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INQUIRY INTO THE
ADMINISTRATION AND OPERATIONS
OF THE
GOVERNMENT HUMAN RESOURCES SERVICES
COMPANY LIMITED (GHRS)
PAPER NO: /2015 PARL NO. 14/6/13
Ordered to be printed with the Minutes of
Proceedings
and Notes of Evidence
PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
Fifth Session (2014/2015)
TENTH PARLIAMENT
EIGHTEENTH (18th) REPORT
of the
Joint Select Committee appointed to inquire into and report on Government
Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
(GROUP 2)
Eighteenth Report of the Joint Select Committee on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
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An electronic copy of this report can be found on the Parliament website: www.ttparliament.orghttp://www.ttparliament.org/committee_business.php?mid=19&id=149&pid=25 The Joint Select Committee appointed to inquire into and report to Parliament on Ministries (Group 2), and on the Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises falling under their purview Contact the Committee’s Secretariat
Telephone: 624-7275 Extensions 2277/2288/2282, Fax: 625-4672 Email: jscgroup2@ttparliament.org
Eighteenth Report of the Joint Select Committee on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
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EIGHteenth Report
Of the
Joint Select Committee Appointed To Inquire Into And
Report On Government Ministries, Statutory
Authorities And State Enterprises (Group 2)
ON THE
The Administration and Operations of the
GOVERNMENT HUMAN RESOURCES SERVICES
COMPANY LIMITED (ghrs)
Date Laid: HoR: _____________________ Senate: ___________________
Eighteenth Report of the Joint Select Committee on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
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THE COMMITTEE
Dr. Victor Wheeler
CHAIRMAN
Mr. David Small Dr. Bhoendradatt Tewarie VICE-CHAIRMAN MEMBER
.
Dr. Tim Gopeesingh, MP Mr. Clifton De Coteau, MP Dr. Lester Henry MEMBER MEMBER MEMBER
Mr. Collin Partap, MP Mr. Kevin Ramnarine Dr. Lincoln Douglas, MP MEMBER MEMBER MEMBER
Mrs. Raziah Amed Ms. Alicia Hospedales, MP Mr. Fitzgerald Jeffrey, MP
MEMBER MEMBER MEMBER
Eighteenth Report of the Joint Select Committee on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
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Committee Mandate and Establishment
1.1. Section 66 of the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago declares, that not later than three
months after the first meeting of the House of Representatives, the Parliament shall appoint Joint
Select Committees to inquire into and report to both Houses in respect of Government Ministries,
Municipal Corporations, Statutory Authorities, State Enterprises and Service Commissions, in relation
to their administration, the manner of exercise of their powers, their methods of functioning and any
criteria adopted by them in the exercise of their powers and functions.
1.2. Motions related to this purpose were passed in the House of Representatives and Senate on
September 17, 2010 and October 12, 2010, respectively, and thereby established, inter alia, the Joint
Select Committee to inquire into and report to Parliament on Ministries with responsibility for
the business set out in the Schedule as Group 2, and on the Statutory Authorities and State
Enterprises falling under their purview with regard to their administration, the manner of
exercise of their powers, their methods of functioning and any criteria adopted by them in the
exercise of their powers and functions.
1.3. The entities which fall under the purview of the Committee is attached as Appendix I.
Powers of the Joint Select Committee
1.4. Standing Orders 71B of the Senate and 101 of the House of Representatives delineate the core
powers of the Committee which include inter alia:
to review and report on all matters relating to:
the statute law relating to the Ministry/body assigned to it;
the program and policy objectives of the Ministry/Body and its effectiveness in
the implementation of same;
other matters relating to the management , organization of the ministry or body,
as the Committee deems it fit;
to send for persons, papers and records;
to adjourn from place to place;
to appoint specialist advisers either to supply information which is not otherwise readily
available or to elucidate matters of complexity within the Committee’s order of reference;
and
Eighteenth Report of the Joint Select Committee on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
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to communicate with any other Committee of Parliament on matters of common
interest.
Membership
1.5 The Committee comprises the following members:
1. Dr. Victor Wheeler* - Chairman
2. Mr. David Small* - Vice-Chairman
3. Dr. Tim Gopeesingh, MP- Member
4. Mr. Clifton De Coteau, MP- Member
5. Dr. Lincoln Douglas, MP- Member
6. Mr. Collin Partap, MP - Member
7. Ms. Alicia Hospedales, MP- Member
8. Mr. Fitzgerald Jeffrey, MP - Member
9. Dr. Bhoendradatt Tewarie- Member
10. Mr. Kevin Ramnarine - Member
11. Ms. Raziah Ahmed* - Member
12. Dr. Lester Henry - Member
Secretariat Support
1.6 The following officers were assigned to assist the Committee:
o Mr. Julien Ogilvie - Secretary
o Ms. Candice Skerrette - Assistant Secretary
o Mr. Indar Sieunarine - Procedural Clerk Assistant
o Ms. Katharina Gokool - Graduate Research Assistant
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TABLE OF CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................................... 2-3
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................ 5
INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 6
Background ............................................................................................................................................ 6
Objectives of the Inquiry ........................................................................................................................ 7
Conduct of the Inquiry ........................................................................................................................... 8
THE EVIDENCE .......................................................................................................... 10
Input and Performance ........................................................................................................................ 10
The fillling of vacancies throughout the Public Service ..................................................................... 10
Application of Best Practices .............................................................................................................. 11
Professional Development Programme (PDP) .................................................................................... 13
Gold to Diamond Vision (G2D) ........................................................................................................... 16
The Model Organisational Structure .................................................................................................. 20
Procedures for Contracting and Outsourcing of Services ................................................................... 23
The Strategic Objectives of the newly instated Board ....................................................................... 25
Major Challenges of the Company ....................................................................................................... 26
Achievements of the Company ............................................................................................................. 29
Relationship between the GHRS and other Stakeholders ........................................................ …………...33
FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................... 38-44
APPENDIX I ............................................................................................................... 46
APPENDIX II .............................................................................................................. 52
APPENDIX III ............................................................................................................. 63
APPENDIX IV ............................................................................................................ 99
APPENDIX V ............................................................................................................ 115
Eighteenth Report of the Joint Select Committee on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
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ABBREVIATIONS
BOA BUSINESS OPERATIONS ASSISTANT
BoD BOARD OF DIRECTORS
CEO CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
CPO CHIEF PERSONNEL OFFICER
DPA DIRECTOR OF PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION
G2D GOLD TO DIAMOND
GHRS GOVERNMENT HUMAN RESOUCES SERVICES COMPANY LIMITED
HR HUMAN RESOURCES
HRM HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
IDP INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
IT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
MBTI MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR
MFA MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
MoFE MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND THE ECONOMY
MPA MINISTRY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
NPC NATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY COUNCIL
OD ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
OSH OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH
PDP PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
PSA PUBLIC SERVICE ASSOCIATION
PSC PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
PSNC PUBLIC SECTOR NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE
SATD SCHOLARSHIP AND ADVANCED TRAINING DIVISION
SHRMC STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COUNCIL
Eighteenth Report of the Joint Select Committee on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
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UTT UNIVERSITY OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
VP VICE-PRESIDENT
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TABLES AND DIAGRAMS
TABLE NO. DETAILS PAGE NO.
1 Number of clients and recruitment contracts for the period 2010 to 2013
10
2 MPA Projects Assigned to GHRS in fiscal 2013/2014
17
3 Positions re-advertised by GHRS during the period 2010-
2013
20
4 Challenges experienced by the company for the period
2010 to 2013
26-27
5 Major achievements of GHRS
29-30
6 Recruitment services provided to public entities for the
period 2010 to 2013
32
DIAGRAM NO.
DETAILS
PAGE NO.
1 The current and proposed structures of the Public
Service
17
2 Organisation Chart as approved by PSNC in 2007 18
3 Redesigned organisational structure 19
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
At its twenty-fifth meeting held on Friday October 4, 2013, the Committee resolved to pursue
an inquiry into the GHRS. The main objectives of the inquiry were as follows:
i. To assess the Company’s input and performance with regards to the fulfillment of
the following strategic goals and objectives:
a. the filling of vacancies throughout the public service and public enterprises;
b. the application of HR best practices across the public sector;
c. the execution of the Professional Development Programme (PDP);
d. the attainment of the Gold to Diamond (G2D) Vision; and
e. the remodeling of the organizational structure.
ii. To acquire insight into the procedures that are applied in the contracting and or
outsourcing of services.
iii. To inquire into the strategic objectives of the newly appointed Board at the GHRS.
iv. To understand the major challenges faced by the GHRS and to gain an appreciation
of the achievements of the Company for the period 2010-2013.
v. To determine the nature of the GHRSs’ association/relations with the various Service
Commissions, State Enterprises, Municipal Corporations, Regional Health Authorities
vis-à-vis the recruitment of staff to service these bodies.
The Committee obtained both oral and written evidence based on the objectives listed above.
After analysing the evidence (summarized in section 3 of this report). It was noted that the
company could be classified as a special-purpose state enterprise that was created to augment
the Human Resource Management capacity with in the public service. Whether the company
has fulfilled this mandate effectively is debatable given that it is still striving to position itself
as the preferred specialist human resource recruitment entity within the public sector.
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The company’s involvement in the recruitment of employees into public service entities is
limited to contract employees and the fact that the company provided recruitment services for
1, 381 contract employees during the period 2010-2013, at an average of 460 per year was not
in our view an indication that the company was making a significant impact on alleviating the
human resource shortages in the public service.
In light of this, we identified certain issues concerning the operations of GHRS that should
be urgently addressed as a means of enhancing the efficiency of the Company and to increase
its contribution to building the human resource capacity of the public service. Some of the
issues flagged by the committee were:
a. low market penetration in that the company is not considered the preferred human
resource services provider by public service entities. Thus, there is an underutilization
of the company’s services by several state entities such as State Enterprises and local
government bodies;
b. inadequate staff to execute and expand the range of human resource services
provided; and
c. instability at the corporate governance level of the Corporation i.e. the Board of
Directors of the company.
As a consequence, we formulated appropriate recommendations to address these issues.
Section 4 comprises the findings and recommendations of the
Committee. The Committee also noted some commendable aspects of the Company’s
operations which included:
a. its application of modern practices and techniques, particularly in the area of
recruitment and selection such as psychometric tests;
Eighteenth Report of the Joint Select Committee on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
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b. competitive pricing of its services. In a market survey conducted by the company,
it was revealed that the company’s prices were among the most competitive within the
human resource services industry;
c. the company’s development of a new Strategic Plan for the period 2014-2017 to
guide its operations;
d. the company’s efforts to recruit personnel from abroad for the benefit of the
public service. This is welcomed since in many instances, the required skills and talent
may not be available locally. E.g. in the field of medicine.
We anticipate that the Parliament, the GHRS, the Ministry of Public Administration and other
stakeholders would give due consideration to the findings and recommendations contained in
this Report with a view to enhancing the operations of this important organization within the
human resource management cadre of the state. The Committee looks forward to reviewing
the Minister’s response to this Report, which becomes due, 60 days after it is presented to the
Houses of Parliament.
Eighteenth Report of the Joint Select Committee on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
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2. INTRODUCTION
Background
2.1. Cabinet Minute No. 1990 of August 4, 2005 appointed a Human Resource Strategy
Committee to determine what should be done to enhance the human resource capacity in the
public service. The Cabinet accepted the main recommendation (by Cabinet Minute No.
1961 of August 3, 2006) to establish a human resource management company State-owned
Limited Liability Company. The implementation of this recommendation gave rise to the
establishment of the Government Human Resource Services Company Limited (GHRS),
which was incorporated on October 26, 2006.
2.2. The Company is governed by by-laws as well as the State Enterprise Performance Manual
of the Ministry of Finance and the Economy (MoFE).
2.3. The main objectives of the Company are to:
a. collaborate with the Ministry of Public Administration (MPA) to build the human
resource capacity of the public service;
b. provide human resource management services to Ministries and Departments;
and
c. deliver a prompt, courteous and professional customer service.
2.4. The core services offered by the Company comprises:
- Recruitment and Selection;
- Training Design and Delivery;
- Assessment and Development; and
- Customised HR Solutions.
2.5. The Committee noted that there have been reports in the media that referred to allegations
of misconduct, in particular, conflicts of interests which arose out of transctions involving a
Member of the Company’s Board.
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2.6. The Committee became aware that no additional disciplinary action was taken against the
party involved by the Company or the Ministry of Public Administration (MPA). Alternately, the
matter was referred to the MoFE to be examination.
2.7. Given the foregoing and acknowledging that increasing and enhancing the human
resources within the public service is an essential prerequisite for improving the delivery of
public services to the population of this country, the Committee determined that it was
important to examine the administration and operations of the GHRS.
Objectives of the Inquiry
2.8. At a meeting held on December 13, 2013, the Committee agreed that the following
will comprise the objectives of the inquiry:
vi. To assess the Company’s input and performance with regards to the fulfillment
of the following strategic goals and objectives:
a. the filling of vacancies throughout the public service and public
enterprises;
b. the application of HR best practices across the public sector;
c. the execution of the Professional Development Programme (PDP);
d. the attainment of the Gold to Diamond (G2D) Vision; and
e. the remodeling of the organizational structure.
vii. To acquire insight into the procedures that are applied in the contracting and
or outsourcing of services.
viii. To inquire into the strategic objectives of the newly appointed Board at the
GHRS.
ix. To understand the major challenges faced by the GHRS and to gain an
appreciation of the achievements of the Company for the period 2010-2013.
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x. To determine the nature of the GHRSs’ association/relations with the various
Service Commissions, State Enterprises, Municipal Corporations, Regional
Health Authorities vis-à-vis the recruitment of staff to service these bodies.
Execution of the Inquiry
2.9. On January 10, 2014, a public hearing was held with representatives of the MPA and
GHRS at which time the Committee questioned the officials on the various matters pertinent
to the inquiry Objectives. Prior to the public hearing, notice was given as to the general
objectives of the inquiry and in response, written submissions were received from GHRS.
These responses provided a frame of reference for the oral questions pursued at the hearing.
2.10. The MPA and GHRS were represented at the meeting of Friday January 10, 2014 by:
Representatives of the Ministry of Public Administration:
Ms. Gillian Macintyre Permanent Secretary
Mr. Richard Madray Deputy Permanent Secretary
Ms. Annalisa Sankar Senior Legal Officer
Mrs. Abigail Bynoe Manager, Policy, Strategy and Monitoring Unit
Ms. Josanne Germain Strategic Analyst
Representatives of the Government Human Resources Services Company Limited:
Dr. Franklin Ali Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Wayne Munro Chairman
Mr. Khari Murray Vice-President, Human Capital Management
Mr. Geoffrey Lewis Vice-President, Corporate Planning and Deputy CEO
Ms. Allyson Alexander Internal Auditor
2.11. Subsequent to the public hearing of January 10, 2014, additional information was
requested from the GHRS. The requested information was submitted under letter dated
February 20, 2014.
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2.12. The draft of this Report was considered and approved with amendments at a meeting
of the Committee held on Friday January 16, 2015.
2.13. The Minutes of the Meeting during which the public hearing was held are attached
as Appendix II and the Verbatim Notes as Appendix III.
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3. THE EVIDENCE
PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT OF STRATEGIC GOALS AND
OBJECTIVES
Filling Vacancies throughout the Public Service and Public Enterprises
3.1.1 GHRS fills contract vacancies and provides recruitment assistance upon the request
of a government agency. The Committee noted that GHRS was involved in various aspects
of the recruitment of 1,381 contract employees during the period 2010 to 2013. Table 1
provides a breakdown of the number of clients and recruitment contracts fiscal years
2010/2011, 2011/2012, and 2012/2013.
TABLE 1
Number of clients and recruitment contracts for the period 2010 to 2013
Fiscal year 2010/2011 2011/2012 2012/2013
Clients
Ministries 16 16 15
State Enterprises 13 11 2
Regional Health Authority 1 1 -
Type of
recruitment
contract
Recommendations for the filling of
vacancies
n/d n/d 292
Advertising for vacancies n/d n/d 322
Sifting for vacancies n/d n/d 24
Database searches n/d n/d 3
Total Number of Contracts 300 440 641
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3.1.2. Given the information in Table 1 above, the Committee noted that an aggregate of one
thousand, three hundred and eighty-one (1,381) interviews/advertisement/sifting/database searches
were conducted by GHRS during the period 2010-2013 for contract employment in the Public
Sector.
Application of HR best practices
Strengthening internal capacity and enhancing operational effectiveness
3.1.3. In 2012, the Company streamlined its operations and instituted a more focused
approach to the delivery of core HR services as follows:
Recruitment, Assessment and Selection;
Training Design and Delivery;
Assessment and Development; and
Customised HR Solutions.
3.1.4. The Company is also seeking to retool its business through building a competent and
experienced team that can treat with competency-based recruitment and selection. This team
would be expected to provide services in the areas of competency-based interviews, training
clients, performing HR audits, compensation reviews, drafting job descriptions, job redesign
and organisation transformation issues. It is hoped that the strengthening of its resources
would enable the Company to expand its array of services as well as increase its capacity to
provide quality service to a larger number of clients.
Recruitment, Assessment and Selection
3.1.5. GHRS has moved to a multi-phased assessment approach to assess individuals and to
enhance the potential of attaining individual vs job fit. Officials indicated that research data
has suggested that the multi-phased assessment approach to recruitment has a person-job fit
accuracy of sixty-eight percent (68%) during employee recruitment, whereas interviews have
a fifteen percent (15%) accuracy rate, followed by references with a twelve percent (12%)
accuracy rate.
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3.1.6. The Company offers clients the competency-based services using samples, aptitude
tests, psychometric assessments and competency based interviewing. This robust and
transparent process is aligned to current “best practices” and is more advanced than the
process used by public sector entities.
Training, Design and Delivery
3.1.7. The shift towards a multi-phased assessment approach required structured training
programmes and on-the-job direct experiences to improve the ability of managers.
Accordingly, since 2011, the Company has embarked on several HR training workshops,
including a competency-based job analysis workshop with forty (40) participants and a
competency-based interviewing workshop with one hundred and ninety-five (195)
participants.
3.1.8. Competency-based interviews, includes the design and administration of work samples
and psychometric testing. GHRS utilizes WAVE psychometric testing and 16PF
psychometric assessment.
3.1.9. Prior to 2013, staff trained in psychometric testing subsequently left the organisation
and the Company resorted to outsourcing competency-based psychometric testing. However,
in 2013, in order to build internal capacity, four (4) Client Services employees were trained in
administering and interpreting the internationally recognised WAVE psychometric testing;
while three (3) members of staff were trained in 16PF psychometric assessment. As such, the
application of these scientifically benefit from the added dimension of better predicting on-
the-job performance in selecting the best fit candidates.
Assessment and Development
3.1.10. The Company indicated in its submission that in 2014, it will administer workshops in
the following areas:
Performance Management
Change Management
Train the Trainer
Organisational Development
HR Process Mapping
Determination of Public Sector Salary
Increments
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3.1.11. Additionally, GHRS is currently collaborating with the MPA to develop a performance
management training programme which is at the conceptualisation stage.
Customised HR Solutions
3.1.12. A client can engage GHRS to provide either full or partial recruitment, assessment and
selection services. Full recruitment, assessment and selection includes advertisement designs,
online and print media advertising, database searches for suitable candidates, shortlisting of
candidates, development of work samples, administration of psychometric testing, drafting
interviewer questions and participation in competency-based interviews.
