By virtue of the sheer number of employees in the Anguilla Public Service it is difficult to keep them all satisfied with their circumstances. It is a service governed by rules that when properly applied will sometimes prevent public officers from being granted their wishes. It is, therefore, expected that there will always be some level of discontentment among pubic officers.
Although some discontent is expected, it appears that morale in the Anguilla Public Service is at the lowest ever experienced. It is understood that recently, fairly senior officers have submitted their resignations and that others are actively exploring options that they hope will allow them to leave the Public Service sooner rather than later.
What can possibly be motivating these increased feelings of discontent? It appears that despite the public relations drive of the Anguilla Progressive Movement administration that seeks to ensure the dissemination of information to the public, the same level of information sharing does not occur with respect to internal customers, in the Anguilla Public Service. Private sector individuals sometimes find it difficult to obtain information on Government initiatives from fairly senior officers, who claim not to be in the loop. It appears that the input of some officers is valued more than that of others and so many officers feel they are left in the dark. The fact that this would have a negative impact on morale is not surprising.
It is clear from the pronouncement of ministers that some of them have a very hands on approach to the work of their ministry and the departments that form part of their ministries. This can very easily manifest itself as micromanagement, which is unlikely to be well received by senior public officers. These officials are highly qualified individuals, who often also have significant experience and would understandably become irritated if they perceive that their roles are being reduced to that of little more than that of gophers.
Some public officers seem to feel that undue pressure is brought on them to deliver programmes without proper regard for the rules, financial and otherwise, by which public officers ought to be guided. Public officers would understandably feel torn as they try not to incur the ire of minsters, while trying to ensure that they comply with the rules of the public service that govern their actions.
The discontent, which many public officers appear to be experiencing, could possibly be alleviated if public officers felt that they were able to access and receive the appropriate support from relevant public officials. A regular refrain of public officers appears to be about their disappointment in the level of responsiveness of the Deputy Governor and the Attorney General. Many feel that the time taken to receive responses to matters brought to their attention is unreasonably long and very often, public officers are unable to progress matters while awaiting a response. Well-intentioned public officers are likely to be distraught if their efforts to advance matters are frustrated in this manner.
The Anguilla Public Service might never function like the well oiled machine that the public it serves desires, but every effort should be made to remove or limit the occurrence of circumstances likely to negatively impact staff morale. Ministers, the Governor, the Deputy Governor and the Attorney General can and should ensure that their actions, or failure to act, do not contribute to reduced morale in the Anguilla Public Service. Low morale results in inefficiencies and ineffectiveness in the Anguilla Public Service which impacts on the performance of private sector entities. Improved morale should be a primary goal of our Public Service leaders…
