Professional Documents
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a blessing in disguise
n disguise
Hollow treatment
Saturday, 13 October 2018
What about the ability and capacity of the most senior person to do the job?
How dare I ask this question? They would reply that ‘who cares whether that
person did any productive work or not, as long as a few grey hairs appears on
eyebrows?’
The mess
The administrators can blame the British for leaving this mess with us, but I
am afraid to say that it is too late to hound them. As a matter of fact, there are
no complaints from the public sector employees on this. Is it because the
brightest have already left the public sector? Is it because this system works
for them, as they are confident that they cannot find another job in the
competitive market showing their skills? Apparently, they only complain
when an employee, probably a more deserved candidate, is appointed to a
position violating the “seniority list”. How about the perception of the general
public about this situation? Are they happy? I am often mistaken by taking
their deafening silence as a sign of approval. Maybe I am wrong.
Public sector employees are also a section of society. They may themselves feel
the pain when they visit another public sector office to get their own personal
affairs attended. Maybe, discreetly, they curse about the incompetence and
inefficiency of the other officers. It is a known fact that public sector officers
defend each other, and use personal relationships to their advantage to get
personal affairs attended.
I challenge them to move out a bit from the bureaucratic web, and to do a self-
reflection exercise on their own behaviour, to enlighten themselves that they
are a part of the problem rather than the solution.
Let me tell you a story. Once, a very senior Sri Lankan public sector engineer,
who was an employee of an Australian City Council, approached his manager
and bemoaned that as a senior engineer, he should have been placed at a
higher salary point with more employment benefits. The manager replied to
him that he was not a ‘senior’ engineer, but an ‘old’ engineer, and advised
him to apply for a ‘higher’ position by demonstrating knowledge, skills,
competencies and experience, without just relying on the number of years in
the profession. The Sri Lankan public sector needs a cultural change.
Solution
Australian approach
The Australian Federal and State sector has struck the balance by restricting
seniority-based movement only within the grade and the class of the position,
using a combined method of counting the number of years served, and a
performance level (typically 1 to 5) through a structured performance
appraisal system. By the way, the public sector positions are in general
categorised under a grading system, and within a single grade, there is a
limited number of classes (typically 3 to 5). Jumping to the next grade is
completely a new ball game. It is an outcome of a new merit-based assessment
process for an employee, who should compete with external and internal
applicants.
In the Australian Local Government sector, the promotions are made more
liberally, but the movement within a grade is based on an outcome of a
structured performance evaluation system, without considering the number of
years served. Hence, the two employees who joined a city council on the same
day could move up in the employment ladder at different paces, based on the
levels of the performance, and the person lagging behind in performance has
no legal right to complain. Again, the securing of a job of the next grade is
dependent on the applicant’s ability to demonstrate the suitability at an open
interview, where the selection is made through a merit-based independent
assessment process.
Personal anecdotes
The one and only aim of the public is to send their children overseas for
studies and/or permanent living. Many interactions with Sri Lankans led me
to understand this common expectation, beyond any doubt. I get so many
requests from unknown Sri Lankans, seeking advice on fulfilling this dream.
This is a sad and also grave situation.
1.) Innovative minds: promotes employees to think out of the box and find
solutions to problems hindering the provision of intended services.
2.) Career growth: this is a collaborative effort by the leader and the team
member to make the team member ready to fulfil allocated duties, and at the
same time to provide necessary support to develop a career progression plan.
nGoal settings: This is a collaborative process between the leader and the
team member, to develop goals in accordance with the position requirements.
This requires the employee to understand organisation, department and unit
goals. Also it requires him or her to understand organisational values, code of
conduct, policies and procedures. This discussion will identify the relevant
corporate goals, and the leader and the team member will develop individual
goals in line with corporate goals. These goals are linked to Key Performance
Indicators which would be used to measure the progress of achievement.
nTraining and development: The team member must possess specific
qualifications, skills, and competencies to carry out the duties. It is a myth
that after obtaining a formal qualification, a person can operate during their
entire career without any further studies. It is said in international circles that
even a university degree qualification has 10 years shelf life, as the technology
and the theoretical applications in a particular discipline are progressively
changed rapidly. It is a race against the advancement of global affairs. This
means that an employee should follow refresher study courses, training
programs, and skill enhancement programs continually, to keep up with the
career demands and to maintain updated knowledge.
The aforementioned details are just the tip of the performance appraisal
model iceberg. Individual organisations must develop a model suited to them
with above objectives in mind. The Sri Lankan public sector should find a
way to introduce such an employee performance appraisal system, in addition
to the age-based seniority list. This way, public sector employees would be
populated with positive-minded people who could deliver better services. Such
people are also employable in the private sector for at least a further 10 years
after their retirement from the government service.
Posted by Thavam