Government of Antigua and Barbuda Public and Social Sector Transformation Project (Ln 8269-AG) Specialist in Personnel Records Management (HR Data Quality Management) (PP 2.1.1) Terms of Reference
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BACKGROUND
1.1 On August 14, 2013, the Government of Antigua and Barbuda signed a loan for US$10,000,000 with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (“World Bank”) for the implementation of the Public and Social Sector Transformation (PSST) Project. The Project’s development objectives are to (i) strengthen capacity in managing public policies and the public service; (ii) improve the efficiency of social protection spending through an integrated monitoring and targeting system; and (iii) improve the income and employability of the vulnerable population through temporary employment and training programmes. 1.2 One of the two components for (i) above is Component 2 - Modernising Human Resource Management. Good HR information is an indispensable prerequisite to support component 2. Moreover, it depends on a well-designed and resourced institutional infrastructure for personnel records management. The goal of personnel records management is to ensure that a complete and comprehensive employment history of each employee is readily available for as long as it is needed in order to protect ongoing rights and interests of the employee and the organisation. It is also important that the information contained in personnel records supports the management, deployment, payment and development of staff and are useful for decisions, policies and programmes. Other key objectives of personnel records management are to support transparency and organisational accountability and to enable accurate audits by creating and protecting human resource records as reliable evidence. 2.0
CURRENT SITUATION
2.1 The current structure of the public sector is defined by two employment streams, a dual system which over time has morphed into a runway situation of multiple rules, policies and legislation to separately govern the streams. Known as established and non-established, with a 2:3 employee ratio, these streams have contributed to an increasing and unsustainable wage bill and an environment of unequal and inequitable employment terms and conditions. Correcting this situation and its manifestations, among other organisational and legislative weaknesses, constitute the public sector modernisation and regularisation agenda. More importantly though, an understanding of the depth and breadth of the situation require comprehensive and consistent HR information. 2.2 Currently there are at least four repositories of HR information. One is a vendorsupported decentralised system that forms part of an integrated financial management system, and which will become the Government’s primary repository for HR information. The system PSST Project: TOR for Specialist in Personal Records Management 6 Dec 2013
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currently records only payroll data for established and non established employees with some demographic information for payroll processing purposes. Another repository is the filing cabinets that hold the paper-based in the Establishment Department’s registry for Established Civil Servants and the filing cabinets in other offices throughout the public sector that hold data on non established officers. A public sector census was launched in April 2010 to address the situation of poor (incomplete, inconsistent, incorrect, not easily accessible, duplicated) HR information and produced a potentially rich but incomplete information stored in Microsoft EXCEL. 2.3 The Government now seeks the services of a consultant to help design a system of policies and procedures to efficiently and effectively manage personnel records so that they produce quality HR information. The system should satisfy the following purposes: administrative, strategic, legal, audit and historical. The assignment is expected to contribute to the modernisation of the public service human resource management by helping to set up the parameters for an initial framework for a public employee register containing human resource information for all the established and non-established employees. 3.0
GOAL AND OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT
3.1 The purpose of the assignment is to help the Government to institutionalise HR information. The goal of the assignment is therefore to help the GOAB achieve a sustainable infrastructure for managing personnel records such that the HR information that it produces is “fit for purpose” and is “one version of the truth”: consistent, complete, reliable, up-to-date, secure and trustworthy. The assignment should succeed in delivering a framework to guide the transition from a paper-based operation to an electronic environment. 3.2
The specific objectives of the assignment are: (a) To assess whether the framework for personnel records management complies with best practices for records management; (b) To determine whether HR information needs are being met to fulfil the Government’s business goals and objectives; (c) To create an action plan to transition from a paper-based to an electronic environment that is decentralised and integrated;
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CONSULTANT’S SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES
In order to achieve the above objectives the consultant should review documents, legislation, system specifications, data collection forms, consult with stakeholders, information on training delivered and deliver face-to-face presentations. The specific activities are as follows: (a) Guided by the Chief Establishment Officer, consult with key stakeholders to gather information, feedback and perspectives on personnel record management and the PSST Project: TOR for Specialist in Personal Records Management 6 Dec 2013
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impact on the state of HR information in the public service. These stakeholders include, but are not limited to, the representatives of the institutions listed in Annex A; (b) Consult with key stakeholders (see Annex A) for feedback on the sources of HR information, the desired uses of HR information, access to personnel records and HR information, and the risks and controls for HR information; (c) Review data collection forms to assess how well the captured information helps or hinders the information needs of the public service as it progresses toward modern human resource management practices; (d) Review legislation, regulations, policies and other documents (See Annex B) to gain an understanding of the current and the desired future regulatory environment for personnel records management and for HR information creation, access and use in a paper-based and electronic environment. Based on the information gathered on issues above, the consultant should identify the main strengths and weaknesses of the current institutional arrangements, practices, procedures and capacity for personnel records management, HR information use, and use of information technology and develop recommendations for how they can be improved and sustained through: (a) Use of best-fit HR information management practices; (b) Improved business processes for HR information management; (c) Necessary capacity for professional HR and records management: skills and specialists knowledge; (d) New and/or updated regulatory framework for civil service management; (e) Improved institutional arrangements for HR/personnel records management; (f) A system of guidelines, standards and procedures for creation, update, and maintenance of the HR data; (g) The use of general tracking and strategic HR metrics as well some specific metrics for a public sector environment; (h) A system of controls to produce good quality HR information; (i) A system of periodic HR information reviews/audits. 5.0
