HR Management in LGs Ghana

LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICE (LGS)

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN GHANA’S LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICE

PRESENTATION BY: ING. DR. S. NANA ATO ARTHUR HEAD OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICE, GHANA

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PRESENTATION OUTLINE INTRODUCTION DECENTRALIZATION IN GHANA LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICE (LGS) HR MANAGEMENT IN LGS ACHIEVEMENT SO FAR CHALLENGES CONCLUSION NEXT STEPS

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INTRODUCTION DECENTRALIZATION & LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN GHANA Chapter 20, (240) of the Constitution of Ghana provides that: (1)Ghana shall have a system of local government and administration which shall, as far as practicable, be decentralized.

INTRODUCTION CONT’D. (1)The system of decentralization among others shall have the following features: (•)Parliament shall enact appropriate laws to ensure that functions, powers, responsibilities and resources are at all times transferred from the central government to the local government units in a co-ordinated manner (•)As far as practicable, persons in the service of local government shall be subject to the effective control of local authorities.

DECENTRALIZATION IN GHANA

Ghana’s Decentralization is anchored on five main pillars 1. Political Decentralization and Legal Reforms 2. Administrative Decentralization 3. Decentralized Planning 4. Fiscal Decentralization 5. Popular Participation Administrative decentralization in Ghana involves ministerial restructuring and the establishment of decentralized Departments of the District Assemblies 5

WHAT IS ADMINISTRATIVE DECENTRALISATION

In Ghana's decentralisation programme, local authorities are the destinations of the decentralised functions; and the programme seeks to transfer functions and powers in a programme of political decentralisation; to transfer skills and competencies in a programme of ADMINISTRATIVE DECENTRALISATION AND DECENTRALISED PLANNING; and to transfer means and resources through a programme of fiscal decentralisation.

(Ahwoi, 2010:5) 6

ACT 936: FIRST SCHEDULE (SECTION 77) DECENTRALISED PUBLIC SERVICE SECTORS Eighteen centralized Public Service Sectors of the national level administration have been decentralized (LG ACT 936, 1st Schedule Section 77) 1. Agriculture 2. Births and Deaths Registry 3. Community Development 4. Cooperatives 5. Education 6. Finance 7. Health 8. Horticulture and Landscape Designing 9. Housing 10. Industry 11. Public Works 12. Roads 13. Social Welfare 14. Sports 15. Statistics 16. Town and Country Planning 17. Trade 18. Youth

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THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICE (LGS) The Local Government Service was established by the Local Government Act 2003 (Act 656) which has been repealed by the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936). The object of the Service is: “to secure the effective administration and management of the decentralized local government system in the country”.

MEMBERSHIP OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICE Membership of the Local Government Service includes officers and staff of the Departments and Offices of: Office of the Head of the Local Government Service; Regional Co-ordinating Councils; District Assemblies; Sub-Metropolitan District Councils, Urban, Town and Area Councils and other persons as may be employed for the Service.

The governing body of the LGS is Local Government Service Council (LGSC).

MAP OF GHANA ( Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies)

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HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT RELATED FUNCTIONS OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICE (LGS)

The following are some of the functions which address the Human Resource issues of the LGS : conducting organisational and job analysis for the District Assemblies (DAs) and the Regional Coordinating Councils (RCCs); developing and co-ordinating the personnel plans and assessing the personnel needs of the District Assemblies and the Regional Co-ordinating Councils in consultation with the District Assemblies and the Regional Co-ordinating Councils; 11

HR MANAGEMENT RELATED FUNCTIONS OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICE (LGS) CONT’D.

developing and co-ordinating the training implementation plans of the District Assemblies and the Regional Co-ordinating Councils developing professional standards and guidelines for the various categories of staff who are members of the Local Government Service;

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HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN LGS LGS is mandated to provide HR services to all the decentralized sectors at the local level. Some key areas of HR Management services are as follows: 1. HR Policy & Planning; 2. Recruitment & Selection; 3. Deployment (appointment, posting, transfers, secondment, retirement, etc.); 4. Career Development & Progression (upgrading, promotion, capacity building, etc.); 5. Salary Administration; 6. Performance Management (Service Delivery Standards & Performance Management System); 7. Discipline and Grievances (Code of Conduct).

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HR MANAGEMENT CONT’D. • The following departments and units have been established to undertake HR Management and Development functions: HR Management & Development Departments at the Office of the Head of the Local Government Service; HR Departments at the 10 Regional Coordinating Councils (RCCs); and HR Units at the 216 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.

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HR MANAGEMENT CONT’D. • HR Operational Manual has been developed as a guiding document for HR (Management & Development) operations, • Integrated Personnel and Payroll Data (IPPD) is being used as a tool and software system for the salary management of staff of the Local Government Service.

• HR Management Information System (HRMIS) is being used as a tool and software system for HR (Management and Development) operations of the Local Government Service 15

HR POLICY & PROTOCOLS • HR Policy has been developed and is operational; • The following HR Protocols & Framework have been developed for the effective and efficient management of LGS staff at all levels of the Local Government Service: Conditions of Service Code of Conduct Capacity Building Framework Scheme of Service Staffing Norms Service Delivery Standards L CA LO

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CONDITIONS OF SERVICE (COS) COS focuses on:  Recruitment procedures for entry into the Service;  Promotion procedures for officers of the Service;  Disciplinary & grievance procedures;  Transfer & posting procedures for staff of the service;  Institutional co-operation between the Local Government Service and other Public Services;  Learning, Training & Development procedures;  Leave, Staff Welfare, Remuneration etc.

