Cook Islands Public Service strengthens job assessment capabilities

The Office of the Public Service Commissioner (OPSC) held a three-day job evaluation workshop last month to enhance the job evaluation capabilities of public sector employees.

The workshop, held from July 29 to 31 in partnership with Strategic Rewards New Zealand, which runs the Strategic Rewards 10 (SP10) certification training, marked the first workshop of the year and the first in a series of workshops to be held in the Cook Islands since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ministry of Finance and Economic Management sponsored the training costs of all participants, demonstrating the government’s commitment to investing in the professional development and growth of the workforce.

Participants from the Airport Authority, Cook Islands Audit Office, Avarua Cables Limited, Bank of the Cook Islands, Cook Islands Investment Corporation, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Cook Islands Infrastructure, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration, OPSC, Office of the Prime Minister, Seabed Minerals Authority, Te Aponga Uira and Ministry of Transport focused on sharing and learning about the scale of work and assessment.

Leading the training is Mike Boneham, principal consultant at Strategic Pay New Zealand, who has extensive experience in human resources. Boneham honed his expertise while working for the Australian government before moving into the private sector across Europe.

Currently based in New Zealand, he brings a wealth of international experience to the training, ensuring participants receive first-class guidance and insights.

Opening the workshop, OPSC Human Resources Manager, Tepaeru Tauraki encouraged participants to use the learnings from the workshop to enhance existing job evaluation skills.

“We are committed to serving our stakeholders to the best of our ability as public servants,” Tauraki said. “It is critical to work closely with relevant government and non-government partners to articulate national priorities when recruitment and position adjustments are required.”

“In order to maintain the integrity and validity of the job rating methodology, it is imperative to train and certify new job assessors and ensure that existing job assessors maintain their certification.

“These personnel must not only understand the rating system itself, but also be familiar with the structure and strategic objectives of the individual agencies. Proper training ensures consistency and accuracy in job evaluations, upholding the public service values ​​of fairness and transparency.”

Upon successful completion of the workshop, all 14 participants (including the three who attended the one-day refresher) will receive a certificate and formal certification in the SP10 Job Assessment System. This certification is valid for three years and requires completion of the SP10 Job Assessment Manual and a post-workshop evaluation.

The workshop provides participants with a job-centered approach that evaluates ten factors, including education, experience, complexity, scope, problem solving, freedom of action, impact and consequences of decisions, interpersonal skills, authority, and people.

The workshop is timely given that last month OPSC and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) continued discussions on the Cook Islands functional assessment, which was approved by Cabinet.

“The first functional review conducted by the Asian Development Bank in 2011 recommended a job evaluation across the public service, including a re-writing of all job descriptions. Therefore, this workshop is partly a culmination of past efforts by OPSC and government agencies to equip participants with these skills, increase their ownership of the job evaluation (JE) process, and work with government agencies to better understand and master the process,” said Myra Patai, CEO, OPSC.

“JE is a process that is not well understood by agencies, and to address these issues, agencies established a new Job Evaluation Committee (JEC) in June 2020.”