DELIVERABLES
Based on the activities described above, the consultant will be expected to deliver the following: (a) An information review report that gives an overview of the state of HR information in the public service and a clear indication of the current and future HR information needs. The report should include, but not limited to: PSST Project: TOR for Specialist in Personal Records Management 6 Dec 2013
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i. Identification of information holdings (repositories); ii. Users’ information needs; iii. How information is being used; iv. Who manages the information; v. How information technology is being used; vi. Areas of information gaps and duplicates; vii. Required capacity to manage and use HR information; viii. An opinion on the efficiency of information flows; ix. Appropriate actions to be taken to improve information creation, storage, use and flows. (b) A template for a master employee profile that is consistent with existing regulations and which also makes provision for new legislation, regulations and policy. The profile should represent the single most valuable record of an employee’s career in the public service to protect the legal and financial rights of the employee and the Government. The master profile should facilitate information retrieval by ensuring that all essential personnel data and documents are concentrated in a single location. The profile should cover at least four main categories of information – personal, personnel, benefits and medical; (a) A Personnel Records Management (PRM) Policy to establish guidelines and responsibilities for the creation and maintenance of personnel records. Specially, the policy should establish guidelines to create, store, dispose, archive, use, protect and secure both paper and electronic personnel records. It should also provide guidelines (i) to reinforce safeguards against unauthorised or accidental disclosure of confidential records, (ii) to classify information, and (iii) sanctions for non compliance. The Policy should also identify and describe the roles and responsibility for all key players; (b) A Template Procedures Manual for Personnel Records Management. It should be guided by the PRM Policy and provide step-by-step procedures for those who create, store, quality check, access and protect personnel records, both in paper and electronic form. It should be designed in such a way that it can be adapted to the GOAB regulatory framework and systems for personnel records management. The Manual would become a chapter in broader Human Resource Management Manual to be prepared external to this consultancy; (c) Guidelines for conducting regular HR information audits. These guidelines should be used to institutionalise systematic examination of information use, resources and flows. It should include the frequency of audits, the participants and the approaches; PSST Project: TOR for Specialist in Personal Records Management 6 Dec 2013
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(c) In-person presentations on the audit report, the master employee profile and information policy to the stakeholders listed in Annex A and others approved by the Chief Establishment Officer. These presentations will be done separately to stakeholder groups whose interests are differentiated as follows: i. Control, risks and oversight; ii. Information systems support and maintenance; iii. Administrative and strategic HR information management and use; iv. Employee/industrial relations (social partners). (d) A personnel records management training/awareness workshop for at most twenty (20) officers. The Procedures Manual, the master employee profile template, audit guidelines, and the Personnel Records Management Policy should be the main reference material for the workshop; (e) A competency profile that describes the skills, knowledge and abilities for (i) personnel records management, and (ii) HR information use; (f) A recommended list of types of reports, including their frequency, detail levels and content to satisfy the HR information needs of different categories of users; (g) A report with recommendations for efficient and effective management of personnel records and for administrative and strategic use of HR information. The report should include an action plan to implement activities to transition from a paper-based to an electronic environment. 6.0
QUALIFICATIONS
The assignment can be implemented by an individual consultant with the following qualifications: Masters degree or higher in human resource management, public administration, and/or records and information management; Practical experience (training, design and/or implementation) in records management, personnel records management and/or human resource information systems; Familiarity with international practices in records management and personnel records management in paper-based and electronic environments; Experience in developing and organising training and change management activities; Excellent communication skills; and Positive references from three (3) clients.
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REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
The consultant will receive guidance from the Chief Establishment Officer and be accountable to her for his or her performance. The consultant must work very closely with the Establishment Department, and interact with the Public Sector Transformation Task Force to share and assimilate findings, and to receive guidance on activities and deliverables. The consultant will, as required, submit reports to the Chief Establishment Offier and the Project Coordinator in the PSSTP Project Management Unit. 8.0
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
The contract duration will be for forty five (45) days between 1 January to 30 April 2014. The contract may be subject to extension for a period of time and subject to terms and conditions agreed to between the Bank, the Government and the consultant. The consultant will need to make no more than three (3) visits to Antigua and Barbuda one of which should be at most ten days (10) days. These visits will be used to collect information through consultations, for training, and to deliver presentations to stakeholders. The assignment should start as soon as practicable. 9.0
PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS
The assignment is a lump sum contract and the consultant will receive payments according to a payment schedule linked to deliverables.
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ANNEX A: List of Key Stakeholders
Establishment Department
Treasury Department
Audit Department
Labour Department
Public Service Commission
IT Coordination and Management Unit
Chief Archivist
Trade and workers unions
Committee of Permanent Secretaries
Public Sector Transformation Task Force (PST Task Force)1
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The Secretary to the Cabinet, Parliamentary Secretary (Public Administration), Chief Establishment Officer, Chief Training Officer, COPS Subcommittee for Public Sector Transformation, Team Comp 2; Team Comp 1 PSST Project: TOR for Specialist in Personal Records Management 6 Dec 2013
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ANNEX B: List of Documents and Legislation 1. Report on the Review of the Draft Public Service Bill 2011 (April 2013); 2. Report on Consulting Services to Strengthen the System of Civil Service Management (June 2013); 3. PSST Project Appraisal Document (29 April 2013); 4. Cabinet Decision to establish a single service 5. Electronics Transactions Act, 2013 6. Data Protection Act, 2013 7. Archives and Records Act, 1983 8. Freedom of Information Act, 2004 9. Civil Service Act, 1983 10. Civil Service Regulations, 1994 11. Technical specifications for the Civil Service Management (CSM) and Payroll modules in FreeBalance
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