The Role of Human Resource Managers in Developing Institutional and Human Capacity of the Public Service

Presented at the: Workshop on Capacity Building for Human Resource Development Policy and Strategy in the Public Service in Africa
Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania 23rd 27th February 2009

Dr. John-Mary Kauzya

Chief of Governance and Public Administration Branch Division for Public Administration and Development Management United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA)

Contextual background; Since Africa countries attained independence, they have been going through phases of some form of changes of their public services. The most noticeable phases of changes were basically three. First there was the period immediately after independence when newly independent countries sought to replace departed colonial administration agents with national public servants. Talking of reform or transformation today this may not sound very much, but put in the context of the 1960s, it was a dramatic change even if it merely represented a process of replacement rather than change. The second phase could be categorized as the period of either stagnation or decline where by mostly in the 1970s with numerous military regimes the public service suffered neglect in a number of countries with their capacities being severely eroded. The third period begun with the 1980s when under the influence of the IMF and the World Bank many countries undertook structural adjustment programs popularly known as SAPs with retrenchment and down sizing of the public service. The fourth phase came in the 1990s with programs of civil service reforms and capacity building. With these series of changes, it would require a deeper empirical study than what this presentation to determine to what extent these changes represented what may be termed as transformation. It is indeed possible that in some countries some Public services have undergone positive transformation. The main preoccupation of the presentation however, is to discuss what the role of human resource managers should be in the process of transforming the public service with specific reference to developing institutional and human capacity.

This question is important because the challenges Africa is facing can not be adequately addressed without transforming the public service to turn it into an instrument of development both in terms of its institutional capacity and human resources capabilities.. First there are the Millennium Development Goals (Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, Achieving Universal Primary Education, Promoting Gender Equality and Empowering Women, Reducing Child Mortality, Improving Maternal Health, Combating HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and other Diseases, Ensuring Environmental Sustainability, and Developing a Global Partnership for Development) and other agreed international development agenda. Second, there are the NEPAD program objectives. And lastly there are national development strategies elaborated in each country for its development. These cannot be implemented successfully without a competent public service. Institutions have to be appropriate and effective in terms of their systems, processes, procedures, and mechanisms. Public servants must be competent in terms of knowledge, skills, attitude, networks, and motivation. Some of the challenges directly impact on the nature and behavior of the public service itself. These include for examples: the HIV/AIDS scourge, the concern for gender equality, managing diversity, and the phenomenon of brain drain and globalization. Much as it needs to be transformed itself, essentially the Public Service is itself an instrument of transformation on which many countries count to realize their development aspiration. For example in the following countries this is visible in the missions of the Public Service as illustrated in the box bellow:

Figure 1 Ultimate objectives of the public service in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, and Ghana In Uganda The Department of Human Resource Management is mandated to develop, interpret and review Human Resource Policies for the Public Service. The Department is responsible for the management, reviewing and updating of the Terms and Conditions of Service as well as the Public Service Policies, Procedures and Regulations, with a view to promoting good governance, accountability and transparency in the delivery of services and the Poverty Eradication Action Plan goals. In Kenya the Mission of the Ministry of State for Public Service is to Provide policy direction in Human Resource Management and Development, advice on appropriate organizational structures, initiate and coordinate human resource reforms to improve service delivery in the Public Service for sustainable socio-economic development in Kenya. In Rwanda the Mission of the Public Service is to: To reinforce the national labour standards, promote job creation and institutionalize an efficient and modern public service management framework that will enable private and public sector organizations to perform at their best and effectively contribute to improving the lives of the Rwandan population In Ghana the Governments strategic perspective is centred on an efficient and effective Public Service management as the framework for achieving rapid and sustained economic growth and poverty reduction.