The Professional Development Programme (PDP)
3.1.13. The MPA requested the Company to design and deliver a Professional Development
Programme (PDP) for returning scholars. In the first instance, thirty (30) out of three hundred
(300) returning scholars voluntarily participated in a pilot professional development
programme which was developed and managed by the Company, in 2009. The PDP does not
treat with the job placement for returning scholars as this responsibility lies with the MPA.
3.1.14. The major objectives of the PDP were:
to encourage scholars to realize their true potential by developing their
professional skills in a work environment;
to build competencies critical to achieving developed national status;
to create a web of opportunities for knowledge development through training;
and
to encourage the retention of the country’s highest performing scholars in the
Public Service.
3.1.15. A development centre approach was used in piloting the programme wherein
participant’s performance levels were assessed based on the following competencies:
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- Drive for Results
- Learning and Improving
- Customer Focus
- Decision Making
- Building Productive Relationships
- Communicating with impact (written)
- Communication with impact (oral)
- Constructive Thinking
- Ethics & Integrity
3.1.16. Participant’s competencies were measured by using three (3) exercises which were
incorporated into the programme. They also participated in a psychometric assessment to
determine their managerial capabilities and Individual Development Plans (IDPs) which
outlines ways in which their performance can be improved in the various competencies, in
order to offset perceived deficiencies.
3.1.17. During the period 2010 to 2012, subsequent to the pilot programme, there was an
interruption in the programme because the Company lacked the resources to maintain its
continuance. For example, MPA was unable to allocate financial resources in order to engage
the services of the Company and lacked the appropriate staff to coordinate the programme
alongside the Company.
3.1.18. Nonetheless, the programme was reinstated in May 2012, when the Scholarship and
Advanced Training Division (SATD) of the MPA engaged the Company to facilitate Cohort
1 (C1) and Cohort 2 (C2) of the PDP in 2013. Accordingly, at the conclusion of November
2012, the Company and SATD began advertising the PDP C1 and C2 to accumulate two (2)
cohorts consisting of twenty-six (26) returning scholars each.
3.1.19. These two cohorts were contacted to undergo an online psychometric assessment on
January 25th, 2013 using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment, one (1) week prior to
the commencement of each development centre. Thereafter each candidate was issued a
report and the Company held forty five (45) minute feedback sessions to discuss the findings
of the assessments.
Eighteenth Report of the Joint Select Committee on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
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PDP Feedback Mechanism
3.1.20. Currently, there is no established mechanism to track the progress of participants after
they exit the programme. However, feedback from participants pertaining to the various
benefits gained by the scholars and information regarding the nature of support provided to
the scholars by their line supervisors and assessors was obtained during the programme which
runs over the period of three (3) months. The Committee was informed that a returning
scholar’s forum was in operation at the time. The forum allow for ‘smile sheet’ type of
feedback to be provided by returning scholars who participated in the programme.
The Gold to Diamond (G2D) Vision
3.1.21. The Gold to Diamond (G2D) Programme was launched in 2012 as part of the
celebration of golden anniversary of Trinidad and Tobago’s (T&T) independence. G2D
represents a ten (10) year journey from 2012 to 2022 towards a modernized, citizen-centric
public service. T&T will celebrate its diamond jubilee in the year 2022.
3.1.22. The diamond model is built on four (4) main pillars as follows:
1. People;
2. Governance;
3. Infrastructure; and
4. Service delivery.
3.1.23. This Model is further dissected in reference to the three C’s used to describe a diamond
in the Public Service; i.e. capability, culture and connectedness.
3.1.24. The structure of the Public Service is also intended to be reshaped from a pyramid to
diamond-shape structure (See Diagram 1 below)to allow for the executive at the top level, a
broader middle management level (with technical and professional streams) which would
provide for increased delegation from the top and a narrower bottom level. It is expected that
the rationalization of lower level staff will entail the integration of the clerical and secretarial
classes. Thus far, such integration at the bottom level has been initiated by the MPA with the
creation of the position of Management Support Officers. In this regard, the Ministry indicated
that it was engaged in negotiations with the Public Service Association (PSA) and the Chief
Personnel Officer (CPO) regarding this new position.
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DIAGRAM 1
Current and proposed new structure of the Public Service
New HRM architecture
3.1.25. The MPA will enable G2D through dialogue and collaboration with all stakeholders.
However, the Company’s role in relation to the G2D vision will be limited to:
Competency based recruitment and selection services to Ministries and state
agencies;
Organizing and facilitating Performance Management and Assessment Centres;
Designing and delivering standard and customized training solutions; and
Designing and delivering customized HR solutions such as:
HR Audits;
HR Planning;
Job Analysis;
Job Evaluation; and
Job Description Writing.
3.1.26. During the period 2012/2013 the company was appointed by its line Ministry to
provide the following services:
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provided recruitment services for fifteen (15) positions;
facilitated Competency-Based Interviewing Workshops - several workshops were
conducted with a total of one hundred and twenty four (124) participants;
facilitated a Job Analysis & Job Description Writing Workshop - there was a five (5)
day workshop for thirty (30) participants;
facilitated a Deputy Permanent Secretaries Retreat - this included sessions on
Coaching and Mentoring, Team-building and Critical Thinking for thirty five (35)
participants;
facilitated an Interview Preparation, Resume Writing and Networking Workshop -
sessions were held as part of the PDP for returning scholars; and
performed Business Operations Assistant Competency Assessments – 339 candidates
for the positions of Business Operations I (BOA I) and Business Operations Assistant
(BOA II) participated in a two-hour competency assessment exercise in October 2013.
Eighty-four (84) BOA I and Forty- five (45) BOA II, satisfactorily met the
requirements.
3.1.27. As it pertains to fiscal 2013/2014, the Company was engaged by its line Ministry to
execute the programmes identified in Table 2 below.
TABLE 2
MPA projects assigned to GHRS in fiscal 2013/2014
No. Project Description GHRS
Service Area
1. Orientation for Deputy Permanent Secretaries (DPSs) Other Customized HR Solutions
2. Coaching & Mentoring for Executive Members of the
Public Service
Training Design & Delivery
3. Design & Delivery of Training Programme -
Change Management
Training Design & Delivery
4. Design & Delivery of Training Programme -
OD & Process Mapping
Training Design & Delivery
5. Design & Delivery of Training Programme -
Project Management
Training Design & Delivery
6. Design & Delivery of Training Programme -
Train the Trainer
Training Design & Delivery
Eighteenth Report of the Joint Select Committee on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
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No. Project Description GHRS
Service Area
7. Design & Delivery of Training Programme -
Performance Management
Training Design & Delivery
8. Design & Delivery of Training Programme -
Determination of Increments
Training Design & Delivery
9. Design & Delivery of Training Programme -
Managing Recruitment & Selection
Training Design & Delivery
10. Design & Delivery of Training Intervention for Serving
Public Officers to Enter Management Support Series in the
Public Sector
Training Design & Delivery
Remodelling of the Company’s Organisational Structure
3.1.28. The Company’s original organisational structure was approved by the PSNC in 2007
which provided for an establishment of twenty (20) approved positions as illustrated
hereunder in Diagram 2.
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Diagram 2
Organisational Structure as approved by PSNC in 2007
3.1.29. However, the Company engaged in a comprehensive review of its organisational
structure in May 2013, which established the need for a further strengthening of the
Company’s institutional capacity and business continuity as it continues to seek to achieve the
mandate of becoming the premium provider of HR services in the Public Sector. Accordingly,
at the 63rd Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company, approval was granted for a
redesigned organisational structure which provided for an establishment of forty (40)
positions. Diagram 3 below depicts the Current Organisational Chart of the Company.
Eighteenth Report of the Joint Select Committee on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
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Diagram 3
Redesigned organisational structure
3.1.30. The Committee was informed that a total of sixteen (16) contract positions have been
filled and that over the period January to March, 2014 a further seventeen (17) positions will
be filled which would bring the total number of employee to thirty-three (33) employees
although the capacity of the organisation is forty (40) positions.
Internal Positions
3.1.31. The Committee was also advised that during the period 2010-2013, the Company
experienced several changes to its Executive as well as a high rate of staff turnovers which
affected its recruitment activities. In 2011, ministerial directives were given to Ministries and
supporting agencies to re-advertise contract positions. As a result, during the period 2010 to
2013 the Company re-advertised four (4) executive vacancies, four (4) senior professional
vacancies, two (2) junior professional vacancies and two (2) administrative vacancies.
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3.1.32. Furthermore, recruitment for three (3) out of the four (4) executive vacancies were
conducted in January 2013 by an external recruitment agency rather than by in-house staff.
The Committee noted that two (2) incumbents reapplied for re-advertised positions of Chief
Executive Officer and Vice-President, Human Capital Management respectively, both in
August, 2011. It was noteworthy that neither of the two incumbents who re-applied were
rehired by the Company. Moreover, as is depicted in Table 3 below, during the period 2010-
2013 no previous employees of the company were re-hired.
TABLE 3
Positions re-advertised during the period 2010-2013
Year Date Advertised
Positions Re-Advertised Incumbent(s) Re-applied
Incumbent(s) Re-Hired
2010 Aug-10 HR Manager (Senior Human Resource Professional) 0 0
2011 Jun. 11 VP Legal Admin Services and Corp Sec 0 0
Aug. 11 Chief Executive Officer 1 0
Aug. 11 VP Legal Services and Corp Secretary 0 0
Aug. 11 VP Human Capital Management 1 0
Oct. 11 Executive Assistant 0 0
Oct. 11 Receptionist/Office Attendant 0 0
2012 Jul. 12 Coordinator - Client Services 0 0
Jul. 12 Project Manager - Client Services 0 0
Aug. 12 Legal Advisor - Corporate Secretary 0 0
Oct. 12 Marketing and Communications Specialist 0 0
2013 Jan. 13 Receptionist/Office Attendant 0 0
Jan. 13 Chief Executive Officer 0 0
Jan. 13 VP Corporate Planning/Chief Executive Officer 0 0
Jan. 13 VP Human Capital Management 0 0
Mar. 13 Legal Advisor and Corporate Secretary 0 0
Sep. 13 Senior Human Resource Professional 0 0
Sep. 13 HR Coordinator 0 0
Sep. 13 Business Operations Assistant 1 0 0
Oct. 13 Manager HR & Administration 0 0
Nov. 13 Manager HR & Administration 0 0
Nov. 13 Senior Human Resource Professional 0 0
Totals 2 0
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Recruitment Procedure
3.1.33. The Company’s recruitment procedure entails the following:
The Company recruits and selects its own employees.
The Board approves positions within the Company.
New positions requiring compensation ranges, the salary and terms proposal
are forwarded to the line Ministry and are advanced to the Ministerial
Committee for review and final approval.
PROCEDURES FOR CONTRACTING AND OUTSOURCING OF
SERVICES
Procurement Procedures
3.2.1. The Committee reviewed the Company’s Procurement Procedures for the acquisition
of goods, provision of services, undertaking works and disposal of unserviceable items which
were adopted and approved by the Board at its 64th Meeting held on July 2, 2013 in keeping
with the State Enterprises Performance Monitoring Manual, 2011. In particular, the
Procurement Procedures establishes certain limits in the value of contracts that can be awarded
by the company’s CEO, the Tenders Committee and the Board and were before the Minister
of Finance and the Economy, awaiting approval.
Authority
3.2.2. The Committee was informed that procurement is the responsibility of the Company’s
Board of Directors. However, the Board may delegate some of their responsibility to a
Tenders Committee and the Chief Executive Officer/Designate.
3.2.3. The Board, the Tenders Committee and the Chief Executive Officer/Designate shall
act in the Company’s name for and on behalf of the Company:
(a) In inviting, considering, accepting or rejecting offers for the supply of goods or
any service or for the undertaking of works in connection therewith, necessary for
carrying out the functions of GHRS in certain circumstances outlined hereunder:
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(i) For contracts valued TT$5 Million* and over, the Tenders Committee
shall make recommendations to the Board of Directors for the award of
the contracts. The concurrence of the Ministers of Finance and Public
Administration must be requested before an award in made/or
communicated to the bidder;
(ii) For contracts valued TT$1 Million or more but less than TT$5 Million*,
the Tenders Committee shall make recommendations to the Board of
Directors for the award of the contracts;
(iii) For contracts valued TT$300,000 or more but less than TT$1 Million*, the
Tenders Committee shall make the award;
(iv) Contracts valued less than TT$300,000* shall be awarded by the Chief
Executive Officer.
NB: The Values quoted above are Value Added Tax (VAT) exclusive but these sums or values
mentioned may be amended by resolution of the Board and approved by the Minister where
applicable.
(b) In disposing of unserviceable goods belonging to the Company in
accordance with procedures established for this purpose.
Pre-Qualification Database
3.2.4. In 2012, the Company began establishing a pre-qualified database for HR Services
involving:
Assessors;
Mentors;
Development and Assessment services;
Training design and delivery services; and
Recruitment and Selection services:
Panel members;
Psychometric assessments; and
Reference checking.
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3.2.5. Furthermore, given the revised Procurement Procedures (2013), the Company
embarked on improving and updating its prequalified database of suppliers. This was done
through the re-opening of the application process for the prequalification of suppliers for
human resource services, which has since remained opened and advertised on the Company’s
website.
3.2.6. In addition, the Company held a pre-qualification exercise from September 9th to 20th,
2013 for the provision of general goods and services under fifty-five (55) categories. The
invitation for prequalification exercise was advertised in a daily newspaper and on the
Company’s website. An aggregate of four hundred and thirty-four (434) pre-qualification
packages were sold and were being reviewed and filed by the Company and vendors are being
contacted accordingly. Once this shortlist of pre-qualified suppliers of goods and services is
instituted, the Company will utilize the pre-qualification database to perform routine
procurement.
Procurement Methods
3.2.7. The Committee was informed that according to the State Enterprises Performance
Manual, companies such as GHRS with a relatively small working capital, require tenders of
smaller ranges, can engage in the following types of standard procurement methods:
Tendering
Open Tendering
Selecting Tendering
Electronic Auction (E-Auction)
Electronic Procurement (E-Procurement)
Emergency Purchases
Exemptions/Merit Awards
3.2.8. Noteworthy was the fact that since the introduction of the new Board, the Company
has not engaged in any emergency tenders. Additionally, the Company had not held any public
Eighteenth Report of the Joint Select Committee on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
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open tenders since May, 2013 mainly because its projects were relatively small. However, the
Company anticipates a public open tender in February/March, 2014 for an IT consultancy to
review and redesign the e-recruitment online application system. On the other hand, during
the fiscal year 2012/2013, the Company had one (1) open tender, an e-tender (hosted by the
MoFE) for the purchase of Information Technology hardware and consumables such as
laptops. In that same year, there were eleven (11) selective tenders mainly for the procurement
of HR related services who were derived out of the Company’s pre-qualified database of HR
service providers.
Appeals against contract tendering decisions for the period 2010 to 2013
3.2.9. During the period 2010-2013, the Committee was informed that there were no appeals
recorded against contracts awarded or tender decisions taken by the Company.
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES OF THE NEWLY INSTATED BOARD
Board of Directors
3.3.1. We were informed that the present BoD was appointed on October 14th, 2013. Cabinet
approval is required to increase Board membership. The Board has prepared a number of
programmes and packages to provide training when required by government agencies. In the
past no formal Deputy Chairman was appointed to the Board. Therefore, at each meeting of
the Board, a Chair was appointed whenever the Chairman was absent.
3.3.2. The first meeting of the new Board was held on October 25th, 2013. Some of the
Board’s main strategic moves involved:
- relocating the Company’s main office from Maraval to Chaguanas;
- proposing a new organisational structure; and
- developing a strategic plan by March 2014.
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Strategic Objectives
3.3.3. The previous Board operated with a 2013/2014 Business Plan dated October 10, 2013.
However, in recognising that a Business Plan was generally narrow in its scope, the Board
agreed to prepare a Strategic Plan to incorporate future polices that would drive the institution
to ensure that the development nature of the people of Trinidad and Tobago was captured.
3.3.4. Accordingly, the management was directed by the Board to prepare a three-year
Strategic Plan (2014/2017) which was expected to be completed by March, 2014.
3.3.5. The 2013/2014 Business Plan included proposals to:
improve and expand the current array of services;
build institutional strengthening/business continuity;
invest in training and development;
expand market share;
engage in prudent cost management;
promote a disciplined, results based culture;
build stronger brand and image in the market; and
practice good corporate social responsibility.
Executive Management Team
3.3.6. The Company had been operating without a substantive CEO since 2011. Rather, the
Company functioned with an acting CEO until May, 2013 when a substantive CEO was
recruited. The Committee was informed that during the period April to June, 2013, the
Company was fortified with a complete executive management team which was responsible
for the majority of progressive initiatives which have been undertaken in recent time.
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MAJOR CHALLENGES OF THE COMPANY
3.4.1. The major challenges of the Company over the period 2010-2013 are outlined in
Table 4.
TABLE 4
Challenges experienced by the company for the period 2010 to 2013
Item 2010/ 2011
2011/ 2012
2012/ 2013
Current Status
Physical infrastructure of office inadequate
X X X On November 29, 2013 GHRS relocated from Maraval to Chaguanas.
Office space move from 5,000 sq. ft. (single floor) to 10,000 sq. ft. (three-storey) with adequate parking and office infrastructure.
Interview rooms moved from 1 to 5.
Physical infrastructure now adequate.
Limited policies and procedures
X
X
Policies developed from May 2013 to present:
Procurement Procedures for the Acquisition of Goods & Services
IT Security Manual (New - Approved)
IT End User Manual (New - Approved)
IT Operations Manual (New - Approved)
HR Policy (Approved)
Internal Audit Manual (New - Approved)
OSH Policy (New - draft)
Code of Conduct (Major review)
Pricing Policy (Approved)
Staff involved in recruitment not in possession of specialized training in psychometric testing
X
X
Currently 4 officers are trained in WAVE psychometric testing and 3 in 16PF. This is adequate for our needs.
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Item 2010/ 2011
2011/ 2012
2012/ 2013
Current Status
Limited Associates/Consultants in HR Services
X X Currently there are 21 firms and 3 individual consultants in the prequalified database of HR Associates/consultants. The current prequalification exercise is also expected to yield additional consultants.
Insufficient staffing X X X In 2013 approved positions moved from the initial 20 positions to 40. To date 16 out of 40 positions have been filled. 17 more to be filled within the next 3 months. The full management team is on board.
Business continuity X X X Approved positions in IT Department moved from 1 to 3.
Approved positions in Accounts moved from 1 to 3.
Approved positions in Client Services moved from 9 to 18 to strengthen the client services and revenue generating arm of the business.
Approved positions in internal HR moved from 1 to 2.
Approved positions in the Legal Department moved from 1 to 3.
Hiring of an Internal Auditor to review and monitor compliance with approved policies, procedures and practices.
IT issues identified in the Systems Audit Report (2007-2009) dated January 2012 IT Infrastructure assessed on:
- Business objectives - Configuration - Availability - Security - Integrity - Maintainability
X X X
Critical risk - To date all 10 “Critical” IT issues have been addressed via the web based hosted migration and firewall configuration. Consequently the in house exchange service has been removed.
Medium risk - 4 out of the 20 addressed.
Low risk - 6 out of 19 addressed. Continued efforts are being made to address.
