Gane A Simbe: Developing strategies for talent management in Pacific
Public Services - the challenges of the current environment
Speech by Mr Gane A Simbe, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Solomon Islands, at
the 7th Pacific Public Service Commissioners' Conference, Honiara, 29 September 2009.
* * *
Introduction
Distinguished Public Service Commissioners, invited dignitaries, ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you for inviting me to share some thoughts towards this challenging topic on your
theme: "Developing Strategies for Talent Management in the Pacific Public Services".
My talk will focus on The Challenges of the Current Environment that Pacific Islands
countries face concerning brain-drain and suggest some observations to stimulate your
discussions on this issue.
Definitions
In the context of my presentation, I will define the terms "challenges of the current
environment" in two senses. First, is the challenge faced by Public Service Commission on
how to manage, the "high flyer" individuals with talents and skills, who can choose to seek
better value for their skills than working for the Public Services if their expectations are not
met. This freedom to choose to leave, and seek opportunities elsewhere, renders the Public
Service Commission powerless to stop and can leave shortfalls in the service delivery of the
government.
The second angle of my definition refers to the question of affordability that Public Service
Commissioners and their governments face in trying to compete in the skills market for the
best, skilled and talented workers; those with skills and talents that a country wants to retain
for its national interests. Affordability is one of the key solutions for retaining, and attracting
clever and skilled professionals but affordability is one of the major problems for most Pacific
Island Public Service Commissions.
Skilled and talented professionals are scarce resources
Like all other resources, skilled and talented professionals for us in the Pacific are a scarce
resource, and require proper management. Despite the fact that the training of these talented
professionals are the outcomes of government strategic planning and budgets, unfortunately,
the governments or the Public Service Commission for that matter, do not have the control
over how the individuals exercise their rights and freedom to market their skills and talents.
We also know that companies and organizations outside of the public service too are looking
for these skilled and talented professionals. These organizations know that success or failure
in achieving their business goals and delivering of their products or services is depended on
employing the right skills.
As a consequence there is competition among organizations for skilled and talented
professionals. And they are prepared to pay for the skills and talent they require. So the
challenge faced by the Pacific Public Service Commission is to be able to compete in the
skills market for the best people with the talents to enable delivery of government services,
needed by the citizens.
Management of a skilled and talented employee is a difficult undertaking
Management of skilled and talented employees is not an easy task. As Rob Goffee and
Gareth Jones in an article titled -"Leading Clever People" (Harvard Business Review, March
2007) observed, talented people are difficult to manage and please.
They are restless; they are easily bored, they want to solve problems and not interested in
pleasing their bosses or are led by them. They resent bureaucratic bottlenecks that slow or
delay them from achieving their results. Skilled and talented people know that you as an
employer cannot go without them.
They know how much their skills are worth in the market; because they are members of their
professional bodies that supply them with market information for their skills. They cannot be
fooled too with fancy titles and positions that do not come with attractive remuneration
packages. Lastly, skilled and talented employees are always hunted down by companies and
organizations that are prepared to pay more for their skills than what you are currently paying
them.
Our own experience in the Central Bank of Solomon Islands demonstrates the difficulties of
managing clever people. For years we have been spending a good portion of our budget
directly sponsoring our officers to receive Masters Degree level education from Universities
in Australia to meet the skill gaps that we have identified to enable the Bank meet its legal
mandate to conduct its monetary policy responsibilities.
Unfortunately, we have lost most of these individuals to organizations who offer more for
their talents than what we can offer. Indeed it is not a good feeling when you have invested
millions of dollars to train an officer but leaves without due regard for what you have done for
him as an individual. But this is the challenge and the cost of the freedom and mobility of the
educated individuals to choose the best deals for their skills. As noted in the World Health
Organization (WHO) presentation to Ministers of Health for Pacific Countries held in Samoa
in 2005 that examined why Pacific Health Personnel migrate, unless the conditions are
favorable, skilled professionals will leave because of low pay, poor working conditions,
shortage of supplies and equipment; and lack of or limited educational opportunities for
professional development and advancements.
In Solomon Islands, there is currently a Special Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry looking
at the quality of health services provided by our National Referral Hospital. What is obvious
from the hearings is that the shortages of skilled doctors, health professionals, equipments
and instruments are the causes of our poor health service delivery and unfortunately this is
directly linked to the question of affordability.
The challenge of affordability
This leads me to the second challenge facing Pacific Public Service Commissions regarding
skills and talent management. It is the challenge of affordability. It is the ability of the Public
Service Commission to be able to match what the market is willing to pay and attract the
skills and talents that it wants to retain in its workforce.
Unfortunately, the question of affordability is not as easy an option to some, if not, most
Pacific Island countries because of resource constraints of their economies. The amount of
money available to governments from their tax bases is not sufficient to offer attractive
remuneration packages to compete in the skills market and meet other pressing social
services for the population at large.
