Performance Management System for New Compensation Regime

The Government is looking to establish a performance management system for the new public-sector compensation regime, now being implemented across ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, made the announcement during Wednesday’s (March 1) meeting of the Standing Finance Committee of the House of Representatives, whose members commenced deliberations on the 2023/24 Estimates of Expenditure, at Gordon House.

Responding to a question from Member of Parliament for St. Mary Western, Robert Montague, Dr. Clarke said the Finance Ministry is working with unions representing public-sector employees to institute the performance system.

“We have committed to having it in place… two financial years from now. You have 140 public bodies and you have many departments and agencies. So, each would have their own set of key performance indicators (KPIs) that would need to be measured and monitored,” he explained.

Dr. Clarke emphasised that this “takes time to design”, adding that “every part of government will have a different matrix of performance indicators that will have to be assessed,” noting that these “will work differently in different parts of government”.

He maintained that performance and productivity under the compensation regime are “absolutely key” if Jamaicans “are to benefit from this huge investment that the people are making in the public service”.

“We live in a country of three million people [where] the public service [comprises] 110,000 [persons]. When we take up over $100 billion more to [upgrade the compensation] for that 110,000, the rest of Jamaica wants to make sure that they are going to get value for that extra spend,” the Minister said.

Hence, Dr. Clarke added, “[the reason] why we have been, at every opportunity, speaking [of] the need for heightened levels of productivity and performance”.

The review, implementation of which commenced on April 1, 2022, is intended to overhaul the structure of salaries and other emoluments in the public service to make it more equitable.

The exercise, being undertaken over three fiscal years, is expected to conclude in 2024/25.