REFORMS OF THE OFFICE OF THE HEAD OF SERVICE OF THE FEDERATION.

One of the defining characteristics of the rebuilding phase of the Civil Service Administration Reform in the National Strategy for Public Service Reforms (NSPSR) is the strengthening of the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF). The task of strengthening the OHCSF was considered critical for the success of the NSPSR, being the central policy implementation machinery of the federal government. As of 2008, the OHCSF was in dire need of such reform given its poor public image within the civil service. The Office was bogged down and overburdened with bloated structure preventing it to smoothly operate as the central policy implementation machinery of government.

The following key reforms have been undertaken to transform the OHCSF:

-       Development of the Strategic Plan for 2013-2017: A five-year strategic plan was developed based on the evidence from numerous empirical diagnostic studies as well as a series of office-wide stakeholder consultations. These consultations engaged the entire staff of the OHCSF on how to implement the reforms recommended by those studies.

The main objectives of the Strategic Plan are to produce:

•   A proactive, committed, result-focused, and accountable civil service
• A well-motivated, professional, and ethical workforce
• A civil service that works to identify and meet stakeholders’ needs in a timely and quality manner.
• An effective governance and management systems for the federal civil service Development of Civil Service Law: A project on the coordination, development, and enactment of civil service law for the Federation is currently being implemented.

-          Organisational Re-design of the OHCSF: President Jonathan approved a new three- office management structure in January 2013, reducing the number of departments in the OHCSF from 25 to 12 departments.

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 The new three-office management structure is as follows:

•      Service Policies & Strategic Office (SPSO)
•      Management Office (CMO)
•      Common Services Office (CSO)

       As a result of these reforms and in line with global best practices, the OHCSF has started to evolve into a slimmer, but stronger, more effective, and efficient machinery for implementing government policies with drastically reduced bureaucracy, corruption, costs, and wastages. As a result, the public image has significantly improved, especially among civil servants. The specific notable achievements recorded by these reforms, under the Transformation Agenda of the Jonathan administration include the following:

      1.    Restructuring of the OHCSF.

      2.    Institution of a Strategic Planning Culture and Practice.

     3.    Reform of the Recruitment Function.

     4.    Development and Institutionalisation of Performance Management System.

    5.     Reform of Employee Mobility Function.

    6.    Development of a Record Management Policy.

    7.    Improvement in Integrated Personal Payroll Information Service (IPPIS HRMIS) Implementation.

   8.    Implementation of the Competency Evaluation Tool.