Again the interest of the presentation is addressing the question of the role of human resource managers in the public service in transforming the public service to make it an instrument of transformation. This clearly poses a challenge to human resource managers because it elevates what is expected of them beyond probably what some of them expect of themselves. The role of Human Resource managers in transforming institutional and human capacities of the Public Service can be summed up in the following four: Strategy expert Work organization expert, Employee champion, and Agent of continuous transformation as adviser on change management. As strategy experts and advisers on change management We single out the roles of strategy expert and adviser on change management because it is this role that if well played can lead to transformation of institutional and human capacities in the public service. Who ever is responsible for human resource management in the Public Service in any country in Africa needs to have at their finger tips the direction Africa is planning to take, the challenges it is facing, and the capacity needs that it requires to overcome those challenges. Strategic planning is about being realistic in terms of analysis of challenges, problems, as well as in specifying existing and lacking institutional and human capacities. It is also about being optimistic in terms of future projections and outlooks. Africa needs to look at and listen to itself realistically in order to chart out the needed changes for its development. As Michael Jackson, the pop star sang, If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make a change (Michael Jackson, Man in the Millor). All the energies that go into blaming and whining about external forces needs to be channeled into self diagnostic analysis to propel Africa into a more prosperous future. Africas fate lies in the hands and abilities of its men and women. As Cassius tells Brutus in Shakespeares bloody play Julius Caesar, the fault is not in our stars

but in ourselves that we are underlings. (Shakespeare Julius Caesar). Therefore those that are charged with managing the transformers of Africa must be given a prominent place around the table where strategies for transforming the public Service are formulated. This has not been the case. In most cases strategies for public service reform have been formulated by external international consultants without much involvement of nationals let alone human resource managers. This is a mistake that needs to be corrected. The very first institutional readjustment that needs to be made then is to provide a structural arrangement in the Public Service that institutionally puts human resource managers in positions of strategic planners or at least of participants in the strategic planning process to influence the institutional shifts in the Public service. It may be comforting to know that the international community is concerned about how to get Africa out of the situation of poverty. However, it must be emphasized over and over again that it is the people of Africa that will develop the continent. This is the compelling reason why its human resource in the public service and in all other sectors as well as the institutions related to Human resource development in the public sector must be well planned and developed to squarely meet this challenge. While external players meeting in diplomatic circles such as the United Nations General Assembly and its Councils, Commissions, and Committees may, out of modesty, not remind Africans that it is their duty to develop their countries what ever the obstacles, when Africans are discussing development challenges amongst themselves, they need to constantly and unequivocally tell themselves that the development of Africa depends squarely on their resolve and efforts. They may borrow, seek external help, search for international examples for inspiration, but all these should be tactics within a wider strategy premised on the reality that Africans must develop themselves. The hard hitting truth is that despite all the help, big and small from external development partners, essentially Africa is facing a situation whereby many of its countries will most likely not meet the MDGs by the deadline of 2015. Such challenges can be addressed only by competent, committed, and serious people. Commitments such as the above MDGs and many more that are to come in future as Africa searches for a route to exit the poverty trap, will not come to fruits if they are not supported and sustained by adequate capacities, including those in the Public Service. Capacity building in the public service in terms of institutions and human resources is a pressing and important prerequisite for development. The knowledge, know-how and skills, networks and attitudes of personnel in the Public Service are at the heart of the performance of States because it is through them and by them that services are planned and delivered, critical innovations conceived and realized and needed reforms carried out. Capacity building however must be premised on well elaborated plans. Strategic human resource planning in the Public Service in Africa is relevant in the context of the needs such as the implementation of national development objectives, the NEPAD objectives and the international agreed development agenda including the plans for achieving the MDGs. What human resource managers need to master in order to effectively play the roles of strategy experts and advisers on change management is the process and techniques of diagnostic environmental analysis, organizational capacity needs assessment, and strategic planning itself. Bellow we present a framework for strategic planning in the public service. The framework can be adjusted and applied to any situation of strategic planning whether human resources, marketing strategy, or any other aspect of organizational management. It begins with the analysis of development needs because what ever strategy is put in place, it is aimed at achieving or at least contributing to the achievement of development. It has an analysis of leadership capacity and commitment in its middle because without a capable committed

leadership no positive transformation can take place. It deals with diagnostic analysis of the organization (in this case the public service) to assess the available capacities and determine the capacity gaps. Then it analyzes the environment to assess the opportunities it offers and the challenges it poses to the process of the transformation. All this diagnostic analysis will provide the basis for determining the actions to be taken in the short, medium and long term.
Figure 2: Strategic Planning Framework

