On the 26th August, the CEO of the Office of the Public Service Commissioner (OPSC) Myra Patai and the Corporate Services Manager Teresa Tura surprised the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Cook Islands Tourism Corporation when they delivered grazing boxes at lunchtime.
The initiative was to acknowledge the 100 per cent participation by all employees of the two Agencies including their Pa Enua staff in the annual Employee Engagement Survey run by OPSC.
The Survey has been running for the past six years and gauges the overall views of Public Servants on their employment experience with Cook Islands Public Service. The Survey seeks information ranging from employee views on the leadership of each Ministry; training and development plans for employees; the organisational culture to whether the Agency provides the right tools to enable our employees to do their work properly. 23.49% of employees stated that their Ministry needs to provide them with the resources needed to perform their job.
Over 500 employees participated in the Survey. One of the most common challenges identified was on the need for remuneration to reflect the work that our employees are actually doing. Some requested more training support within the Ministries. Whilst most employees generally enjoyed their work environments, 91.27% of employees are proud of the Ministry that they work and are willing to go the extra mile to succeed as a team.
The recipients of the Vodafone mobile top-up voucher draw are as follows:
- Michael Mouauri
- Jim Nimerota
- Nooroa Teipo
- 100% Wale ( TeArapoti Maeva)
- Tiare Nicholas
- Teata Purea Ateriano
- Marah Tairi
- Kura Ioane
- Paul Maaka
- Anaseini Pokino
Here are some of the employee's feedback:
I enjoy working for my Agency for the following reasons:
"I am passionate about our people, our culture and environment, and working for this division allows me to contribute to the development of our country ensuring that our development focus on 1 our people, 2 our environment and 3 our culture. I love my job, as I can partake and observe at all levels"
"Cook Islanders working for the Cook Islands for our safety, security and prosperity"
"My job interest me, what I do helps my Cook Island people"
"Satisfying the General Public, and also the Stakeholders"
"MFAI values local talent, MFAI encourages and fosters innovation, being part of an organization who takes pride in the Cook Islands cultural values and continue to punch way above its weight with very limited resources to deliver work, work diversity as well as working with a real dynamic group of individuals, never a dull moment and there is always something new to learn every day in MFAI’s environment, transparency, honesty and trustworthy leadership from our HoM, flexibility given to do my job"
"We operate as a community and are impactful influencing outcomes in favour of our nation. We are supportive and encouraging of each other and committed to serving our people and advancing the interests of our nation."
"Because sustainable use of nearshore marine resources has positive impacts for both the environment and the people that depend on it. Win-Win"
To increase my satisfaction and productivity as an employee, I recommend the following:
365 employees completed this section of the survey and here is what some of them said.
"More inclusiveness in the workplace through better communications and transparency."
"Be flexible, allow the employee to shape their own roles; recognition and rewards, drive communication and transparency, promote good health, look after work environment and housekeeping, training and investment, stop micro-managements. Kia Manuia tatou I teia tuatau Cov19. Keep safe."
"Give me room to be innovative and see how a specialist work. To be recognized as a unique person with a special task/job description and not as a general post lumped in with other posts that at times loses its importance."
"The Job evaluation system needs to be overhauled to ensure salary banding commensurate with the level of technical skills and responsibilities required of positions. Return of the long service bonus. Better performance management. A clearer understanding of expectations of job performance or non-performance. Better inclusion of staff in decision making of the Agency"
"More educational programs to be taught in the community based on NCD..Healthy living..Eating healthy to prevent Diabetes..Exercise regularly to prevent cardiac problems"
"That staff should be recognized for the efforts that they put in there role/work by being remunerated fairly according to her\his excellent performance in their work"
"Comprehensive training and induction programme. Up to date Job Description and remuneration aligned with roles and responsibilities. A clear path to development and a comprehensive appraisal process. And effective supervision for staff."
"I recommend that the continuation of upskilling and training should be done regularly to ensure that staff are always enlightened about changes required of the organization they work for. I also recommend that a Maori interpretation should be made for all policies and legislation as not everyone is English literate."
The Public Service Commissioner, Russell Thomas, would like to take this opportunity to thank all those employees who took part in the Survey and we look forward to your continued participation next year. Meitaki Maata to Ruth Sahay for the grazing boxes.
For any queries regarding this release please email: teresa.tura@cookislands.gov.ck.
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