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Outstanding Annual Administrative Reports
3.4.2. At the time of the public hearing, the Company has not submitted its Administrative
Reports for the periods 2009/2010, 2010/2011, 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 in accordance with
Section 66D of the Constitution. Parliament’s records indicated that the latest report
submitted was for the period 2008/2009 Report and was laid in the Senate and House of
Representatives on March 22nd and 25th, 2011 respectively.
3.4.3. The Committee noted that the staffing issues at the Company impacted the
preparation of the annual reports. The Company submitted that its 2010/2011 Administrative
Report was prepared and was before the Finance and General Purposes Committee.
Subsequent to the hearing, the 2010/2011 GHRS Administrative Report was laid in the Senate
and House of Representatives on May 13th and 16th, 2014 respectively.
3.4.4. Additionally, as at January 2014, the company’s 2011/2012 Administrative Report was
before the Cabinet and the first draft of its 2012/2013 Administrative Report was expected to
be completed by the end of January 2014.
Weak HR Information Systems
3.4.5. The MPA admitted that its existing HR Information Systems was inadequate and that
it did not maintain up-to-date statistics pertaining to Human resources with Government
Ministries and agencies. Given the circumstances, the MPA would usually write to the relevant
Ministry to source human resource data. However, the Committee was informed that the G2D
initiative would seek to address these issues via human resource management modernization.
Eighteenth Report of the Joint Select Committee on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
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ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE COMPANY
3.4.6. The major achievements of the Company are outlined hereunder in Table 5.
TABLE 5
Major achievements
MAJOR ACHIEVMENT
2010/2011 2011/2012 2012/2013
Recruitment and Selection
Various aspects of recruitment and selection were conducted for over 300 contract positions.
Various aspects of recruitment and selection were conducted for 440 contract positions; an increase of 47% when compared to the previous year.
This involved a total of 641 contracts which included recommendations for the filling of 292 vacancies, advertising for 322 vacancies, sifting for 24 vacancies and database searches for 3 vacancies.
Relocation
N/A N/A The Company was relocated from Maraval to Chaguanas on November 29th, 2013.
GHRS e-recruiting platform
N/A N/A The Company uses a modern e-recruitment system to receive and process job applications. This system not only allows job seekers to apply online; it also enables applicants to track their applications through the recruitment process.
GHRS e-recruitment database
As at September 2011 the e-recruitment database contained 23,000 applications.
As at September 2012, the e-recruitment database contained 32,000 applications; an increase of 43%.
GHRS had 39,098 applications/CVs on its e-recruitment database as at September 2013 (an increase of 19% compared to Sep 2012).
Eighteenth Report of the Joint Select Committee on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
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MAJOR ACHIEVMENT
2010/2011 2011/2012 2012/2013
Career Portal Total visits to the Career Portal ranged from 6,000-10,000 per month.
Total visits to the web based Career Portal ranged from 10,000-17,000 per month.
The number of visitors to the GHRS web based Career portal ranged from 7,000-11,000 per month during the period October 2012-September 2013.
International Profiling
N/A N/A GHRS is collaborating with the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs (MFA) to target nationals and non-nationals via selected T&T Consulates. GHRS is also working with the MFA to place its e-banner on T&T Consulate’s websites.
Proposal to Ministerial Committee
N/A N/A A proposal for the review of terms is currently before the Ministerial Committee for monitoring remuneration arrangements.
Audited Financial Statements
Prepared and submitted Audited Financial Statements for 2010/2011.
Prepared and submitted Audited Financial Statements for 2011/2012.
The first draft of the Audited Financial Statements is expected for the external auditors in January 2014.
Annual Report Prepared and submitted Annual Report for 2010/2011.
Prepared and submitted Annual Report for 2011/2012.
The first draft of the Annual Report 2012/2013 is expected in January 2014.
Establishment of a Pricing Policy
3.4.7. At its 64th Board Meeting held on July 02, 2013, the board accepted a recommendation
to conduct a pricing review. Subsequent to this, the Board agreed that the management should
undertake a comprehensive review of the Interim Pricing Policy dated July 2012. As a
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consequence, a Comparative and Cost plus Analysis Paper on the pricing schedules of five (5) major
private recruitment firms pertaining to prices for recruitment and selection services relative
to GHRS was presented to the Board on August 13 2013.
3.4.8. The paper revealed that:
i. the Company was by far the most competitively priced in the area of
recruitment and selection services, compared to the top five (5) recruiting firms
in the private sector. For example, the cost of an executive level recruitment
programme offered by one of the major private recruitment firms was three
(3) times the cost charged by the GHRS;
ii. the recruitment cost of Ministries are below the Company’s rates;
iii. in comparison to Ministries, GHRS offers a wider range of services, such as
Psychometric Testing, Competency Based Testing and Work Samples;
iv. the recruitment process of most Ministries is long and tedious which results in
many vacant positions remaining unfilled; a number of Ministries, particularly
new Ministries do not possess the capability and internal capacity to facilitate
internal recruiting.
3.4.9. Given these circumstances, the Pricing Policy was reviewed and approved during the
66th Meeting of the Board. The approved Pricing Policy is appended as Appendix IV for ease
of reference.
Internal Audit Improvements
3.4.10. In April 2013, the Board sanctioned the recruitment of an Internal Auditor. Prior to
that time, the Company never had an Internal Auditor. The Internal Auditor reports directly
to the Board and administratively to the CEO.
3.4.11. The Chief Executive Officer in consultation with Audit Committee of the Board has
developed an Audit Work Plan, an Audit Charter and a Work Plan to treat with petty cash,
purchasing, procurement, HR procedures and all internal systems were prepared and
instituted.
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3.4.12. Additionally, a number of audits were conducted on the Company’s processes and
systems which have been submitted to the Audit Committee of the Board for examination
and considerations. The Audit Committee’s remarks will subsequently be forwarded to the
BoD for deliberation and approval.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE GHRS AND OTHER
STAKEHOLDERS
3.5.1. Recruitment activities in respect of contract positions at various entities for fiscal years
2010/2011 to 2012/2013 are outlined in Table 6.
TABLE 6
Recruitment services provided to public entities for the period 2010 to 2013
Year
&
Vacancies
Filled
Ministries State
Enterprises
Municipal
Corporations
Regional
Health
Authorities
Commissions
2012/2013 13 3 - - 1
2011/2012 10 13 - 1 2
2010/2011 12 9 - - 2
Strategic HRM Council
3.5.2. The Committee was informed that the Minister of Public Administration established
a Strategic HRM Council. This Council includes the Service Commissions, the Deputy
Chairman of Services Commission and the Director of Personnel Administration (DPA). The
PSA, Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teacher’s Association (TTUTA) and the National
Productivity Council (NPC) are also represented on the Council.
Relationship with Service Commissions
3.5.3. With respect to GHRS assisting the Services Commissions with the recruitment of
workers, the Committee was reminded that as constitutionally independent bodies, the
Eighteenth Report of the Joint Select Committee on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
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Commissions cannot be mandate to utilise the services of GHRS. However, GHRS has the
option of responding to invitations for Proposals and bids issued by the Service Commissions.
Direct Marketing Plan 3.5.4. Before the development of its Direct Marketing Plan, the Company adopted a reactive
or passive marketing strategy whereby it would wait to be approached by a state agency prior
to undertaking a recruitment assignment. However, the Company has since recognised it
needs to be more proactive and to capitalise on its competitive advantages of price
competitiveness and specialised recruitment and selection techniques. To this end, a Direct
Marketing Plan was established and was expected to be executed in January 2014 through
the Client Services Team.
3.5.5. The Plan seeks to provide structured information on the services offered by the
Company through direct interface and upselling of services to both existing clients and non-
client Ministries. This strategy will enable the Company to proactively seek opportunities to
provide recruitment and other services to an increased number of clients.
3.5.6. The Plan is also intended to increase the awareness of the GHRS brand and the
Company’s revenue and market share. In executing the plan, clients will be engaged via
telephone calls, visits and regular follow-up. Also, packages with impactful information on the
Company and promotional items will be provided via the support of the Marketing and
Communication Specialist for the client visits. The Marketing and Communication Specialist
will also provide support in collating and analysing the feedback received from clients.
OTHER EVIDENCE RECEIVED
International Marketing
3.6.1. The Committee was informed that the mandate of the Company does not only entail
recruiting but:
marketing internationally in order to attract and recruit nationals who are overseas
and are willing to return to work locally; and
Eighteenth Report of the Joint Select Committee on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
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to recruit external persons who are willing to be employed and convey their
expertise.
3.6.2. However, the Company acknowledged that the cost of international marketing was
prohibitive. Nevertheless, it established that international marketing was necessary. As a result,
the Company participated in a number of initiatives such as collaborating with the British High
Commission and utilizing the Commission’s to target nationals overseas in London to inform
them of local job vacancies and about the services of the Company.
3.6.3. As well, given that the commonwealth comprises 55 member countries, the Company
had plans to advertise on the Commonwealth Governance website using an e-banner. During
the public hearing the Committee was advised that the e-banner was being finalised.
3.6.4. Additionally, confirmation was received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA)
that the role of the Company as it pertains to recruiting foreign nationals as well as locals
overseas has been transmitted via general circular to all overseas missions.
Integration between Contract and Permanent Employees in the Public Sector 3.6.5. The Permanent Secretary, MPA informed the Committee that as far as possible each
section or unit in the MPA is either filled with contract employees or with officers on the
permanent establishment. Units such as HR or Finance and Accounts are mostly populated
by officers on the permanent establishment and as a result, supervision is somewhat easier in
such instances.
3.6.6. However, the Ministry did concede that in other public entities there are issues with
supervision, compensation, recognition amongst the differently employed officers as a result
of the integration of permanent and contract officers.
3.6.7. Therefore, there is need for the legislative and regulatory framework regarding the
different categories/classes of workers in the Public Sector. Furthermore, there is also a need
for certain positions throughout the public service to be re-evaluated and re-classified for the
Eighteenth Report of the Joint Select Committee on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
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purpose of introducing the necessary adjustments to the job responsibilities and remuneration
associated with such positions.
4. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
4.1. Your Committee considered the oral and written evidence received against the
established objectives of the inquiry and submits the following findings and
recommendations:
OBJECTIVE 1
To assess the Company’s input and performance with regards to the fulfillment
of the following strategic goals and objectives:
a. the filling of vacancies throughout the public service and public enterprises;
b. the application of HR best practices across the public sector;
c. the execution of the Professional Development Programme (PDP);
d. the attainment of the Gold to Diamond (G2D) Vision; and
e. the model of the organizational structure.
Filling of vacancies
4.1.1. In an attempt to determine whether the company had a substantive impact on the
pace at which employees are recruited in the public service, we examine the recruitment
statistics was somewhat surprised to learn that although there were 6,000 bodies in 10,000
contract positions in 2010, GHRS provided recruitment services for only 300 contract
positions during the period 2010/2011. In addition, the company provide recruitment services
for a relatively modest 1,381 contract officers during the period 2010-2013, although the
number of contract vacancies was 5,863 as at December 31, 2013.
4.1.2. The Committee also noted that during the period 2010 to 2013 high staff turnover
impacted the company’s ability to offer recruitment services. Indeed, during this period,
twenty-two internal positions were re-advertised by ministerial mandate. It was informative
that only two (2) incumbents re-applied for positions and no incumbent was re-hired (during
the period 2007 to 2012 GHRS had an average of eighteen (18) staff out of twenty (20)
approved positions).
Eighteenth Report of the Joint Select Committee on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
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4.1.3. Notwithstanding the fact that the Company did experience certain challenges during
its initial years, we are of the view that the modest amount of Human Resource services “sold”
by the company during the stated period, raises questions about the impact of the company
on improving the Human Resource Management function within the public sector and
whether the Company should continue to be in existence.
4.1.4. On the other hand, the Committee was encouraged that the Company was engaged in
strengthening its internal capacity, particularly through expanding its cadre of workers from
approximately 18 to 40 employees. The move to review the company’s compensation regime,
which has not been re-examined since 2007 was endorsed by the Committee and was viewed
as an important strategy for reducing staff turnover. Moreover, the Committee is of the view
that the Company’s plan to offer three-year contracts instead of one-year contracts as a
standard term of employment should be strongly considered.
Application of HR best practices
4.1.5. It was evident that the company has incorporated a number of “best practices” in the
delivery of its services such as 16PF and WAVE psychometric testing, multi-phased and
competency based assessments. However, the Committee also noted that many government
ministries/agencies do not utilise these “new age” or modern methods for selecting and assessing
candidates for employment. As a consequence, the demand for the expert/specialised services
offered by GHRS may not be sufficient at this time to encourage the company to further
expand the specialised services it offers.
4.1.6. Thus, the company is encouraged to continue to implement its Direct Marketing Plan
with a view to obtaining the necessary ‘buy-in’ from entities in the public sector as it pertains
to it specialised services.
Professional Development Programme
4.1.7. The Committee noted that although there are approximately three hundred returning
scholars who conclude their studies each year, the PDP attracted only fifty-two persons in
2013. However, we were also cognisant that returning scholars are not mandated to participate
Eighteenth Report of the Joint Select Committee on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
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in the PDP, in particular those scholars in certain professions such as medicine may decline
because of the time span required for the training.
4.1.8. It was evident that the MPA has experienced some challenges in attracting returning
scholars to participate in the programme since it was noted that the Ministry did not have the
full complement of participants in its 2013 programme due to lack of interest. However, we
noted the intent of the MPA to attempt to increase the number of participations in the next
two cohorts during 2014.
4.1.9. We were disappointed to learn that the Company did not have an established feedback
mechanism in place to gauge the effectiveness of the programme from the perspective of is
participants. Continuous feedback from scholars would assist in improving the level of interest
of scholars as they experienced the various elements of the programme.
Organizational structure
4.1.10. We were encouraged by the fact that the company was currently engaged in
redesigning its structure and was pleased to learn that Cabinet has approved 40 positions for
the company. However, we noted that of these 40 positions, only 16 were filled. No
timeframes for the filling of the remaining positions were given.
RECOMMENDATIONS
A. We recommend that the Company conduct a survey for the purpose of gauging the
interest of public sector entities in utilizing specialized recruitment and selection
techniques. This would be a follow up activity further to the comprehensive review
of the Interim Pricing Policy and the Comparative and Cost plus Analysis Paper
which were conducted previously. The results of this survey must be used to
determine the feasibility/efficacy of some of the ‘products’/services that are
presently being offered by the company and whether changes in the type of services
being offered need to be instituted. We further recommend that an education
program be considered explaining the benefits of using specialized recruitment
and selection techniques for hiring staff.
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B. Should the Ministerial Committee approve the recommended adjustments in the
remuneration regime of the company, it should act speedily to apply these
adjustments, since it is possible that these adjustments may have the ability to
enhance staff morale and the security of tenure of employees who are currently
working with one year contracts.
C. We recommend that the Company explore other types of psychometric testing and
other scientifically based assessment techniques which can be offered to clients.
This may improve its marketability and increase the demand for the company’s
services. However the assumption here is that the company would attain the level
of ‘product buy in” that would be required to make product expansion feasible.
D. With respect to the Professional Development Programme, we recommend that
the Company institute a more holistic feedback system with a view to effectively
gauging the experiences and perceptions of scholars as they participate in the
programme. The system should also seek to track the endeavors undertaken by the
scholars one (1) year after exiting the programme in an attempt to determine what
impact the programme had on their career/employment prospects.
E. We recommend that the company ensure that vacancies in its new 40 Member
establishment are filled expeditiously. Also, a human resource audits should be
conducted within the next two years to determine the adequacy of the company’s
staff complement.
OBJECTIVE 2
To acquire insight into the procedures that are applied in the contracting and or
outsourcing of services.
4.2.1. The Committee was pleased to be informed that the Company’s Procurement
Procedures for the acquisition of goods, provision of services, undertaking works and disposal
of unserviceable procedures were revised and now conformed with the State Enterprises
Performance Monitoring Manual.
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4.2.2. Further, the Committee endorses the Company’s initiative to review and update its
prequalified database of suppliers. This updated list is critical to the efficient use of selective
tendering by the Company, since tenders are invited from the approved list of vendors.
Moreover, the Committee was satisfied that there were no appeals against contract tendering
decisions during the period 2010 to 2013.
OBJECTIVE 3
To inquire into the strategic objectives of the newly appointed Board at the
GHRS.
4.3.1. With respect to certain allegations of impropriety/misconduct involving a former
Chairman of the Board, we were quite concerned to learn that as at January 2014, the Ministry
of Finance, who was mandated to review the allegations, had not provided the Ministry of
Public Administration with feedback on this matter.
4.3.2. Notwithstanding, we were encouraged to learn that after a period of instability
generated by allegations of indiscipline at the level of the Board of Directors that the “new
board” appointed in October, 2013 has set in motion, a number of plans and initiatives, which
we believe have the potential of enhancing the 3Es of the company.
4.3.3. Furthermore, we noted that the Cabinet approved the expansion in the size of the
Board of Directors from 7 to 11 and we consider this a laudable change, in that one would
expect that an additional four (4) Directors ought to translate into a larger pool of technical
expertise and experience to guide the strategic objective of the company. We also expect that
this expanded Board would be capable of exercising effective oversight of the
operational/implementation arm of the company.
4.3.4. We were also pleased to learn that the Board has directed the management to prepare
a three-year Strategic Plan 2014/2017 which was expected to be completed by March 2014.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
I. We recommend that the Ministry of Public Administration seek a status update
from the Ministry of Finance and the Economy on its investigation into the
allegations made against the former Chairman of the Board. This update must
be incorporated into the Ministry’s response to this report.
II. We recommend that the company utilize an Implementation Road Map in the
execution of its Strategic Plan. Periodic reviews should also be conducted to
ensure that (as far as possible) the company’s activities remain aligned with its
Strategic Plan.
III. We recommend that the necessary sub-committees of the Board of Director be
established to further enhance the Board’s ability to oversee the execution of the
company’s strategic objectives. We suggest that a Marketing and Public
Relations Committee be established to inter alia, oversee the implementation of
the Company’s Direct Market Plan and to review this plan from time to time and
recommend possible adjustments to same.
OBJECTIVE 4
To understand the major challenges faced by the GHRS and to gain an
appreciation of the achievements of the Company for the period 2010-2013.
Achievements
4.4.1. With respect to the challenges outlined by the company during the course of the
inquiry, we were satisfied that in several instances, the Company has already implemented
measures to remedy the issue or the shortcoming. We were particularly pleased with the
following initiatives:
i. the successful relocation of the company’s office from Maraval to Chaguanas in
November, 2013;
ii. training of staff in WAVE and 16PF psychometric testing;
iii. updating of its prequalified database of suppliers/experts;
iv. recruiting of more staff including an Internal Auditor.
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Challenges
4.4.2. We noted that the Company’s failure to submit its Annual Administrative Reports in
accordance with the stipulations of Section 66A of the Constitution was attributed to the staff
shortages. However, we were encouraged to learn that the 2010/2011 Administrative Report
was laid subsequent to the public hearing held in January 2014 and that the first draft of the
2012/2013 Administrative Report would be completed by the end January 2014.
4.4.3. Nevertheless, the Committee looks forward to receiving all outstanding
Administrative Reports for the fiscal years 2009/2010/2011, 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 by
December 31st, 2014.