Analysis of Development Needs

Diagnostic organizational capacity assessment of the Public Service

Formulating Future Scenario

Existing Capacity Development needs analyzed from National, global, and regional, development policies and strategies (e.g National Vision 2020, NEPAD, MDGs, etc)

Capacity Gaps

Strategic objectives, Actions and results with indicators in the Short term, Medium term, Long term

Leadership Commitment and Capability Opportunities Challenges

Diagnostic Environmental Analysis

The phrases that should remain key to those who do strategic human resource planning could be summarized as follows: Have a thorough understanding of the development needs that underpin the requirements in terms of human and institutional capacities; Have as much knowledge as possible about the environment you are operating in especially in terms of the opportunities it offers and the challenges it poses. Conduct a thorough diagnostic analysis of the internal capacities available in the Public Service. Take stalk of the human resource capacity needs that are lacking as well as institutional weaknesses that may be linked to systems, processes, procedures, laws, rules and regulations, Most importantly assess the commitment and capabilities of the leadership of the public service. Without the commitment of the leadership any human resources development plans will not be successfully implemented. Equally leadership commitment is linked to institutional development. Leaders create institutions and institutions control the behaviour of leadership. When this equilibrium between leadership and institutions is not reached and respected, there is bound to be a break-down of rule of law. Based on all these, formulate a plan for availing to the public service with sufficient capable human resources and institutional capabilities to effectively contribute to the development of the country. Critical questions i. ii. iii. iv. What is the current state of staffing in terms of numbers, knowledge, skills, attitude etc in the Public service in African countries? What is the staffing that is required to support the implementation of the development objectives of the country in the short term, medium term and long term? When this picture of (i) and (ii) are mapped against one another what is the gap? Filling this gap should be the main goal of the human resource strategic plan. If the stock-taking and analysis of the staffing in the Public Service reveals critical capacity gaps, then there is a related critical question. Where did the Public Service go wrong to have its attractiveness and capacity eroded and what can be done to reverse this process and address the situation? Where did it all begin? Where will it end? How can it end? Essentially the human resource strategic plan will aim at answering the question of: What are the talents (skills, knowledge, and attitudes) that are critical to the performance of the Public Service and through what approaches, methodologies and practices can such talents be identified, nurtured, developed, deployed, motivated and utilised on a sustainable basis? What institutional arrangements need to be put in place to nurture and provide a motivating environment for the human resource capacities to be utilised? However, we need to bear in mind that human resources work in the public service which is a subset of a wider system of governance that may influence the capacity and performance of the human resources. Therefore, underlying the analysis of the situation is another critical question related to the environment. In the context of Africa where issues of poor governance are paramount on the table we need also to ask ourselves the question of: To what extent can the best talent be utilised for optimum performance in the context of a poor governance environment. Is it realistic to expect the Public Service to attract the best personnel in the context of poor governance? What are the governance issues that must be addressed in order to provide a context that is conducive for the Public Service to be attractive and to recruit and retain the best?

v.

vi. vii.

