Minutes reveal issues over civil service survey
(CNS): Although problems were not spelt out in the minutes of the 26 August chief officers meeting, more work is needed on a survey of the civil service designed to take the pulse of public sector workers after cuts and austerity measures. The minutes, released by the deputy governor’s office, show that thechief officers discussed the pros and cons of two sample surveys and have identified a need for further research, which will be under taken by Acting CO Ian Fenton. He has also been tasked with refining the objectives in consultation with Deputy Governor Franz Manderson to ensure that the results of the opinion survey will be useful.
The minutes also record that civil service management needs to look at promotional possibilities to ensure maximum participation in the survey, which will be used to create new policy and deal with the need for further operational cost reductions. A chief officers sub-committee has been established to provide outcomes of the research and detailed feedback to the deputy governor and agree the next steps towards implementation.
The external examination results for Year 12 show significant improvements in the passes gained, the ministes record. 61% achieved 5 or more high level passes (A-C or I-III) compared to 49% last year.
In addition, Manderson thanked chief financial officers as government entities submitted their respective financial statements for the 2012/13 financial year on time for the third year in a row.
However, while they all made the deadline again, Auditor General Alastair Swarbrick, speaking at the Public Accounts Committee meeting last week, made it clear that the quality of the submissions was still very poor, describing some as “abysmal”.
Category: Politics
No survey can root out the problem of tribalism, familyism and cronyism. We already know its there. Caymanians at the top are in secure and incompetent. The best defence is to build an inpenetrable barrier using who you can in friends, family and expats. Expats are easier sycophants with the threat of removal always there. For serious change the head of the CS needs to man up and recognise this as a major underlying problem!
The Jealous posts from the private sector workers continues. Thankfully my bosses in the Civil Service cares enought about me to conduct a survey to determine the issues facing civil servants. In the private sector your boss would give you a fat bonus and tell you to shut up. Please do not be deterred by the neagtive posters.
Donuts. The post above is best read imagining the writer speaking while mucnhing through a box of donuts.
You don't need a survey. Civil servants are miserable and want more money. They are always this way. Just get rid of 10% of them and freeze their wages.
The Auditor General made a mistake he should have said Abysmal Leadership too!
Perhaps the DG and his crack squad will consider at the next meeting discussing and accurately minuting the concept of accountability within the civil service. I would suggest a starting point of firing for "cause" any CFO and CO who has provided abysmal accounts for their respective Ministry, departments and statutory agencies to the Auditor General.
Doing a survey is really easy, doing a good survey is really hard.
Please take the time and effort to make this worthwhile and do not simply use an off-the-shelf survey.
All you ever hear from the civil service are surveys, studies, reports, assessments, meetings to organize committees to do a report and make recommendations, bla, bla, bla. When are they going to do anything productive? Doesn't anyone there have the balls to make a decision and actually change something? It's unbelievable!
Just another exercise in futility an another lame excuse or reason for them not to deal with corruption and nepotism and incompetence in government. Yes another commitee wth the Oblivion Syndrome. The fleecing of our government continues by the chosen few!
The Minutes tell us nothing. Why bother publishing them? What are the surveys to be about? Everyone knows that moral among civil servants is down. We keep attacking their rights as employees yet we keep asking our government for more or new services. Does it sound realistic to have a new or extended service with no new employees? Let us consider by putting ourselves in the shoes of civil servants (not all of them are earning $100,000+ per year – those are the new-comers from the private sector who are deciding their own salary) … your employer unilaterally changes your contract (i.e. cut your salary) and tells you to do more with less … year after year. On top of that your employer goes out of the company and hires new employees for a post you have been upgrading yourself for – out-of-pocket … at your own expense. Your company would rather employ a new employee and add new pension and health insurance costs that to promote very capable people from within. Government is just like any other employer – disloyal to its employees. Yet we have Chief Officers who have the clueless audacity/insensitivity to consider developing a survey because civil servants moral is down. Get a clue!! Get in touch with your empathy. I swear … the higher some people get the more air-headed, out-of-touch and clueless they become. SMDH!!!
I am a former civil servant.
A number of years ago I wanted a raise. That was not possible within government so I quit and gave myself a good raise by moving to the private sector.
This jump is simple for truly competent civil servants.
Are these minutes, or seconds?
Keeping minutes to missplace hours.
Folks! The following says it all!
Auditor General Alastair Swarbrick, speaking at the Public Accounts Committee meeting last week, made it clear that the quality of the submissions was still very poor, describing some as “abysmal”.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I don't believe for a minute, that those responsible for getting out these reports, are in anyway purposefully trying to delay the process! I do believe however, that some of these persons have been promoted to this position knowing that they were lacking proper experience and the skills necessary to do the job properly.
Thus I would suggest, that to avoid this kind of embarrassment in the future, we no longer place persons in these positions before they have acquired the requisite skills to get the job done in a timely and efficient manner!
Survey??
Let me help you..it is overstaffed, inefficient and the Civil Service is neither civil or servile. And it costs far to much. Many have their own businesses on the side. A lot do not turn up for work or work "Cayman" hours which is what is giving Caymanians a bad reputation as employees. Morale? Who cares…this has been teh gravy chain for years and all good things must come to an end.
There's your survey, and I will not even charge for it.
Sadly it is going to need someone totally unconnected, dare I say it, an expat to get in shake it up, sort it out, reduce numbers, pay those that work better and those that dont nothing.
Please remember that half of the problems are the Expats who are at the top- who should have been retired long time ago to allow some of the more qualified younger staff to progress – the other half of the problem is the "Caymanian" chief officers who once they got to the top are merely looking out for themselves and their extra curricular activities and dumping on their underlings!! If we could fix that then all would be OK