Chief directors sign performance agreement

Chief Directors of the various ministries and government agencies yesterday signed a performance agreement that enjoins them to enhance the quality of their service delivery to the public.

The initiative, which will be reviewed annually, will also serve as a guide for assessing the productivity of civil servants.

The Head of the Civil Service, Mr Woeli Kwaku Kemevor, who signed the agreement on behalf of the government, after the chief directors had taken turns to append their signatures, said the performance agreement was consistent with a component of the Single Spine Pay Policy (SSPP).

“We cannot talk about wage increases without productivity,” he added.

He explained that the agreements had specific targets for the chief directors, relating to their core mandates and individual competencies.

After signing the performance agreement, the chief directors are required to sign performance agreements with those under them to ensure that they live up to their responsibilities as part of the collective effort to attain their key performance indicators.

Rewards and sanctions

Mr Kemevor later told the Daily Graphic that the Head of the Civil Service would conduct two evaluations each year: mid-year and end-of-year, to track the performance of the chief directors.

“We will then draw a league table and rank the chief directors,” he said, adding that based on the performance, the best chief directors would be rewarded at the end of the year.

Mr Kemevor stated that there would be sanctions, such as warning letters and non-renewal of contracts for chief directors whose performance consistently fell below expectation.

“There have to be sanctions because we do not want it to be ‘business as usual’, where whether you do well on not, you can still be in the system,” he said.

Why late signing

The Head of the Civil Service explained that the performance agreements were being signed in the last quarter of the year because of some challenges, such as the creation of new ministries and the availability of funding.

“However late it is in the year, we have to meet our targets,” he said, before commending the French Embassy for supporting the Civil Service in the implementation of the initiative.

Mr Kemevor said the programme would be extended to cover the performance of all ministries, departments and agencies as part of an institutional performance assessment tool.

“The document is ready and by next year we will roll it out. It is not enough to look at the performance of individuals but we have to evaluate the organisation in totality,” he added.

By Emelia Enin Abbey/Daily Graphic/Ghana