The point to always bear in mind is that planning for the human resource for the sake of it is unproductive. The question should always be Human resource to achieve what? The strategic plan for human resources should be derived from the human capacity requirements as determined by what the country is planning to do, what the entire public service is planning to do, what the particular ministry is planning to do, and what the specific department or section is planning to do. The guiding question should always be, if this is what we plan to do what kind of human resource do we need to implement it? Indeed a number of countries in Africa have their public service plans directly addressing the development aspirations of the country. In Uganda the ultimate aim is promoting good governance, accountability, in the delivery of services and the poverty eradication action plan goals. In Kenya it is to improve service delivery for sustainable socio-economic development. In Rwanda it is to promote job creation, and enable private and public sector organisations to perform at their best and effectively contribute to improving the lives of the Rwandan population. In Ghana, it is for achieving rapid and sustained economic growth and poverty reduction. Who does the Human Resource strategic Planning in the Public Service? Originally strategic planning was known as corporate planning precisely because the entire corporate body would be engaged in the analysis and formulation of the plan. This participatory aspect is still in strategic planning. When all stakeholders are involved in analysis and formulation of the strategic plan, chances are that they will be committed to its implementation because of the ownership that is engineered by the involvement. Therefore the search for the answer to who should do the human resource strategic planning in the public service should start with an exercise of stakeholders analysis. Institutions which train (produce capacities such as Universities, Institute of Public Administration, Management Development Institutes and other tertiary institutes should be part of the strategic planning process. All Ministries and public bodies that constitute the Public Service need to be part of the exercise just as should local governments. The exercise should be spearheaded by the Ministry responsible for Public Service and specifically the department responsible for Human resource Management. The Public Service Commission and other appointing Commissions/Authorities should be very much involved. And in cases where the Public Service has Development Partners/Donors involved in its programs, they should be part of the planning process. Here then, the role of Human Resource managers must be to analyze and mobilize the relevant stakeholders for strategizing on how to develop the Human and institutional capacities in the public service.
Figure: Stakeholders in analysis and formulation of a Human Resource Strategic plan in the Public Service Development Partners HRM in Ministry responsible for Public Service Ministries, Local Governments & Public Agencies Universities, IPAs/MDIs/ Tertiary Institutions

Public Service or Appointing Authority

It is through such participatory human resource needs analysis that both supply and demand of the various human resource capacities in the public service can interact and produce demand and supply scenarios in the short term, medium term and long term to enable relatively accurate planning of human resources and institutional requirements for their effectiveness.. The central role of the Ministries responsible for Public Service and especially the departments dealing with the various aspects of human resource management should be emphasized here. Therefore another question the Public Service in Africa needs to address is that of ascertaining whether the Public Service, especially the Human Resource Managers in the Public Service, are well equipped with sufficient skills in strategic human resource management. What is mostly known now in Africa is that most strategic plans are designed by external consultants. This is not sustainable. The sustainable situation would require a cadre of Human Resource Managers in the Public Service who can serve as strategic advisers and internal consultants to the Public Service on matters of reforms especially those related to human resources including attracting and retaining the best talent. Dealing with real challenges There is a temptation to engage in strategic human resource and institutional capacity planning in a conceptual way only. However, it must be realised that strategic planning in its pure form deals with reality and seeks to change it. Therefore strategic human resource and institutional capacity planning in the public service must address real changes facing the African public service. Bellow we touch on some of them. We may be able through analysis, forecasts and projections, to determine the number of public servants the Public Service requires given the development aspirations of the country. We may be able to determine what nature and type of knowledge, skills, networks, and attitude Public Servants must have to be effective in supporting the implementation of their countries development strategies. We may even be able to determine the institutional arrangements that can conceptually motivate the human resource into better performance. But we still have to overcome the challenges related to attracting the capable people in the Public Service. Bellow we will discussion a few of such current challenges: (i)Negative impact of retrenchment and recruitment freeze: In many African countries, there have been sustained efforts to reduce the size of the Public Service. For examples: Ghana: Through the Programme for Economic Recovery and Structural Adjustment of 1983 reduced the number of central government employees from 301,000 in 1986 to 260,000 in 1990. Uganda: Between 1990 and 1997, the numbers on the Governments payroll reduced by more than half, from roughly 320,000 to 147,000. The number of ministries was also reduced from 39 to 17. Tanzania: Between 1992 and 1997 Government workforce was reduced by about 30 percent from about 355,000 to approximately 270,000. Zambia: From 1997 when retrenchment earnestly started up to the beginning of 2000, the total number in government employment fell from 139,000 to 102,000.

