585 compensation review survey responses received
The following is a media release from the Office of the Deputy Governor.
Consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services Limited (PwC) has reported that 585 survey responses were received and 15 stakeholder meetings were held with Public Officers across the Virgin Islands Public Service.
PwC consultants identified specific themes that were consistent across all stakeholder meetings in the Current State Assessment phase of the compensation review.
The themes included the cost of living, low grading of technical positions, merit vs. seniority, resources on the Sister Islands, disparity in allowances, the profile of the workforce, and the perception of the pension scheme.
Meetings were held with different groups of public officers including: Human Resources Managers, Law Enforcement Agencies, Legal Offices, Technical Departments, Educational Departments, Legislators, Ministerial Officers, Policy and Administrative-driven Offices, Senior Managers, Health and Social Services, Unions and Associations, Private Sector entities, Environmental Health and Workforce Development, Teachers and Sister Islands officers.
PwC also created a survey to gauge individual officers’ feelings regarding compensation to capture feedback from those who were not covered in the stakeholder meetings. The 10 to15 minute long survey have received over 585 responses to date, a feat that Permanent Secretary Mrs. Sharleen Dabreo-Lettsome says is a major accomplishment.
“The sheer number of feedback received during the Current State Assessment is very impressive and will hopefully capture a picture of public officers’ feelings regarding the current compensation package,” Mrs. DaBreo-Lettsome said.
The Permanent Secretary who sat in on each stakeholder meeting said that during the stakeholder meetings, the compensation review team was able to get an understanding of the day-to-day ramifications of compensation in the service.
“This means that as PwC moves towards developing a new compensation philosophy, the experiences of actual public officers will guide these decisions,” Mrs. DaBreo-Lettsome explained.
In addition to the stakeholder meetings and survey feedback, a total of 47 documents were requested to inform the Current State Assessment Report. All documents were subsequently received by PwC, who will submit the draft Current State Assessment Report on March 10. The report will capture the “as is” state of the Public Service, potential issues will be identified and key documentation will be reviewed to build an understanding of the Public Service.
The next phase of the Compensation Review is the “Compensation Philosophy & Revised Classification System”. During this phase, a compensation philosophy and revised classification system will be developed and will encompass a review of leading practice classifications and job coding frameworks, such as the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO).
The compensation review seeks to address remuneration disparity, further support the retention, engagement and motivation of skilled and competent officers to effectively deliver public services, and to move toward a ‘Total Rewards’ Scheme that promotes high performance.
The contract for the Compensation Review was signed with PwC in October 2022 and is valued at Three Hundred and Two Thousand, One Hundred and Three Dollars ($302,103.00). The project is scheduled to conclude in August.
The Government of the Virgin Islands is committed to effective human resources leadership and partnership to drive Public Service Excellence.
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Over the last thirty years, Price Waterhouse and Coopers and probably other accounting firms have made millions from civil service consultancies in the BVi yet the civil service gets worse and worse in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. The permanent secretaries and the deputies and the assistants really only care about making it to pensionable age as they spend their working hours on their private businesses and NOT on doing the work they’re paid to do. And the same with junior civil servants who are allowed to run amok without supervision since the seniors are all busy with their restaurants, construction companies, and so forth.
All in all I must admit this is a good initiative by the VIP Government.
Underpaid?
The audit found that public officers requested and received in excess of One Million Dollars from the programme, either for their personal benefit or the benefit of a family member. Although the programme does not restrict public officers from benefiting, there is the concern that due to the absence of controls the potential risk exist for public officers to become compromised or easily influenced in the execution of their duties by these substantial awards. More so, in some instances, the officers receiving these grants hold high level positions within the Premier’s Office as well as other departments.
They have plenty of ways to make money…
In one (1) instance, one (1) Member expended approximately Eighty Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00) between July 2019 and April 2022 for such services. Furthermore, the consultant providing these services did so while being employed by the Government of the Virgin Islands. Additionally, for a significant period, these services were also provided while the Representative held ministerial responsibilities for the Department for which the consultant was employed. We find that this scenario represented a conflict of interest in the disbursement of these payments.