Training hopes to improve attitude of civil servants

It is the conventional wisdom that whenever you go into a government office you can expect to be met at best with indifference and at worst with a downright bad attitude. Perhaps the conventional wisdom is right but after attending a training session in Belize City this morning, I’m not so sure.

Have you ever gotten up in the morning feeling great only to have those emotions dashed by the way you are treated on the telephone or in person by some public officers? Don’t take it personally, but rest assured: the good news is that the Ministry of Public Service and Labour is doing something about it. As part of an ongoing training program, twenty-seven second class clerks will be involved in an intensive program that seeks to inspire and encourage public officers to accept responsibility for the quality of service they give to customers.

Elizabeth Chavarria, Dir., Training Resources/Development

“Countries all over the world and especially within the Commonwealth have been engaging in this course with respect to how could they make their public service more accountable, more transparent and of course more efficient and Belize is no different.

Some of the criticisms include sometimes arrogance and insensitivity coming from public officers. Their inability to answer what members of the public feel are baseline questions about the work of the ministry.”

Elizabeth Chavarria Director for Training Resources and Development in the Ministry of Public Service and Labour, says Belizeans are now demanding better service. The demand has forced the ministry to improve the service that it delivers. Chavarria believes there are a number of reasons why the public is sometimes ill-treated.

Elizabeth Chavarria

“I think it is a host of different issues here. On one hand, I think some public officers behave the way they do because probably there is a shortage of the adequate skills. The other thing may be that they are not involved in the shared vision and are not quite aware of where their Ministry is really going and that can lend to some loss of confidence on their part.”

Chavarria says besides the training programs, they have advised government ministries to talk with their employees and encourage them to build a productive working environment.