CTUSAB head calls for radical changes

The most important drivers of performance, apart from wages and salaries, are employee satisfaction and morale.

Insisting that public service management pay close attention to these, President of the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB), Cedric Murrell, said that ways had to be looked at in improving the overall performance of the sector. He identified that a good starting point was to address the current human resources management practices and place greater emphasis on non-monetary incentives.

“At a time where there is much concern about the size of the public service, it is to be accepted that there is a need for some adjustments. The adoption of a policy of right-sizing will have impact, if it also includes retooling and multi-skilling of public sector employees,” he added.

Delivering remarks at the Central Bank’s Grande Salle at the launch of the Week of Excellence, Murrell stated that improvements in Public Sector Productivity would more likely be achieved when there was a radical change to the systems, processes and practices that are now engaged.

“The responsibility lies with the Public Sector to enhance service delivery, to achieve seamless delivery of services, to increase customer satisfaction and to reduce costs. There is also a need to replace traditional outmoded practices and procedures with simplified ones, remove overlapping and duplication where it exists,
increase public accountability, encourage more data sharing across ministries, departments and agencies, and upgrade public sector training to improve and enhance leadership development,” he stressed.

Admitting that Barbados’ issue was one of implementation, Murrell urged that the example set by Malaysia be drawn upon, including its specific calls for establishing dedicated project teams across ministries and agencies to enhance policy coordination and supervision and monitoring of projects to ensure timely completion.

The CTUSAB head added that the time has come for the introduction of performance measurement on a wider scale in the public sector. (JMB)

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