Those that made the retrenchment plans were happy that they succeeded and they had good reason to be happy. However, we need to look at the long term impact this has had on the public service. It is very much associated with loss of jobs, and summary retrenchment. This reduces its attractiveness. No one wants to join a Public Service that can retrench its employees because the IMF or the World Bank has recommended so. Secondly, with the recruitment freeze that was associated with the first generation of reforms the brightest graduates from Universities or the best job seekers were not looking in the Public Service and the Public service was not looking for them either. Therefore the Public Service could not work towards being the employer of first choice since it was not recruiting anyway. Retrenchment and recruitment freeze also hurt performance of the Public Service even in critical areas such as education, health, and support personnel further eroding the image of the Public Service. Strategic human resource planning must include collectively searching for strategic actions that can revamp the image of the public service and attract the best talent in the public service. This is the task of human resource managers in the public service. Persistent inadequate pay in the Public Service: Criticizing the public service reforms in some African countries, Kithinji Kiragu observes that even in those countries where major downsizing of the public service had taken place, there was limited progress in pay reform. The resources released from retrenchment were not enough to appreciably lift the low salaries of public servants. Consequently, morale and discipline in the public service remained low, and unethical conduct in ways of bribery and corruption were on the rise. In the circumstances, service delivery continued to deteriorate in most countries throughout the 1990s1. The need to increase the pool of talent in the environment: It needs to be acknowledged that when fishing in waters that have few fish, one is most likely to catch few fish and may not have much chance for choosing big ones or even good ones. One is likely to take what one catches. First there is need to undertake an analysis and forecast of the talent that is needed for the best performance of the Public Service now and in the future given its strategic and tactical objectives. Then there is to scan the environment (Universities and tertiary institutions including those abroad that may be providing education to Africans, as well as the Diaspora that may be attracted back home) to take stock of the talent that is available currently and that is likely to be available in the immediate and medium term. The two sets of talents (those needed and those existing) need to be juxtaposed and compared to have a clear map of the gap of the talent that needs to be filled. Then there follows a deliberate interaction between the institutions (universities and tertiary institutions) that produce the talent to ensure that their programs produce sufficient human resources to fill the talent gap. In Africa there is all the time an quarrel between politicians and Universities on the issue of the relevance of Universities. In fact this quarrel is misplaced. The approach needs to be a deliberate strategy which brings the universities and the Public Service Human Resource Managers together to determine what talent the Universities need to produce for the Public Service. There is a share failure between Universities and Public Service on this issue. The bottom line is that the public Service will get the talent the environment provides. For the talent in the environment to be congruent to the needs of the Public Service, there has to be constant interaction between the two. The critical question to ask
Kithinji Kiragu, Improving Service Delivery through Public Service Reform: Lessons of Experience from select Sub-Saharan Africa Countries (OECD, DAC Network on God Governance and Capacity Development, Room Document number 8, February 2002)
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here in the following: Are the universities and the Public Service Human Resource Managers up to this task?

