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Rumbidzayi Zinyuke
Health Reporter
The health sector job evaluation being spearheaded by the Government through the Health Service Commission is set to enhance the overall health delivery system in line with the National Development Strategy as well as the National Health Strategy.
This comes as the Second Republic has been driving the improvement of the health system through the building of hospitals, clinics and increasing the number of health workers as part of achieving universal health coverage.
Job evaluation is fundamental in building a fair and equitable compensation system and but is separated from other human resources measures and does not imply salary increase, promotion, upgrading or cost of living adjustment. It is about building a grading structure, establishing job hierarchy, determining pay relationship and developing policies and systems that speak to job responsibilities.
This week the HSC is engaging health workers from across the country to come up with job descriptions for all 840 jobs within the public health sector.
HSC commissioner Mr Engelbert Mbengwa said the exercise dovetailed with the national vision and would make the health workforce more efficient.
“As we streamline the jobs and make them more relevant to the needs of the community, we are actually addressing specific issues of the health and well-being of the population.
“We believe that with a more streamlined, fit for purpose workforce, we will be able to achieve the aspirations of Vision 2030 and the NDS1 and the National Health Strategy,” he said.
The health sector was human capital intensive and therefore there was a need to have workers who are more focused on what they were supposed to do.
“At the end of the day, the ultimate beneficiary is the population of Zimbabwe whom we want to enjoy a better service, a service that is no longer fraught with duplications but where everyone knows what they are there for and doing what they are supposed to do,” he said.
Health workers who have been engaged to participate in coming up with job descriptions hoped that the exercise would create clear differences in each job in the sector.
Ms Nomazulu Mpande, the principal nursing officer at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, said: “This process will assist us as nurses to see where we are and how we work within our profession. It will distinguish who is doing what according to their job description. ”
Currently, every junior nurse, whether they specialised in any field or not, is on the same level. So there could be a positive change that will help us as supervisors and also empower the nurse and motivate them to do their work as they will be recognised accordingly.”
Ms Ashleigh Masaiti, an executive assistant in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, said the exercise was a platform for workers to interact with the employer and air their grievances.
“As executive assistants, there is no room for career progression. This is an entry grade so we are not motivated to upgrade our qualifications because the room to be promoted is very small. Even the salary remains the same. You would find that a person who started work years back and the one who just got in are bunched in the same category,” she said.
Said Mr Tonderai Maringire, a driver at Parirenyatwa Hospital: “We are happy to be involved in this exercise because we are likely to see changes in the way we work. In the past we were just grouped as drivers but our work is different. Some drive ambulances and others drive ordinary vehicles but the risk that we meet is different because we work with patients.”
One of the immediate benefits of this job evaluation is its potential to attract and retain skilled professionals within the health sector.
The last job evaluation was conducted more than 20 years ago but over the years, jobs in the health sector have evolved while the population has grown and disease patterns have changed.
HSC acting secretary Ms Nornah Zhou said health workers were now doing more than they used to do.
“This exercise will benefit the nation as our workers will be motivated to do their work in a more efficient and effective way. A healthy nation is a productive nation so we expect this to benefit the nation,” she said.
The consultant conducting the exercise Ms Flavia Muyambo said a similar programme had been conducted in the Public Service Commission.
She said the initiative was critical in eliminating corruption in recruitment processes.
“No one is allowed to give a grade to an employee, new or old. Job evaluation is not used for promotion, which is what has been happening in some instances. Our system doesn’t allow this.
“We audit the system every two years to see that no changes have been made without the authority of the core team so corruption is curbed,” she said.
Online Reporter