ENHANCED VALUE PROPOSITION FOR CIVIL SERVANTS FROM THE DESK OF THE HEAD OF SERVICE

ENHANCED VALUE PROPOSITION FOR CIVIL SERVANTS FROM THE DESK OF THE HEAD OF SERVICE

Enhancing the value proposition for Civil Servants is non-negotiable. The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation has envisioned this since 2015 and mapped out strategies to actualize this objective.

Realising that staff welfare is key to transforming the public service, the government has demonstrated its commitment to ensuring that staff welfare takes a priority position in reform programmes. These include, but are not limited to, wage increments, good working conditions and environments, empowerment opportunities, provision of affordable housing, adequate healthcare, recreational facilities, etc. This is in line with our drive towards a new Civil Service of our dream.

Notably, the sixth pillar of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan (FCSSIP21-25), which targets improving staff welfare with a prioritised initiative to enhance civil servants' value proposition, further buttressed this. Incorporating staff welfare as one of the six pillars of the Strategy further underscores the value the government places on the lives and well-being of Civil Servants, a section of the population saddled with the responsibility of driving development in Nigeria through policy formulation and implementation.

The term “value proposition for Civil Servants” refers to all coordinated activities carried out by the employer to improve all aspects of a work environment that supports the well-being of employees. It provides for the workforce's healthy, psychological, mental, and social well-being and, at its core, fosters industrial harmony that leads to a better, safer, and more productive workplace, which helps manage healthy relations between the employer and the employees.

This policy in the Nigerian Public Service is not an exception, especially within the core Service. Proactive steps have been taken to enhance the value proposition and welfare of Civil Servants as articulated in the FCSSIP-25.

In our continued commitment to enhancing welfare packages for Nigerian Civil/Public Servants, a considerable number of improved changes have taken place, which include the upward review of Duty Tour Allowances (DTA), the Launch of the Federal Public Service Entrepreneurship Programme (FSEP) for serving and exiting staff, Launch of the Federal Public Service Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Bus Scheme, Launch of Employee Wellness Centre, Sustenance of Annual Innovation Challenge/Competition, Institutionalisation of a Recognition and Award Scheme. Other welfare initiatives, such as the Federal Integrated Staff Housing (FISH) and the Federal Government Housing Loans programmes, are continually being evaluated for service improvement to meet their respective targets within a comprehensive staff welfare package of the Federal Government.

We cannot overstate that an enhanced staff welfare package is crucial to the transformation of the Public Service into an effective and efficient government machinery that drives innovation and delivers quality service.

This version of our e-Newsletter promises to be engaging and informative, as it x-rays the drive towards an Enhanced Value Proposition for Civil Servants.