Message for Civil Service Week 2011 From O’Neil Grant, President Jamaica Civil Service Association

The classical definition of a Civil Servant is an official who carries out functions of government under the direction and supervision of the head of government (Rahman 1998, 2). Excluded in this definition are employees of state-owned enterprises, the army, teachers, the judiciary and the police who, together with civil servants, collectively constitute the public sector. The Government of Jamaica is conducting a comprehensive review of the public sector with a view to make it more efficient cost effective.

Civil Service Reform (CSR) consists of two (2) main processes: (i) rationalization of government structures (otherwise known as administrative reform), which involves creating strategic mechanisms and processes for policy making, policy coordination, resource mobilization and service delivery; and (ii) human resources management, which is concerned with personnel issues, including appointment and promotional procedures within the civil service, training and career development for civilservants, and morale improvement within the civil service through compensation and other related incentives (Rahman 1998, 3-4). Within the context of Jamaica, both processes of Civil Service Reform were attempted through the Administrative Reform Programmes I and II in the 1980s, Public Sector Modernization in the 1990s and now Public Sector Transformation.

7 Steps to transformation

Step 1

We will transform not just reform

We cannot allow the development of public services to stall because of the current financial crisis. Jamaica Civil Service Association(JCSA) has said we need to move beyond ‘reform’ and really transform our public services, to find ways to improve, expand and integrate them, while making them better and easier for you to access.

Step 2

Putting you – the customer – first

The first step to transforming public services is to make sure that any changes are of direct benefit to you, the customer. You will be the first consideration at all times. The JCSA believes this approach must inform how everything is done.

Step 3

Identify and cut waste

The Jamaica Civil Service Association in tandem with the Public Sector Transformation Unit has proposed an approach that protects vital services by letting the people who know the services – and who know the communities they serve – identify and cut waste. They are in the key position to re-organise the best possible range and quality of services within government/International Monetary Fund set financial constraints. At the moment, public service reform initiatives are being executed by the central bureaucracies that, with the best will in the world, have little real resources to execute the changes that are needed.

Step 4

We will protect your key services

The number of public servants will continue to fall as people retire and through other non-compulsory measures, which means significant savings for the taxpayer. Although it is a real challenge, the JCSA has said public servants will work to maintain your vital services as this happens – vital services in health, local government, education and national security.

Step 5

We will ensure flexibility to deliver value for money

The JCSA has said we will back new working arrangements and give greater flexibility to ensure quality public services are maintained with the available funds, so that people who work to deliver public services can deliver more value for money.

Step 6

Working harder to aid recovery

We are dealing with the unwelcome reality of continuing recession in ways that protect public services. Especially the core services that we all rely on most, or which our most vulnerable citizens desperately need. JCSA understands that this means public servants must increase productivity to super human level and recognises that there will be changes in work practices that will enable services to be maintained.

Step 7

We will act – there’s no time to waste

The crisis is bringing the country to its knees. Transformation cannot be delayed. Damaging cuts are off the agenda, the JCSA is on the starting block and ready to move on these steps for transformation. Should Government, in good faith, embrace this new, smarter way of moving

forward? There will be no delays or protracted negotiations. The country’s problems are too serious and your family’s vital services can’t wait.

All workers – private and public – are feeling the pain and doing their bit for recovery. This is a national crisis that demands unity and support from all Jamaican working people, not blame and stigmatisation. There is an alternative to any slash and burn panic-mentality. The JCSA is ready to transform the way we work in order to transform your vital services during the recession and beyond.

Despite stigmatisation and huge reductions in real wages, hardworking public servants like care workers, special needs assistants, forensic scientists, speech therapists, lab technicians, refuse collectors, administrators, fire-fighters, school secretaries and others are ready to play their part for Jamaica and speed up the transformation of your family’s vital services.

Sincerely