4.4.4. Another significant challenge that was quite evident from the evidence received was
the low market penetration rate achieved by the company. The statistics received regarding
the amount of positions the company participated in filling was quite instructive. It was the
view of some members of the Committee, that the company’s involvement in the recruitment
of 1,381 candidates during the period 2010 to 2013 (Average of 460 positions per year) was
modest and was an indication that the demand for the services of the company was inadequate
or unfeasible.
4.4.5. Nevertheless, it was acknowledged that the relatively low utilization of the company’s
services by Ministries and other government entities may be due to the costs associated with
the company’s services. The Company’s market survey did reveal that the cost of the
company’s recruitment services was above the average cost of recruitment incurred by
government Ministries. It also appeared that there was a lack of sufficient acceptance or “buy
in” of the specialized methods/techniques used by the company to recruit and select
candidates. We believe that the ability of the company to expand its clientele, is a function of
the company’s ability to effectively market its services and convince Human Resource
professionals and other leaders in the public sector, that its methods and techniques are more
credible and potentially more beneficial than methods which are currently used.
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4.4.6. Although earning a profit is not one of the mandates of the company, we noted that
one of its existing challenges was to generate sufficient income to cover its operational costs.
We trust that through the implementation of its Direct Marketing Plan and the application of
strident cost management strategies, the company would realize this goal.
RECOMMENDATIONS
I. From the evidence received we determined that in order for GHRS to have a greater
presence in the public sector, other human resource stakeholders must accept and
understand the company’s mandate. Further, there must be information gathering
and sharing amongst the various public agencies involved in human resource
management as it pertains to vacancies. In particular, we recommend that a
Standing Register of Vacancies be developed and maintained for the purpose of
continuously monitoring and determining the amount of vacancies that exist in the
public service.
II. To complement this Human Resource Management Tool, we recommend that a
Memorandum of Understanding be established between the Ministry of Public
Administration, the Service Commissions, GHRS and other entities involved in
HRM in the public service for the purpose of clearly outlining the role to be played
by each of the relevant HR agencies. This Register and MoU may be
commissioned by the Strategic Human Resource Management Council.
III. We recommend that the Board, through the proposed (sub-committee) on
Marketing and Public Relations, monitor the implementation of the Direct
Marketing Plan with a view to ensuring that the company achieve its goals of an
expanded clientele and the generation of sufficient income to cover operational
costs.
OBJECTIVE 5
The nature of the Company’s association/ relations with the various Service
Commissions, State Enterprises, Municipal Corporations, Regional Health
Authorities vis-à-vis the recruitment of staff to service these bodies.
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4.5.1. It was apparent that the company’s Direct Marketing Plan represented the company’s
main strategy for better sensitizing and engaging potential clients about its services. We were
very concerned by the relatively meager amount of vacancies the company assisted in filling
within Regional Health Authorities, Municipal Corporations and State Enterprises. The
statistic received for the period 2010-2013 were not encouraging.
4.5.2. Moreover, as was alluded to previously, we believe that through the effective
marketing of its “specialised” services, the company ought to be able to generate a greater
interest among the various public sector entities, as it relates to the services it offers. Good
product sells! Therefore emphasis must be placed on the speciality or niche techniques that
are utilised by the company and the proven benefits and results of applying these techniques
in the recruitment, selection and development of employees.
4.5.3. However, with respect to recruitment at the international level, we did appreciate some
of the strategies the company has been implementing to realise a greater level of success in
this area of its services. In particular, we commend the company’s efforts to collaborate with
the Diplomatic Community to recruit locals residing abroad, as well as foreigners, to fill
vacancies.
4.5.4. As it relates to formal interaction with stakeholders, we did identify the Strategic
Human Resource Management Council, as a body the GHRS ought to be directly involved in.
RECOMMENDATIONS
I. We suggest that clients who hire the company to engage in international or
regional recruitment are encouraged to take into consideration existing market
rates and compensation as a means of acquiring a greater response rate during
recruitment exercises.
II. We recommend that the Company establish client follow-up procedures and
mechanisms for the purpose of gauging the reliability, credibility and validity of
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the methodologies and techniques that were utilized. The feedback acquired must
be used as a basis for reviewing and modifying the company’s range of services.
III. Furthermore, we recommend that in implementing its Direct Marketing Plan that
GHRS place priority on clients who seldom or have never accessed the Company’s
services such as Municipal Corporations and RHAs.
IV. We recommend that the Chairman and or CEO of GHRS be granted a “seat” on
the Strategic HRM Council. We strongly believe that the company’s presence on
this Council will assist with lifting its status as an integral player in Human
Resource Management in the public sector and would also provide the company
with a direct channel for acquiring essential information regarding the state of
human resources in the public sector.
Your Committee respectfully submits this Report for the consideration of the Parliament.
Sgd. Sgd. Dr. Victor Wheeler Mr. David Small Chairman Vice-Chairman Sgd. Sgd. Dr. Tim Gopeesingh, MP Mr. Clifton De Coteau, MP Member Member Sgd. Sgd. Mr. Kevin Ramnarine Dr. Lincoln Douglas, MP Member Member Sgd. Sgd. Ms. Alicia Hospedales, MP Mr. Collin Partap, MP Member Member
Eighteenth Report of the Joint Select Committee on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
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Sgd. Sgd. Mr. Fitzgerald Jeffrey, MP Dr. Lester Henry Member Member Sgd. Sgd. Dr. Bhoendradatt Tewarie Ms. Raziah Ahmed Member Member January 16, 2015
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APPENDICES
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APPENDIX I
Entities falling under the purview
of the Committee
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List of Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises that fall under the purview of
this Committee
1. Local Government
STATUTORY BOARDS AND OTHER BODIES:
National Commission for Self-Help Limited
New City Mall
East Side Plaza
WHOLLY OWNED ENTERPRISES:
Trinidad and Tobago Solid Waste Management Company Limited
National Maintenance Training and Security Company Limited (MTS)
2. National Diversity and Social Integration
STATUTORY BOARDS AND OTHER BODIES:
Archaeological Committee
National Museum and Art Gallery (Royal Victoria Institute)
3. National Security
STATUTORY BOARDS AND OTHER BODIES:
Defence Force Commissions Board
Defence Council
Firearms Appeal Board
Strategic Services Agency
Youth Training Centre Board of Management
National Operations Centre
4. Office of the Prime Minister
STATUTORY BOARDS AND OTHER BODIES:
Sport and Culture Board of Management
5. People and Social Development
STATUTORY BOARDS AND OTHER BODIES:
Social Welfare District Boards
Trinidad and Tobago Association in Aid of the Deaf
Trinidad and Tobago Blind Welfare Association
6. Planning and Sustainable Development
STATUTORY BOARDS AND OTHER BODIES:
Advisory Town Planning Panel
Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI)
Chaguaramas Development Authority
Council for Innovation and Competitiveness
Economic Development Board
National Population Council
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STATE ENTERPRISES:
East Port-of-Spain Development Company Limited
7. Public Administration
WHOLLY-OWNED ENTERPRISES:
Government Human Resources Services Limited (GHRS)
8. Public Utilities
STATUTORY BOARDS AND OTHER BODIES:
Regulated Industries Commission (RIC)
WHOLLY-OWNED ENTERPRISES:
The Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (T&TEC)
The Trinidad and Tobago Postal Corporation (TTPOST)
MAJORITY-OWNED ENTERPRISES:
Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (TSTT)
9. Science and Technology
WHOLLY-OWNED ENTERPRISES:
National Information, Communication, Technology Company Limited (iGovTT)
National Institute of Higher Education (Research, Science and Technology)
Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT)
10. Sport
STATUTORY BOARDS AND OTHER BODIES:
National Stadia Board of Management
Regional Complexes
Trinidad and Tobago Boxing Board of Control
WHOLLY-OWNED ENTERPRISES:
Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited
11. Tertiary Education and Skills Training
STATUTORY BOARDS AND OTHER BODIES:
Accreditation Council of Trinidad and Tobago (ACTT)
Board of Industrial Training
College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts (COSTATT)
Eastern Caribbean Institute of Agriculture and Forestry (ECIAF)
John S. Donaldson Technical Institute
National Energy Skills Centre (NESC)
National Training Agency
San Fernando Technical Institute
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Teachers Training Colleges
Trinidad and Tobago Hospitality and Tourism Institute
University of Trinidad and Tobago
University of the West Indies
- Open Campus
MAJORITY-OWNED ENTERPPRISES:
Metal Industries Company Limited (MIC)
- Government Vocational Centre
WHOLLY-OWNED ENTERPRISES:
Youth Training and Employment Partnership Programme Limited (YTEPP)
12. Tobago Development
STATUTORY BOARDS AND OTHER BODIES
Tobago Regional Health Authority
13. Tourism
STATUTORY BOARDS AND OTHER BODIES;
Zoological Society of Trinidad and Tobago
WHOLLY-OWNED ENTERPRISES:
Tourism Development Company Limited
National Academy of the Performing Arts Hotel
14. Trade, Industry, Investments and Communications
STATUTORY BOARDS AND OTHER BODIES:
Betting Levy Board (BLB)
Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards (TTBS)
Trinidad and Tobago Racing Authority (TTRA)
Weights and Measures
Prices Council
Board of Film Censors
WHOLLY-OWNED ENTERPRISES:
Evolving TecKnologies and Enterprise Development Company Limited (e-Teck)
Export-Import Bank of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (EXIMBANK)
Trinidad and Tobago Free Zones Company Limited (TTFZ)
Caribbean New Media Group Limited (CNMG)
Government Information Services Limited (GISL)
National Broadcasting Network (NBN)
MAJORITY-OWNED ENTERPPRISES:
Business Development Company (BDC)
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Point Lisas Industrial Estate
Trinidad and Tobago Entertainment Company Limited (TTent)
Trinidad and Tobago Film Company
Creative TT Limited
INDIRECTLY-OWNED ENTERPRISES:
Caribbean Leasing Company Limited (CLCL) Subsidiary of BDC
National Flour Mills (NFM)
Premier Quality Services Limited (PQSL) Subsidiary of TTBS
15. Transport
STATUTORY BOARDS AND OTHER BODIES:
Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago
Air Transport Licensing Authority
Pilotage Authority
Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago
Public Transport Services Corporation (PTSC)
Transport Board
WHOLLY-OWNED ENTERPRISES:
The Vehicle Maintenance Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago Limited
MAJORITY-OWNED ENTERPPRISES:
National Helicopter Company Limited
Point Lisas Port Development Corporation Limited (PLIPDECO)
MINORITY-OWNED ENTERPRISES:
LIAT (1974) Limited
16. Works and Infrastructure
WHOLLY-OWNED ENTERPRISES:
National Infrastructure Development Company Limited (NIDCO)
National Maintenance Training and Security Company (MTS)
Community Improvement Services Limited (CISL)
Palo Seco Agricultural Enterprises Limited (PSAEL)
Rural Development Company of Trinidad and Tobago (RuDeCOTT)
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APPENDIX II MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
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PRESENT
Committee Members
Dr. Victor Wheeler Chairman
Mr. David Small Vice-Chairman
Mr. Fitzgerald Jeffrey, MP Member
Ms. Alicia Hospedales, MP Member
Mrs. Raziah Ahmed Member
Dr. Lester Henry Member
Secretariat
Mr. Julien Ogilvie Secretary
Mr. Indar Sieunarine Procedural Clerk Assistant
Ms. Katharina Gokool Graduate Research Assistant
ABSENT
Dr. Bhoendradatt Tewarie Member (excused)
Mr. Clifton De Coteau, MP Member (excused)
Dr. Lincoln Douglas, MP Member
Dr. Tim Gopeesingh, MP Member
Mr. Kevin Ramnarine Member
Mr. Collin Partap, MP Member
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GOVERNMENT HUMAN RESOURCES SERVICES
COMPANY LIMITED
Dr. Franklin Ali Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Wayne Munro Chairman, Board of Directors
Mr. Geoffrey Lewis Vice-President, Corporate
Planning
Ms. Khari Murray Vice-President, Human Capital
Management
Ms. Allyson Alexander Internal Auditor
MINUTES OF THE TWENTY-EIGHTH MEETING OF THE JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE OF
PARLIAMENT APPOINTED TO INQUIRE INTO AND REPORT ON GOVERNMENT
MINISTRIES (GROUP 2), STATUTORY AUTHORITIES AND STATE ENTERPRISES FALLING
UNDER THOSE MINISTRIES, HELD IN THE ARNOLD THOMASOS ROOM (EAST), LEVEL 6 AND
THE J. HAMILTON MAURICE ROOM, MEZZANINE FLOOR, OFFICE OF THE PARLIAMENT,
TOWER D, PORT OF SPAIN INTERNATIONAL WATERFRONT CENTRE, #1A WRIGHTSON ROAD,
PORT OF SPAIN ON
FRIDAY JANUARY 10, 2014 AT 9:35 A.M.
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REPRESENTATIVES OF THE MINISTRY OF THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Ms. Gillian Macintyre Permanent Secretary
Mr. Richard Madray Deputy Permanent Secretary
Ms. Abigail Bynoe Manager, Policy, Strategy and
Monitoring Unit
Ms. Annalisa Sankar Senior Legal Officer
Ms. Josanne Germain Strategic Analyst
INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Chairman called the meeting to order at 9:35 a.m.
1.2 The Chairman indicated that Dr. Tewarie and Mr. De Coteau had requested to be excused
from the meeting.
CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES
27th Meeting held on December 13th, 2013
2.1 The Committee considered the Minutes of the 27th Meeting held on December 13, 2013.
2.2 The following corrections were proposed:
a. Item 3.3 (ii) (c), page 3; delete the words “The Ministry’s audit” and replace them with
the words “An audit conducted by the Ministry”;
b. Item 3.3 (ii) (f), page 4; delete the word “theSE” and replace it with the word “these”;
c. Item 3.3 (v) (a), page 5; delete the word “Bases” and replace it with the word “Based”;
d. Item 3.3 (xvii) (a), page 8; insert the word “time” after the words “time to”; and
e. Item 3.3 (xviii) (c), page 8; delete the word “convened” and replace it with the word
“convene”.
2.3 The motion for the confirmation of the Minutes, as amended, was moved by Mr. Small and
seconded by Ms. Hospedales.
MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
3.1 As per item 4.2, Members were informed that a request for additional information was
communicated to the Trinidad and Tobago Blind Welfare Association (TTBWA) via a letter dated
January 07, 2014. Additionally, correspondence was received from the Permanent Secretary of the
Ministry of the People and Social Development dated December 20, 2013 that outlined some of the
Ministry’s plans for the Association.
3.2 As per item 6.2, it was confirmed that additional information requested from the National
Commission for Self-Help Limited was received on January 07, 2014 and would be disseminated
during the course of the meeting.
3.3 As per item 7.1, the Chairman advised that pre-hearing information was received from the
Government Human Resources Services Company Limited (GHRS) and was circulated in soft copy
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on December 31, 2013 as well as in hard copy on January 02, 2014. Members confirmed receipt of
the submission.
3.4 As per item 8.2, on the direction of the Committee, the Secretary by letter dated December
17, 2013, wrote to Mr. Kalam Mohamed informing him of the Committee’s determination
regarding his allegations.
CONSIDERATION OF DRAFT INQUIRY PROPOSAL ON THE PORT AUTHORITY OF
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
4.1 The Chairman indicated that on January 02, 2014, a Draft Inquiry Proposal on the Port
Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (PATT) was circulated for the consideration of members via
email.
4.2 The Committee reviewed and approved the Draft subject to the following amendment:
Objective 2, new question (xi): “What is the status of what appears to be derelict
or seized vessels on the waterways?”
4.3 The Committee agreed that its next meeting would be held on February 14, 2014 and at
that meeting, it will convene a public hearing with PATT.
PRE-HEARING DISCUSSIONS RE: INQUIRY INTO THE GOVERNMENT HUMAN
RESOURCES SERVICES COMPANY LIMITED
5.1 Brief discussions ensued on some of the main issues to be raised during the inquiry with
officials from GHRS.
5.2 Members confirmed receipt of an Issues Paper prepared by the Secretariat based on the
submission received from the GHRS. It was agreed that the first rounds of questions would
commence with questions from Mr. Small followed by Ms. Hospedales.
5.3 The Chairman informed members that the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public
Administration was granted permission to conduct a five (5) minute PowerPoint presentation at the
beginning of the hearing.
5.4 The meeting was suspended at 9:55 a.m.
[Members exited the Arnold Thomasos Room (East) and proceeded to the
J. Hamilton Maurice Room]
PUBLIC HEARING WITH THE GOVERNMENT HUMAN RESOURCES SERVICES
COMPANY LIMITED
6.1 The Chairman reconvened the meeting in the J. Hamilton Maurice Room at 10:05 a.m.
6.2 The Chairman welcomed officials from the Ministry of Public Administration (MPA) and
GHRS. Introductions were exchanged.
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6.3 Detailed below are the issues raised and the responses which emanated from the
discussions with representatives of the MPA and GHRS:
i. Opening Statements
a. Permanent Secretary, MPA
The Ministry indicated that the Gold to Diamond Programme (G to D) was
launched in 2012 and informs the vision for public service transformation for a ten
(10) year period (up to 2022). The Diamond Model is built on the four (4) pillars
of people, governance, infrastructure and service delivery. This Model is further
deconstructed based on the three C’s of capability, culture and connectedness.
Emphasis will be placed on the renewal and modernization of the public service
within a strong policy environment as well as institutions with the requisite staff
and appropriate infrastructure.
The shift from a pyramid to diamond-shaped structure for the public service will
be characterized by an executive at the top level, a broader middle management
level (with technical and professional streams) which would allow for increased
delegation from the top and a narrower bottom level. The rationalization of lower
level staff will entail the integration of the clerical and secretarial classes. The
integration of the bottom level was commenced by the MPA with the creation of a
new stream called Management Support Officers. The Ministry is currently in
negotiations with the Public Services Association (PSA) and the Chief Personnel
Officer regarding this new position.
Unlike other central agencies such as the Service Commissions Department and
the Personnel Department, the role of GHRS will be to assist in building human
resource capacity and the recruitment of contract employees.
GHRS has moved to multi-phased assessment techniques to improve the individual
vs Job fit within public organization. Research data has suggested that the multi-
phased assessment approach to recruitment has a person-job fit accuracy of sixty-
eight percent (68%) during employee recruitment, whereas interviews have a
fifteen percent (15%) accuracy rate, followed by References with a twelve percent
(12%) accuracy rate.
b. Chief Executive Officer, GHRS
GHRS was established in 2006 further to a decision of Cabinet and was
incorporated under the Companies Act, Chap. 81:01 on October 26, 2006. The
Company is governed by by-laws as well as the State Enterprise Performance
Manual of the Ministry of Finance and the Economy.
The present executive management team was appointed in May 2013. The
company is presently seeking to increase the number of employees at GHRS from
seventeen (17) to thirty three (33), in order to fulfill its mandate of providing
human resource support to the public service.
c. Chairman of the Board, GHRS
The current board received its instruments of appointment on October 14, 2013
and held its first meeting on October 25, 2013. The board undertook a review of
the company’s organizational structures to assess its capacity to deliver on its
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mandate. Further to this review, a decision was taken to double the number of staff.
