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| 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.
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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.
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