Council facing ‘challenges’ to create culture of competency
‘Appointments away from genes or relationships’
KUWAIT CITY, Sept 9: The Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development, Dr. Khaled Mahdi, stressed the council faces a challenge to create a culture within the government apparatus based on the foundations of productivity, efficiency and measurement of performance, and pointed to the endeavor to move away from the prevailing thought when it comes to employing competent people and said “we want to promote a culture of competency away from the genes or relationships,” reports Al-Rai daily.
He said this on the sidelines of the press conference which was held at the Arab Planning Institute headquarters under the title ‘Towards a National Development Leadership’ in which the Institute’s Director, Dr. Badr Malallah, also took part.
Mahdi said that appointments worldwide are done on 3 axes, either with genes, relationships or competencies, and we want to enhance the concept of competencies through professional development by developing support programs.
He went on to say, “We have carried out this process since 2016 with the former Minister Hind Al-Sabeeh, where we implemented more than one program for the process of selecting candidates for positions and leadership positions.
“These initiatives are in response to an invitation from HH the Prime Minister during his meeting with senior officials, in which he touched upon the digital transformation, fighting corruption and developing leadership. It is our duty to respond to the development vision of leadership in this direction,” he said.
Mahdi stressed that “trainings is a prerequisite for promotion, and this is a government trend currently, as the Prime Minister mentioned that every leader must understand that his presence in his/her respective assignment is based on looking at the extent of productivity, efficiency and management, as well as based on his/her performance.
He announced the launch of the government agencies development center project, which is one of the important centers to enhance the capabilities of employees, pointing out that “the Civil
Service Commission is currently considering to ensure there is a link in the transition from a supervisory stage to the next stage (from a department head to an observer to a manager), so that it is it is based on the competencies which are evaluated from time to time.
He stressed that the main goal is to move away from the prevailing thought that leaders come through unclear paths, “and the culture that we want to promote is away from genes or relationships, but rather with focus on competencies.”
In response to a question about whether what he meant was the end of ‘Parachute’ appointments, Mahdi said: “We aspire to achieve a target, which is to have highly qualified leaders. As for previous practices that are called by any name, if they do not serve this purpose. We are trying little by little to move away and focus our efforts more on achieving results.”
For his part, the Director-General of the Arab Planning Institute, Dr. Badr Malallah, said, “The program derives its importance from the fact that it
deals with one of the most important issues in the Kuwaiti arena at the present time, which is represented in developing the capabilities of leaders in government institutions, which are the focus of the development process.
Malallah indicated that the launch of this program coincides with the government’s directions and what the Prime Minister put forward in the meeting with senior officials by laying emphasis on the importance of the role the senior officials play, especially in the current pandemic stage.