike this experience. However, performance appraisals could be made more meaningful if they are used to differentiate quality workers and ultimately to reward star performances. Managers should pay heed to this because performance appraisals, if properly carried out, can benefit both employer and employee.
In recent years the buzz words around the civil service have been 'modernisation' and 'reform' and I believe the Government genuinely aspires to become more efficient. The establishment of some well-publicised executive agencies like the Registrar General's Department, appears to have earned kudos for sections of the civil service. However, despite the axing of thousands of employees to achieve a lean and efficient civil service, the service is still bloated and the renaissance we had hoped for is very slow in coming.
NOT MOTIVATED
Many departments and agencies of Government continue to be lax in their operations. One walks away from many of these places with the feeling that the employees are so secure in their jobs that they are not motivated to go the extra mile.
May I suggest that since salaries of civil servants account for a major chunk of the government's budget an urgent examination ought to be undertaken to determine if the reform is consistent with retaining staff that are able perform at high efficiency and weeding out dead wood.
Civil Service Week is being celebrated November 21-27 under the theme 'Civil Servant putting country above self'. Amid the celebration I trust this will also be a time of reflection on its important role. It should also be a time of commitment to the ideals of a high performance philosophy. This will only come about if ways are found to be more responsive to the needs of our citizens.
Dennie Quill is a veteran journalist who may be reached at denniequill@hotmail.com.
