The government should use bonus and reward schemes to make public sector workers more productive and efficient, business chiefs claimed today (Monday).
A CBI report says major changes to HR practices are necessary to improve the efficiency of state-owned services.
John Cridland, deputy director-general of the employers group, said: “Our public services have benefited from vast additional investments in recent years, a large chunk of which has gone on pay. Getting the most out of these resources is one of their biggest challenges.
“The government is missing a trick by failing to deploy smarter HR techniques. Not using pay and reward as genuine incentives to improve performance and service delivery is a lost opportunity.”
Key recommendations in the report include:
- Determining pay locally against market rates
- Using pay to enhance service delivery
- Strengthening local management
- Improving communication with employees
- Ensuring tight pay discipline in the coming spending round.
Cridland added: “The government is working to professionalise key financial functions and has used the recent department capability reviews to embed stronger management practice. It now needs to shine the spotlight on HR to ensure that pay and rewards are properly used for the benefit of all.”
