Govt rolls out dual matrix performance management system

MARONDERA-Government will be rolling out a dual matrix performance management
system starting in January next year that will incorporate provincial heads of line ministries,
as the government moves to implement the performance based remuneration for its
workforce.
This was said by the chairperson of the Public Service Commission (PSC) Dr Vincent
Hungwe during the commission’s interface meeting with Mashonaland East provincial heads
of departments held in Marondera recently.
He said the monitoring and evaluation of workers will be done by provincial heads of
government departments who know the performance of the people they interact with every
day, rather than allowing head office to carry out the exercise.
He said Government will work out a system of performance evaluation with effect from
January 1 next year that includes the inputs of both line ministry Permanent Secretary and the
inputs of the Permanent Secretary for Provincial Affairs and Devolution.
Dr Hungwe said all Government employees’ performance will be evaluated throughout the
year before a performance report is forwarded to the PSC at the end of the year which details
the level of every employee’s performance which then determines the nature of reward
entitled to each employee.
“Remember we talked about monitoring and evaluation, as we monitor and evaluate our work
so should we also track the performance of the individual, because the tracking of the
evaluating accessing the performance of the individual also makes it possible for us to have a
fair, scientific and rational basis upon which we can say, look because of this performance,
this is the kind of reward that you are entitled to,” said Dr Hungwe.
He said in the absence of job evaluation there are bound to be challenges on how employers
should determine the kind of proper rewards for individual employees, adding that it is easy
to motivate, retain and attract new employees when rewarded correctly.
The PSC boss also revealed that in line with the devolution agenda, Government is working
out a system of allocating provincial budgets, with almost $200 billion having been set aside
for the exercise during the recently announced national budget.
He also said that the PSC is in the process of correcting a situation whereby employees doing
the same job are getting the same salary regardless of qualifications and one’s level of
experience, adding that the recruitment of employees such as teachers must also be informed
by several other variables like where they come from including their needs and requirements.

“I would think that a combination of recruitment system that is sensitive to the peculiarities
of the each and every environment works much better when you mix it with a whole set of
incentives in order to attract and retain people to those environments we usually refer to as
hard to reach areas,” he said.
He said incentives like hardship allowances will be made available to teachers deployed in
these so called hard to reach areas.
“So we are working out those mechanisms together with a system of recruitment that can
attract and hopefully retain some of our staff in certain areas. Inconsistent advancement and
rewarding is a very sad development. If we elect as Government in January to change salaries
of teachers through a cost of living adjustment, say now teachers are paid so much, or officers
or deputy directors, the moment there is any changes and if you are lucky to enough to also
be recruited in that same time you are likely without any experience at all to be paid the same
salary with somebody who has been serving for 15 years.
He said between now and the end of the year, the PSC will ensure that workers are placed in
their correct grades so that they are rewarded accordingly.