You must be meticulous in discharge of duties, HOS charges administrators

Lagos State Head of Service, HoS, Mrs. Folasade Adesoye has asked public administrators to be more meticulous in the discharge of their duties considering the emotional and psychological implication which their actions and in actions are capable of having on the career advancement of the workforce and by extension on the entire residents of the State.

The HoS gave the charge recently at the Opening session of a 3 – day Management Retreat organized for the Management Staff of the Public Service Office by the Office of the Head of Service in Ikeja, with the theme: “Leadership Capability in Public Service Delivery – Exceeding the Vision.”

According to the Head of Service, a lot is expected from public officers on the Administrative cadre in terms of knowledge and understanding of the on-going Public Service Reform initiatives and other policies of Government.

“The expectation of government is that officers at management level in the Public Service Office are highly experienced and knowledgeable and should serve as role models to the entirety of the Public Service” the HoS stated.

Mrs Adesoye reminded the participants at the retreat during her Keynote address that the responsibilities for upholding the highest standards in the career management of Cadres pooled under the Public Service Office and all Senior Management Staff in the State Public Service, including the custody of Public Service ethics, discipline, traditions and professionalism resides in the Public Service Office, Office of the Head of Service.

“We must be aware of the confidentiality required in the discharge of our duties and responsibilities, given the nature of our mandate. We must be conscious at all times that our acts of commission or omission have far reaching emotional and psychological implications for the careers and, indeed, the lives of members of Staff.”

She explained that the retreat served as a reminder to the participants to realise that continuous self-development was needed to remain relevant, not only within the Public Service in the future, but even after the Civil Service.

Adesoye counseled the administrators to take personal interest and responsibility for the coaching, mentorship and development of their subordinates who according to her were the future of the Public Service.

“I wish to re-emphasise the importance of team work and the value of timeliness. By sharing knowledge, ideas and experience, we not only enhance the quality of work, but we enrich the public service process and procedures by building up the institutional memories of the Organisation by building Officers.” The Head of Service restated.

She urged the participants to take advantage of the opportunity provided by the retreat to explore ways and means of improving service delivery with the aim of exceeding the vision of the State government for effective service delivery.

Permanent Secretary, Public Service Office, Mrs. Fiyinfoluwa Ogunbanke said that the retreat provided an avenue to re-examine government processes and procedures in the light of emerging realities and expanding frontiers of knowledge and technology and also interrogate workers’ approach and attitude to work both at the personal level, the unit level and the departmental level.

Mrs Ogunbanke stated that the overriding objective of the Public Service Office is to achieve and maintain an institution that is well structured and better organized; whose staff possessed the right skills, attitude and motivation to work effectively and efficiently to deliver quality service to the people of Lagos State in line with the vision of the State Government.

“The retreat has provided the time, space and facilitated our relocation to a more comfortable environment to review our performance in 2017 vis-à-vis the mandate of the Public Service Office” the Permanent Secretary added.

Presentations at the Retreat includes; Executive Council Memo by the Director General, Public Service Staff Development Centre (PSSDC), Mr Ajose-Harrisson; Ease of Doing Business in Lagos, Director General, Office of Transformation Creativity and Innovation(OTCI), Mr Toba Otusanya; Procurement Law by General Manager, Procurement Agency, Mr Fatai Onafowote while the Management Team OHOS/PSO reviewed Year 2017 and Year 2018 Work Plan.

Giving the vote of thanks, the Director of Administration and Human Resource, Mr Bashiru Braimah appreciated the efforts of the Governor at building capacity of entire workforce and by extension approving and releasing of funds for the 2017 Retreat for Management Staff in the Office of the Head of Service /Public Service Office which will further motivate the management team to deliver based on the ministerial responsibilities.