HUMAN RESOURCES TO THE RESCUE
The Lagos State Civil Service is fulfilling the democratic will of the people, writes Akintola Benson-Oke
The importance of the Civil Service can never be over emphasised. A public affairs commentator once noted that the civil service is the “functional body responsible for carrying on the administration under the direction and control of ‘elected representatives’ of people and in accordance with established rules and principles.”1 This is uniquely true: it is the function of the civil service to fulfil the democratic will of the people, as formulated by the elected government and approved by the legislature.
This function of fulfilling the democratic will of the people makes the civil service indispensable to the proper functioning of the society. It has thus been said that while the society and government may be able to function fairly acceptably in the temporary absence of the legislature or even the executive arm of government, noticeable breakdown of critical services would accompany the nonavailability of the civil service for any length of time.
The Lagos State administration under His Excellency, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode fully recognises this and has thus consistently invested in trainings and seminars directed at improving the knowledge and competence of civil servants in realisation that such improvements will translate into more efficient services on behalf of the people of Lagos State.
The aim of the Lagos State Government is to transform the civil service into the quintessential future workforce that can, in addition to delivering an effective human resources service and getting basic people processes right, also respond to the government’s current and future challenges in terms of skills gap and functionality.
Thus, this training will focus on the ability of the HR team of the Lagos State Civil Service to respond to the rapidly-occurring changes in work processes and socio-cultural norms and expectations. It will also focus on the modalities for attracting and retaining talented, committed and suitable candidates to fill all government and civil service positions. Furthermore, the facilitators will devote time and attention to empowering participants to design, develop, and implement strategies for building career paths and rewards that will encourage long term commitments to the civil service and fidelity to the lofty ideals of the service.
An important aspect of the training will also be the development and implementation of standards in the service. Well-formulated and implemented standards will ensure that expectations are properly managed, and top-notch service output is maintained. These standards, in my view, should cut across all areas including recruitment, continuous training, compensation, pension administration, career advancement, and discipline, among others.
Of equal importance is the aspect of this training dealing with succession planning. Going forward, we consider succession planning to be an integral aspect of the HR function. Following the sudden exit of the chief executive officer of a stock exchange-quoted company, an officer of the company noted as follows, among others, “For us, we are constantly thinking about succession, even at the board level. In this situation, our plan was for Graham to step into Chris’s role when he eventually retired or should a situation arise prior. At these times, we assess the combination of expertise and experience of our board of directors and make appointments to complement the team as a whole.”
During the process leading up to crafting the plan, he noted that “It was interesting to explicitly have the conversation with key people of ‘what happens if you can’t turn up to work tomorrow?’ Often it’s just not talked about but having that conversation was very healthy, and all of our team quickly embraced the concept of identifying successors.” Furthermore, he noted that, “we also insist our people take breaks. It’s a great test for the business if key people can be out of the office, and off email, for a few days or weeks and it continues to run smoothly. Even I do it. I often think, ‘who is the person I’d be most concerned about not being here?’ and ensuring that person takes some leave so we know they have the team to cover themselves.”
Indeed, as the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) has noted, succession planning is vitally important for ensuring the continued success of any organisation, in identifying and developing the talent which will fill your critical roles in the future, or in times of crisis. “Organisations of all sizes are now focusing on succession planning to ensure the leaders of the future are in place. It would be very bad business to not succession plan for the future.” A strong succession plan can identify and put together an agenda to train and mentor the right people to step into leadership positions. Typically, organisations would put together short, medium and long term succession plans. Succession plans should also form part of a structured civil service human resources plan. Dr. Benson Oke is Lagos State Commissioner for Establishment, Training and Pensions