Rewarding Merit

THE development of every society hinges on the quality of performance of its people. Where performance focuses on delivery of quality, efforts will be put in place not only to attract those who meet the criteria for doing the job, but also for ensuring that they are provided the requisite support to get it done. Over the years, Guyana has been shortchanged on meritocracy and by extension the development of the society and its people.

The public sector, which is a country’s single largest workforce and provider of services and usually sets standards for other sectors in the economy, has not escaped the sacrifice of meritocracy. Stories of persons appointed to perform technical and managerial duties without the requisite skills and/or talents required for the job are known. These appointments, which are invariably made primarily on the basis of political affiliation or acquaintance with the person making the appointment, have been debilitating. Conversely, those who are able and qualified to perform the job have been sidelined in the actual workforce or denied opportunities to fill the position for various reasons.

The oft referred to ‘square pegs in round holes’ has cost the nation in dollar value, suppression of required skills and talents, and in the flight of human capital. There is no denying that when mediocrity becomes the acceptable form of securing and maintaining a job — elected or appointed — the society suffers. At the same time, none can truthfully deny when meritocracy is promoted as a matter of national policy and priority, it becomes easier to accomplish the tasks ahead of us. Persons feel assured and are invested in an environment where they know opportunities will be afforded them based on ability. In instances too, when these are denied and felt such are un-deserving should there be institutions–in law and establishment–to allow them to pursue justice, it incentivises meritocracy.

Leaders — elected and appointed — taking the approach of rewarding meritocracy will not only attract competent persons, but will also transmit clear signals that anything less is unacceptable, and will not be supported. Looking around our society, skills and talents come from diverse sources; and should there be focus on meritocracy, there can be found competent individuals in every group, race, political association, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities etc. In this regard Guyanese — home and abroad — can identify with Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s entreaty, that “content of character” be the determinant in treating with people.

Through change of political administrations, there have been allegations of persons being removed from appointed public office based on their political association and/or race. In parlance, this suggests meritocracy is being sacrificed at the altar of mediocrity. Truth be told, some of these claims have not been without merit as seen with the gutting of professionalism in the foreign service, post-1992, and the court awarding judgments to career diplomats. They are also those who have not used the court system, but have suffered similar fates. The bleeding of skills and talents has been a setback to the society.

Outside of appointed officials, there are elected officials who have not met the standard of performance befitting their office and responsibilities, and this has hurt policy conceptualisation, execution of the task at hand, and see wastage of resources, financial and otherwise. Honest and frank discourse will acknowledge mediocrity is present in every society, but when this is allowed to become the norm it does grave disservice. Similarly, it has been proven that societies which recognise the wisdom of promoting and supporting meritocracy as the norm, make better use of their resources, optimise and reward the performance of its people, and relatively have had better developmental indicators– human, revenue, and otherwise.

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