HUMAN resources shared services in the public sector is expected to be operational by the end of the current financial year.

This was stated in a message from Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service Fayval Williams, at a human resources transformation seminar held on Wednesday at The Knutsford Court Hotel in New Kingston.

Already, the process is under way through the phased introduction of the Human Capital Management Enterprise System (HCMES), which has been named MyHR+.

The integrated human resources and payroll platform captures a range of employment information of personnel across the public sector, and represents a significant step in how human resources is managed.

Human resources is among seven areas of operations targeted by Government for shared corporate services along with the centralisation of legal services.

The others are Internal Audit, Procurement, Asset Management, Public Relations and Communications, Information Technology, and Finance and Accounts.

The objective is to combine services across different organisations in order to reduce administrative costs and improve efficiency and service delivery.

Williams, in her message read by executive director of the Transformation Implementation Unit, Office of the Prime Minister, Maria Thompson Walters, said that with shared corporate services, the Government will be able to “realise economies of scale, drive efficiency, effectiveness, knowledge and expertise through consolidation powered by technology”.

She noted that with economic indicators pointing in the right direction, it is time to redouble efforts to realise similar gains in public-sector transformation.

“Under the current Stand-By Arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), we have met all quantitative performance criteria and structural benchmarks… As a Government, we recognise that a modern, effective and efficient public service is inextricably linked to economic growth and development. And, we also recognise that human resources management is a key lever of public-sector transformation,” she said.

Walters, in her remarks, said the initiative is timely in light of the advances in technology and the changed approach to the workplace structure.

“Some of our long-held beliefs about work — where work is done, how work is done — we need to change. Those are the things that bring about transformation. We need to learn that we can have our human resources deployed almost anywhere with our technology today. We can give (employees) the freedom to work, to create and to make the workplace a vibrant place, and give them an opportunity to do their best every day,” she noted.