Manderson says no promotion without performance

| 15/07/2013

(CNS): With the continuing changes and the move towards accountability and transparency, Deputy Governor Franz Manderson has made it clear that performance and not just time served will dictate the promotion of government workers. According to the minutes released by his office from the civil service bosses' meeting on 24 June, the deputy governor spoke about the need to improve performance management throughout the civil service and for “upward mobility” in the public sector to be linked to performance. During the meeting government heads agreed that when staff are being considered for promotions, their last two performance assessments would be reviewed.

Where a performance assessment is not available, the senior staff decided that a report would be written by the employee’s line manager. In addition, Manderson told the chief officers that he intends to use a version of a 360 degree assessment as part of their performance assessments and encouraged them to use the HR tool themselves to assess their own heads of department.

These types of assessment include feedback from all staff in an immediate work circle and not just the heads. The assessments ask for the opinion of those who work under the managers and their peers as well as their superiors and a self-evaluation. Manderson indicated that the senior employees should complete staff assessments as soon as possible after the interim budget.

He also revealed that the 2011/12 Annual HR Report for the civil service, which contains information, key statistics andtrends impacting human resources within the public sector, was completed and would be published.

With staffing issues at the forefront of the meeting, Manderson said that he hadreceived a proposal from CIGTV for a program that would air once or twice per month highlighting what happens within the civil service, which was to be discussed further with the cabinet secretary and his team.

See 24 June minutes below.

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Cull the numbers by 10% and impose a pay freeze.  Of course this administration will be as spineless as Mac when it comes to standing up to the CSA.

  2. Soon Come says:

    CS promotions are now based on whether you perform your job. If you don't perform your job you won't get promoted, but instead have to remain not performing the job you have. Rather than move up the ladder to not perform… a higher ranking one this will be a disappointment to many in the CS.

  3. Anonymous says:

    OK. So who measures the "performance"?

     

    The same people who "game" the financial reporting mess.

  4. Sucka Free Cayman says:

    That should rule out 93% of the senior civil servants off the bat and everybody knows this is a system in which the old boy network runs and controls and has been so for years. A simple shoe in system and when they become too terrible or too outrageous or too plain and simply criminal or corrupt the golden handshake and parchute is deployed and a MBE "My bad eye" is thrown in to sweetend the old pot to leave and if they have secrets too hard to bury on the new leadership, a paying chairmanship on the various boards is handed over to them to make them feel they still hanging on to power.

    Finally for the ones who were guilty by omission (failing to act against oppression of others) or simply did nothing while everything goes down the tubes or they constipated the system so it fail to work. They usually try to run for elected office and get in sometimes.

    There it is folks in a nutshell the legacy of the civil servant tyrant or no use prick!

  5. Anonymous says:

    Franz should offer an incentive to customs staff based on their collections of duty and likewise be stiffly penalized for letting Government revenue walk through the door under the auspices of “Nothing to Declare”. This will help those who think Government should better manage finances just so long it doesn’t mean they have to contribute after landing with 10 suitcases after a short Miami trip. Too many friends, family members and fellow civil servants walk through that airport scotch free each day with a bligh from customs officers.

  6. Anonymous says:

    Withing government a promotion is not based on your performance, but on who you know.

    I know, because I am one of the few HARD working civil servants. I am only getting considerable more work and responsibility, but when I ask about a promotion/raise, there is "no budget".

    When I complain, the suggestion is to leave . . . . .

    • Anonymous says:

      I'm also in your same position after working many years but, I can only shake my head when I see all of the new iPhones etc. that keeps popping up in the hands of certain staff members or the appointment of new staff that happens to be a friend of someone in HR or some other big shot financial person in the right sections. Things that make ya go hmmm……

      • Anonymous says:

        Unfortunately thiat will continue until the new government repeal the PMFL and PSML and recentralize the HR and FINANCE operations to the Treasury Department and re-establish a Public Service Commission. Only then will thre be equality for civil servants. It will prevent hiring and promotion of friends. Not only that, but I guarantee you that the government accounts will be  prepared and submitted to the Auditor General by the statutory deadline each year, and the country will get there audited accounts on how government funds were spent. None of the Chief Officers are likely to agree with this because it strips them of all the power they now have. Lets look and see how many thumbs down I will get on this from those who are benefiting from this kind of power and authority.

