Serve with a smile, DPA staff urged

Vice-President Danny Faure has urged all staff of the Department of Public Administration (DPA) to deliver better service, go for high standard and serve with a smile in their everyday work. The Vice-President, who is also the minister responsible for public administration, said this yesterday during the DPA annual long service award ceremony at the ex-National Assembly Hall at National House.

Six staff members who have clocked 20 years of service and above were rewarded. Two members of staff who have spent between five and 15 years in the department were also awarded certificates of recognition. Kathleen Adrienne is the oldest serving staff with 35 years of service.

As minister for public administration, VP Faure received a token of appreciation by the department. “You should all work for better service; go for high standard and do not settle in comfort zones and give what we have in us as Seychellois at the service of your organisation which is smile,” VP Faure told the DPA staff.

The vice-president started off by thanking the staff for their hard work and passion during the year. He told them as the year is coming to an end, it is an opportune time to honour them and thank them on behalf of the government for their devotion. He cited the creation of the new salary structure introduced last year as a remarkable achievement of the DPA in 2013. He thanked all staff of ministries, agencies and even of private sectors who have worked under the public administration’s guidance to make today’s national salaries reflect that salary structure in place.

“Today our salary structure is there and it is legal. Anyone who wishes to know about it has just to look it up,” said VP Faure, adding that the salary structure is an extraordinary piece of work that the staff of public administration has done for Seychelles.

“I believe Seychelles will remain a model for the region and other countries for them to see how we did it, what methodology we used. Based on the legal structure of that salary grid, the country will be able to adjust its salary framework accordingly as the economy grows,” said VP Faure.

Vice-President Faure also clarified the difference between schemes of service and salary increase as people tend to confuse the two. He said any department, ministry or agency can have their own scheme of service depending for example on grades, categories or experiences of their staff. But the salary structure is the basis of all schemes. Schemes are based on the salary grid.

“A scheme in an organisation, agency or ministry reflects the career of a worker. For example if you are teacher there are different categories or levels – like an assistant teacher, a teacher itself, a teacher with a Diploma 1 or Diploma 2. It’s for these reasons that we have a scheme for our teachers because there are various categories of teachers,” explained the VP. He also mentioned other sectors like accountants, police officers, to name some.

Jessie Esparon, the chief secretary of the DPA, said as it is customary, the annual gathering is to celebrate the dedicated, hardworking, disciplined and committed staff of the department. She congratulated the long-serving members for reaching this important milestone in their career. She said that long service awards are just one of several incentives her department has adopted as part of her employee recognition programmme. She highlighted other small things throughout the year which show the staff how much they are valued.

“As employees of the DPA and government, we are all valuable resources,” Ms Esparon told the staff while urging them to continue adopting models of best practices in their work place. Ms Esparon was also among the long-serving staff members who was rewarded.

Emmanuel Pierre, another member of staff, entertained those present with his song ‘Swiv bon Legzanp’ in which he called for hard work, determination and of giving good examples in our work. In her vote of thanks, Michel Fock-Yune thanked the management for keeping this activity as an annual event. She also had words of thanks to those who organised the event itself, describing it as hard work.