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THE CODE OF CONDUCT The Code of Conduct is the expression in behavioural terms the values, vision and motto of the Service.

It seeks among others: ď ąTo contribute to the promotion of a high standard of ethics in the Local Government Service; ď ąTo ensure that officers are accountable to the people and shall discharge their duties with utmost responsibility, integrity, competence and loyalty.

CAPACITY BUILDING FRAMEWORK (CBF) ď ąCapacity Building Framework (CBF) embraces all Capacity Building activities of all the levels of the Local Government Service. ď ąThe CBF is geared towards strengthening existing capacity building interventions and consolidating them by providing a mechanism that will bring about long-term and sustainable capacity building in the Local Government Service.

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SCHEME OF SERVICE •The Scheme of Service is a management tool fashioned to provide a coherent framework to facilitate: Recruitment; Staff development; and Career progression •So far, Schemes of Service for 28 Professional Classes have been developed and are operational.

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STAFFING NORMS The staffing Norms specify the minimum and the maximum number of staff required in each grade and position in a particular department or unit. It ensures that: • staff are effectively utilized taking into account the workload; • all levels have the requisite personnel with the right mix and skills; • available staff are equitably distributed between urban and rural areas.

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LGS- SERVICE DELIVERY STANDARDS “Service Delivery Standards are the minimum level of expected services in terms of quality, time and cost to be delivered to the citizenry at the local level�

To improve service delivery to the citizenry, six Service Delivery Standards (SDS) have been developed to manage, measure and monitor the effectiveness and efficiency of the services.

SDS are being used as the measurement standards of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of the LGS Performance Management System.

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CAREER DEVELOPMENT AND PROGRESSION For professional class: Staff are recruited as AD2B and analogous grade Engineering Class for eg. Assistant engineer----- Admin Class: Assistant Director 2B Engineer--------------------------------------Assistant Director 2A Senior Engineer ----------------------------Assistant Direct 1 Principal Engineer--------------------------Deputy Director Director----------------------------------------Director Coordinating Director • Career development and Promotion therefore serve as motivation for staff; • All cadre of professionals qualify to become Coordinating Directors in the Municipalities; • This after internal advertisement and interview conducted by the Public Service Commission.

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PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS (PMS) A systematic process for improving performance by developing the performance of individuals and teams.

It aims at having in place predictable, effective and efficient systems for planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and reporting on staff performance.

The overall objective of PMS is to create a high performance culture where staff are aware of the need to perform well and behave accordingly in order to meet or exceed expectations.

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PERFORMANCE CONTRACT & PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL The following instruments are being used for LGSPerformance Management System: • Performance Contract (PC): Between Regional Ministers & Regional Coordinating Directors; Between District Chief Executives & District Coordinating Directors; Between Head of Service & Directors of the Office of the Head of the Local Government Service.

• Performance Appraisal (PA): All LGS staff except above officers.

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ACHIEVEMENTS SO FAR • HR Policy and Protocols have been developed and are operational; • HRMIS software system is operational to support Management to undertake informed decisions on HR related issues; • Decentralized Departments at District level have been established and are operational; • HR Management Department / Units have been established and are operational; • Clear-cut career progression and development thus inspiring staff motivation • Career Development and Promotion have led to staff retention, motivation and ability to compete with other staff from other public services for higher positions 26

ACHIEVEMENTS SO FAR CONT’D. • LGS Performance Contracts are being implemented. The first & second years (2015 & 2016) of the implementation of the system recorded a high response rate with the average score of Performance exceeding 70%; • Heads of the Departments for decentralized Departments have been appointed, posted and provided with orientation; • Capacity Building training (Public Financial Management areas, infrastructure management, programme management, HR , etc.) for LGS staff are being undertaken; 27

GENERAL CHALLENGES Attitudinal / Bureaucratic Resistance to Change; Inadequate Office Accommodation for Staff; Resources limitations; Inadequate HR capacity (Managerial and Technical) at the District level; Stakeholders have different interests: (Ministries, Departments and Agencies, Development Partners, Bureaucrats and Public Sector, etc.)

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CONCLUSION The Local Government Service’s ultimate objective in managing the HR at the Local level as provided by the relevant legislations and the constitution of Ghana is to build the necessary structures and guidelines for the various Local Governments to ‘hire’ and ‘fire’ their staff. Local Government Service has no doubt that current direction, initiatives and achievements will contribute to the realization of our vision in the long term as “A World Class, Decentralised and Client-Oriented Service”

NEXT STEPS:OHLGS and UCLG-AFRICA PARTNERSHIP The Office of the Head of the Local Government Service (OHLGS) looks forward to partnering UCLG-Africa in its two key areas of modernisation of HR for documentation and dissemination. These are:  Career Development and Progression of local government staff Performance Contract System within the LGS This will enable Ghana share these best practices with her sister Municipalities in Africa That will facilitate achievement of SDGs and AU Agenda 2063 Yes, the time is NOW; Yes We Can UCLG-AFRICA

END OF PRESENTATION THANK YOU VERY MUCH