In the Public Service Commission’s pursuit to improve Public Sector service delivery, Cabinet has approved a review of the recruitment and selection (R&S) process for senior contract employees (CEO & ACEO) employed by the PSC. This is in accordance with their decision detailed in Cabinet FK (15) 25, dated 4 August 2015. The primary goal is to improve the effectiveness of the R&S process, while the main objectives include:

  • Identifying options to improve the transparency and accountability of the operation of the interviewing panels – e.g. increasing the number of panellists from 3 to 5, avoiding conflict of interest, merit selection practice, confidentiality.
  • Updating the provisions of the R&S manual, as necessary, to improve clarity and avoid confusion or misunderstanding – e.g. recruitment period, job advertising, short listing, reporting.
  • Developing mechanisms to address any complaints by applicants related to the R&S process.

The activity will be carried out by an independent consultant on behalf of the PSC. Request for proposals had been issued and publicised extensively to ensure there is a good calibre and comprehensive pool of potential consultants to select from. The PSC anticipates that the review would be completed by the end
of November 2015 and a report for recommendations would be submitted to Cabinet within this timeframe.

The consultant is expected to collect the review information through implementing the following tasks:

  1. Desktop research of R&S best practice for senior public service contract employees in other jurisdictions similar to Samoa
  2. Review of relevant policies and legislation;
  3. Review of current R&S practice for contract employees in the PSC, including:
  • Interviews with some of the key stakeholders – namely the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of PSC, Chairs of the PSC and Remuneration Tribunal (permanent members of the CEO interviewing panel); ACEO Senior Executive Services PSC, and ACEO Human Resources Management PSC)
  • Case studies

The Sector welcomes this initiative as it was widely discussed during its annual review public consultation held on 6 August 2015, where one of the key   recommendations proposed was a review of the recruitment and selection process to ensure it is transparent and cost-effective.