AGAIN, OHCSF PARTNERS KAS TO ORIENT DIRECTORS IN MDAs

AGAIN, OHCSF PARTNERS KAS TO ORIENT DIRECTORS IN MDAs

Towards the sustenance of the implementation and consolidation of the gains of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2021-2025 (FCSSIP 25), the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF), in collaboration with the Konrad Adenauer - Stiftung (KAS) Foundation, has concluded a 2-day orientation workshop for Directors/Heads of Reform Coordination and Service Improvement (RCSI) Departments drawn from various Ministries, extra- Ministerial Departments and Agencies(MDAs).  This second batch of the Workshop was attended by 52 Directors.

The Permanent Secretary, Service Policies and Strategies Office (SPSO), OHCSF, Mr. Okokon Ekanem Udo, in his Keynote Address, stated that the Workshop is meant to take the Directors/Heads, RCSI through the various components of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2021-2025 (FCSSIP 25), with a view to driving the ongoing reform efforts of the OHCSF aimed at repositioning the Federal Civil Service for improved performance and service delivery. It provides strategic direction for the Civil Service’s administrative reforms, which is one of the pillars of the National Strategy for Public Service Reforms (NSPSR) being driven by the OHCSF, through the Department of Civil Service Transformation that facilitates inter-Ministerial linkages with all relevant stakeholders amongst whom the Directors/Heads, RCSI, are key players.

He further stated that the Successor Plan – FCSSIP 25, which was officially launched on June 23, 2022, is a significant improvement on the erstwhile plan, FCSSIP 20 because it collapsed the eight (8) priority areas into six (6).

The six (6) priority areas are (i) Accelerate capacity building and talent management (ii) Institutionalize Performance Management (iii) Improve IPPIS – HR Module (iv) Institutionalize innovation in the Public Service (v) Accelerate delivery of content service platforms and (vi) Enhance value proposition for Civil Servants.

During the course of the Workshop, the following topics were, extensively, analysed by the FCSSIP Project Management Team Leads from the OHCSF.

(a) Why is Reform Undertaken in the Federal Civil Service and How Should it be done, (b) Capacity Building and Talent Management and the Prospects for Transforming the Service through a knowledge-driven Approach

(c) Salary Harmonization and Non-Monetary Incentives for Civil Servants, (d) Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) and the New Human Resource Module, (e) Performance Management: Entrenching a Merit-Based System in the Service, (f) Digitalisation of Records and Processes for Improved Service Delivery, (g) What Instigated the Series of Ongoing Reforms in the Federal Civil Service, (h) Institutionalising Innovation and Creativity in the Service and (i) Evolving Strategies for Engaging the Departments of Reform Coordination and Service Improvement in the Implementation of FCSSIP 25 in the MDAs.

In his Welcome Remarks, the Resident Representative, KAS Foundation, Marija Peran, disclosed that the Successor Plan has the objective of consolidating the achievements of the FCSSIP 20, stressing that it offers relevant cornerstones and guidance for Civil Servants. He added that after its launch, there was a necessity to orient the Directors of RCSI, who are to midwife the processes in their respective MDAs.

Earlier, the Director, Civil Service Transformation, OHCSF, Dr John Magbadelo, opined that the Workshop was approved by the Head of Service, in the belief that the Participants occupy pivotal positions in anchoring and popularizing the reform initiatives encapsulated in the FCSSIP.

In a Communique issued at the end of the Workshop, it was resolved, amongst others, that; (i). Permanent Secretaries should reposition and strengthen Departments of RCSI in order to deliver on FCSSIP 25 and beyond, (ii). The drivers of reforms should be knowledgeable about the reform roadmap in the Service and ensure cascading it down to staff in their MDAs, (iii). Departments of RCSI carry out regular sensitisation programmes on FCSSIP 25 and other reform initiatives of the Government’, (iv). Renewed commitment in capacity building of Civil Servants through SMAT-P, LEAD-P, other regular and customised training Programmes, Service-wide to be sustained and enhanced, (v). Civil Servants should be allowed to engage in businesses other than agriculture and its value chain to enhance their value proposition, while in the Service and (vi). Development of mechanisms and schemes to guarantee Civil Servants owning houses provided by the Government.

 

M. A. Ahmed,

Deputy Director, Communications.

September 9, 2022.