        • Anonymous says:

          Total nonsense but it lets us know what sort of a clueless, don't-ever-change-anything in a hundred years, incompetent so can't get promotion  sort of civil servant you are.

        • Anonymous says:

          My Jesus, Wed 51, I had no idea we had so many entrenched dinosaurs commenting on this site. XXXX

    • Anonymous says:

      Gotta love this system. They started this one at my job and all the "veteran" staff now are receiving poor reviews and are being fired. Hmmm….could it relate to budget ( high paid staff= poor reviews). We are the ones with the highest education, most years of experience, most have many awards and accolades and all of a sudden this year- we are terrible! New staff= wonderful reviews, go figure! This new system= I smell a rat!

    • Anonymous says:

      Yep, there are plenty departments heads who spend their days running their side business, reading papers behind locked office doors or even taking a nap or not showing up to work at all.

      We believe that something is going to happen once action is taken and it is demonstrated that non-performance will result in demotion or dismissal no matter who you are or who you know!

    • Logic says:

      Well… If your performance is exceptional, you obviously lack what you just stated was needed for promotions. Get to know some important people in your sector, on a friendly level. You done know how Cayman works.

      • Anonymous says:

        The exact same upcoming mentality we are all scarred of that will pervert the word "performance" to mean somebody who works hard at weaseling him/herself to the top by going to the right church, wearing the right tie or dress, going to the right parties, has the model family, and bascially cultivating more irrelevant measures to divert attention and credit away from those who are really performing,

        • Performance says:

          You can perform in more ways than one. If you lack social abilities and a good reputation on this incredibly small island, who is going to respect you in the position you expect to be promoted into. By all means, ofcourse perform at the best of your abilities, but on this island people are always watching and you have to be prepared to perform socially as well. Its a fact not a mentality. You go anywhere else in the world you think you will excel just by performance? Bun dat, you have to have the right social skills. Learn how the world works and stop being upset that your being overlooked just because your an introvert.

          • Anonymous says:

            Yes, what this Island needs is self proclaimed social-lites who have mastered the birthday party. Do you want glorified caterers to be our next leaders. I know because I have been around in the CS for 40 years plus and see the exact same scamsters taking control of the workplace, not because they perform, but because they know how to excite others into believing that thier energy somewhow translates into performance….HA HA HA.

          • Anonymous says:

            We should exchange performance for how many parties you attend and how many firends you have on your facebook…brilliant.

          • Anonymous says:

            I really wish people would party alot when they were younger and get it all out of thier system, nothing more annoying than dealing with an old socialite at work who was probably an introvert when she was younger and now just acts like an adult that never got past her teenage angst. But she will probably get promoted since the others who are performing at an adut level are too intimidating to the supervisor and I am sure they will find someway to score them lower than the department socialite. 

          • Anonymous says:

            So your  rewarding popularity instead of suporting others hard work. My guess is that you got to where you are by copying others homework. Trash begets trash no matter how much you try to cover it up by having lots of friends who do the same. 

        • Anonymous says:

          Church or Lodge Temple?

  7. Anonymous says:

    doesn't matter….. things will only change when you start sacking some of them for non-performance…..

  8. Anonymous says:

    The performance model they use is from the 80's and is not relevant today.  It is so subjective and in one particular section not even related to performance.  Bottom line is if you like someone they can get a good performance and if you don't, a bad performance whether you do a good job or not.  Some guy sold the government a worthless outdated system, but that is nothing new.

    • Anonymous says:

      17:12, you clearly are completely out of touch and have no idea about the "performance model" (as you call it) which is in use today. The one you refer to has not been used for several years now.