The public service is not one but many professions: In terms of human resource planning within in a long-term human staffing strategy framework, there is need to have long term manpower and human resource development strategies and plans based on clear and accurate baseline data and information. Within this need there are a number of issues to consider. (i)the public service is not one but many professions. Therefore, we need to consider having not only one strategy but several differential strategies to cope with divergent types or categories of needs in the public service. Probably we should be considering having an umbrella strategy but with a number of sub-strategies falling within two broad ones: a job - oriented strategy, for the employment of skills roughly analogous to those used in the private sector, for clearly definite tasks over limited periods of time; and, the authority of the State, and where confidentiality, discretion , as well as continuity and a long-term perspective are critical determinants of quality of performance. This point re-emphasizes the need to have an appropriate mix or hybrid between career system and job or employment system.2 Beating the competition from the private sector: Clearly, in the whole process of public Sector Reforms, especially during the first regime (structural) of reforms, with strong emphasis on the virtues of the private sector as the engine of growth and the Public Sector needing minimization, the private sector became prominent, not least by the superior remuneration for its employees. Consequently there is a competition between the Public Service and the private sector for the same talent especially in some professional and technical domains. Here unfortunately the competition is tilted in favour of the private sector because in most cases private sector enterprises have a merge of manoeuvrability especially in shifting their remuneration to attract the talent it needs. Adopting operational methods of the private sector in the public service did not help matters because it enhanced the competition for the same talent especially in areas of financial management, human resource management, strategic planning, performance management, application of information technology etc. It is not going to be easy for the Public Service to win this competition by playing exactly the same game as the private sector. It certainly can not play the card of increasing remuneration continuously because it has budget constraints. It will have to play the card of public service and recreate the values and virtues that are cherished by the public service and those who commit themselves to serve. In this case, there is need to design specific personnel recruitment strategies, systems, procedures, incentives and practices aimed at attracting and selecting the best talent for the Public Service. Attracting and recruiting the best talent in the Public Service is not going to be an easy task because it will be working against negative public beliefs about the public service built gradually over a relatively long period of time stretching from well before the period of reforms. There has to be a sustained strategy that encompasses aspects of (i) rebuilding public trust in the public sector, (ii) recruiting the best graduates from universities and tertiary institutions into the Public Service, (iii) building a pay system that is not necessarily competitive with the private or civil society sector, but which is fair in the sense that it remunerates performance and is based on cost of living enabling those that chose to dedicate their working life to public service to live a level of life that their work deserves.
This is quoted from the United nations Committee of Experts on Public Administration (22 -26 July 2002): Economic and Social Council Official Records 2002, Supplement number 24
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The fact to be confronted squarely is that a lot of attention needs to be paid to revamping the pride of men and women who devote themselves to Public Service. We need to bear in mind that while remuneration is important and needs to be part of the package, social recognition also plays an important role in releasing the best performance energies out of the best talent. Another caution that Human Resource Managers in the Public Service need to bear in mind is that while competing with the private sector in terms of high salaries in order to attract and retain the best personnel is self imposing, there is a limit to it in the Public Service especially in developing and poor countries. In a situation of abject poverty as is known in most poor countries, the image of a starving Public Servant is revolting. However, equally or even more revolting is the image of a Public Servant enjoying a level of living that is far above the standard of living of the country he/she serves. Different ways rather than pursuing salaries that seek to out-compete the private sector should be pursued to attract and retain the best talent in the Public Service. Some of the levers the Public Service should lift in this competition should include the following: (i)the Public Service being the choice of diversified work, (ii) having an attractive compensation package (bearing in mind that for most dedicated public Servants attractive does not necessarily mean grotesquely high), (iii) Providing opportunities for advancement, (iv)providing opportunity for the Public Servants to help people in an exemplary or model organisation, (v)providing opportunities for Public Servants to access continuous learning within an environment of a learning organisation, (vi)providing assurance and commitment to equity in employment, (vii)Ensuring an inclusive workplace, (viii)providing assurance for access of Public Servants to employment security and mobility, and (ix) Enabling Public Servants to balance personal and professional lives. All this will require more strategic thinking and less mimicking of private sector practices.

