Mr Russell Thomas, the Public Service Commissioner (PS Commissioner) was pleased to reward today- Mrs Temarama Anguna-Kamana, Ms Tepaeru Herrmann and Ms Diane Charlie-Puna with their Public Service Performance Merit Awards for the 2018/19 Financial year. These awards were in recognition of their performance as Public Service Leaders or Heads of Ministries (HOMs), whose performance exceeds expectations.
Mr John Hosking, Ms Diane Charlie-Puna and Mr Tamatoa Jonassen also received the Public Service Commissioner’s Special Awards. This was to acknowledge that they had raised the level of their respective Agency’s performance to a level where they are meeting expectations.
The performance of the fourteen HOMs is assessed according to the Agency’s contribution towards, their specific sector and management priorities. In particular, they are assessed according to their leadership; direction and delivery; people development; relationship management; engagement with stakeholders; and financial and resource management. The conduct of HOMs is also considered and comprises four critical elements- that they serve as role models by living and promoting the Public Service and Agency-specific values; there is minimal public or stakeholder complaints that are valid and upheld; they are innovative and practice good stewardship of public resources to achieve results and there are minimal employment disputes reported to the PS Commissioner. The targets within these are rated according to specified performance.
The Office of the Public Service Commissioner (OPSC) conduct a Mid-Year and Annual review of each HOMs performance. The results of the 2018/19 performance appraisal informed the rewarding of these prizes.
The Ministries assessed are: Agriculture, Corrective Services, Cultural Development, Education, Finance and Economic Management, Foreign Affairs and Immigration, Health, Infrastructure Cook Islands, Internal Affairs, Justice, Marine Resources, OPSC, Office of the Prime Minister and Transport.
