Wednesday, June 11, 2014

PRIS: DoPT may soon write to all departments to incentivise efficient workers



Department of Personnel and Training mulls incentive plans for ministries, departments


NEW DELHI: With the Narendra Modi regime pitching for corporate work-culture in government departments, the department of personnel and training (DoPT) may soon write to all Central ministries and departments to incentivise efficient workers by naming their respective best employee of the month, organizing "off-site retreats" for the staff and facilitating their direct interface with the departmental head from time to time.

Though the incentive plan is already under implementation in the DoPT, most other ministries and departments are yet to take a cue and introduce similar norms to motivate their staff by rewarding the efficient among them.

The DoPT, as part of the initiative, confers the title of "employee of the month" to the highest achiever, decided by a committee of joint secretaries of the department. The employee of the month is rewarded a certificate of excellence by the minister concerned. Also, "off-sites" or " DoPT retreats" are organised from time to time to discuss ideas and suggestion in a new and relaxed environment. Suggestions from employees, irrespective of their seniority, are encouraged through placement of suggestion boxes at vantage points across the DoPT office.

Besides, the personnel secretary has been meeting deputy secretary and director-level officers one-one-one, taking their inputs and suggestions on better functioning of the department.

"This incentive scheme for motivation of staff amounts is nothing but a stepping stone to corporatization of the government," a senior DoPT official said adding that the department may now write to other ministries/departments afresh to introduce similar incentives.

Meanwhile, the DoPT also plans to implement competency-based human resource management for the higher and middle level official is in Central government departments. A pilot project is already underway in the DoPT, which has mapped the required attributes for most departmental posts and is in the process of matching them with the knowledge, skills, ethics and attitude of the incumbents. Any gaps will be analysed and filled through refresher training.

"Until now, the bureaucrats were selected for a post based merely on their service records. Now, under the competency-based HR management, the attributes of each senior post in government departments will be mapped and selection will be based on who matches these attributes best," a DoPT official said adding that the new system may be introduced as soon as the DoPT pilot project is complete.