Furthermore, the Public Service is already the largest employer in many of the Pacific Island
countries, and reducing the numbers of Public Service employees in order to make savings
to hire the most needed skilled workers can be counterproductive, especially if you are
dealing with public servants who are members of a strong and influential trade union.
The effects of the global economic recession that countries in the region have experienced
since the last half of 2008 have also compounded the difficulties faced by small island
countries to the question of affordability. Until the global economy recovers, the small island
economies in the region grow; there will be tremendous pressure to raise tax revenue to
finance the human resources needs and other operational costs of our countries.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) in its Pacific Monitor report released in August this year,
projects that five of the Pacific economics will experience negative growth this year and one
country will not grow at all. What this means is that governments in the region are
continuously under pressure to raise the revenue to provide the needed social services to
their population.
Economies do not grow overnight and the impact of the global economic recession and the
projected negative growth will affect the affordability of Pacific Islands governments to
compete for the best skills and talents required by their Public Services.
What can Public Services Commission do to manage this problem?
So, what can Public Service Commissions in the Pacific Islands countries do to resolve this
question of brain-drain which really is a question of affordability? If our governments can pay
the remuneration packages like other competitors, we might find the answer to the question.
Otherwise governments in the region will need to be creative in finding ways to manage this
issue.
I offer the following suggestions for your considerations.
First, Public Service Commissioners must break the rules when setting the remunerations
packages for skilled and talented professionals or employees that the Public Service must
employ to deliver the services needed by the community. The Public Service Commissioners
and their respective governments must remunerate those with needed talent and skills equal
to the market remuneration package others are prepared to pay for the same skills.
In other words, the pay structure for talent and skills identified as essential for effective
delivery of government services and policy goals must be different from the general public
servant pay structure. (May be a good "break the rule" option is to apply George Orwell's
Animal
famous line in his book Farm..."all animals are equal but some animals are more
equal than others." So that we can restate it as "all public servants are equal, but some
public servants are more equal than others".).
Whilst all this sounds possible, I must warn that it is not an easy option to take in an
environment where there are strong unions representing the interests of their members and
where affordability is not easy to come by. But social service delivery to the public suffers if
those specialized skills are not available because the country cannot afford to pay for them.
The second consideration is for the Public Service Commissioners to be more creative in
creating an employment environment that would attract skilled and talented people to want to
work for the Public Service. I call these the non monetary factors, although funds must be
spent to make them happen.
Public Service Commissioners must provide clean and attractive office environment for the
officers to work in. This includes the provisions of proper equipments that can enhance
productivity. Shorten the length of time it takes to hire successful candidates: skilled and
talented people cannot wait for months to receive their letter of acceptances. They will find
employment somewhere else if we are slow to process their engagement.
Ensure that your newly recruited workers do not have to wait for months before they are put
on the payroll and paid for their services. It is demeaning for a professional with family
members waiting months for his pay to be processed. Talented and skilled workers just
cannot tolerate inefficiency that our bureaucratic procedures unfortunately require to be
adhered to.
Public Service Commissioners and their supporting technical teams must continuously scan
the market to ensure that the remuneration of those with talents that are required is within the
market price for the skills and talents. This means actively involved in communicating with
the professional bodies that represent the interests of the public service employees to ensure
that their concerns are addressed in an honest and professional manner.
Public Service Commissioners must actively ensure that their officers are rewarded for their
performance, and benefit from organized trainings that would enhance the officers' abilities.
These can be challenging issues, because they will certainly mean securing more finance
and changing of procedures. But if Public Services must compete for the best talents in the
market these are necessary changes to tackle as part of their strategies for talent
management in the Public Service.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the challenge faced by Pacific Public Service Commissioners in addressing
brain-drain and managing the mobility of talented and skilled professionals is made more
difficult when affordability is the key barrier.
Graeme Dobel of ABC Radio Australia sums the issue in stating that "a free person with skills
is still a free person". We are dealing with free individuals whose choices to market their skills
to bring the maximum benefit to themselves will cause them to leave their Public Service
employment.
Public Service Commissioners must therefore be creative in finding solutions for attracting
and retaining talented individuals. This means we must have to make some necessary
changes in the manner we handle the remuneration packages and working conditions for the
skilled and talented professionals we want to attract and retain.
Thank you for listening and I wish you all success in your conference.
References
Asian Development Bank, 2008. Pacific Monitor, WWW.adb.org/Pacific Monitor.
Confronts Its Pacific Taboo: Pacific
Dobel, G. 2006. "Australia Workers", Pacific Economic
Bulletin, Volume 21, No. 3 November 2006, p.128.
Goffee R. and Jones G. 2007. "Leading Clever People", Harvard Business Review, March
2007.
World Health Organization, 2005. "Migration of Health Personnel", paper
(WPR/ICP/ECP/7.2/001/ECP(11) 2005.4) presented at Ministers of Heath for Pacific
Countries, Samoa, 2005.