      • Anonymous says:

        On the contrary, I am very familiar with it and also possess an education in psychology.  People are neither uniform or machines.  This performance review pays little attention to the job being performed and focuses on behavioural traits that are judged with an untrained mind.

        • Anonymous says:

          You are wrong, bobo. The one you are talking about was based on the "Hay System". It went out in the civil service some years back and was replaced by the performance agreement/performance assessment forms which do retain some behavioural stuff but only as a minority section. Not sure why you had to tell us about your "education in psychology".

          • Anonymous says:

            16:55, alas you are totally wrong and the poster at 7:50 is correct. I suggest you retire "gracefully" from the argument. Like far too many posters on CNS you make pronouncements (especially about civil service matters) that are palpably false and you make them as if they are fact. Readers of this blog who are not civil servants believe the sort of nonsense you and your like thinking "colleagues" (please admire my tact) print. It is sad. I challenge you to print a link to the appraisal system you are referring to. The one that is PRESENTLY IN USE is on the government intranet. Since you are so knowledgeable about all this, no doubt you have access to that.

          • Anonymous says:

            In my department all the Junior level staff got 2's and 1's and the managers 4's and 5's.  Makes you go hmmmmm.  Wonder how that can be when the Junior staff works and they attend meetings all the time.

  9. Anonymous says:

    So managers or department heads who have been over the past few years been giving thier chosen few special projects rewarded with cash and benefits under the table,  can now rationalize how their chosen few have outperformed others who weren't given the same oppurtunities.  The game has,is, and will continue to be fixed however they try to present themselves as legitamate. 

  10. Anon says:

    So let me understand this.  The only people who need to perform are the ones who want to get ahead?  So if I don't want more responsibility I can just not perform and collect a pay cheque?  Is that the reason we have those four cs people who have collected salaries for so long without showing up to work?

    We need to expand this scheme. Everyone needs to met minimum performance levels. Those who exceed move up, those who meet stay where they are and those who still don't meet the required performance levels (after additional remedial training) – see you later.

    Also, what happens if an expat over performs when there are suitably qualified caymanians who do not perform as well? Do we promote the expat over the caymanian? Just curious!

    • Anonymous says:

      Not just a pay cheque! Free health insurance for you and your entire family, free petrol for your car and your family's cars and your boat and anything else you want to fuel. Free, paid (including per-diems) first-class holidays when you go on "business travel". Rubber stamping of questionable expense claims. The opportunity to give your friends and family lucrative positions and contracts. Under the table perks and kick backs. And in return you surf the internet for 3 hours a day and take a 2 hour lunch and can never be fired.

    • Anonymous says:

      Not really sure your last comment makes sense. Obviously if an expat is "over" performing and a Caymanian is not, then it would make sense to promote the expat.

      I'm all for Caymanian's 1st, IF they deserve it. If you have two equally qualified people doing the same job, however one (the expat in this case) is excelling and the other (the Caymanian) is just getting by, why should the Caymanian be promoted over the expat?

      I think it is long past due that those few Caymanians who believe they are entitled to jobs, promotions etc, learn that they are not. If however they work hard and go above and beyond what is required of them, them maybe they will be considered. Believe me I know 1st hand.

  11. Anonymous says:

    Too little too late. The idea of accountability is a joke to most of them. Civil Service is full of people that are connected, family, political appointments and brothers in Lodge who always look out for each other, tax payers pay the salaries and ultimately for their expensive mistakes and poor performance.

  12. Anonymous says:

    Wow — you mean performance-based promotion is FINALLY coming to help the good, hard-working stalwarts of the CI Govt?

  13. Anonymous says:

    baby steps – but now say 'no performance = loss of job'

    Cause there are thousandsin their that are not performing.

     

    • Anonymous says:

      "Thousands" in "their" (sic) 14:03? Really? Do you think you might be exaggerating just a tad?

  14. Anonymous says:

    What about poor performance, local passport vs good performance, foreign passport?  Surely passport trumps performance?  That is what we have to put up with in the private sector, the forced recruitment of the merely "suitably qualified".