The board also reviewed the company’s strategic plan and it was anticipated that
“a clear” strategic plan will be completed by March 2014.
ii. Filling of Vacancies in the public sector
a. GHRS was involved in filling 1,381 contract positions within the public service
from 2010 to 2013. These vacancies were filled at the request of Ministries.
b. The service commissions are constitutionally independent; therefore these bodies
cannot be directed to utilize the services of GHRS. However, if a request for
tenders is placed for a particular service, GHRS can bid. Both the Director of
Personnel Administration and the Deputy Chairmen of the Service Commissions
sit on the Strategic HRM Council established by the MPA that brings together all
parties with HRM functions.
c. Vacancies exist because many positions are antiquated and need to be modernized
and reclassified. Although there is an ongoing job evaluation exercise on existing
positions, an evaluation of jobs that were recently streamlined is also necessary.
iii. Human Resources at GHRS
a. During the period 2007 and 2012 the highest number of employees at the Company
was eighteen (18). However, in 2013, the executive management team determined
that the internal staff capacity of the company had to be improved. To this end, the
Board gave approval for an increase in the number of staff from twenty (20) to
forty (40). GHRS is in the process of recruiting a competent and experienced team
to execute its core functions of recruitment, selection and training that is
competency-based driven.
b. Cabinet approved an increase in the size of the board from seven (7) to eleven (11)
members.
iv. Relocation of operations
GHRS’ office was recently moved from Maraval to Chaguanas. The new facailities
now provide more parking spaces for clients and five (5) interview rooms.
v. Marketing the services of the Company
A Direct Marketing Plan was prepared and forwarded to the board. It details a targeted
programme to proactively engage with non-client Ministries and promote the services
provided by GHRS.
vi. Outstanding Administrative Reports
a. Officials indicated that the company’s Annual Administrative Report 2010/2011 was
prepared but could not provide an explanation as to why it was not submitted to
Parliament. The Committee was informed that staffing issues would have contributed
to the non-submission of certain reports.
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b. However, the Committee was informed that the Company’s 2011/2012 Administrative
Report will be submitted to Cabinet shortly and the first draft of the 2012/2013
Administrative Report will be completed by January 31, 2014.
c. Officials assured the Committee that they would seek to determine the status of the
2010/2011 Report.
vii. Compensation/Remuneration
a. The HRM Architecture of the Gold to Diamond Standard will require a re-
examination of the current model of compensation with a view to determining its
competitiveness locally and globally. This may impact positively on the
organization’s ability to attract and retain the best talent in the HR field.
b. In recognizing the need to determine suitable compensation packages to attract the
expertise the Company requires, the GHRS, through the MPA, submitted a
proposal to the Ministerial Committee on Monitoring Remunerations. This
proposal highlights the need for a review of the current terms and conditions of
positions at GHRS, which date back to 2007. It is hoped that if the proposal is
approved, it will result in an increase in the contract period from one (1) to three
(3) years for members of staff.
viii. Allegations of misconduct
With respect to allegations of misconduct involving the chairman of the Board in 2012,
the Committee was advised that the then Chairman resigned as a consequence of these
allegations. No additional disciplinary action was taken by the Company or the MPA.
However, the matter was referred to the Ministry of Finance and the Economy for the
purpose of instituting an audit into the matter. To date, the MPA has not received the
audit report.
ix. Policy on the re-advertisement of positions
With regards to the policy of re-advertising positions, the Committee was advised that
in 2011, ministerial directives were given to Ministries and their associated entities to
re-advertise positions. MPA officials indicated that this policy was still in effect but
admitted that the MPA does not have data on the number of positions within each
Ministry that were re-advertised.
x. GHRS’s input in building the capacity of permanent officers
a. GHRS is diversifying its existing portfolio, to assist with the capacity building of
the public service. In view of this, the MPA has approached GHRS to assist with
performance management, increment calculations, job evaluations, drafting job
descriptions and competency-based interviews.
b. Training programmes facilitated by GHRS is extended to all officers whether
permanent or contract. For example, both classes of officers would benefit from
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training in structured competency-based interviewing techniques and multi-phase
approaches to assessing interviewees.
xi. Psychometric Testing
Due to staff turnover, there was a lost institutional knowledge and expertise in
psychometric testing, as a result the company had to outsource the provision of these
tests. In 2013, staff were trained and certified in Wave Psychometric Testing and 16PF
Testing.
xii. Employment post-recruitment follow-up mechanism
Officials admitted there is a need to survey Ministries to ascertain whether GHRS’
techniques have yielded results in the post-selection of a candidate.
xiii. Recruitment and Selection exercises
a. Full recruitment, assessment and selection services includes advertisement
designs, online and print media advertising, database searches for suitable
candidates, shortlisting of candidates, development of work samples,
administration of psychometric testing, drafting interviewer questions and
participation in competency-based interviews.
b. GHRS can be engaged by a client to conduct a full or partial recruitment and
selection exercise. The terms of engagement are dependent on the nature of the
request of a Ministry or agency. For example, MPA has utilized GHRS to provide
Professional Development Training for returning scholars.
c. Although each Ministry is responsible for the recruitment of their contract officers,
GHRS can be contracted to provide assistance for recruitment. In 2010, there
were 6,000 bodies in 10,000 contract positions within the public service. The
Committee was surprised to be informed that in 2010, GHRS had recruited only
three hundred (300) of these contract positions. Officials were unable to provide
the current number of contract positions within the public service.
xiv. Integration of Contract and Public Servants
a. Officials admitted that there have been instances where the integration of public
servants and contract officers has been difficult and in this regard, experiences may
vary. These employee relations issues may have been as a result of the level of
supervision, the culture and the reward and recognition schemes of the
organization.
b. It was submitted that in order to alleviate these problems, the legislative and
regulatory framework must be updated. Further, there is also a need for re-
evaluation and re-classification of job positions throughout the public service with
a view to aligning them with demands of a modern public service. The existing
remuneration schemes must also be reformed. Ultimately the goal will be to
transition more positions back to the permanent establishment.
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xv. Stakeholder Dialogue
Presentations have been made to the PSA and the Trinidad and Tobago Unified
Teachers’ Association (TTUTA). Officials indicated that a presentation will be done
in the upcoming week with the National Productivity Council.
xvi. Professional Development Programme (PDP)
a. The PDP is a voluntary programme offered annually for a period of three (3)
months to provide coaching and mentoring to returning scholars. This Programme
was not offered during the period 2010 to 2012 because of financial and human
resource constraints faced by the MPA. However, it was offered in 2013 to fifty
two (52) persons (26 persons in each of the two cohorts).
b. The MPA admitted that they have not attained full participation in the programme,
but the Ministry intends to take measures to increase the level of interest in the
programme in 2014.
c. Although feedback is received from scholars and assessors during the programme,
officials indicated that there was no feedback mechanism at the conclusion of the
programme.
xvii. Competitors of GHRS
a. The results of a survey conducted by GHRS in mid-2013 revealed that there are
five (5) competitors that provide recruitment, assessment and selection services to
Ministries, state agencies and private organizations. These competitors originate
from the private sector.
b. A comparison was done between GHRS and these five (5) service providers and it
was determined that GHRS had the most competitive prices. It was submitted that
the Company’s other selling point was the robustness of its Recruitment and
Selection techniques. This is one of the reasons GHRS will embark on
implementing its direct marketing plan in an attempt to sensitize potential clients
about its services.
xviii. Financial position of the Company
The Committee was informed that GHRS does not operate with a profit motive. At an
Annual General Meeting held on June 25, 2013, stakeholders advised GHRS to focus
on offsetting its operational costs as opposed to achieving a profit. Therefore, based
on the results of the market study of its competitors, the Company’s pricing policy was
reviewed.
xix. Enhancing Performance Management in the Public Service
GHRS is currently collaborating with the MPA to develop a performance management
training programme. It was noted that this exercise was at a very rudimentary stage.
xx. Internal Auditor
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a. Further to a decision made by the Board in 2012, an Internal Auditor was recruited
in April 2013. The Internal Auditor reports directly to the Board and
administratively to the Chief Executive Officer.
b. The Chief Executive Officer in consultation with the Audit Committee, developed
an Audit Work Plan and Audit Charter. There has been an audit of the internal
systems of the Company and the reports of those audits were submitted for the
review of the Audit Committee (a sub-committee of the Board) and will thereafter
be submitted to the board (at large) for further discussion and ratification.
xxi. Procurement Procedures
a. In 2013, the management team determined that existing procurement procedures
were in need of revision to be on par with the tendering guidelines set out in the
State Enterprise Performance Manual. To this end, existing procurement
procedures were revised and were approved by the board. According to the said
manual, the Company is authorized to engage in public, selective, sole and
emergency tendering.
b. Public advertisements were done to develop a shortlist of pre-qualified goods and
service providers. The evaluation of this list is in its final stage.
c. Officials indicated that since May 2013, no open tenders were conducted because
most of its projects were low-budget projects. In addition, the Committee was
advised that since October 2013, there have not been any emergency tenders.
Additionally in 2012, e-auction was utilized to purchase laptops.
xxii. International Recruitment
a. GHRS’ mandate requires it to employ strategies to attract and recruit nationals who
are abroad as well as foreigners with experience and expertise. However,
international marketing is a costly exercise and in view of this, the Company has
being pursuing a number of cost effective strategies to achieve this objective.
These include:
collaborating with the British High Commission to acquire information on
National residing in the UK who may be interested in employment at home;
an e-banner is currently being designed for the Commonwealth Governance
website.
b. Also, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the request of GHRS, has sent a circular
to all overseas missions highlighting the mandate of GHRS and it is expected that
in upcoming months an e-banner for international recruitment would be placed on
all websites of overseas missions.
6.4 At the conclusion of the hearing, the Chairman conveyed appreciation to the officials for
their attendance. He advised the officials that the Committee would write to them regarding the
additional questions/queries which arose during the hearing.
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REQUESTED INFORMATION
7.1 The GHRS was asked to furnish the Committee with the following information:
i. the status of the Company’s 2010/2011 Annual Administrative Report;
ii. a list of positions that were re-advertised, the number of incumbents that re-applied
for those positions and the number of employees that were re-hired at GHRS
during the period 2010 to 2013;
iii. the existing pricing policy of the Company;
iv. the number of appeals against contract and tendering decisions between 2010 and
2013 and the status of each appeal; and
v. the number of open and select tenders conducted during fiscal year 2012/2013.
ADJOURNMENT
8.1 The Committee concluded its meeting at 11:53 am and adjourned to Friday February 14,
2014 at 9:00 a.m.
I certify that these Minutes are true and correct.
CHAIRMAN
SECRETARY
February 07, 2014
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APPENDIX III NOTES OF EVIDENCE
Eighteenth Report of the Joint Select Committee on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
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PRESENT
Dr. Victor Wheeler Chairman
Mr. David Small Vice-Chairman
Mr. Fitzgerald Jeffrey Member
Dr. Lester Henry Member
Mrs. Raziah Ahmed Member
Miss Alicia Hospedales Member
Mr. Julien Ogilvie Secretary
Mr. Indar Sieunarine Assistant Secretary
Miss Katharina Gokool Research Assistant
ABSENT
Dr. Bhoendradatt Tewarie Member [Excused]
Mr. Clifton De Coteau Member [Excused]
Dr. Lincoln Douglas Member
Mr. Collin Partap Member
Mr. Kevin Ramnarine Member
Dr. Tim Gopeesingh Member
VERBATIM NOTES OF THE TWENTY-EIGHTH MEETING OF THE JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE OF
PARLIAMENT APPOINTED TO INQUIRE INTO AND REPORT ON GOVERNMENT MINISTRIES
(GROUP 2), STATUTORY AUTHORITIES AND STATE ENTERPRISES FALLING UNDER THOSE
MINISTRIES, HELD IN THE ARNOLD THOMASOS ROOM (EAST), LEVEL 6 AND THE J. HAMILTON
MAURICE ROOM, MEZZANINE FLOOR, OFFICE OF THE PARLIAMENT, TOWER D, PORT OF SPAIN
INTERNATIONAL WATERFRONT CENTRE, #1A WRIGHTSON ROAD, PORT OF SPAIN ON
FRIDAY JANUARY 10, 2014 AT 10:05 A.M.
69
10.05 a.m.: Meeting resumed.
Mr. Chairman: Good morning and I would like to welcome you to the Twenty-eighth Meeting of the
Joint Select Committee of Parliament appointed to report on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State
Enterprises (Group 2). I would like to extend New Year greetings to those of you present today, also the
viewing and the listening audience.
I would also like to welcome officials from the Ministry of Public Administration and officials from the
Government Human Resources Services Company Limited. Could I invite first of all the representatives
of the Government Human Resources Services Company Limited to introduce yourselves?
[Introductions made]
GOVERNMENT HUMAN RESOURCES SERVICES COMPANY LIMITED (GHRS)
Dr. Franklin Ali Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Wayne Munro Chairman
Mr. Khari Murray Vice President, Human Capital Management
Mr. Geoffrey Lewis Vice President, Corporate Planning and Deputy CEO
Ms. Allyson Alexander Internal Auditor
Mr. Chairman: Could I have the members of the Ministry of Public Administration?
[MINISTRY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION]
Ms. Gillian Macintyre Permanent Secretary
Mr. Richard Madray Deputy Permanent Secretary
Ms. Annalisa Sankar Senior Legal Officer
Ms. Abigail Bynoe Manager, Policy, Strategy and
Monitoring Unit
Ms. Josanne Germain Strategic Analyst
Mr. Chairman: Right, morning, I am Dr. Victor Wheeler, Chairman of the Committee and I will just
like to invite other Committee Members to introduce themselves.
Miss. Hospedales: Good morning, I am Alicia Hospedales, Member.
Mr. Small: Good morning, I am David Small, Vice Chairman.
Mr. Jeffrey: Fitzgerald Jeffrey, Member.
Mrs. Ahmed: Good morning. Raziah Ahmed, Member.
Mr. Chairman: Good morning. This morning we have today the Government Human Resources
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Services Company Limited. This is one of the agencies under the Ministry of Public Administration
which is under the purview of the Joint Select Committee (Group 2) for Ministries and State Agencies
where we are to enquire into the operations and practice of these agencies.
This morning the objectives of the enquiry is as follows:
“To assess the Company's input and performance with regards to the fulfillment of the following strategic
goals and objectives:
the filling of vacancies throughout the public service and”—the—“public enterprises;
the application of HR best practices across the public sector;
the execution of…Professional Development Programme…;
the attainment of the Gold to Diamond…Vision; and
the model of the organizational structure.”
Other objectives include:
“To acquire insight into the procedures that are applied in the contracting and outsourcing of services;
To inquire into the strategic objectives of the newly appointed Board at the GHRS.
To understand the major challenges faced by the GHRS and…the achievements of the company for the
period 2010—2013.”
And to determine—
“The nature of the GHRSs’ association…”—or—“relations with the various Service Commissions, State
Enterprises, Municipal Corporations, Regional Health Authorities vis-á-vis the recruitment of staff to
service these bodies.”
Now, the Committee is in receipt of pre-hearing information that was requested of the GHRS and I have
been told that the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration has a brief five-minute
presentation that she would like to do, so I would like to invite you to proceed, Ms. Macintyre.
Ms. Macintyre: Good morning again, Chairman and Members. We welcome the opportunity to share
the Ministry of Public Administration’s vision and strategy for our public service. In so doing, I will
capture, very briefly, information on Gold to Diamond as outlined in your letter of invitation, and
illustrate the roles of the central HRM agencies and the GHRS.
One of the reasons why I felt that the PowerPoint might help is that a lot of our concepts are actually
quite visually driven and this is the vision for the public service. We refer to it as a one-stop shop, no
wrong door, the multi-channel approach to service delivery. In other words, citizens can access any
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service, at any time, using any channel or mechanism, be it online, mobile, over the counter.
The emphasis is on the citizens and meeting their needs at every stage of the service in terms of design
and delivery. These are just some questions posed as to where we are today as opposed to where we want
to go in terms of the vision that I have just indicated.
In 2012, we launched the Gold to Diamond Programme. As you would know, 2012 was the year of our
50th Anniversary of Independence and in December of that year, 50 public officers, which included
teachers, nurses, doctors, senior public officials, were honoured.
We recognized that the public service, at that time, can be described as a golden public service. It was
fit for purpose, in the sense of the 1962 shape and delivery of its services, and that what we want to strive
to move towards in the next ten years, 2022 is a diamond public service.
Our Diamond Model is built on four pillars—people, because first of all we recognize that people are the
prerequisite for all reforms. It is the people who will put the infrastructure in place, who will acquire the
technology and ensure that officers are properly accommodated. This in turn enables the delivery of
quality services using a citizen-centred approach. Of course, all of this is premised on governance,
accountability and transparency, and in fact our working hypothesis is that good governance and strong
institutions are key to sustainable service delivery.
The Diamond model we further have deconstructed it along the lines of how one would determine the
worth of a diamond—which is the three Cs, cut, carat and clarity. The three Cs for us, in terms of looking
at the four pillars of the diamond, are capability, connectedness and culture. And I would not go into
details on this because of the fact that we are just giving a flavour of Gold to Diamond, but it in essence
fleshes out the Gold to Diamond programme.
Just to recap though that our emphasis is that the public service renewal and modernization is built on the
premise that only when there is a strong policy environment, institutions with the right people in the right
jobs, with the appropriate infrastructure operating on a high level service platform centred around the
three Cs, the public service will have the capacity to continuously improve the quality and the
effectiveness of its services.
We wanted to share with you, as I said, the broad aspects of G2D but our purpose here today is the Human
Resource Management function and so I will now shift my focus there. You will hear me refer to the
Human Resource Management architecture and by the Human Resource Management architecture, I refer
to the organizational structures, positions, job designs, salary classifications, career paths, capacity and
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capability. It also includes the legislative and regulatory framework including those of central HRM
agencies such as the Service Commissions Department and the Personnel Department.
10.15 a.m.
Ms. Macintyre: And it is the HR processes. For example, appointments, promotions, discipline, training
and development. Some of what are set in legislation.
Bringing the career public service in line with 21st Century needs is one of the major objectives of the
new HRM architecture that we are trying to create and ensuring that public officers have the training to
be able to advance.
This picture captures, I know your backs are turned but it is a useful picture in showing that the pyramid
is what we currently have, which is a base which is very wide at the bottom with a very narrow apex at
the top. We want to move towards a diamond where the middle management layer is broadened and we
have technical and professional streams which would allow the executive at the top to delegate, once
there is the strong policy environment in place and would prevent the bottlenecking of decisions up at the
top.
The bottom is narrowed because we are collapsing some of the jobs in that area and making them
multifunctional, so that there is an integration of the clerical and secretarial classes and we have already
started that with the creation of a new stream called the Management Support Officers.
Our focus groups reveal that officers in the clerical and secretarial classes have acute dissatisfaction and
embarrassment with their job titles and so, out of that focus group was the reason that we created, and as
well other objective data through surveys, we agreed to create the management support series, which is
currently in negotiation with the union and the CPO.
Some of the new streams at the middle level that we would like to create are in the areas of procurement,
monitoring and evaluations, policy and strategy, information management. So that actually those are
what we would describe as the horizontal types streams and within Ministries there would vertical
streams. So, for example, a Ministry of Trade would be looking at broadening their professional jobs at
the middle level.
How will GHRS and the central human resource management agencies enable the gold to diamond
journey? Well, MPA and the central agencies operate under the strategic pillar of the national
sustainability framework of good governance. And in that regard, I have captured here again in a slide
to depict the roles of the service commission, the personnel department in MPA.
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Service Commissions Department, as you would know is a constitutional, it supports the service
commissions, which are constitutionally independent and responsible for the appointment, promotion,
transfers and discipline of establishment or permanent establishment of public officers.
