By Stella Odueme
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation,, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack has maintained that Personnel Audit and Skills Gap Analysis will ensure and enhance competence, verifiable database workforce distribution across the Service, amongst others
Speaking on Thursday in Abuja while declaring open a 3-day retreat on the harmonisation of the methodology for the personnel audit and skills gap analysis in the civil service, Walson-Jack maintained that the proposed nationwide personnel audit and skills gap analysis in the Federal Civil Service is crucial as it would enhance evidence-based planning, recruitment, targeted training, efficient deployment, and transparent succession planning in the nation’s Service.
“This project will give us what we have long needed: a credible and verifiable personnel database that captures not just numbers, but skills, competencies, and workforce distribution across the Service, amongst others.
“The Personnel Audit and Skills Gap Analysis is a national assignment and a foundational reform initiative under the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2021- 2025 (FCSSIP25).
“The purpose is clear. We must establish a workforce profile that can be trusted for evidence-based planning, targeted training, efficient deployment, and transparent succession management.
“Without such data, reforms risk being anchored on assumptions. With it, we can direct capacity-building where it is most needed, redeploy resources strategically, and plan for the next generation of Civil Servants,” she stated
According to Walson-Jack, participants at the ongoing personnel audit and skills gap analysis retreat include;
Permanent Secretaries, Audit General for the Federation, Members of the Steering Committee of the Personnel Audit and Skills Gap Analysis, Members of the Implementation Committee of the Personnel Audit and Skills Gap Analysis, the Lead Consultants, Phillips Consulting Limited, and 15 Cluster Consultants, among others.
Harping on the importance of the exercise, said that the three-day retreat would provide the participants the unique opportunity to scrutinise, interrogate, and refine the methodology that would guide the assignment.
“The framework we adopt must be practical, comprehensive, and context-sensitive, taking into account the size, diversity, and peculiarities of each MDA in particular and the Federal Civil Service in general.
“The Steering and Implementation Committees will provide policy direction, oversight, and quality assurance.
“The Cluster Consultants must be meticulous, ensuring that data collection and fieldwork are executed diligently.
“The credibility of this exercise, therefore, rests on your professionalism, attention to detail, and fidelity to the agreed methodology.
“By the close of this retreat, we must have a unified and workable methodology that is implementable and capable of serving as a reference point for future reforms.”
The Permanent Secretary, Common Services Office, Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation(OHCSF),
Dr Danjuma Kalba in his welcome address, explained that the retreat was organised to harmonise the methodology, which the lead consultant and the 15 cluster consultants would use to carry out the important assignment.
He said that the 15 different Human Resource (HR) companies are expected to come with different methods, noting that without harmonisation and adoption of a single framework, the results from the field would be different, and make it difficult for the government in the end to harmonise.
In his remarks, the Lead Consultant and Chairman, Philip Consulting, Mr Folunsho Philips, explained that the job involves interacting with over 70,000 Federal Civil Servants across the country.
For instance, the team is to verify who is a civil servant, identify capabilities, competencies, and strengths of each individual as well as type of jobs which are needed to be filled as well as the type of workers needed to fill these jobs.
It would be recalled that President Bola Tinubum had ordered the personnel audit and skills gap analysis of the Federal Civil Service.
