By Jomo Paul
[www.inewsguyana.com] – A Junior Human Resource Management Consultant on Wednesday, September 23 told the Commissioners at the Public Service Commission of Inquiry that the government should take definite steps towards the review and restructure of rules and regulations in the public service.
Kemo Benjamin made the suggestion while under cross-examination by the Commissioners as the Inquiry held its second day of hearings. According to Benjamin, some of the existing rules are archaic and do not stand to benefit the administration of public service but rather negatively impact it.
“I would advocate for a review of the public service rules…persons are moving towards more policy based human resource systems and the rules are rigid and not as flexible as the human resource policy might be,” said Benjamin.
He pointed out that sometime ago a proposal on that idea was sent to the former administration but it was rejected.
“It was more of less an attempt to see how feasible it is to shift from a rule based approach to policy based approach. It was a proposal more or less. That proposal was presented; I don’t think it was ever accepted,” he stated.
He further noted, “I am not saying the rules are not good, I am just saying there needs to be a more modern approach.”
Meanwhile, another senior public service official recommended for the full implementation of a merit based appraisal system. Senior Public Service Officer in the department of Public Service at the Ministry of the Presidency, Gail Williams stated that at present, everyone gets the same salary increase whether their performance would have warranted an increase or not.