The CPO, on the other hand, is regarded as the employer and is responsible for industrial relations and
compensation, both for public officers in the case of compensation and contract officers.
The MPA, a central agency, is responsible for approving the organizational structures of ministries and
human resource development policy as well as we have the Public Service Academy, which actually
delivers training to public officers on some of the key areas for ensuring continuity of the public service.
At this point I would just like to point out, in terms of supporting the modernization effort, the personnel
department is in the process of doing a job evaluation exercise.
We often forget that the line agencies also have a human resource management function and so that the
Permanent Secretary or the head of department is responsible for recruitment and selection of contract
employment as well as training and performance management for all employees.
In 2011, the Minister of Public Administration established a Strategic Human Resource Management
Council. As you would realize HR in the public service, from what I have previously indicated, is
extremely fragmented and it was felt that the council, by bringing in the CPO and her Deputy CPOs, the
DPA and her Deputy DPAs and the Deputy Chairman of the Service Commission, would help to bring
together the various central agencies in setting strategy and monitoring the human resource management
modernization programme.
I now turn to GHRS and their role in G2D. They essentially collaborate with MPA to assist in building
HR capacity and to assist ministries with their recruitment activities for contract employees, if I could
just emphasize that.
Mr. Chairman: “Yeah”. Are you in the match process of winding up?
Ms. Macintyre: Yes, yes, I do not have much more. Okay, just the last thing that we wanted to
emphasize for GHRS in particular is that we have moved to a multi-phased assessment approach based
on research that shows that interviews, particularly if they are unstructured and carried out by untrained
individuals, are poor predicators of fit into an organization.
I will share the presentation with you, which essentially gives the research data as to the predictive value
of the multi-phased assessment. But in essence, it has been found that it improves accuracy by 68 per
cent, if you use an assessment centre approach, to recruiting employees, as opposed to interviews alone,
Eighteenth Report of the Joint Select Committee on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
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which only has a 15 per cent accuracy and references, which have 12 per cent accuracy.
So to wrap up, the diamond state for our public service, we have just outlined that we want a resilient,
adaptive public service, which can facilitate sustainable, economic development. We have central
agencies who have been transformed and are delegating their functions to the line but carrying out the
roles of standard-setting, quality assurance and value-based auditing and as well GHRS, we hope in years
to come, their role will evolve because right now their focus is a lot on recruitment but it would continue
to be an institution that continues to support HR capacity. Thank you very much.
We have copies of the presentation if you would so like.
Mr. Chairman: Thank you. I would also like to invite Mr. Franklin Ali, the CEO of GHRS to give
some brief remarks.
Mr. Ali: Thank you Chairman. Good morning again members and everyone. I am happy to be here as
the CEO of the Government Human Resource Services Company Limited and I am also happy to have
my team in support of this exercise.
This management team was recruited in 2013. And while we are a small entity at this point, we have 16
employees on staff. We do have approval to take those numbers up to 40 and we are in the process of
recruiting an additional 17 positions to bring us up to strength as we move to not just fulfil our mandate
of providing human resource support to the public service but also, as the PS just mentioned, to look at
other areas that we can develop training programmes, training interventions and give general support to
public service agencies and entities.
We are very clear in our mind, in terms of our mandate. The company was set up by Cabinet Minute in
2006 and incorporated under the Companies Act on October 26, 2006. We are governed by the by-laws
that were established for the company and we are also bound by the guidelines of the state enterprise
performance manual. Thank you very much, Chairman.
Mr. Chairman: Thank you, and Mr. Munro you would like to give some brief remarks?
Mr. Munro: Good day everyone, Chairman of the GHRS. It should be noted that the board received
instruments of appointment on October 14, 2013 and our first board meeting started October 25, 2013,
and in that light the board was called upon to initiate a strategic move from Maraval to Chaguanas, in
which we put all our resources and efforts to aid in that transformation effort.
Additionally, we asked for the organizational structure with the organization to see the extent to which
the capacity of the workers are there, in terms of being able to meet a number of deliverables as it relates
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to human resource development and in so doing, before the end of the year the staffing levels would be
doubled in order to cater to the needs requirement of the public service as a whole.
Additionally, we also asked for the strategic plan of the organization because we say that as a new board
we need to look forward, in terms of how we see the different aspects of service delivery, as it relates to
human resource development, as it relates to doing up contracts, as it relates to planning programmes for
the public service as a whole, particularly for contract workers.
So in that light, we the board instructed the management to put things in place. By March we would have
a clear strategic plan such that we would be able to make those particular targets that we would be able
to propel the public service in an efficient manner as it relates to service delivery and we are also on board
in terms of a number programmes and packages in order to train when needed, where necessary, when
called upon by different aspects of the Government in order to make that input.
The reason is that growth and development in any country requires an investment in human resource.
When you are looking at the global index and the human resource index a number of inputs goes within
developing the human index, as well as improving productivity generally and a major component of that
is human resources.
Countries such as Singapore and other countries, Switzerland and so on, they are ranked high on the index
of performance and efficiency. The purpose of they being ranked high on that index of efficiency is that
there is a separate body in those countries that are required in order to make an input, as it relates to
human resource development, in terms of selection of persons in the whole matrix, in order to drive the
economy forward on the road from gold to diamond by 2022. Thank you very much.
Mr. Chairman: Thank you. I would now like to invite members to ask questions. Sen. Small.
Mr. Small: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning and welcome to the representatives of the
Ministry of Public Administration and the representatives of the GHRS.
I want to, with the Chairman’s permission, comment quickly and shortly on the presentation by Madam
Permanent Secretary. I think it is an insightful presentation about where the vision is for the plan to
change the public service. I think, for me, when I look at it though I like the elements in there but for me
one of the critical elements that I, as I say it was skipped over, is about managing performance and it is—
you can have the best people. You can recruit the best people but you need to—there needs to be systems
in place to make sure that people have the environment to be able to perform and then that the supervisors
understand that it is their responsibility to help those under them grow.
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Having had one or two years’ experience in the civil service it is a fundamental failing of the system that
people are thrust into management positions but have no management skills. It is not their fault. They
have no management skills. They do not know how to manage people and understanding how to get the
best of out of the people that they have. What often happens is that people get to management positions,
have information, know about everything and then keep it to themselves. So I think that is something
that, in the way in which the Ministry of Public Administration is planning—and I am supportive—I think
that understanding the challenges.
I heard mention of the dissatisfaction of the manipulative classes. There is a reason for that because they
are kept out of everything that happens. There are several reasons, if you delve into it. It is probably
touchy for me because I have done it for a little while. So let me go straight to my question. I do not
want to digress too much, Mr. Chairman, but I think my brain is linked to what you are trying to achieve.
Okay, I want to rush quickly to—my first question is that the filling of vacancies throughout the public
service and public enterprises is one of the objectives of the organization. But given the fact that the
public service is— and I am addressing this to both the Permanent Secretary and to the CEO of the
company. I noted in your numbers there are 1,381 interviews or advertisements conducted in the past
three years, do you think this is a significant contribution towards filling the—over the past three years,
based on the information provided? I am seeing 1,381 interviews/advertisements. I not sure if that really
is a measure of an organization that is making a significant contribution to filling vacancies and improving
the public service. Could someone respond to me on that?
10.30 a.m.
Ms. Macintyre: Member Small, I just want to say first of all, that GHRS is not doing all vacancies in
the public service. A Ministry has to request its services, and they are only focusing on contract
employment, so that the figure is only for contract employees. In addition, for a significant period of
time I would say between 2010 and 2012, even 2013, the organization had several changes at the
Executive which would have affected, not only at the Executive, they were experiencing the same issues
in terms of turnover of staff, so that it would have affected their operations in that regard. But I certainly
believe the CEO could answer further, but I believe that since this team has taken control, it has been on
the rise.
Dr. Ali: Thank you. With the permission of members and Chair, I will expand a bit further. It is
absolutely correct to say that GHRS started with a huge mandate and with very humble infrastructure and
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staffing. Just by way of background information, between 2007—2012, the highest amount of staffing
in the organization would have been 18, where the organization had 20 approved positions. The
management team that came on board in May 2013, saw the urgent need to build internal capacity within
the organization, if it was to move forward on fulfilling its mandates of providing HR facilitation support
services to the public service, and also training and development.
We worked closely with the board in the early part of 2013 to conduct an internal review of the operations
that saw a drive to address our skills gap. It was very important for us to not only build internal capacity,
but also to build capacity in our client-services areas that will be reaching out to Ministries and state
agencies offering our services.
Just by way of illustration, at that time there were only six positions in 2013 that would speak to reaching
out to provide recruitment, selection and training. We have since gotten approval to move that up to 19
positions and we are now in the process of filling those positions. We believe that if we are to roll-out
our service, we must get our house in order and we are working assiduously in doing that.
As we follow a process of recruiting, we are looking to build a competent team, and experienced team, a
team that can go out there and run with recruitment and selection that is competency-based driven, that
can go out and do training to our clients, do HR audits, do compensation reviews, job descriptions, job
redesign, organization transformation issues, and those are issues that are in many instances very much
needed within Ministries and state agencies. So we are, in fact, retooling the business.
We have also redesigned the business model to focus not just on recruitment and selection, but also the
support services in terms of HR interventions. We believe that as we move aggressively to recruit and
build our staffing team that we have also made a strategic move to set up our base of operations from
Saddle Road, which was identified as a very cramped, suboptimal location and infrastructure resources,
to a central location in Chaguanas.
We now have our infrastructure facilities in place in terms of parking for clients coming to our site. We
have a number of interview rooms. Our previous location was just one. We have five rooms now that
are geared towards doing those customized recruitment and assessments. We are working, filling our
resources, building our capacity and getting our infrastructure in order, so that we can roll out to do more.
And if I can just add, we have recently presented what we describe as a direct marketing plan to the HR
committee of the board, and it is also at the level of the board, that speaks to a targeted programme where
GHRS personnel will go out and meet and treat with Ministries that do business with us, and also
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Ministries that have not done business with us, but we are reaching out and upselling our services to let
them know that we are here, that we are here to support and to assist them in their HR endeavours.
Thank you.
Mr. Small: I appreciate your response, because you have answered my second question, because I
listened to the Permanent Secretary and in her comment she indicated that you had to be approached by
agencies and my issue was why can you not be proactive? Why can GHRS not go out and proactively
offer its services to Ministries, departments and state agencies? And I am happy to hear—well, you have
answered my question. That was my next question, what are you doing to proactively market your
services to other Government agencies? So that is why it is great that you are building capacity, but in
order—you have built it, you need to apply it. So you have answered my second question, because that
for me is the next logical step in what you are doing. Mr. Chairman?
Mr. Chairman: Okay. Miss Hospedales.
Miss Hospedales: Good morning. In the annual report or the administrative report for 2008/2009, you
all had indicated that you adhered to the reporting schedule provided by the Ministry of Finance and the
Economy, right? Could you tell us exactly why you are late in the submission of your 2010/2011,
2011/2012 and 2012/2013—no, just to make sure, let me correct myself 2009/2010, 2010/2011 and
2011/2012 administrative reports?
Ms. Macintyre: I can only speak for 2011/2012; 2011/2012 is currently going to Cabinet. I believe it
was in Cabinet yesterday. Again, I would say the staffing issues have affected the company completing
on time their annual reports. Perhaps you [Ms. Macintyre nods towards Dr. Ali] might be able to respond
for the earlier period, Dr. Ali?
Dr. Ali: Likewise, I am unable to respond to the earlier period. What I can say is that the 2010/2011
annual report was, in fact, prepared. It is just a question of where that would be at this point; 2011/2012
as the PS said was, in fact, prepared and that is moving forward. I am also happy to report that the annual
report for 2012/2013, we expect to have the first draft in the month of January ending, which is this month
here, and that will also coincide with our audited financial statements for 2012/2013, where we expect to
have the first draft as well by the end of January this year.
Thank you.
Miss Hospedales: Just for some clarity. How could later administrative reports move forward and the
earlier ones were not submitted?
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Dr. Ali: Yes. As I said, I am unable to respond to the earlier reports as they were a bit before my time,
but I recall that I did see a draft of the 2010/2011 annual report. It would be something that with the
permission of the committee, that we can do some follow up enquiries both at GHRS and the line Ministry
and provide clarification.
Miss Hospedales: Mr. Chair, I am thinking that these reports are required as—it is a requirement to be
submitted to Parliament, and it makes no sense submitting later reports if the earlier ones were not
submitted. I think as Dr. Ali indicated, it is necessary for them to go and locate those reports if they are
existing, and if not, to ensure that they are prepared for submission to Parliament.
Thank you.
Mr. Chairman: Dr. Henry.
Dr. Henry: Yes. I am not sure who will take up the response to my questions. I have a couple of
questions here. The first one involves the issue just mentioned about the staff turnover, because I am
reading here where you say you are competitive in your pricing vis-à-vis private enterprises, private HR
operations, but what about your compensation? Is that the issue that resulted in the staff turnover that
created all these problems, that reports were not submitted on time and so on? So either you could answer
that directly or try to shed some light on what was going on that caused this staff problem because you
seem to be indicating that you really for the first two years, 2010/2011, 2011/2012, you are “kinda fuzzy”,
it is not clear what went on.
Ms. Macintyre: I returned to the Ministry myself in 2011. As far as I know when I returned to the
Ministry, they were already experiencing vacancies in the organization because of policies which had to
do with where persons had to be—the positions had to be readvertised. As well, the changes at the board
level—because there were several changes at the board level—would have affected the recruitment
activity. Those are the only two things that I can indicate would have affected that. I cannot say that
compensation at this stage affected it.
Dr. Henry: So the high turnover of the staff that was mentioned, is simply because people were recruited
and then had to be dismissed because they were not properly recruited? Is that it?
Ms. Macintyre: No, they were not dismissed, there was a requirement that their positions be advertised
again.
Dr. Henry: Okay and they left because of it?
Ms. Macintyre: At the end of their contracts.
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Dr. Henry: They left? Okay.
Ms. Macintyre: Right. Some of them would have applied again; some of them would not have applied.
Dr. Henry: Okay. So the idea is there was not stability in the running of the operation?
Ms. Macintyre: Yes.
Dr. Henry: Okay. And you said you cannot say in terms of compensation, because I know just of my
basic knowledge of the HR area, it is one of the more lucrative fields in this country. People make a lot
of money in HR. I mean I have a few friends who are quite well off from HR. [Laughter] So I am
wondering well, how could you be—are you competitive in terms of when you bring somebody into this
agency is their pay comparable to—and what determines that? What are your problems in terms of
competing with the private HR firms?
Ms. Macintyre: I would say it is challenging—[Interruption]
Dr. Henry: It is challenging?
Ms. Macintyre:—both in the central public service and in the state enterprises. So as I said, I do not
have actual evidence to say that it resulted in people not coming to the organization, but if I speak from
the challenges we face in the central public service and they are not much better off than we are, it is very
challenging.
Mr. Madray: I will just add to that, that part of the programme of HRM architecture renewal, will
require us to address that model of compensation in terms of our competitiveness, both internally in the
country as well as globally, because if we have to develop a strong human capital management
framework, and if we have to compete globally with countries that are managing their people better, we
have to have the ability to retain the best of our talent both in the HR field and the HR managers being in
a position to manage the talent of those organizations and the country generally.
Dr. Henry: Okay.
Dr. Ali: Mr. Chairman, with your permission if I can just shed a bit of clarification in terms of the
question from the point of view of GHRS. I did mention that we are looking to build our HR capacity,
and we did, in fact, conduct a skills-gap analysis that led to additional staffing. The other element that
goes with that is terms, conditions and compensation, and we recognize that if we were going to build
capacity in the organization, we needed to also approach the contentious issue of determining fair
packages to attract the expertise we want. To that effect with board approval, GHRS did, in fact, prepare
a proposal to go to the ministerial committee for monitoring remunerations. That proposal was prepared
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and submitted procedurally to our line Ministry, and I believe that has gone forward and is now receiving
the attention of the ministerial committee, that would speak to terms for positions at GHRS.
I can also share with you that the organization—the staffing is currently at salary levels that were
determined way back in 2007, so that we are optimistic. We have made a strong case that will show that
there is need for our positions to be reviewed favourably. In addition to that, one of the reasons I would
imagine, apart from pay, would be tenure that would resulted in a number of persons leaving over the
years prior, and we sought to address that. One of the things that the company will be doing going forward
as approved by the board, once the ministerial committee releases their responses, we would be looking
to offer three-year employment contacts to all employees. As it stands now several of those are with one-
year contracts, and we believe that is not optimal, that does not lend to stability, and it probably would
have been a real reason why in prior years there were staff turnovers.
10.45 a.m.
So, in essence, with a proposal to review remuneration upwards and to also give some tenure in terms of
longer employment contracts, we believe that we should be in a better position to have internal stability
for staff, moving forward.
Dr. Henry: Chair, I hope the irony is not lost. Thanks for the clarification because we did make some
progress there. I think I learned something more in terms of what were the issues involved at the
company, but we cannot really have the HR company not carrying out best practices. That is your job to
do that, right?
I will hold off on my other questions for another time.
Mr. Chairman: Ms. Macintyre, you said you came into the position in 2011. Well I am not sure you
can shed some light on this.
In 2012, there were allegations of misconduct involving a senior member of the company’s board and
this was reported in the press. The allegations concerned the existence of conflicts of interest regarding
transactions that involved the said board member and his private firm. Are you aware if these allegations
were substantiated?
Ms. Macintyre: The matter was referred to the Ministry of Finance for them to undertake an audit. We
have not received the report of the audit as yet.
Mr. Chairman: Are you aware if there was any disciplinary action/legal action taken as a result?
Ms. Macintyre: The chairman resigned from the board—the person whom the allegations were made
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against—so there would have been no disciplinary action required.
Mr. Chairman: Would you say if this would have contributed as well to some of challenges that the
organization would have faced as has been mentioned?
Ms. Macintyre: Well, I have indicated previously that the frequent transitions both at the board level
and the management level have contributed to the challenges that the organization has faced.
Mr. Chairman: Mr. Small.
Mr. Small: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Madam Permanent Secretary, in your responses to the questions
raised by member Henry—I hope I did not get it incorrectly, but I think what I captured, he said that there
were policies in place that positions had to be advertised. I would like to get some insight into those
policies because—was that something generated within the Ministry of Public Administration or was that
something that was a Cabinet directive?
Could you provide some clarification on the policy that positions had to be advertised because actually,
when you look at the GHRS in their submissions, one of the issues about making sure that they have—
they talk about stability and security of tenure and that is a key to organizational success. So, for me,
there is a dichotomy that if you are saying that there is a policy in place that positions must be re-
advertised and then the GHRS is saying that in order to have a proper organization, you need stability
and security of tenure, it seems that the two organizations that are in charge of people in the public service
seem to be at cross purposes or have different views.
Could you help me, one, with the policy—and I hope I captured it correctly. The policy position had to
be re-advertised. Could you help us with the emanation of that policy or how and is it still in effect? I
would like you to inform the Committee.
Ms. Macintyre: There is no Cabinet decision on it. It was instructions that were given to Ministries and
to agencies at the ministerial level.
Miss Hospedales: Mr. Chair—
Mr. Small: I have one small question, Miss Hospedales. I have a quick question. It is kind of related.
Is the GHRS responsible for the recruitment and selection of its own employees?
