Andrew
Public Service Engagement Forum
THE Public Service Commission’s Support Services Agency helps all the agencies and departments to do their work. It does this by providing items used by staff, by managing certain aspects of the work life of members of staff as well as by providing a good working environment for Commissioners and members of the Secretariat.
The Agency manages the Commission’s budget, and makes recommendations on which items should be paid for first, and which ones can wait. Support services are delivered through three departments, namely, Internal Human Resources; Finance and Administration; and ICT, Modernisation and Information Systems Management.
Internal Human Resources
The Internal Human Resources Department is responsible for the management of the most valuable assets — people. The department makes sure that the Public Service Commission has the right staff members who can perform their jobs well. The Commission does not only have offices in cities and towns, but also in Zimbabwe’s provinces and districts.
This ensures that services are provided where the people are, and makes it easier to keep track of the civil service’s performance. The department takes care of the needs of personnel working at Head Office and in the provinces and districts.
Finance and Administration Department
The Finance and Administration Department prepares requests to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development for funds to support the Commission’s programmes. It manages how the funds are used, in line with the Strategic Plan and the approved budget.
The key functions of the department are as follows: managing money that comes in from Treasury and money that goes out to pay for goods and services and keeping good accounts of how it is received and used; preparing reports on the Commission’s finances and giving a clear idea of what the state of its accounts means for what the Commission would want to do.
All these functions help in making sure that money matters are handled properly and in a manner that everyone can see and understand. “Asset Management”, which means knowing every item, including buildings, cars, telephones and brooms, that belongs to the Commission and making sure it is safe and is being used in the right way, is another area which the Finance and Administration Department is responsible for.
To make it easy to know where everything is, a book called an asset register, which contains a full list of Commission property, is kept by the department. When new items are bought, details of those items are written down in the asset register. When old items which cannot be used anymore are thrown away, the list is changed.
The department also runs the transport system of the Public Service Commission, ensuring that all transport needs are met without spending more than is necessary. The things that are done by this department are too many to mention.
For example, when a light bulb needs to be changed, it is the Finance and Administration department that makes sure this is done. If the lift breaks down, the department must arrange for it to be repaired. The department makes sure the floors are kept clean, and that water is supplied for use by staff.
Many things that support the smooth functioning of the Commission are done by the department.
ICT, Modernisation and Information Systems Management
This department ensures that computer systems and means of communication used by the Commission are adequate, up to date and are able to help members of staff to perform their work in a way that produces results quickly. The Commission has decided to use modern methods to store and to communicate all kinds of information, and to make it easy for staff to read documents, including books, through electronic means. More and more meetings, including interviews, are being held not physically, but on the internet. It is the job of the ICT, Modernisation and Information Systems department to set all these up and to solve any problems that may arise when these electronic methods are used.
The use of these modern methods is growing quickly, especially now with the outbreak of Covid-19, which makes it dangerous for people to meet in person. For that reason, the department has become very busy, and its importance has become very clear.
The department is charged with setting up systems for managing civil service personnel, including tracking new appointments, promotions and leave days. It makes sure that the systems that make it possible for Government workers to receive their salaries and for those who have retired to receive their pensions are kept in good order. For that reason, some say that it is the most important department in the Commission.
Between them, the three departments that make up the Support Services Agency in the Public Service Commission Secretariat provide the funds, the equipment and the services that support the work of the Commission.
In our next article we discuss the Public Service Commission’s Training Development and Management Department, which has the important job of making sure that civil servants receive the training that enables them to do their jobs well.
This article is part of a series of articles by the Public Service Commission aimed at engaging with and updating the public on matters of public interest that fall within its mandate. For comments, enquiries and questions, please write to [email protected]; Call (242) 700881-4; Or WhatsApp 263 788 584 848. For more on the PSC and its programmes, visit www.psc.gov.zw or follow on Facebook Zimbabwe Public Service Commission or Twitter @Public Service Commission Zimbabwe
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