GC, CSA, LIPA hold Seminar for Human Resource Directors from 19 MACs
The Governance Commission (GC), in collaboration with the Liberia Institute for Public Administration (LIPA) and the Civil Service Agency (CSA) held a one day orientation/training seminar on “the Role of Human Resource Directors in the Public Sector Reform Process” (on December 8, 2015) for Human Resource Directors (HRDs) as part of the Civil Service Reform Project, CSRP.
An assessment of the CSRP identified the need for an HR orientation staff skill assessment which the one day seminar (held the GC) addressed. At the seminar, HRs received orientation on how to fill assessment form, collect data and conduct analysis on staffing, qualification, recruitment among others. The collected and analyzed data will help GC determine how to restructure/reform the MFR of a given Ministry or Agency. Dr. Dominic Tarpeh heads the GC Public Sector Reform Mandate Area. In his welcome and opening remarks, Dr. Tarpeh urged participants to become the agents of change Liberia so urgently needs during this period of transformation.
The Seminar’s objectives included highlighting challenges of the public sector reform (PSR), inspiring HRDs to contribute to the achievements of the goals of the PSR, and to understand how to complete and supervise the MFR Staff/Skills Assessment Form when completed. Sub topics and agenda items were carefully selected to assure improved and sustained HRDs performance.
Agenda items discussed included background of Public Sector Reform Process, HRDs as Change Agents, important members of the Internal Reform Committees, importance of Effective Personnel Assessment, Assessment Considerations, and plan, design and organize reform activities within ministries, including Mandates and Functions, organization designs, establishment Posts, Rightsizing, Pay and Grading, among others. The Seminar brought together HR Directors from 19 ministries, agencies, and commissions.
The Importance of Effective Personnel Assessment noted eight (8) benefits:
Employees who possess the right competencies are more likely to contribute to an agency’s success;Increases our ability to accurately predict the relative success of each department on the job; Hiring, placing, and promoting greater number of superior performances; Reduced turnovers; Decreases the likelihood of a bad hire; Enhanced job satisfaction for new hires and a more cohesive and effective work group; Cost savings to the organization; Costs of Hiring the Wrong person includes wasted salary, benefits, severance pay, headhunters’ fees, training costs and hiring time which can be prohibitive.
Participants also learned more about assessment considerations, and assessment tools – assessment center and assessment strategy. Assessment Considerations emphasizes Reliability and Validity. Reliability relates to the extent to which an assessment tool is consistent or free from random error in measurement; while Validity highlights the extent to which an assessment tool measures what it is intended to measure.
The seminar identified and briefly discussed two examples of the Assessment Tool – Assessment Center and Assessment Strategy.Assessment Center consists of multiple assessments to evaluate small groups of applicants on a variety of job-related competencies. It is designed to resemble actual challenges that will be found on the job. Applicant performance is observed and evaluated by the multiple trained assessors. Job Knowledge Test involves specific questions developed to determine how much the applicant knows about a particular job tasks or responsibilities. On the other hand, the Assessment Strategy identifies job-relevant competencies, design the assessment Strategy and identify Assessment Methods.
As mentioned earlier, the HRDs Seminar is an activity of the Civil Service Reform Project (CSRP). The Project’s objectives include a) To capacitate LIPA and support Mandate and Function Review undertaken by Governance Commission (GC), b) To strengthen governance and c) To build the capacity of CSA to deliver on its mandate and coordinate reforms across government institutions.
The CSRP is a three year World Bank sponsored project which started since June 2012 and expected to end in February this year (2016). Achievements of the Project include putting in place proper record management system at the CSA; trainings provided by Kenyan School of Government in the areas of Performance Management System, Change Management and Strategic Planning; Deputy Ministers of the Internal Reform Committees (IRCs) trained at George Town, USA; Implementation of the Mandate, Function and Review (MFR) revitalization; and provision equipment.
As the project comes to a gradual close, assessment of the CSRP shows remarkable improvements in the performances and outputs of the various ministries, agencies and commissions (MACs) that participated in the project. Prior to the CSRP, the MACs faced the following challenges:
It is however important to note that MACs that participated in the CSRP overcame these challenges and can now boost of the following:
It is important to note that not all MACS fully participated in all activities carried out under the CSRP, but there is hope that with continuous support, all government institutions/civil servants will eventually benefit from similar projects.
