Government???s Personnel Administration Division (PAD) is now on the worldwide web. The Division launched its website ??? www.pad.gov.bb – today during a brief ceremony in its Conference Room in the E. Humphrey Walcott Building.
Chief Personnel Officer, Gail Atkins, said the website would allow PAD to be in constant contact with public officers and the public and to satisfy their need for information on the operation of the human resource management system in the public service.
???Too many public officers complain of not knowing the statutes, rules and regulations which govern their employment relationship with the Crown or sometimes, which I consider to be worse, being denied access to critical documents such as the Public Service Act, General Orders or various administrative orders or directives.
“Many of our clients, too, often call for guidance on how to complete various steps or procedures in order to access various human resource management services offered by the Division,??? she pointed out.??
Ms. Atkins stated that those situations should now be reduced or become a thing of the past, adding that the website should bring a greater level of transparency and a deeper understanding of PAD???s operations.
She noted that the introduction of the Public Service Act in 2007 had placed several new demands on the Division, chief among them being the circularisation or advertisement of job vacancies and opportunities in the Public Service as set out in the Recruitment and Employment Code.
???It has been one of our main challenges to ensure that all relevant parties are made aware of such vacancies in order to give them a fair opportunity to compete for appointments or promotions as the case may be,??? she disclosed.
However, the Chief Personnel Officer explained that with the creation of the website such notices would be placed online so that public officers and temporary employees would have access to the information.??
She added that members of the public who were interested in joining the public service would also be included as those vacancies for which they could apply would be posted. The CPO??stressed, however, that the website was a work in progress and said it would be tweaked to meet everyone???s needs.
???We had hoped that at this launching ceremony we would have been able to announce that all applications for vacancies could be submitted electronically. However, this should soon be a reality as we continue to seek to resolve the challenges which now inhibit this process,??? she assured her audience.
Ms. Atkins disclosed that several other areas of PAD???s operations would soon be on the website and highlighted some of them as the Guidelines on Discipline which were being prepared to assist ministries and departments to manage the disciplinary process and those for the Resident Panel which were being designed to provide information on procedures to be followed during disciplinary hearings.
Member of the Public Service Commission, Canon Noel Burke, underscored the importance of the internet, saying it had become an essential job-search tool. ???Understanding how it works and its advantages and disadvantages will be helpful to the job seeker.
The Internet represents a powerful, fast-changing fluid source of information and that is where the website of Public Administration Division becomes vitally important,??? he stated.??Canon Burke lauded PAD for having the website created, saying it would assist in moulding workers in the public service and the public.
???Information formerly elusive to most persons is now accessible 24 hours a day – seven days a week. Now a general worker or driver/messenger in the Public Service has as much information at his or her disposal as an Administrative Officer 1, a Deputy Permanent Secretary or a Permanent Secretary and this can only lead to good, with access to greater knowledge,??? he remarked.
Deputy Permanent Secretary at PAD, Andrew Gittens, said the launch of the website was a critical development as the Division seeks to be a more efficient and effective human resource management agency.??
Mr. Gittens stressed that the website would provide several benefits and listed them as including easy communication with customers, reduction of the cost of printing and advertising and the provision of greater access to information to clients.
sharon.austingill-moore@barbados.gov.bb