| dc.description.abstract | Current study sought to achieve the following objectives: establish the success factors that explain the significant improvement in the performance of the five ministries in the 2006/2007 performance contracts; establish possible challenges faced in the implementation of the performance contracts; and, determine the strategies used to deal with the challenges mentioned above.
The study adopted a descriptive study design. The study population was obtained from Ministries of Housing, Home Affairs, Health, Immigration and Registration of Persons, Justice and Constitutional Affairs. As per the Report on the Performance Evaluation of Public Agencies for Financial Year
2005/2006 (Office of the President, October, 2006), these ministries had performed dismally, ranking in the bottom fifteen (15) out of a total thirty four (34) government ministries/departments. In the
2006/2007 performance evaluation, the ministries improved dramatically and ranked in the top ten.
Primary data was collected by conducting interviews with two key officers involved in Performance Contracting from each of the ministries. The data collected was then analyzed using descriptive statistics and content analysis.
The research findings indicate that most civil servants embraced the concept of performance contracting and this was enhanced by a number of factors: Extensive training on Results Based Management (RBM) and Performance Contracting prior to the implementation of performance contracting, cascading the performance contracts to the level of Heads of Department, establishment of ministerial Secretariats/Committees, deployment of qualified staff in the Secretariats/Committees, provision of requisite resources, good communication, involvement of all the stakeholders in the process, strategic leadership and commitment to successful implementation of the targets that motivated the staff to undertake their responsibilities effectively. Finally, successful documentation of achievements enabled the ministries to support the activities that they had undertaken to achieve their targets.
Several challenges that affected smooth implementatiori of performance contracts were identified as insufficient time to undertake activities to meet the relevant targets, shortage of staff especially in the Ministerial Management Units (MMUs) and ministerial performance contracting secretariats due to unplanned and untimely transfer of officers who spearheaded the implementation process, inadequate resources or delay in their disbursement.
The strategies adopted to tackle the challenges included galvanizing support of top management to support the process; sensitization of staff with particular focus on performance contracting activities; working closely with the Performance Contracts Steering Committee Secretariat (PCSCS); development of strong monitoring and evaluation (M &E) systems, introduction of new management approaches like the Rapid Results Initiatives (RRI) to fast track implementation of some targets.
Arising from the findings, it has been concluded that performance contracting has made the civil service more focused and result oriented. It is recommended that modern management practices be further integrated with performance contracting for more efficiency. | en |
