Developing a Job Evaluation and Grading System to enhance the implementation of the Performance Management System: Namibia Case

Study

______________________________________________ Presented by Steve V. Katjiuanjo Permanent Secretary Office of the Prime Minister Republic of Namibia At the Commonwealth Advanced Seminar 2006 20 Feb. 3 March 2006 Wellington, New Zealand

1. Introduction Namibia after gaining independence in 1990 inherited a very poorly organized civil service - one that was geared essentially to respond to the apartheid policy of the previous political regime. The civil service structure saw indigenous Namibians either absent in key posts or occupying marginal positions. At the same time, given the rapid political transition, few indigenous Namibians were trained and available to take over many of the civil and public service positions. The New Government had two choices: to completely restructure the Civil Service or introduce a dual system in which both new comers and existing staff operated in tandem in order to maintain system stability and satisfy demands of the new dispensation. As a result, the Civil Service, as well as the Public Service continued to operate way above efficient levels in terms of numbers of staff and productivity.

2. Background In 2004 Namibia presented a case study on the development of the Performance Management System (PMS) for the Public Service at the Commonwealth Advance Seminar (CAS). Our presentation looked at the General Principles and Framework of the Performance Management System. Since then the PMS has been piloted in two Ministries and is about to be rolled out to other Ministries. Now at this platform we are glad to briefly update the CAS on the following milestones: General Principles and Framework has been finalised, 15 Training Modules has been developed on the Implementation of the PMS, Since December 2005 we are busy testing the Training Modules with a selected target group in the Office of the Prime Minister, An integrated Implementation Plan which defines the role and tasks for the different divisions has been developed and agreed. By June 2007, All Offices, Ministries and Agencies will need to Strategic Plans that will forms the core for the further roll-out of the system Funding has been secured from the African Capacity Building Foundation to fully implement the PMS

3. The Problem Statement Since 1992 Namibia has been reforming the public service with a view of improving the efficiency of the Government and the advance of national development. As part of the further roll-out of the Performance Management System we envisaged the issue of job evaluation and grading as part of the Human Resource Plans. In 1995, the Wages and Salary Commission (WASCOM) was established to undertake a fundamental review of the public service remuneration policy and associated systems, salary levels and associated issues. Cabinet, on 15 December 1995 subsequently endorsed the Commissions recommendations and the implementation was set for 1 April 1996. One

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of the mechanism for the implementation of the Commissions recommendations was a new pay structure (Unified Grading Structure) based on job value and performance. The WASCOM grading structure has essential two fundamental problems or deficiencies, namely: No proper in depth job analysis / job evaluation of each job category was done. No factorised points weighted system was developed to meet the needs of the Unified Grading Structure

Therefore, in the absence of the above mentioned, the relative worth of any job category in the Public service relative to another could not be determined. Soon after the implementation, there were however many requests from job categories for re-grading. The current system was then difficult to defend on the grounds of verifiable as in other recognized methods such Peronomes or Patterson, etc 4. Work in Progress In 2003 the Office of the Prime Minister created the Job Evaluation and Grading Division (JEGD) with a mandate to: Review the current Unified Grading Structure, Research, develop and propose a job evaluation and grading system with the required theoretical and scientific basis and all the appropriate mechanisms and administrative procedures that need to be in place for the system to be practically implemented. Ease of understanding and effective and efficient in the implementation was given as key design principles. To maintain the systems once approved

Job Evaluation and Grading To inform the JEGD, extensive research and study visits were conducted and the following systems were studied: a) The Job Evaluation (JE) Manager which is used in the South African Parliamentary Service. b) The EQUATE System which is used in the South African Public Service c) The Saskatchewan Job Classification Plan a Canadian Provincial system which is basically manual. d) The Hay Method point factor approach system e) Paterson Derived Method f) Peronomes g) Computerised HR System with job grading component (Oracle and RAMCO India)

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Performance Management System In 2004 the Office of the Prime Minister launched the Performance Management System (PMS) on a pilot basis starting with three Ministries. The lessons learnt from these three experiments were carefully assessed and used to inform the development of a more comprehensive programme that saw the integration of PMS and HRIMS as parallel processes. The implementation will encompass five distinct components, namely: 1. 2. 3. 4. Strategic Planning Job Evaluation and Grading Establishment of a system of Reviews Articulation and Promotion of a Generic Competency Framework through all Public Service bodies. 5. Development and execution of Strategic and Generic Training programmes Based on the research, it is now incumbent on the Office of the Prime Minister to advise Cabinet of the best industry practices, finalise negotiation on the preferred system and win the acceptance of the Recognised Trade Unions. The next steps on the proposed action planning are stated below in the action plan. 5. Expected Lessons from CAS 2006

In the light of the stated objective of CAS 2006 under the theme Leadership and Change in the Public Sector and its particular the focus on sharing learnings that can help engineer significant public sector reforms, Namibia expected learnings are the following: Learning how other Commonwealth Countries has approached the aspects of Pay and Grading in their reforms process. How they have managed the critical element of balancing organisational needs and employee remuneration expectations as expressed by the trade unions How the link between grading/job evaluation has been managed in a performance management driven change process. How job evaluation and grading system could be integrated into E-Government initiatives to enhance availability of management information and decision support systems.

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6. Conclusions From the foregoing case discussion and analysis, four issues are presented, the solution of which will be fundamental to the success of any public sector reform be it in Namibia or elsewhere. These are: 1. The importance of developing a Strategic Plan from the outset in order to set both the stage and direction of performance management and HR productivity enhancement systems. Choice of the appropriate job evaluation and grading methodology and system that is compatible with a unified multi-level grading structure. The importance of bringing in stakeholders early in the policy and strategy formulation processes. Winning in Trade Unions and other stakeholders who are naturally suspicious of management initiatives regarding performance and productivity enhancement. The strategic role of information and results sharing on the reform process and the need for on-going training programmes for both implementing staff and management. Use of e-governance systems to improve oversight and gauge reform impact

2. 3. 4.

5.

6.

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Action Plan for the period 2006 2008 1. Names: Steve Katjiuanjo and Benhardt Kukuri 2. Country: Namibia 3. Organisation: Office of the Prime Minister 4. Work role: Permanent Secretary and Deputy Director 6. Please identify one or two critical work issues that you would most like to think about during the seminar. Please write short questions that name specific concerns. What strategies did other Commonwealth Countries employ to manage change on a highly sensitive and critical reform issue such as pay and grading? Which leadership skills and traits are likely to ensure that a pay and grading reform programme achieve the desired impact?

7. What mandate does your work role give you for tackling this challenge? (E.g. overall decisionmaking authority, line management responsibility, the role of advising decision makers, authority to let contracts, oversight from a central agency position.) The Permanent Secretarys mandate is to provide leadership, management and resources to managers and staff to deliver on organisational objectives in the Office. The PS also advises decision makers such as the Prime Minister and Cabinet Committees as well as other Permanent Secretaries on matters pertaining to policy making, implementation and evaluation in areas such as governance, public management, and reform initiatives. The Deputy Directors mandate is to provide technical advice on a specific functional area, e.g. Job Evaluation and Grading to Senior Managers in the OPM and Public Service Commission, to lead and manage work teams; efficiently utilise allocated resources, and is accountable for the units overall performance. 8. What resources do you have to tackle these critical work issues? (E.g. personal expertise, staff expertise, finance (please identify in $US), ability to influence policymaking.)

Acquisition of Job Evaluation and Grading System (JEGS) module Configuration and deploying JEGS module Training and Capacity Building of users TOTAL

U$80.000 U$80.000 U$80.000 U$240.000

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