By OKON OKON

The office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HOCSF) has encouraged civil servants to always go on annual leave to avert some of the work challenges faced in delivering their duties.

The call was made at a two-day training workshop on: ‘Effective Implementation of the Rewards and Recognition System’, organised by the office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HOCSF), for selected public servants across Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

Speaking, Dr Comfort Adeosun, Director Occupational Health, Safety and Environment, office of the HOCSF, said government was looking at the actionable steps to achieve ‘Work-life Balance’, workers well-being as well as ‘Rewards and Recognition System’ at workplaces.

“We are looking at the actionable steps for work-life balance, recognition at workplaces especially within the civil servants’ echo systems where we work because the work balance is based on the principle of balancing your life in every sphere.

“Now, we want to enforce vacations. We’ve discovered that some employees don’t go on leave.

“Vacation is part of your well-being, you need to shut down and reboot so that when you come back, you are refreshed and you are able to do a good job,” she advised.

Adeosun also used the medium to advise the executive officers of organisations to have work schedule which would not in any way affect the well-being of their employees.

She said that creating space for social interactions, recreational centres could also save the difficult situations.

“When an organisation begins to drive work-life balance, efficiency and productivity will increase and the performance of that organisation will be improved because the officers, the employees are being cared for in their organisations,” she said.

Earlier, Alhaji Mahmud Kambari, Permanent Secretary, Service Welfare Office, office of the HOCSF, emphasised on importance of adopting rewards and recognising hardworking workers.

Kambari noted that the initiative had a prioritised objective to ‘Enhance Value Proposition of Civil Servants.’

“Nevertheless, there is need to improve on the implementation of the programme, particularly in the selection process to optimize efficiency, which is the purpose of this training workshop,” he said.

Also, Mr Dominique Nwachukwu, Director Employee/Industrial Relations, said civil servants were the engine room of government, working silently without recognition.

According to him, the rewards and recognition workshop is simply an avenue for civil servants to tell their stories that they are doing great works in ensuring that the government is stabilised.

In her contributions, Mrs Ifeyinwa Ekweozor, Deputy Director Training/Staff welfare, Ministry of Finance, said she was fulfilled with the programme as it will help public servants to readjust in their work schedules.

“The level of training will help us to take care of our health, family and even to contribute more to our office work. In fact, it’s really a balance situation, that’s why I feel thrilled about it,” she explained.

The workshop has: ‘Building Effective Implementation of the Rewards and Recognition System in the Federal Civil Service’ as its theme. (NAN)

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