Hong Kong needs to completely overhaul its civil servant review mechanism rather than add another layer of assessment to the existing system if the administration wants to improve performance and governance, observers have said.
Advertisement
While one lawmaker said the government should implement clear assessment criteria for civil servants, others stressed that objective performance measures for senior management were difficult to gauge.
“I think any changes would have to follow a fundamental review of the whole system,” said Mike Rowse, the former director general of InvestHK who worked in government for 28 years. “Just adding a new layer … might not help much.”
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu had said authorities were considering introducing a new accountability system that would punish underperforming senior civil servants.
Under the proposal, senior civil servants will undergo appraisals annually, with those underperforming facing consequences such as pay freezes.
Advertisement
Lee had stressed the new system would aim to strengthen leadership and improve policy implementation and would complement the existing accountability framework for principal officials that has been in place for 23 years.