Performance standards and measuring performance in Ghana
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-162X(199702)17:1<115::AID-PAD908>3.0.CO;2-P |
| Author | ROBERT DODOO |
| Date | 01 February 1997 |
| Published date | 01 February 1997 |
Performance standards and measuring performance in Ghana
ROBERT DODOO
Republic of Ghana
INTRODUCTION
The Government of Ghana has recently produced draft guidelines on `Setting
Targets and Measuring Performance of Implementing Agencies' within the Civil
Service. This article summarizes some of the key considerations contained in the
detailed draft guidelines and puts these into the context of the current reform
initiatives in the Ghana Civil Service. It then outlines some of the key ideas,
including the importance of employee participation and consensus building.
EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION AND CONSENSUS BUILDING
The question of employee participation in the process of introducing reforms, such
as performance management, is a matter of topical importance in Ghana. Before I
became Head of the Civil Service in 1994, there had been a tendency for the previous
Civil Service reform initiatives to be `top-down' in character. They had been driven
by a small group at the centre and the process had not reached out far enough to the
Ministries, Departments and Agencies. In short, the Ministries, Departments and
Agencies did not feel suf®ciently committed to the reform initiatives and thus did not
own the changes proposed from the centre. This type of reform is not sustainable.
Our experience of reforms that are predominantly centrally driven, or `top-down',
has led us to the conclusion that it is essential in the change-management process to
involve employees in the design and implementation of changes and improvements.
In other words, under our new Civil Service Performance Improvement Programme
we are now combining the `top-down' process with a `bottom-up' process of
consciously involving the Ministries, Departments and Agencies and their staff in
designing and implementing performance improvement plans. We are also
consciously involving the general public and the business community through the
introduction of user surveys and bene®ciary assessments and these provide
additional important feedback about service delivery from a wide range of
relevant stakeholders.
All our Civil Service organizations are scheduled to produce performance
improvement plans over the next two years and the role of my of®ce is to
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT, VOL. 17, 115±121 (1997)
CCC 0271±2075/97/010115±07$17.50
&1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Dr Dodoo is Head of Civil Service, Government of Ghana, Accra, Ghana.
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