Non-monetary incentives the way to go
THE protracted face-off between government and its workers over salaries is threatening the realisation of the national vision. In 2017, the government committed itself to transforming Zimbabwe into an upper middle income economy. That vision is only realisable if all hands are on the deck.
The vision entails and provides an opportunity for reconstruction of the economy, creating opportunities for citizens.
This informs the incessant demands for salary adjustments by civil servants whose current wages have admittedly diminished their dignity.
If the current salary regime is maintained, as it now seems, the civil servants will be left out of the envisioned middle income economy. With disgruntled civil servants, the journey to Vision 2030 will be bumpy.
It is a fact that civil servants are critical enablers of economic transformation and, as such, their grievances must be addressed.
The step taken by President Emmerson Mnangagwa when he met Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association officials is positive and we hope that such engagement will find a lasting solution to the salaries logjam.
The salary stand-off has been largely caused by lack of sincerity by both players. The workers and the employer are, respectively, demanding and offering untenable salaries.
The two should come up with a practical salary structure that enables workers to live a dignified life while leaving room for realisation of budget savings, supportive of redirecting expenditures from consumption towards development. Understandably, government has a lot on its plate apart from meeting salary obligations. The situation is exacerbated by lack of productivity in the economy, a situation that requires indulgence of workers.
However, there are a lot of other avenues that government can exploit such as non-monetary incentives for its workers. When workers demand salaries, they will be bench-marking them with the prices of basics.
Since most civil servants are tenants who pay rentals to landlords, they demand salaries that afford them such rentals.
Government would ameliorate their plight by providing houses or stands for its employees who, in turn, would lower their salary demands.
Government set for itself a target to build houses. That should start with building houses for its employees. No sane father can donate food to neighbours when his own family is hungry.
The civil servants can be organised to pool their resources for servicing the stands government would have made available to them. With a roof over their heads, the salary that government is offering will be enough.
There will be no need to pay rent, which is currently chewing large chunk of their salaries.
Last week, Local Government deputy minister Marian Chombo warned local authorities against demanding payment of bills in foreign currency at 1:1 exchange rate.
She told Parliament that if one volunteered to pay in forex, the auction rate should be used and stressed that the 1:1 rate was abolished.
Going by what she said in Parliament about local authorities, government can peg the civil servant’s outstanding lease rentals at US$88.
It might sound economically ridiculous to Finance minister Mthuli Ncube, but that’s government policy which should be implemented for the greater good.
The Local Government ministry can also organise food hampers that can include mealie-meal and cooking oil to reduce pressure on civil servants’ salaries.
Another thing is the issue of policy inconsistency, it erodes all the confidence were have in our leadership.
By converting its charges to United States dollars, as suggested by Chombo, government is admitting something. This gives credence to civil servants’ demand for their previous salaries to be converted at a 1:1 rate and then indexed to the existing auction rate.
As much as there is need for budget surplus and need to harness revenues from all sources, there is also need to have a human face in doing so.
Mnangagwa committed himself to servant leadership, which listens with empathy. Here is a situation that will test his sincerity in propounding that leadership style.