Dr. Ali: Yes, it is.
Mr. Small: Yes, it is. That is interesting.
Miss Hospedales: Mr. Chair, just piggyback riding on Mr. Small’s question, I would like to ask if
members of GHRS can provide for us a list of the positions that were re-advertised, those persons who
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reapplied, those who were rehired and those who moved on, if it is possible, during period 2010—2013.
Dr. Ali: Yes, we will undertake to provide that information.
Mr. Small: I do not want it to seem that we are colluding, but that was my next question. Given that
this was a directive and a policy, will the Ministry of Public Administration be able provide to the
Committee a compendium of lists in every Ministry, how many positions, based on a policy, had to be
advertised? How many were re-advertised across Ministries, not necessarily GHRS, so that we can
understand what was the effect of this policy across the system?
I think that it is important that the effect, as has been pointed out by Madam Permanent Secretary, of a
ministerial directive, that had effects across the civil service, I would like for the Committee to be
informed of what the effect of that was across the civil service and to get an understanding how many
people were affected and how many people reapplied and how many are those positions are now filled,
whether with new people or previous people. I would be happy if the Ministry were to provide that
information to the Committee.
Ms. Macintyre: I would not have up-to-date information on that. I believe there was a parliamentary
question that was put in the House, I think it could have been, so there may be some data that you could
get from that question.
Mr. Chairman: Is this information not residing in your Ministry?
Ms. Macintyre: It would not reside in our Ministry. One of the deficiencies in the public service is the
fact that our human resource information systems are very weak so that each time we have to get
information like that, we would have to write to each Ministry and ask them to do it. We always would
have it at a point in time.
Mr. Chairman: This sounds like a challenge for the Ministry itself—
Ms. Macintyre: It is extremely challenging.
Mr. Chairman:—which I would suggest needs to be addressed.
Ms. Macintyre: Yes, it is something. As I said in my introductory piece, I have just given you a very
brief flavour of gold-to-diamond. A major plank of gold-to-diamond is human resource management
modernization and we could go into further details.
Mr. Small mentioned performance management. I did not touch that. The focus today was GHRS. There
are also plans with respect to human resource information management systems, what we want to do in
that area, so it would take a lot more to be able to give that kind of information.
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Mr. Chairman: Could I ask then, since the GHRS is responsible for recruiting contract positions only—
the capacity that the organization is building to build the public service—how does that link with the
permanent officers in the public service? Is the GHRS providing services to building the capacity of
those permanent officers?
Ms. Macintyre: GHRS would be—one of the things they have indicated is that they are trying to
diversify their portfolio so they are providing capacity building. For example, our Ministry has
approached them for assistance with performance management, with working out increments, with job
evaluation, with drafting job descriptions, with competency-based interviews. Any other Ministry could
approach them, and I am sure when they have their marketing aspects fully in place, they would also be
going out and advising agencies that they can provide these services. So from that point of view, they
are helping with the capacity building of the public service.
Mr. Chairman: Are you specifically referring to the capacity of the permanent—because you are
employing contract officers. I am referring to the permanent employees in the public service. Is capacity
building built in these individuals as well.
Mr. Madray: If I may address one aspect of that question, part of the core functions of GHRS, as the
PS mentioned, is the trail blazing with respect to structured competency-based interviewing techniques,
multichannel approaches, multiphase approaches to assessing individuals, lifting the standard above mere
interviews. In so doing, they typically have to work with agencies and in fact have run training
programmes for Ministries on exactly those techniques. That is one capacity building area that we are
addressing.
So when managers sit on interview panels for contract employees, those managers may include permanent
employees and thus through both structured training programmes as well as on-to-the-job direct
experiences, managers’ ability and sophistication in recruiting is increasing. At least that is the goal.
Ms. Macintyre: Just making it clear that the training would be given to both permanent and contract
employees because training is on the basis of your function. So we would not say that GHRS would only
train contract employees. Training has to do with trying to improve the delivery of your function. So
coming back to recruitment, we use a mix of permanent and contract employment for recruitment.
Dr. Henry: Going back to the issue here, you see on page 23 of your submission, under Challenges,
Table 3, you said that “staff involved in recruitment, not in possession of specialized training in
psychometric testing”, is this really implying that you had people administering psychometric tests who
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did not know what they were doing?
Dr. Ali: Mr. Chairman, with your permission, I will respond to that question. Competency-based
interviewing comprise of a number of elements and that includes the design and administration of work
samples. It also includes psychometric testing. There are different modules out there. We use Wave and
16PF. In prior years, where you had staff trained in administering these psychometric testing, because of
the staff turnover, persons trained would have left the organization. Those who would have left the
organization at the time prior, the organization would have used outsourcing to provide those
competency-based psychometric testing.
What we have done in 2013, in building capacity, we recognize that one must take ownership of
psychometric testing and we have in fact, in 2013, done a number of training with respect to Wave
psychometric testing and 16PF.
As we stand today, we have a number of officers with us that are certified in Wave psychometric testing
and 16PF testing, as we move forward. We will continue to train our people, as we hire and bring on
board, particularly in that aspect because it is one of the best-practice approach in competency-based
interviewing where you do not just do a short list, develop questions and administer. Here you go the
way of best practice through psychometric testing, which can determine the better fit for position based
on personalities and traits that you see coming out through this exercise. It is a very essential aspect of
recruitment and selection and we are committed to training and development in that particular area.
Dr. Henry: My next question is somewhat of a deviation from my line before. After the person is
recruited for a contract position and they get the job in a Ministry per se, is there any follow-up or by
GHRS? Does it end there? What happens after?
Ms. Macintyre: GHRS has to be engaged for a particular activity. So they would be engaged for
recruitment. They could be engaged, if the Ministry wanted to engage them, to also handle or assist them
with orientation. My Ministry, for example, has used them a lot for what we call professional
development programmes, which is a mentoring/coaching programme for our scholars. So it depends on
what a Ministry would have asked them to do. Dr. Ali, would you want to add to that?
Dr. Ali: Thank you, PS. With the permission of the Chair, I will add to that. When we talk about
recruitment, assessment and selection done under GHRS, we talk about a number of aspects and clients
can engage us to do either the full recruitment, assessment and selection or partial.
11.00 a.m.
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The full recruitment assessment and selection will talk to us doing everything from designing the ads,
advertising online and print; doing the shortlist; developing internally the work sample or case studies as
some of us would call it that would test the shortlisted candidates in terms of their theoretical knowledge
against real-life experience. We will also administer the psychometric test and design the draft questions
and participate in the competency-based interview. We will also do a database search of our e-recruitment
database to find candidates based on the profile. That is the full recruitment assessment and selection
that we offer from A to Z.
A Ministry, a client can say, well, we do not require that full range of service, we require you just to
advertise, print and online and process a list of all candidates meeting the profile and submit that to us.
We can do that. A client can say, we would like you to do a database search. We have 39,000 CVs in
our database at present. A client can say, well do a database search and give us CVs on names of persons
that meet the criteria for a particular job. We can do that, and clients have asked for those partial before.
What we are promoting as we move the direct marketing plan forward and try to engage with our clients
out there, is to push complete recruiting that involves work samples, psychometric testing, the full nine
yards is best practice that would help us to help our clients to get the best fit for positions that I am sure
are essentials in their resourcing, so that when they do hire they have organizational success.
So in summary, while we can do the full range, the clients determine the level or our involvement as far
as recruitment and selection is concerned.
Mr. Madray: If I may add, your question was about follow-up, subsequent to the GHRS engagement.
I think there is a need for that in terms of surveying Ministries as to whether the techniques used yielded
the results. I mean the international research suggests that multiphase approaches do improve the
predictive validity of the recruitment, but we have not done such surveys here in terms of whether
managers believe that they are getting the results that they had hoped for. We do need to do that.
Dr. Henry: That was the essence of what I was trying to get at in terms of feedback mechanism and
follow up as to: why would the Ministry come to you again other than some non-logical reason. They
must have a logical reason why they will say, “Well, okay we were happy with what we got from GHRS
and, therefore, we are going to come again. One of the things that I am not clear about is why do the
Ministries come to you. Are they mandated to? They are not. So therefore, they have to have some
reason as to why they would come to you as opposed to do their own thing.
Mr. Chairman: One question, now probably Ms. Macintyre or Mr. Madray—now you say a Ministry
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will come to you to assist in the recruitment of contract employees. How does the Ministry then integrate
these contract employees with the public servants who are functioning under the service commission and
report to the service commission? What is the supervision? What process is used to supervise these
contract officers that are employed by the Ministries and what is the relationship with the permanent
officers? The reason I am asking that is, I am in the health sector and we had a disastrous experience
with public servants and RHA officers working side by side doing the same job; different compensation,
different reporting lines. What is the experience with the contract officers and the public servants in these
Ministries?
Ms. Macintyre: I would invite DPS Madray to add to what I say, but to respond to it I would say there
is varied experience. If it might be useful, I would just share what happens within my Ministry. In the
Ministry of Public Administration we tend not to mix a unit with both permanent and contract workers.
Most of our units are either completely contract or they are more permanent establishment. For example
HR would be strongly a permanent establishment or finance and accounts so that the supervision is a bit
easier in that instance.
We do know of instances outside where there has been difficulty because of a mixture, not only with
supervision but just tensions between the different types of officers. I think it very much has to do with
the culture of your organization; how you reward people, and here we talk about reward not only being
monetary but recognition which contributes to people working in a harmonious-type way. That does not
mean that you do not still end up with the problems that you are referring to. I am not being naive in that
sense but, it is something that we are working on. That is part of updating the legislative and regulatory
framework because I think the reality for us is that contract employment is not going to go away. What
the modernization programme is working on is to try and modernize the jobs and try to ensure that those
jobs that I flagged are brought in to the central public service so that we do not lose our institutional
memory. I am sure DPS may have something that he could add.
Mr. Madray: Well, I do not have much more to add to that except to say that it is a 10-year programme
of reshaping the HR architecture. We do recognize that we need to have stability in the public service
and career paths, and the best way of doing that is to transition back to a strong establishment, but we
need to do so in a careful way so that we get the quality results that we need.
We need to make sure—to give just one example—that the jobs on the establishment are modern, relevant
jobs and that is one of the reasons why the contract employment grew so significantly over the years that,
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in many cases, the job descriptions that were being written—take the field of IT—were a lot more modern
and could be adjusted more rapidly to suit changing needs. So our efforts are going to be over the next
few years to create jobs, get them classified and transition more and more back to the establishment.
Mr. Chairman: But how does what blend with the number of vacancies that already exist in the public
service that are not being filled? You are talking about creating additional jobs, permanent jobs, I am
getting from you. Why the agency has not been assisting the service commissions in recruiting or filling
the vacancies in the public services? Should this not be part of your mandate rather than just focusing on
contract positions?
Ms. Macintyre: If you will recall in the presentation, the service commissions are constitutionally
independent so that we cannot direct them as to utilize GHRS for example to assist with recruitment.
They could go out when they are doing an exercise and do a tender and GHRS could bid. That could be
one way they could utilize GHRS.
When you pose the question about the vacancies, one needs to go back as to why are there vacancies and
it comes back to the HRM modernization programme in that many of these jobs are antiquated, out of
date; they need to be modernized; they need to be reclassified so the job evaluation exercise is crucial
there, but the job evaluation exercise that is currently going on is actually only looking at existing jobs.
So there is going to be a need for a further job evaluation exercise for the new streams that we hoping to
come in. It is only when these new jobs are designed and classified and that our compensation as DPS
Madray indicated—there is a whole review of a compensation policy and how we approach it that is part
of the whole modernization effort—we would expect that we could pay better, the compensation will be
better because that is one of the reasons that your jobs are not being filled.
Qualifications as I say, going back to the job. One example that we are looking at right now and we have
been working with customs on is, for example, custom officers are usually hired from a pool of clerical
officers that have already been in the public service. So that when they advertised, most times, the
customs officer coming in is already at age 45 by the time they try to train that person, the most they have
is about 15 years of life out of that person and sometimes these custom officers have to climb and mount
ships and they are not physically fit at the age 45 to be doing that. So we are looking at them with
changing the age, looking at the qualifications. It is a massive exercise that is why we are stressed. It is
2022, we are not looking at changing this overnight, but we are working on it. .
Mr. Chairman: And further to that, in your submission you had identified that you are supposed to be
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in regular dialogue and collaboration with stakeholders including the Public Services Association. Have
you engaged and involved the Public Services Association in this transformation exercise that you are
embarking on? Could I also ask: are the contract officers that are employed, would they also be members
of the Public Services Association?
Mr. Madray: Before PS addresses that question, just to make a comment. In your earlier question and
to reemphasize that our current Minister took an initiative to establish a strategic HRM Council and that
council brings together all the parties to the HRM function so that service commissions the Deputy
Chairman of service commissions as well as the DPA sits on that council. So what we are really trying
to address is the whole system approach to the problem and thus there is a role for the MPA in terms of
providing support to the service commissions to the extent that it needs to.
Mr. Chairman: I did not hear PSA mentioned.
Ms. Macintyre: I thought he would have addressed it at one time, but yes we have involved them. We
have done presentations to PSA and just this week we did one with TTUTA and next week we are doing
one for the National Productivity Council. The other aspect you raised was whether the contract
employees are part of the union. That depends on the union. I have heard the PSA going out and
marketing itself for contract employees to join them. I am not sure, they would have to answer as to what
extent contract employees are taking that up.
Mr. Chairman: The reason I am asking that is that it could be argued that instructions given to public
officers that may be questionable, you are more likely to get a favourable response to carry those
instructions if the person is a contract employee because that person’s contract will be coming to an end
soon and to get a new contract he would need to make his boss happy, and a public servant who is
permanently employed does not have that stress.
Ms. Macintyre: You have gone back to the principles and the tenets of why we have a neutral public
service in keeping with our Commonwealth heritage. So, yes you are right, you are correct. No other
response to that.
Miss Hospedales: PS Macintyre, you made reference to the professional development programme. My
question really focuses on the fact that in the report submitted by GHRS, they stated that they had training
in 2009 and then resumed training in 2013. What is the reason for the gap? Why is the programme not
a sustainable programme considering that you have a number of returning scholars on a yearly basis?
11.15 a.m.
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Ms. Macintyre: The reason for the gap came back to the same resource issue that GHRS was
experiencing and resource issues in the Ministry as well, because we do have to pay GHRS to deliver
these services, as well as we have to have staff able to coordinate with GHRS. But we do have it back
up and running, and we hope to keep it going.
Miss Hospedales: Would it be like a once a year programme, or is it going to be a continuous programme
during the course of the year?
Ms. Macintyre: It would. We expect it to be a once a year programme. The last programme we did,
we actually did two cohorts in trying to catch up and try to cover more persons.
Miss Hospedales: Can I ask; how many returning nationals are there right now in your cohort?
Ms. Macintyre: Mr. Murray, can you help us as to how many persons were trained in the last two
cohorts?
Mr. Murray: Thank you, Madam PS. In the last two cohorts in 2013 we trained a total of 56 returning
scholars; first 52 scholars, 26 persons, each cohort.
Miss Hospedales: Just one more question. How many returning nationals are there in total, currently?
Ms. Macintyre: Scholars?
Miss Hospedales: Yes, scholars. Sorry.
Ms. Macintyre: I am sorry, I do not have that figure off hand, but we think it could be about 300 per
year. Now, again it is also not mandatory for a scholar to take up the training, and I think you would find
for example in certain professions, for example medicine, they may tend not to because of the hours of
the training.
Mr. Chairman: “Yeah”, Mr. Jeffrey.
Mr. Jeffrey: Let me see if I got that right. Are you solely responsible for the recruitment of all contract
employees in the public service?
Ms. Macintyre: The Ministry of Public Administration is not. Each Ministry is responsible for the
recruitment of their contract officers, and then a Ministry can approach GHRS if they wish to assist them
in the recruitment.
Mr. Jeffrey: If they—?
Ms. Macintyre: If they wish to assist. It is not mandatory for them to go to GHRS, and in fact they
could use any other management consulting firm or their own resources.
Mr. Jeffrey: Okay.
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Mr. Chairman: Okay. The thirty returning scholars that you chose, was there any specific selection
criteria set up to identify which thirty?
Ms. Macintyre: As I said, it is open to scholars to take up or not to take up. The only ceiling might have
been our financial resources. So again, Khari, if you could help me here because I know you have been
dealing with that so you might be a little more familiar. Did we have the full complement?
Mr. Murray: Okay. Thank you, Madam PS. For the PB Programme we did not have the full
complement of returning scholars attending or participating, and this generally due to their interests in
the programme. We tried, and we are trying with the next two cohorts for 2014 to increase their
participation in the programme.
Mr. Chairman: Could I just ask? You said a Ministry can use another agency besides yourself; would
you have any idea of how many competitors does the GHRS have out there?
Dr. Ali: Chairman, I can respond to that very quickly. Six months ago we did a market survey in terms
of the competitors. In terms of hardcore recruitment—assess, fit and selection service providers in the
private sector—there are five major ones that not only provide services to private entities but also to
Government Ministries and agencies. We compared what we do and how we do it in terms of those five
top HR service providers in the private sector, and we found by far that our pricing mechanism were very,
very competitive. In one instance, one of the major players in the private sector was three times the cost
that we would charge for an executive level recruiting programme.
We have some selling points that can compete apart from price, and that is the robustness we bring to our
recruitment and selection process, and one of the reasons we are looking to roll out our direct marketing
plan is to make our service offerings more aware, and bring it to the clients in a direct level. We can also
say that GHRS has a process that is contingent on clients requesting our services and to the level that they
request our services, and those clients, as PS said, have the option to either come to us or go to a private
sector.
We believe that as we move forward in building our internal capacity, as I would have spoken to on more
than one occasion, and also the fact that we are price competitive and the fact that we are using
competency-based recruitment and selection, that we should be able to make greater inroads moving
forward with our Ministries and state enterprises in the area of recruitment and selection. Thank you.
Mr. Chairman: “Yeah.” Just one follow up. I think I remember reading somewhere—is the company
expected to make a profit from its activities?
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Dr. Ali: The company has not been mandated to operate with a profit motive, however the history of
cost versus revenue is a bit convoluted. The operations were initially set up at basic minimum level
costing. As the years went by and with rising cost and trying to grow the staff and so on, the latest state
of play at the AGM meeting in 2013, June 25, we were advised by the shareholder that GHRS needed to
do more, to not strive for profitability but to do more to offset operating cost. And on that basis a pricing
policy was prepared and reviewed in light of the market study with the competitors, and we came up with
a pricing that we found was reasonable; at the same time we are driven, year on year, to meet certain
revenue targets, but the long and short of it is GHRS is not mandated to maintain a strict profitability
motive. Thank you.
Mr. Chairman: Before I ask Mr. Henry, I would just like you to provide us with a copy of that pricing
policy that you developed.
Dr. Ali: Yes, Chairman, we will do so.
Dr. Henry: Yes. In your submission again you said that 2010—2011 you recruited 300 contract
workers—that is the numbers here; 2011—2012, 440 and 2012—2013, 641. Two questions flow from
this: do you have any idea of what percentage of overall Government contract workers—those figures
represent, and, two, is that an indication of increasing business coming from the Government to you, or
is that just an indication of the fact that the number of contract workers in the general Government service
has been spiralling upwards?
Ms. Macintyre: As I indicated previously, we do not have current figures. The last time we did an
exercise to establish numbers of contract positions we got 10,000. That was contract positions in 2010.
