The Bhutanese Leading the way.
During the 10th sitting of the First Session of the Fourth Parliament, the Good Governance Committee brought the Motion on the Review of Managing for Excellence (Max) in Civil Service into discussion.
The committee’s chairperson, MP Lhakpa Tshering Tamang, highlighted that the committee’s research is based on concerns about the increasing number of civil servants leaving.
The Good Governance Committee identified Partially Meeting Expectation (PME) as the specific moderation that is demotivating many civil servants.
“In the year 2022, 2,646 civil servants left, and in 2023, 4,797 left. As of April 2024, 704 more have left, totaling 8,149, which is worrisome,” said the Chairperson. “From 2021 until now, 10,134 civil servants have left their jobs. This translates to 5 teachers leaving their jobs daily and 157 teachers resigning monthly.” Stated the Chairperson.
The concern shared by the Chairperson is that schools will be left with only principals, and offices will have only managers or chiefs, highlighting a significant shortage of teachers and staff in both educational and administrative roles.
The Chairperson said, “To find the core reason for the increase in civil servants leaving their jobs, we conducted a survey that included civil servants from Chukha, Mongar, Trashigang, and Tashi Yangtse, totaling 106 respondents. From the survey, approximately 89% indicated that it is because of Max Moderation.”
Another reason identified through the survey is that many individuals reported not having good leaders in their work areas. Additionally, some civil servants mentioned having to shoulder the workload of two to three people due to the attrition rate.
While moving forward with the motion, the Chairperson also considered that moderations such as MaX and IWP are important. However, he pointed out that the way the category ‘Need Improvement’ is being implemented brings about many disadvantages to individuals.
The Chairperson asked, “Is there a need to compulsorily or forcefully mark 3% and 5% of individuals under the Need Improvement Category? Most civil servants are leaving due to this moderation exercise, contributing to the attrition rate.”
Furthermore, the committee’s research also revealed that many civil servants who have a strong desire to serve the nation are demotivated by this moderation. They have requested the committee’s assistance in advocating for changes in the ‘Partially Meeting Expectation’ (Need Improvement) category.
The committee member, MP Namgay Dorji, said, “Civil servants are compulsorily marked under PME in two parts. The first part includes Executives, Directors, and P1 senior officers, where a total of 5% must be placed in ‘Forced Ranking’ under the PME category. For individuals from P2 level and below, including supervisors, the requirement is 2%.”
Other committee members also emphasized the necessity of changing the forced ranking moderation to encourage and support civil servants.
The NA passed the recommendation to do away with the forced ranking or Bell-Curve methodology with 40 yes votes and 1 abstention.
The motion recommendation on the instruction of the house was reformulated as “Prime Minister in consultation with the Royal Civil Service Commission to review the MaX System of the Civil Service and do away with the Bell-Curve methodology for evaluating performance ratings of civil servants.”
