KINGSTON, Jamaica — Cabinet is shortly expected to deliberate on the proposed implementation of a Government of Jamaica Employee Management Policy.

The policy incorporates minimum standards that will, among other things, standardise the approach to employee performance management across the public sector.

It is expected to facilitate a culture of performance among public servants by enabling their development to become results-oriented, high-performing professionals and linking rewards and recognition to achievements.

In a release, Director General of the Public Sector Transformation and Modernisation Division, Office of the Cabinet, Veniece Pottinger-Scott, said that the policy articulates the Government’s vision for a public sector characterised by a performance culture that is client-focused and results-oriented, “constantly seeking ways to improve [service delivery] and highly motivated employees empowered to serve Jamaicans effectively”.

 She added: “That is not to say that this is not taking place, but we are standardising the approach so that it is uniformly [instituted] across the entire public sector with recognised [benchmarks].”

Meanwhile, Pottinger-Scott said notable progress has been made under the Public Sector Transformation and Modernisation Programme (PSTMP) to improve services provided to clients, notably in strengthening the capacity of human resources.

She pointed out that this was being done through a programme targeting strategic human resource management (HRM) development.

Pottinger-Scott said the Employee Management Policy aims to provide HRM management professionals in ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) with the necessary training and capacity development, to undertake their roles within the new strategic HRM framework and the transformed operating environment within the public sector.

“Human resource management professionals from 138 HRM units across the public sector were, in fact, trained to execute these critical new functions under our programme,” the Director-General informed.

The overall PSTMP is focused on bolstering trade, investment facilitation and service excellence; transforming the public sector into one that is customer-centric; transforming the information and communications technology framework underpinning the sector, to facilitate integrated technology-enabled public service delivery; facilitating human resource management and institutional strengthening to ensure that employees and institutions can deliver results.