Dr. Henry: So 300 is a very tiny bit.
Ms. Macintyre: I am being told here 10,000 positions and about 6,000 bodies in positions in 2010. That
was the figure. We do not know what it is currently.
Dr. Henry: At least, given if the figure is—whether it is 10,000 in terms of, at that level, in terms of just
positions or bodies, I mean 300 of course is a very tiny amount of that. So it seems as though the
Ministries—in my earlier exchange with you—are not really running to utilize the services of the GHRS.
I mean, that is a huge amount.
Mr. Madray: Correct. I would say, again, we do not have all the data to allow us to be fully aware, but
just remember that it is a three-year cycle, so even if there are 10,000 positions, really it would not be
that many that would have to be filled each year. And most organizations, even in the private sector,
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would tend to use the multiphased approaches because of the amount of work that has to go into it for the
higher level positions in the organizations; the ones that they are most concerned about that they need to
dig more deeply into the full range of a potential.
Dr. Henry: Okay. I mean, I understand the clarification, you know, I am just saying that even with that
factored in it is still a relatively small amount to the numbers, all right. And I think, yes, what you are
saying makes perfect sense, but I am just saying it is still kind of shocking that the numbers are not higher.
Mr. Chairman: “Yeah.”
Mr. Small: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to follow on, on the question raised by Member
Henry. I appreciate the numbers provided that perhaps there were 6,000 bodies in positions around 2010
in contract positions, so that means when the policy that positions had to be re-advertised. Certainly
between then and now, probably at least 6,000 positions, people were informed that they—so I hope my
line of logic is correct. What I would like to ask the Permanent Secretary, is that policy still in place?
Because if that policy is still in place then it means that very position will continue to be re-advertised.
My question has two parts: is it still in place, and if it is not in place, when did it end?
Ms. Macintyre: To the best of my knowledge, it is still in place.
Mr. Small: Still in place. Interesting. I have a couple of questions to direct at Mr. Ali at GHRS, and it
has to do with your expanding your activities in 2014, and one of it has to do with—unfortunate for me
it is a pet area because I have several years’ experience in it—and it has to do with you augmenting your
service offers and your offerings, and you are introducing performance management as one of your
workshops.
I have a question because performance management has levels. You have performance management of
myself as a supervisor managing people, and then you roll that up into organizational targets and then
you have performance management at the organizational level. Several years ago the Ministry of Public
Administration did something called a ministerial performance management. I sat with several
consultants and I think my report was one of the best that was ever done from my Ministry at the time,
so I am very much au courant with performance management. And there are levels because you can have
performing—you have an organization and you have pockets of good performance, and you have pockets
of not so good performance, and what gets measured gets done. So that if you do not measure the
organization’s performance as a whole—so I trust that this is something that you would have been
collaborating with the people at public admin and recognizing that this is a gap in the civil service, in
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understanding how does an organization, a Ministry or department perform as a whole, as apart from
individuals. So I am trying to understand: what exactly are you planning in your workshops?
Dr. Ali: Thank you. Your intervention is timely, simply because GHRS in collaboration with the
Ministry of Public Administration, we are in the process, as we speak, of developing this particular
performance management training intervention. So that we would take on board your suggestions, but it
is in the very rudimentary stage of development. Thank you.
Mr. Chairman: Miss Hospedales.
Miss Hospedales: Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am just seeking clarity. In your report you indicated that the
organizational structure was approved by the Board of Directors, and that the staffing level would move
from 20 in 2007 to 40 in 2013. I just need to find, you know, or to gain understanding in terms of who
approves the expansion or the increase in the number of staff; is it GHRS or do you get the approval from
the Ministry of Public Administration?
11.30 a.m.
Dr. Ali: The approval to increase organization staffing for GHRS lies at the level of the board of
directors, and if there are new positions that require compensation ranges, that for 2013, as we would
have moved to create additional positions for us, the salary proposal and terms proposal would have gone
forward through the line Ministry to the ministerial committee for review and final approval of
compensation. So the short answer is in terms of approving positions for GHRS, it would be at the level
of the board.
Miss Hospedales: I saw a note where it is stated that the board of directors increased from, I believe,
seven to 11. Who gives that approval, seeing that the board approves increase in staff? Who gives the
approval for the increase in the number of board members?
Ms. Macintyre: Cabinet gives the approval for the increase in the number.
Mr. Small: Forgive me, it is me again. I want to drill down into a couple of areas, Mr. Ali.
I noted on the initial structure there was no internal audit. It did not seem that the initial plan included
any audit. I notice you have an internal auditor here, so my first question is whether or not an internal
auditor was hired. I see the smiling auditor is here. I am happy to see the auditor is smiling, because one
of my questions is—I am not sure how long the auditor has been engaged with GHRS, but I would like
to get some feedback and understand—in the auditor’s work to date and in the documents that the auditor
has reviewed, is everything as it is supposed to be with regard to compliance with the required regulations
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and laws and practices? I would like to understand from that perspective if the auditor has reported to you
any challenges or any issues?
Dr. Ali: Thank you for the question. I will start the response and I will be happy to ask Ms. Alexander
to support the response as well.
The board in 2012 recognizing that GHRS never had an internal auditor on staff took decisions to approve
the position, and in April of 2013, through a recruiting process, the internal auditor was brought in. The
internal auditor reports directly to the board and administratively to the Chief Executive Officer, so there
is that level of independence in terms of policing our processes and systems.
In terms of a macro approach to internal auditing, in consultation with myself and the audit committee,
an audit work plan was prepared, an audit charter was prepared, and there is a work plan that would speak
to auditing of petty cash, purchasing, procurement, HR procedures and all internal systems. We have had
a number of those internal audits done of our processes and systems. Those would have been tabled at
the audit committee of the board for review and deliberations, and the outputs of that committee would
then go to the board for discussion and ratification.
If you require a bit more specifics in terms of any of those particular audits, I would be happy to pass it
over to the auditor.
Mr. Small: I want to comment, because I also noted in your structure that the auditor, as is required,
reports directly to the board. Having done more than one function in my previous endeavours, having
myself been a chairman of an audit committee, I understand how important it is for the internal auditor
to be independent and be able to report directly to the board. So I want to commend the organization on
recognizing that administratively the auditor reports to the CEO, but in terms of the work that they are
performing they report only really to the board of directors. I think that is something that as an
organization which is expanding, that is moving and is trying to expand its operation, that level of
oversight, and having the proper structure in place, keeping in line with all the wonderful things that came
out of Sarbanes-Oxley and other things, I think that that is fully appropriate, and I think you should be
commended on that.
Dr. Ali: Thank you.
Miss Hospedales: Mr. Chair, I saw in their submission as well under “Procurement Procedures” the
heading “Appeals Against tendering and Contract Decisions”. Could you tell us, or provide for the
Committee, information regarding the number of appeals received during the period 2010—2013?
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Dr. Ali: Thank you for the question. Members, I have to confess, I do not have that information at my
fingertips. It is something that with your permission we can provide in writing to the Committee.
Mr. Small: Again, I am just going into the submissions. I notice in your submissions you indicated that
the company had several forms of tendering. I want to focus on the open tender, the selective and the
emergency tendering. In terms of the tenders that you have done in the past year, the past reporting
period, how many tenders were done? Is there a percentage range of how many you have done, either in
open or selective?
I want to focus on those, because what has been the history of some of the other experiences is that
selective tendering is used but, really and truly, a lot of the rationale for selective tendering is not what it
should be. So I would like to get the experience to date of GHRS with what are the numbers in your
tendering procedures—do you mostly go with open, mostly go with selective—and then I need to
understand any numbers in there.
Dr. Ali: Thank you for the question. I would say up front that the specific numbers for the various
categories of tendering would be something I would have to respond to in write at a later date, but I would
like to take the opportunity to talk about how we went about streamlining our procurement procedures.
I would have said at the start of the intervention that we are also bound by the State Enterprise
Performance Manual. The management team found in 2013 that there was need to review the existing
procurement procedures to bring them more in line with the tendering guidelines in the State Enterprise
Performance Manual. We basically took it from ground zero and developed our procurement procedures
which were subsequently tabled to the board of directors for approval. So it meant getting the principle
of our tendering in line with the state enterprise and making sure that it was approved.
That has been done, and in terms of the tendering procedures because GHRS has a very small working
budget, working capital, our tenders are primarily very small ranges. According to the State Enterprise
Performance Manual, you can do public tender, you can do selective tender, you can do sole source
tender, you can do emergency tenders. Since the inception of the team in 2013 coming on board, we have
done no emergency tenders. We have also developed through public advertising a shortlist of pre-
qualified suppliers of goods and services that we are in the final stages of getting it totally evaluated.
Once that is in place, when we have to do routine procurement, we would be going into our pre-qual data
base to do routine procurement.
Since May of this year, we have not done any public open tenders, because our projects are small. We
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expect to have one coming up in February/March which would be a tender, and that would be for an IT
consultancy to review and redesign our e-recruitment online application system.
In terms of the specific numbers that would be open, selective or emergency, other than emergency I
cannot give the figures for those other areas, but we will provide those numbers. Thank you.
Mr. Small: I have one quick question to wrap up my questioning, Mr. Chairman. I noted in your
submissions one of the things you talked about is international recruitment. Could you elaborate on the
actions of the GHRS in that area?
Dr. Ali: Yes, thank you for the question. Our mandate speaks to GHRS not just doing recruiting, but
also putting our tentacles out internationally so that we can attract, we can recruit and would facilitate the
process to recruit nationals who would have gone abroad, who would be willing to come back home. But
also to recruit overseas persons who would be willing to come back to our country and bring the
experience, wisdom and expertise.
We have recognized that international marketing of GHRS is a costly endeavour, but a necessary one. I
am happy to report to date that we have made a number of initiatives in that regard. One, we are working
closely with the British High Commission to target through their database nationals in London—in
England as a whole—who would be interested in service offerings that we have, job vacancies and so on,
and to know that GHRS is here and we are recruiting if they are interested.
We also have an e-banner that is currently being finalized that will be placed on the Commonwealth
governance website. The Commonwealth comprises of 55 member countries, and we will have an e-
banner on that website that will basically be saying, “If you are looking for public sector employment in
Trinidad and Tobago, click here”, and that opens the range for international exposure.
We have just recently received a letter from Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At our request, we have asked
that they send out to all overseas missions the role of GHRS and what we do in terms of recruiting foreign
nationals and also our locals abroad. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs have advised that they have sent
out a general circular to all overseas missions advising of same, and in the coming months we will be
looking to have our e-banner for international recruiting placed on these various websites of our overseas
missions. I think with that kind of spread and reach, and using our leverage based on the networking,
we could manage our costs but really reach a wider population target out, in terms of getting best skills,
people with international experience and exposure, to give consideration to come in to pick up jobs here
in the public service.
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Whether our packages, and packages that Ministries and state enterprises offer, are competitive enough
to entice is left to be seen. But we recognize our mandate to reach out internationally, and we are moving
in that direction.
Mr. Small: Thank you for the response, and I hope that the Permanent Secretary heard you about the
packages, because there is almost no point in doing that and trying to attract people from overseas, and
then want to pay them civil service rates in Trinidad and Tobago. That is why I asked about it. There
needs to be a connect.
Right now for me there is a disconnect. So I laud the thinking and the approach, but the efficacy—
thinking a good idea is wonderful—but if there is nothing to support it, it is dead before it starts. So I
think there needs to be some connection. Right now for me there is a disconnect, having been a member
of the civil service. Mr. Member, forgive me.
Dr. Henry: I am just about finish, but I just feel I should comment on the fact that since May 2013—I
am not sure why that date was particularly highlighted—there seemed to have been a lot of stuff done
from all the different IT security manuals, IT operation manuals, procedures and so on. What is
responsible for that, and also, this new board and management of the company, when was it put in place?
How long have you been in place?
Dr. Ali: Thank you, Sir, for the question. It is a two-part question. The first one, GHRS—to go as far
back as late 2011—did not have a substantive CEO. So there was someone that was acting in the role,
and it was only in 2013, in the month of May, that a substantive CEO was recruited. But in addition to
that, during the period April to June 2013, for the first time in a number of years, GHRS had on board a
full executive management team. That again would go back to the resources of the company in terms of
getting things done, and we very quickly recognized that there was need to deal with a number of policy
issues, a number of staffing issues, a number of internal structure issues that we would have spoken about
during the intervention so far.
In terms of the issue with the board part of it—
Mr. Munro: As it relates to questions on the board, the new board was appointed on October 14 last
year. It is approximately three months now where we are looking to see how we could strengthen the
organization in terms of where we go forward from a strategic point of view, in terms of increasing the
service offering of the institution and developing a strategic plan as we go forward.
Dr. Henry: And prior to October, what were the arrangements with the board?
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Mr. Munro: Yes, a board was in existence at that point in time. It operated with a business plan dated
from a 2012/2013 business plan. But the new board realized that a business plan is narrow in its scope
and if you are looking at being competitive internationally, we need to put in place forward-looking
policies that would drive the institution to make sure we capture the development nature of our people in
Trinidad and Tobago. In so doing, we instructed to have in place what you call a strategic plan—a three-
year strategic plan which we would be launching in March 2014 as we go forward.
Dr. Henry: So you have been Chair just for about four months now?
Mr. Munro: Approximately three months.
Dr. Henry: And the CEO for about six, seven months?
Mr. Munro: Seven, nine months.
Ms. Macintyre: I could add to that and say that there was no formal Deputy Chairman, so what was
happening previously was that at each meeting of the board a chair would have been appointed.
11.45 a.m.
Dr. Henry: The reason I asked, Mr. Munro, before you came in. I was wondering if there was an active
chairman and what was going on, in that immediate period, before your appointment? That is what—so
you were saying there was no deputy.
Ms. Macintyre: It is not deputy. There was somebody that was functioning as chairman, but let us say
for example that—my understanding was, that if she was not present at a meeting, the meeting would
decide as to who was the chair and she would not have been remunerated as chair in the period.
Dr. Henry: Okay.
Mr. Chairman: Okay. Just one little—the professional development programme that was done for 30
scholars and subsequent, have you done any surveys to see how beneficial the programme was to the
participants, the returning scholars—was it useful to them? Did you contact them, you know, so that they
can be used to assist other returning scholars in their development?
Dr. Ali: Thank you, Chairman. I would pass it to the VP, Human Capital Management, Mr. Murray, to
respond to your question, if that is acceptable.
Mr. Murray: Thanks, Dr. Ali. In terms of feedback with the returning scholars after the programme,
the programme itself is over a three-month period. So that at each point of the programme we do have
feedback from the scholars and assessors in terms of what is going to be the benefits for them, in terms
of it they getting support from their line supervisors also. At the conclusion of the three months however,
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currently we do not have a GHRS a feedback option for them.
Mr. Chairman: Maybe I might want to suggest it would be useful to do have ongoing communication
that would maybe assist other scholars. You would have examples of other people who benefited from
your programme and that may actually increase the participation of others in it.
Mr. Murray: Okay; if I may continue. I am aware that, previously, there would have been a returning
scholar’s forum which previous returning scholars who would have passed through the programme—
[Interruption]
Mr. Chairman: Right.
Mr. Murray:—also would have given such support to people coming on board in the future programmes.
I am not sure, at this point in time, if it is still functional, but I know that it was in place.
Dr. Ali: Mr. Chairman, we note your suggestion and we will certainly take it on board. Thank you.
Mr. Chairman: Yes, Miss—[Interruption]
Miss Hospedales: I just needed to get clarity on the professional development programme. Are the
persons who are trained in your programme given any sort of assistance to find employment after they
have been trained?
Ms. Macintyre: The returning scholars are all—the Ministry assists in the placement of returning
scholars. The PDP programme is not designed to deal with placement; that is the Ministry’s
responsibility. The PDP is looking at helping them to progress—career wise. What are the top three
areas—career wise, they need to develop. So it is very much an ongoing coaching and mentoring
programme with respect to what they have identified as their deficiencies.
And just to add to what Mr. Murray said, the scholar forum does continue to exist. We do a lot of our
communication with scholars online, and they are, at the end of the programme, there certainly was, what
we call in training and development, a smile sheet type of feedback, in terms of the PDP, but the point is
taken that there is need for establishing, in keeping with the objectives of the programme, if it is to help
you to advance career wise, how much has the programme contributed to that.
Miss Hospedales: Mr. Chair, I just want to make reference to two things in your report you made. You
indicated that you all utilized the electronic auction, as well as the electronic procurement. Could you
just tell us how frequently this is actually done?
Dr. Ali: In 2012, there was one activity in terms of procurement that led to us using the e-auction, and it
was to purchase some computer hardware, laptops in particular. Moving forward we have the option,
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based on the state enterprise performance manual, of using the tried and tested procurement procedures
and options, including the e-auction. It is something that we will be looking to progress as we move
along.
Mr. Chairman: All right. Any other questions? Okay. Thank you. I would like to invite, well, Ms.
Macintyre and Mr. Ali—Mr. Munro, would like to make any closing statements or raise anything that we
did not raise? At the end of the day, one of the roles of this hearing is to assist the organisation in any
way that we can. So, closing comments.
Ms. Macintyre: I would just like to, again, extend the offer to come back and present to you on Gold to
Diamond, with respect, and in more detail, on the human resource management modernization plans, and
as well, the service delivery aspects of it which go back to our certification of agencies. I am sure you
will be hearing a lot more about that, probably in the media. There are some very exciting initiatives, I
feel, which augur well for the public service—integrated services, shared services—so that if we could
be afforded that opportunity, we would welcome it. Thank you very much for today though.
Dr. Ali: Mr. Chairman, and members also, I would like to convey our thanks for being given an
opportunity to present here today, but I would like to focus on one aspect before I close off and that is,
our e-recruitment database. We have seen, year on year, the number of persons lodging CVs in our e-
recruitment database, grow. So that from 23,000 in 2011 to almost 39,000 as at September 2013. What
it is signalling is, GHRS has a presence in the market, and persons that are seeking employment, turning
to us, more and more, and we have not only the challenge, but also the responsibility to rise to the
occasion, to meet and treat in terms of recruiting and assisting these persons to find employment.
Secondly, for those questions and comments that we were unable to give the specific responses to, we
will certainly respond to those in a timely manner. And finally, thank you much for giving us the
opportunity.
Mr. Munro: I too would like to express my gratitude for having us here today to share with you all on
the different questions put forward, and for the additional questions that we plan to provide for you, on a
timely basis, as we go forward. Right. Additionally, we would like to share with you all the strategic
plan of the organisation, because a strategic plan will pave—put a pathway—as to where the organisation
is going. And if given the opportunity to come back and to show you what the strategic plan for the
organisation would be, as we grow out of the business plan, and that we will like to share with you all at
a later date, if required. Thank you very much.
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Mr. Chairman: Thank you, and we will write to you, officially, to get the additional information that
was requested. I would like to thank you all for attending the meeting today. I would like to thank the
media for attending, and also the viewing and listening audience. This meeting is now adjourned.
11.53 a.m.: Meeting adjourned.
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APPENDIX IV
PRICING POLICY
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Sixteenth Report of the Joint Select Committee on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
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Sixteenth Report of the Joint Select Committee on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
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Sixteenth Report of the Joint Select Committee on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
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Sixteenth Report of the Joint Select Committee on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
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Sixteenth Report of the Joint Select Committee on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
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Sixteenth Report of the Joint Select Committee on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2)
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