Oman employees to be evaluated every three to six months from 2022

Muscat: Come January 2022, government employees’ performances will be assessed every three to six months under a new evaluation system, according to a Ministry of Labour official.

The System for Measuring Individual Performance and Institutional Proficiency will analyse the output of around 175,000 employees working in government institutions, agencies and companies, either every three, four, or six months.

“The measurement of an individual’s performance is based only on the extent to which they have accomplished the tasks entrusted by their employer during a specific pre-determined period, according to the goals or plans that was approved or drawn up to achieve them every year,” explained the ministry official.

“Performance evaluations will be done regardless of existing parameters, such as attendance, departure and behaviour at work at the beginning of applying this system,” he explained.

“The numbers of years they have in terms of experience will not be considered, either in terms of incentives, promotions, rewards, or job opportunities.

“What will be looked at is an employee’s performance in terms of the excellent nature of their work, their creativity, employee productivity, and how they have achieved the tasks entrusted to them,” the Ministry of Labour representative went on to say. “All promotions, bonuses, and incentives will be based on these factors.”

The rolling out of this new system is part of the objectives under Oman Vision 2040, which aims to provide good standards of living and develop a sustainable economy for the country.

The ministry official explained that this programme was in line with the goals of His Majesty Sultan Haitham Bin Tarik, who during his speech on 23 February, 2020, stressed the importance of good recruitment practices, because of their crucial effect on the economy.

The MOL official explained: “In his speech, His Majesty the Sultan said: ‘We will also accord full attention and support to develop a comprehensive national framework of recruitment, considering it one of the fundamental pillars of the national economy.

This necessitates the continuous improvement of the employment environment in both the public and private sector.

Moreover, it requires revising and developing employment systems in the government sector, adopting new employment systems and policies that grant the government the flexibility and the ability that enable it to achieve optimal use of national resources, expertise and competencies.’”

The System for Measuring Individual Performance and Institutional Proficiency aims to measure the individual efforts of employees, help build a culture of proficiency and good job performance, improve the system for performance appraisals, link productivity with incentives, and develop a sound human resources system.

To familiarise government employees with how this system would work, the Ministry of Labour, held a presentation for those working for Madayn, the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates, at Knowledge Oasis Muscat.The presentation included an overview of the institutional proficiency system in terms of the reasons for its implementation, its cyclical method of working, and expected results after rolling out this programme.

It also shed light on how this system will benefit society, individual government units, and employees.

The features and characteristics of this system, the various measurement cycles available, and the processes to measure individual performance and management systems were also shown to employees.

The system and its usage are governed by the Ministry of Labour, which will conduct regular supervision and follow-up exercises over the usage of the individual performance and change management systems.

It will also inspect whether they are being used within the general framework established for the system.

The presentation for Madayn employees was also organised to speed up the introduction of the performance management system.

It is considered one of the ways in which operating expenses and finances can be controlled and reviewed, per the conditions of the country’s fiscal balance plans.

Acceleration of this programme is also considered necessary due to the difficulty in linking promotions and incentives with current employee evaluation processes, since at present, an employee’s prospects are not related to their achievements.

The change management aspect of the presentation touched on the need for a smooth transition from the current appraisal system to the new one. It also featured a comparison between the two systems, and the most common problems expected while the system is in place.