An Exclusive Interview with educator, Mr. Mohamed Ilham

Former CEO of CSTI, Mr. Mohamed Ilham

Following is an exclusive interview given to Adam Mohamed of Adamington Online by the Former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Civil Service Training Institute (CSTI), Mr. Mohamed Ilham via an email after a Direct Message (DM) session of Twitter. Mr. Mohamed Ilham is a corporate trainer & an educator who has been conveying knowledge & skills in the educational sector of Maldives. 

==================================================================================

Adam Mohamed: The civil service sector is mainly of career bureaucrats hired on professional merit, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. As the former CEO of Civil Service Training Institute of Maldives, what was your role & main responsibilities?

Mr. Mohamed Ilham: I was responsible for managing and organizing short-term training programs for all the ministries and institutions that come under the umbrella of the Maldivian civil service. While doing so I have to make sure the training programs were up-to-date and relevant to the organizations we catered for. Besides this I had to manage the human and other resources of the institute.

Adam Mohamed: A good strategy is needed to get things done which will take into account existing barriers and resources in any organization. How well is the civil service sector of Maldives changing in light of its organizational strategy?

Mr. Mohamed Ilham: The civil service sector is not fast moving and not adaptive to implement government policies. In my opinion the main reason for this is the difficulty in adapting to a changing political culture where staff is mostly resourced under reciprocity basis. Moreover, the executive branch’s power and influence over the civil service increased when the permanent secretaries has to be approved by the ministers who are political appointees.

Adam Mohamed: Qualified training coordinators play an important role to improve employee skills & can be seem very useful for human resource development of any institute. What’s your approach in hiring good training coordinators?

Mr. Mohamed Ilham: The training coordinators were hired based on academic merit and experience in the sector. The interview process then does the final selection.

Adam Mohamed: A lack of knowledge or expertise is regarded as the largest barrier to greater technology adoption in most governments of the world. How important is it for the future civil servants to get proper digital skills training?

Mr. Mohamed Ilham: It is very important to conduct digital skills training for the civil servants in Maldives. The short programs have benefited many administrative level staff.

Adam Mohamed: There is simultaneously a lingering view that corruption and politicization of the civil services have become more entrenched. Do you believe that immediate reforms should be brought to Maldives Civil Service Act by the government to reshape recruitment and promotion processes, improve performance-based assessment of individual officers, and adopt safeguards that promote accountability while protecting bureaucrats from political meddling?

Mr. Mohamed Ilham: A culture of integrity could be the key strategy to prevent such corrupt practices. As far as the laws and regulations are concerned we have good laws and regulation. However, we have problems of implementation due to lack of implementation mechanisms or selective implementation on case-by-case basis. This is again due to corruption prevailing in civil service organizations. The performance assessments are mostly based on qualitative or behavioral factors which are very difficult to measure. A mechanism or method to translate or quantify such factors is mandatory to get the required benefits from such appraisals.

Adam Mohamed: To strengthen accountability mechanisms within our Civil Service sector, how important is it to decide a minimum tenure for senior posts and establish safeguards against arbitrary dismissal?

Mr. Mohamed Ilham: Most of the senior staff is dismissed during the probation period where the staff has limited scope for appealing. This has to be attended and the civil service law and regulations must address this issue. A minimum tenure period is not necessary as there are restrictions put by law for dismissal after the probation period. However, in case of dismissal the staff can appeal at the Employment Tribunal and find a remedy through the due process.

Adam Mohamed: Some people believe that some civil servants lack the drive to serve public effectively since they are interested in getting promoted to higher managerial levels and in achieving more personal objectives. Public Service Motivation explains why individuals have a desire to serve the public and link their personal actions with the overall public interest. How important is it to outsource Public Service Motivation in our civil service sector in order serve the public more effectively than now?

Mr. Mohamed Ilham: As it happens quite often in the public sphere, and depicted in many areas of public life, the individual interest overrides the public interest. This is mainly due to lack of a culture which supports collective action for collective benefits.

Adam Mohamed: What has been the most difficult training situation that you have had to deal with as the Former CEO of Civil Service Training Institute of Maldives?

Mr. Mohamed Ilham: Training civil servants in atolls pose the difficulty due to transport issues and huge costs in delivering training in islands.

Adam Mohamed: Institutions often fail to address the tough questions about strategy and execution. Do you believe that the current Civil Service training institute of Maldives is investing capabilities that really matters to a 21st Century civil service sector in a ever changing world?

Mr. Mohamed Ilham: Complacency is the barrier to improving the institute. The overwhelming focus on routine and daily administrative tasks has resulted in less focus on adequate strategy making and adoption.

Mr. Mohamed Ilham: Do you believe that the public sector of Maldives, which has been mainly a key employer of women, has made strong efforts to promote equal opportunities by addressing gender imbalance & equality in decision making?

Mr. Mohamed Ilham: No. Although there are many women working for the civil service, there still is a glass-ceiling for women working in the civil service. 

Note: Mr. Mohamed Ilham is a corporate trainer & an educator who has been contributing to the educational sector of Maldives by conveying his knowledge & skills to the public. He is also a Trainer of management related programs in Maldives for more than 5 years. He holds a Bachelor of Business Management from Bangalore University (BU) located in Karnataka, India & a Master's in Public Administration from University Sains Malaysia (USM) located in Gelugor, Penang, Malaysia. He is currently the Registrar of Jumhooree Party (Republican Party), a Centre right political party founded by Maldivian business magnate, philanthropist & politician, Mr. Qasim Ibrahim.