NASSAU, The Bahamas – The government has set to advance its objective of reforming the public service.  During a presser held at Paul Farquharson Conference Center, January 21, 2022 Minister of State for the Public Service, the Hon. Pia Glover-Rolle told members of the media that the government has marked February 1 as the beginning the process of auditing the public service. The Minister addressed the media during a strategic planning meeting for team leaders throughout the Public Service.  She said that the government has designed a 10-point plan, tagged ‘Re-imagining the Public Service in a new day,’ to map out the government’s objectives.

“As per the government’s mandate of reforming the public service, we are here today to meet with team leaders to discuss how we can be more efficient and productive and how best to utilize the talent pool that we have,” said the Minister.  “An audit will be conducted so that we can ascertain what we have to see where there are gaps, understand the skill sets we have available and to strategically place public servants where those skills can be properly utilized.”

She said that the hiring process in the public service, has been done haphazardly, resulting in inefficient and inaccurate placement of personnel. The government will attempt to create more appropriate career paths. She also discussed the importance of annual staff assessments, which are not always current. She said that currently there is still a general hiring freeze in place, however, the government will also be assessing that during the audit. There will also be a push to disengage leases for public service accommodations, as there have been many discrepancies noted in that area.

The 10-point plan includes:

Clearing the promotions backlog; conducting a public service audit; strengthening Human Resources administration and settling outstanding matters; enhancing government’s use of accommodations; launching the public service virtual call center; standardizing new employee on boarding; integrating internal programmes; detailing career paths and succession planning and expanding the infrastructure.  (BIS Photos/Kristaan Ingraham)