Public servants urged to develop new fundamental principles to be more effective

DPI/GINA, Guyana, Monday, June 26, 2017

Public servants are being urged to develop a new set of fundamental Public Service principles, if they are to be effective, efficient and relevant in the 21^st century.

Permanent Secretary, Department of Public Service, Reginald Brotherson said that if public servants want, “to be relevant in this new and changing world, they must be career, results based and goal oriented.”

Permanent Secretary, Brotherson was speaking at an observance to mark International Public Servants Day, recently. He said that, “The successful public servant is the person who is getting up each morning to go to work because that’s what he loves to do. He/she is the public servant who has career goals, gets up and looks for the circumstances they desire and if they don’t find them, make them. She might not have a personal computer or printer, but being the steward of that government asset, resolves to use her pen, paper, ruler, and marker and create visual aids.”

He called out those public servants who entered the public service just because they were looking for a job, underperformed and look forward to salary increases at the end of the year.

“They are driven by exterior forces that compel them to occupy public space (no pun intended), underperform and still expect a raise of pay…there will be issues with how do we move someone salary in an incremental way for performances…if you’re lazy, you will get lazy pay,” Brotherson, while noting that the government will continue to work with those good public servants, but cannot continue to condone a system where there are those who are crippling the Public Service Sector.

Brotherson further noted that the Public Service Policy needs to be stimulating, to create enough action for satisfaction.  He added that public servants need to change the way they operate in the Public Service, to one that is innovative, customer friendly and economically progressive.

The Government has one mission, he said, noting that it is in the business of transforming Guyanese to enjoy the good life and realise their full and true potential.

“We intend to do this by advocating a new set of fundamental principles… We are a government that believes in participatory democracy (a fundamental human right), and since Involvement, Participation and Inclusion are marks of Good Governance, we intend to manage the customer experience and expectations by ensuring that there is greater Civic Engagement through Consultation, Multi-Sectorial and Stakeholder Collaboration,” Brotherson emphasised.

“Given the fact that Guyana is on a thrust of advancing its socio-economic development, to better position us for take-off, government intends to work with the regional and international agencies to converge its policies by assessing the Lessons Learned and Best Practices, in keeping with best practices”, Brotherson said.

Brootherson also spoke of the need to get into the ‘Internet of Things (IOT)’. He said that for too long paper based operations has ruled the service delivery, and challenged public servants to support the development and implementation of the government’s Information Communication Technology (ICT) solution that will transform public service delivery.

The United Nations general Assembly designated June 23 as Public Service Day. The UN Public Service Day celebrated the value and virtue of public service to the community. It also highlights the Public Service’s contribution in the development process, recognises the work of public servants and encourages young people to pursue careers in the sector.

 

By: Synieka Thorne