Human Resource management needed for improved public service—says public official

Oct 15, 2015 News

Permanent Secretary, (PS) of the Ministry of Public Health, Trevor Thomas, has noted there is need for better human resource management, strategic planning in the health sector.
Thomas told the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the Public Service, yesterday, that extensive human resource management can be instrumental in the overall improvement and management of public service employees.
Speaking specifically about the personnel management, Thomas told the Commission that a solid human resource action plan is needed, in order to achieve on this objective. He noted that there is a difference between human resource management and personnel management.
According to the PS, while personnel management is a traditional approach of managing people in the organization, human resource management creates room to yield more from people in a modern approach of managing people and their strengths in the organization.
In this regard, the Public Health official held out that in human management, an environment is created in which persons within the organisation can achieve their maximum potential. “We need to remove personnel management to human resource management,” he said.
The PS pointed out too that planning is necessary to this aspect. He asserted that having a significant number of health personnel is not enough. “We must identify where the gaps are what our (health needs) are so that we can have suitably qualified persons/expertise to serve the public.”
Commenting on the need for a system of appraisal, Thomas said that persons within the sector must be selected based on merit, competence and qualification and performance. He said, “When people feel valued and respected, it can motivate them to go beyond the call of duty.”
Thomas is among several Permanent Secretaries scheduled to testify before the COI into the Public Service. The Commission was established to inquire into, report on, and make recommendations on the role, functions, recruitment process, remuneration, conditions and other matters pertaining to the personnel employed in the Guyana Public Service.
It is expected to determine measures to improve the efficiency of the public service, to review the methodology used in the classification and recruitment of public servants.
The inquiry is also expected to conduct a detailed examination of how the salaries and wages of public servants are determined and allocated; review the age of public servant retirement and make recommendations in this regard.
On Monday, Secretary of the Public Service Commission (PSC), Jai Singh, also testified before the Commission. As Head of the PSC, Singh also told the Commission that he functions as Secretary of the Police Service Commission and the Judicial Service Commission, (JSC).
He told Commissioners Harold Lutchman, Sandra Jones and Samuel Goolsaran that the Public Service Commission is only responsible for pensionable employees within the public service; the Department of Public Service handles all the contracted employment.
Singh also disclosed that part of the functions of the Public Service Commission is to advertise, shortlist and interview suitable candidates for vacant positions within the public service sector.
However, he said that most of the advertisements are not being done publicly since the PSC does not have the necessary funds to pay for the placement of public advertisements in newspapers and other media outlets.

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