Seventy-three (73) public officers from across the Public Service recently participated in an interactive information sharing and profiling sessions designed to assist in formally documenting information about their skills. Photo: GIS

According to a release from the Government Information Service (GIS), Human Resources Manager at the Department of Human Resources Ms Kaisa Penn said the idea to implement the use of the skills assessment tool came in part as a result of the data gathered from the Public Service Engagement Survey that was administered in 2018 where public officers expressed a need for more training and development options and opportunities

Ms Penn added that the information collected through the Skills Profile will be used in the career planning and mapping process, to assist public officers in developing their skill set to meet the current and future needs of the public service and to assist with matching officers’ skills and experiences to new and suitable opportunities.

Deputy Governor Mr David D. Archer Jr. explained the correlation between the skills of Public Officers and the Government’s journey to building a better Virgin Islands.

Mr Archer said, “Part of being able to build a better public service with Public Servants in mind is knowing the skills that we possess. Sometimes what we do is not really what we love. Our goal is to get you closer to what you love.”

Mr Archer further stated that the Public Service philosophy is not to make people redundant but to ensure that officers evolve and prepare for jobs that allow them to make more meaningful contributions.

“We introduced the Virtual Customer Service Mailbox that allows customers to evaluate the service given by public officers at various organisations,” the Deputy Governor said. He added, “This programme creates a need for the submissions to be monitored and the statistics to be communicated. Thus, an officer who was once responsible for producing letters can now be trained and promoted to become the officer responsible for recording and communicating the statistical data.”

The information gathered through the skills profiling initiative will be used to assist with guiding the training and development programmes necessary to prepare officers to be engaged in a transformed service.

The Virgin Islands Public Service Skills Profile Experience was launched on May 21 and was one of three experiences planned for the Public Service. The remaining experiences were held on July 3 and July 10, which realised the participation of 73 public officers. The target groups for this event were public officers from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth Affairs, Fisheries and Agriculture, the Governor’s Group and the Ministry of Finance. The event was coordinated by the Department of Human Resources and is one of several mediums that will be used to gather and document information about the current skills and developmental needs of the public service.

During the event, participating public officers had the opportunity to complete the Skills Profile exercise which is an ongoing working record of officers’ knowledge, skills and experiences acquired from their current or any previously held positions and other relevant skills and experience gained from roles and responsibilities held outside of the public service. 

Public Officers participated in interactive sessions that encouraged them to share and express the skills they presently have and those that they desire.

The Skills Profile was made available on Government internet to all public officers online from Thursday, July 11 and will remain available until  Friday, August 2.