Change organisational climate at education ministry - study Stabroek News January 14, 2000 There is need to change the organisational climate as it relates to human resources in the Education Ministry, a report of the United States-based Consortium for International Development (CID) has recommended. However, to move from having a work force that is very marginal in its capacity to one that is competent, invigorated and highly productive is difficult and it will take a significant amount of organisational energy to make the change. The CID in its findings on Human Resources Management within the ministry noted that a number of consultancies were commissioned previously "but little of any substance has been done to bring about significant long term change to the state of employees within the ministry". According to the CID's Organisational Capacity Assessment (OCA), the ministry must now recognise how important organisational change is and what resources and organisational energy it is willing to commit to changing itself. "This determination must be at the top level of the Ministry of Education and then infused throughout the organisation," the CID stated. The report said that many of the problems occur because of structural barriers and a lack of concerted team building and cooperative efforts between authorised entities that deal with human resources. These have resulted in a work force that is not fully utilised; an inability of the ministry to attract sufficient quantities of qualified applicants to meet staffing needs; employees who feel unappreciated and undervalued, who feel they do not have a voice within the system, are unwilling to accept responsibility, are unwilling to take risks and engage in innovative and creative activities, feel disenfranchised and discouraged, and are unwilling to make decisions which are well within their scope of authority. The CID noted that it corroborated observations by previous consultants that there is very little evidence of a functional Performance Management System in the ministry and very little evidence that basic management theories are being applied to human resource management. The time has come for managers in the ministry to recognise that they too have shortcomings that are impacting negatively on the system. Collaborative efforts are needed to revamp and correct this situation," the report stated. A © page from: Guyana: Land of Six Peoples