Minister launches performance system
MBABANE – While government employees are known to be sluggish and sometimes absent from work, their employer has introduced a tool to uncover shortcomings in the workplace, known as the Performance Management System (PMS).
The PMS was launched by the Minister of Public Service, Mabulala Maseko, at Happy Valley Hotel in Ezulwini yesterday.
Launching the PMS, the minister said the development of the system was identified as one of the focal areas for the Ministry of Public Service, as a means to inculcate a culture of service excellence in the public service.
Maseko stated that by its very nature, the PMS was a diagnostic tool which could uncover the ills and shortcomings in the working systems of an organisation.
The minister stated that they were confident that the rollout of the PMS compromised service delivery in the public service.
Maseko mentioned that the PMS was a holistic process of tracking employee performance in a consistent and measurable approach, thus creating a work environment in which people performed to the best of their abilities.
He said as the country moved towards embracing the Fourth Industrial Revolution, government had opted for an electronic version of the system, which went along with strategic priority number three of infrastructure, investment & innovation.
Government
Maseko said a situational analysis carried out within the Public Service indicated that the current appraisal used by government had certain shortcomings.
These shortcomings, he said, included that the appraisal was subjective since the employee’s role was very minimal in the actual evaluation process.
“The supervisor is at liberty to decide how far they could be involved. Furthermore, the appraisal does not provide for work planning, making it difficult for employees to know what is expected of them and how they would be evaluated at the end of the year,” he said.
Maseko said the evaluation was not linked to the ministerial strategies and employees worked on the basis of what was on their desks or what was assigned to them, which was sometimes not linked to their ministerial strategies.
He said the appraisal was used inconsistently, mostly when there were vacancies to be filled or upcoming promotions.
Through the introduction of the new, revamped performance management tool, Maseko said it was envisaged that performance-related issues would be abated.
“This is so because the PMS seeks to bring a state where an individual’s performance is informed by the ministerial strategic objectives and departmental work plans, as indicated in the presentations.”
The minister stated that performance was monitored throughout the year instead of it being a once-off event at the end of the year.
Maseko said this was done through the numerous stages of evaluation.
He stated that there was acconstant performance-related communication between the employee and the supervisor throughout the year.
The minister said there was also a continuous performance development and improvement through an employee assistance programme.
Also, Maseko mentioned that there was a well structured and properly aligned work processes, which would increase the synchronisation of work within departments and ministries.
Ministry
Member of the Public Service Portfolio Committee, Nokunceda Bujela commended the ministry for the great job, adding that they were wishing for civil servants to be monitored properly while on duty.
Bujela said this showed that the country was moving forward. She also said those who would be found not working would be turned back as the performance would indicate such.
Bujela said she was happy with the PMS as employees and managers would communicate easily and report their work progress.