General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Dr. Titus Beyuo, says public sector workers cannot be blamed for their deficient productivity.

According to him, the majority of the blame should be leveled against the employer – the government – and not the workers.

He said the phenomenon where successive governments use rate of employment into the public sector to score political points rather than ensuring the productivity of the sector is what has contributed to low productivity rates in the sector.

Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express, he explained, “The fundamental question which is the reason why productivity is an issue here in my opinion is that of the employer and not the employee. What happens in the private sector?

“You hire the right caliber of people, hire the right number, for the right job, pay them right, and demand productivity. Set the KPIs, create the environment, and if they don’t meet it you fire them. What is happening in our environment?

“People are hiring and using numbers for political gain. I employed 70,000 nurses, you employed 50,000 nurses. Was it based on any staff norms or staffing norms? I’ve engaged 70,000 teachers, you’ve engaged 60,000 teachers; was it based on any staffing norms? Did we set any KPIs for them? Have we challenged the Ghanaian worker to produce and the person has not been able to produce as much as you wish? Did you create that environment?

“And let’s not forget that we are in an open market; and in our sector, the Ghanaian doctor is much sought after in other countries, and when they relocate there they excel very well. Why? Because the person employing them has set the KPIs and the environment for them to deliver.”

He noted that  for government to demand more productivity from workers, it should first be able to justify how its hiring practice was geared towards productivity.

“If anybody is coming up to talk about productivity the person should come out and tell us that when I engaged X number of doctors I knew that Korle Bu needed 600 doctors, I’ve engaged 600 and not 800, and the 600 this is what I have asked them to do and they have not been able to meet it before you can talk about the question of productivity,” he said.

He added that due to the mass hiring of workers into the public sector without any regard for how such hiring could affect productivity in the workplace is responsible for the low productivity in the public sector.

He further noted that due to the fact that employment is merely based on winning political points and not on meeting productivity demands, it has led to a disproportionate distribution of workers across the country.

“You’ll go to major hospitals in this country where you have a lot of surgeons who can operate with all the skills, and they go to theatre and the number of patients they operate per day is far less than what is due them.

“To a large extent in some aspects [people are underemployed] and in some other aspects people are overemployed. You’ll go to a district hospital and there’s one doctor who never goes on leave throughout the year. He travels and people will die. He cannot attend any function because he’s the only person. How do we talk about the productivity of that person?

“So you see if you want to narrow it down, get the right number, for the right job, create the right environment, and then assess them by the KPIs you’ve set up,” he said.