  15. Anonymous says:

    What is really needed to encourage performance is for every management position in the CS to be given to the best person for the job rather than given automatically within the same  department or Ministry. Thereis no reason for the type of incestuous promotion system now used.

  16. Anonymous says:

    Toes this mean that performance was not considered when making promotions in the CS before now? That's incredible…welcome to the real world.

    • Anonymous says:

      The current system is like the school system. You get a star for showing up more than 75% of the time.

      • Anonymous says:

        By the size of many civil servants I reckon you get a cake or two just for showing up.

    • Anonymous says:

      No, performance was not considered. How do you think most of the people who made this new policy got where they are? There are so many ways for nepotism and favouritism to prevail. Those reports that managers will have to write and performance assessments from the past 2 years will still be written by the good ole boys.

    • Anonymous says:

      I hope they don't limit the definition of "promotion" includes "raise in pay" – cause those Government workers are tricky. They will say we gave them a raise, but no one got promoted because their titles are the same.

  17. noname says:

    Obviously a HUGE change in policy.  One that will be a hard sell to the current heads of departments.

    • Anonymous says:

      Woooo, 2013 and our CIG have discovered a new WORD,  [ "PERFORMANCE"],

      GREAT, now let's seeee some action, wonder who will do those twice yearly performance appraisals and who will appraise the appraiser aprasee???????. 333333333333r,s  {{{{{{{{

  18. Anonymous says:

    It is bizarre to include in the minutes that if the manager has failed to do proper performance assessments as required by the Public Service Management Law, then the same manager should do some type of report instead. How about reprimanding the delinquent manager or is that still too much to ask???

  19. Anonymous says:

    The Deputy Governor is to be commended as these minutes actually say something about how the public's money is being spent.

    The implementation of performance as a criterion for advancement is a welcome change in the civil service. However, given that those doing the assessment of subordinates did not necessarily get to their positions on the basis of performance, isn't implementation of performance based promotion going to be difficult? Some of those in middle and senior positions in the civil service are undoubtedly threatened by the idea of performance based promotions.

    One last note, 360 based reviews are useful, but in situations where a manager drives out those employees likely to have justifiable complaints, proper review should include exit reports on the demoralised workers displaced by incompetent managers.

    • Anonymous says:

      Start with Customs and Immigration……. CIG two biggest Revenue streams.. When a person has to stand in line at security checkpoint at  Owen Roberts Intl airport for 1.5 Hours and don"t even reach Immigration benches that SUCKS to say the least. Upon reaching there you notice that its ONLY 3 Officers working and almost 125 people in the line. Airlines are calling for people to BOARD their flights or else bags are going to be removed. This PROBLEM still remains and has been going on for far too LONG!!!!!                                 . Customs is Similar that when you go to clear goods there is always inadequate staffing and it takes up a lot of time for people to clear their goods when they could be elsewhere like their JOBS!!!!!!   These two departments need to be realigned ASAP for the betterment of Cayman… They act very dysfunctional!!!                                                                                                                             

  20. Otherview says:

    This is a great idea.   The CIG will save millions over the coming years as there will be little to no promoting justified.  Performance based promotions only happen when one performs at or above the expectations of the superiors.  I don't see that happening.  The days of entitlement are waining.

    • Anonymous says:

      You forget that performance measurement is subjective and that the expectations of the superiors was set in the current entitlement-based system.

    • Anonymous says:

      Yes 8;52

      The days of entitlement are waining! it has destroyed the integrety of the Caymanian people.

       

      And thank God for that!

    • Anonymous says:

      While I agree that there have been undeserving promotions within the civil service over the years there are also a lot of deserving civil servants who are never considered for a promotion. You comments make it seem as though all civil servants are lazy and undeservng and that is certainly not the case.

      I have seen civil servants go over and beyond many times and got no compensation: no overtime, no time in lieu, not even a "thank you" much less a promotion.

      While I think the idea of not promoting simply based on the length of time a person has worked there or because of who you know is a great one I have a sinking feeling that what will also happen is those deserviing will still be ignored and passed over.