The Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has taken a step towards enhancing its performance and efficiency with the signing of a performance contract between the Permanent Secretary, Dr Marcus Ogunbiyi, and the directors of the ministry.
The performance contract, which is in line with the mandate and directive from the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, aims to bring out the best in officers and ensure that every officer is contributing positively to the attainment of priorities in the ministry.
The contract signing took place at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja on Thursday.
Ogunbiyi, who spoke at the signing ceremony, emphasised that the performance management system is not for promotion but to provide avenue for mentoring officers to discharge their duties effectively and efficiently.
“I must remove this misconception about PMS. PMS is not for promotion. Performance management system is to bring out the best of an officer in the service,” he said.
“It is to ensure that every officer is contributing positively to the attainment of all priorities, financial priorities, ministerial priorities, and the service-wide dimensions. It is a system put in place to define efficiency, of course, when you do your job effectively and efficiently, you will be asked to step up to a higher responsibility. And that is where promotion comes in,” he added.
He encouraged directors to cascade their deliverables to their deputies and other staff, adding that the automation of the performance management system in the ministry is 75 per cent completed and will be launched in four weeks.
“Already the automation of PMS in the Office of the Head of Service has been done. The automation of PMS in the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development is 75 per cent completed. In the coming weeks, in another four weeks, it will be launched and we will use it to assess every staff for the contracts,” he emphasised.
The permanent secretary also warned that sanctions will be applied to officers who fail to meet their targets, adding that the performance contracts are blueprints for action and demonstrate the ministry’s commitment to transparency and effectiveness.
He noted that, “The signing of the performance contract is a significant milestone in the ministry’s efforts to enhance its performance and contribute to the growth and development of the country.”