Streamline public service to weed out the incompetent staff

Editor, Incompetence may result simply from putting an individual in a job they are not suited for. What systems does Public Service Commission (PSC) have in place to ensure the best women and men are put into the right jobs right from entry point positions throughout the Public Service? How does it help manage career development and promotions within the entire system and always ensure that meritocracy is the golden standard? During the recent Umushyikirano, I was surprised that the Minister for Education had to fend off efforts to allow students with low grades to be allowed to continue on to institutions of higher learning. If this lowering of standards has been used to allow unqualified people into the public service then we shouldn’t be surprised that we have incompetent performers across the service at all levels. And, remember, a machine can perform only at the level of its weakest part. It also means more time spent on either carrying useless ballast (deadweight or deadwood, take your choice) or correcting debilitating mistakes of people who should never have been hired in the first place. Another factor behind such incompetence is the degree of managerial autonomy. In many public services, individual managers have little leeway when it comes to the usual levers of motivating staff to improve performance or be dismissed. Many appraisal systems are also poor at helping manage public service performance, careers, rewards and disciplinary processes. And yet our public service is vital to transforming Rwanda into a middle income country in the very short time we have given ourselves. Countries like Singapore or South Korea have public services that are the envy of the best private corporations when it comes to staff prospection, recruitment (the entry examinations are incredibly difficult and weed out even some of the best university graduates), training, support, pay and career management. This is what helped them to be where they are. We need to emulate them, if even a little. Mwene Kalinda, Kigali Reaction to the story, “PSC boss faults employers for overseeing incompetent staff” (The New Times, December 9)

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Streamline public service to weed out the incompetent staff