1/3rd of Directors to be managed out and 1/3rd found promising

P 1 may be next in line but no final decision yet

The Royal Civil Service Commission’s (RCSC) assessments of 59 executives at the Director position level found about one-third of the Directors promising.

The RCSC will be further testing their suitability to assume expanded roles. Together with executives at the Secretary and Director-General position levels, these Directors will be involved in driving civil service reforms and restructuring. Should the Directors do well in these additional responsibilities, while continuing to excel in their current positions, they may be considered for higher level appointments.

The assessment panel comprising of local and international assessors found that about one-third of the Directors failed to meet the high expectations required of executives holding these position levels. The RCSC is in the process of managing them out. Managing out would mean retirement or reassignments to junior ranks.

“This decision to manage our executives out had to be taken in service of our national objectives. Our executives may have been appointed to their current positions as a result of past accomplishments and contributions. But past performance in itself does not guarantee future results,” said a RCSC release.

The RCSC said this latest assessment is the third in a series of leadership assessment exercises for executives in the Civil Service, which was rolled out in January 2022 with 18 and 44 executives at the Secretary and Director-General position levels respectively.

It said these unprecedented leadership assessments have underscored the importance of having a system that continuously assesses civil servants at all position levels.

The RCSC said it began with the civil service leadership, because it is our leaders who drive results and exemplify accountability.

RCSC said regardless of how the executives performed in these assessments, the RCSC will continue to closely monitor their performance.

Those who consistently perform on the job will be rewarded and recognized. Underperformers will be managed out.

It said that collectively, these initiatives represent the fundamental shift in the RCSC’s approach towards leadership selection and performance management.

Apart from the above a source told this paper that the RCSC is looking at the possibility of a leadership assessment for the P 1 officers who are normally Chiefs of Divisions and PPD heads. They number at around 425.

This is because P 1 officers are also seen as leaders.

However, there is no final decision yet on whether this group will also undergo the same assessment though the source said the matter is under serious consideration by the RCSC.

The Secretaries, DGs and Directors who have been identified as not meeting expectations will be managed out in phases soon.