President hails culture shift in Public Service

President George Maxwell Richards has welcomed several shifts that have occurred in the culture of the Public Service. This he said as he addressed the Opening Ceremony of a conference on “Public Service Commission and Governance in the 21st Century” held on Tuesday at the Hilton Trinidad.

He began by hailing members of the Public Service Commission (PSC) for their awesome responsibility of maintaining a neutral Public Service which was free from discrimination, nepotism and injustice. Reading out the duties of members of the Services Commissions — including giving certain protection to the public, public servants and politicians — he said these were weighty duties which could scare off those with no heart for rough passages. “Theirs is no easy task. It is particularly so in these times when human rights issues are more and more taking centre stage and people are becoming more aware of their entitlements if not their duties and responsibilities.” He said the Public Service was the country’s largest employer and that the Commission members had a pivotal role to ensure good staff were recruited. President Richards urged that more attention be paid to a new recruit’s period of probation. After probation, he added, staff reports could prevent slippage of a recruit.

President Richards effused that the new Performance Appraisal Report, rather than Staff Report, had signalled a welcome change in culture. “Some forward-looking reporting officers had already developed the practice of discussing their reports with the officers being reported on, so it is refreshing to note also that the latter can provide their own written comments on their reports in a section that is specifically provided for the purpose.” He said this development would create openness, mature discussion and continous dialogue, with less adversity between staff members. The President also said that collaboration between the public and private sectors in advancing the country within the Vision 2020 Plan would have a salutary effect on how things were done in the public interest.