Impact of HIV/AIDS: Within the broader issues of the environment, one needs also to point out some of the current cross-cutting issues that continue to have a strong impact on the human resource in the public sector in general and on the best talent in particular. One such crosscutting issue is the challenge that HIV/AIDS poses to the human resource not only in the public sector but in society as a whole. Because of the general socio-economic and health conditions, this challenge is most acute in developing countries. Although the statistical picture of the impact of HIV/AIDS on the capacity of the public service or sector has not yet been clearly studied and painted, suspicion is strong to the effect that efforts of many governments to develop cadres of the best talent in the public sector may be curtailed by the scourge of HIV/AIDS. Therefore strategic human resource planning must take into account this critical factor and human resource managers need to be very conversant with the challenges posed by HIV/AIDS. Strategic critical human capacity needs for effective performance in the public service Beyond numbers of public servants, human capacity refers to knowledge, skills, attitudes, networks and cherished values. Any country that seeks to attract and retain the best talent in its public service must first and foremost assess and determine the talent needs in the sector. It is the task of human resource managers to determine the kind of critical capacities that are needed in the public service. Clearly this question poses itself differently and calls for different answers depending on which country and situation being considered. Considering the developing countries one would generalize to affirm that the following human capacities are in dire need:

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Strong and committed Public sector leadership at all levels capable of coping with the complexity and conflict contained in the context of globalization, and dealing with all forms of diversity including gender, race, ethnicity,: The roles and responsibilities for orienting and activating the entire workforce of the Public sector in meaningful directions, as well as passing on core values require strong and committed Public service leaders including politicians, top bureaucrats, heads of public sector agencies, and top leaders at local government level. Competent and committed leadership is necessary for providing and nurturing the environment within which the overall public service can serve citizens, ensuring fairness, equity and due process, providing a sense of purpose, legitimacy, values and ability to look outward and forward. Knowledgeable, skilled and committed policy advisers: Given that governance and public administration includes the higher-order tasks of providing policy advice and critical assistance in developing grand designs of society and nations, one of the primary roles of the public service is to ensure a capacity to develop policies and strategies, forecast and anticipate future trends, react to rapidly changing global and local conditions, be creative, challenge the status quo and be self-critical. Human Resource Management professionals: In most Public Services especially in Developing countries, positions responsible for forecasting, planning, developing, and managing the human resources are occupied by individuals who are not professionally qualified to manage the human resource. Consequently the basics in personnel management, let alone human resource management are ignored. This is the case in personnel records, human resources data and information processing, human resources development including training, succession planning etc. The Public Sector requires professional capable of adequately supporting the human resource management function if the sector has to develop strategies fro attracting, recruiting, developing, motivating and retaining the best skilled personnel to man it. Knowledgeable, skilled and ethical financial and other resource managers: In several countries currently there is what may be called a crisis in the area of transparency, accountability, ethics, and integrity especially related to the management of financial resources. Although one may argue that this does not only concern the Public sector, the issues are more critical in the Public sector because it concerns stewardship of the public good including public funds. To have the best managers of public finances is not only a matter of knowledge and skills in financial management and accounting. It is equally important to have individuals with integrity and ethical behaviour. There needs to be deliberate efforts to attract, select, recruit, and develop such individuals in the Public sector. Knowledgeable and skilled information managers: Effective policy and strategy analysis, formulation, planning, monitoring, and evaluation strongly depend on systems, processes, and practices of information management that can avail timely, accurate, well organised, and accessible information. In the current era of information and knowledge management the Public sector should have at its disposal a cadre of capable information managers to effectively harness information for managing resources and delivering services. (vi)Public servants who cherish professionalism, ethics and integrity: While skills and knowledge are essential for performing any Public sector function, we must acknowledge that without appropriate values such as professionalism, ethics, integrity, the Public sector will remain under disdain. Inadequate

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integrity, ethical behaviour and professionalism breed and sustain corruption and other forms of malpractices that have characterised the Public sector in many countries. Many projects and programmes aimed at improving service delivery and reducing poverty in many countries miss their targeted objectives because their resources are diverted, embezzled or diverted by officials who lack integrity. It is critical that the best personnel in terms of ethics and integrity are attracted, recruited, and retained in the Public sector. (vii)Public servants that are knowledgeable, skilled and committed in executing functions related to ensuring law and order, justice, audit and administrative control: Respect to law, rules, regulation, and due procedure are cardinal retirements for a well functioning Public administration system. They are the basis of the rule of law, democracy and fairness. However, its administration is not an automatic given. It requires dedicated and capable personnel.

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