Louis asked the Prime Minister whether the Ministry will be able to (i) provide greater transparency on the scoring methodology used to determine a civil servant's Current Estimated Potential (CEP) as well as an officer's CEP score at a point in time and (ii) implement a 360-degree feedback appraisal system for civil servants which is currently common practice in the private sector.

Mr Teo Chee Hean (for the Prime Minister): The Civil Service uses Currently Estimated Potential (CEP) as one tool to plan for the career development of officers. CEP is expressed in terms of the highest job responsibility level an officer is currently assessed to be capable of handling in the future. Hence an officer’s CEP may change with assessment over time. CEP is assessed based on demonstrated "AIM" qualities, which stand for (1) Analytical and Intellectual Capacity; (2) Influence and Collaboration; and (3) Motivation for Excellence. After a supervisor assesses his officer for CEP, the assessment is subject to counter-signing and ranking processes at the Ministry level, to ensure that the assessment is robust and fair.

All officers have access to information on the CEP assessment framework and definitions of the AIM qualities through Instruction Manuals, assessment guides, and training by the Civil Service College. Our agencies also encourage supervisors to have frank conversations with officers and help them along in their career development. We are placing emphasis on developing supervisors so that they are better prepared to coach their officers.

The Civil Service encourages timely and regular feedback as part of the appraisal process. Today, leaders receive 360 degree feedback on their leadership qualities when they attend milestone leadership development programmes. The feedback helps them to understand their strengths, developmental areas and blind spots, and motivates them to improve. For other officers, the feedback loop is generally between officers and their supervisors through day to day interactions and work review sessions which culminate in the completion of their Individual Development Plans. The Civil Service is looking into ways to make "giving timely feedback to one another" a cultural norm.

Source: Hansard (Parliament of Singapore)

Louis asked the Prime Minister (a) how many officers on the Civil Service's Management Support Scheme have been and are to be transferred to the Management Executive Scheme; and (b) whether the Management Support Scheme will be phased out.

Mr Lee Hsien Loong: Transfers from the Management Support Scheme to the Management Executive Scheme are not compulsory. Serving officers have the option to transfer to the extended Management Executive Scheme or remain on the Management Support Scheme. As of May 2017⁶ 2,465 (42%) Management Support Officers have transferred to the extended Management Executive Scheme.

While we no longer recruit officers on the Management Support Scheme, it will not be phased out until the last officer transfers out or retires from the scheme. Officers are free to transfer to the extended Management Executive Scheme whenever they are ready. Officers can engage their supervisors and HR departments on the career pathway that would best fulfil their aspirations before coming to a decision.

⁶ Based on the latest available data.

Source: Hansard (Parliament of Singapore)

Louis asked the Prime Minister (a) whether the Civil Service appraisal system is still based on the Current Estimated Potential (CEP) framework and annual performance reviews; (b) since August 2016, what further measures have been developed to make giving timely feedback to one another a cultural norm within the Civil Service; and (c) in what ways does the Civil Service appraisal system encourage innovative thinking and flexible implementation of policies by civil servants.

Mr Teo Chee Hean (for the Prime Minister): The Civil Service continues to find it relevant to assess officers’ performance annually, as well as their readiness to take on larger responsibilities using the concept of "Currently Estimated Potential" (CEP) which is an estimation of the highest job level an officer can handle in the future.

The Public Service Division periodically reviews the appraisal system to ensure it remains relevant and effective. During last year's review, PSD took into account feedback from managers and officers across the Civil Service to update many aspects of the system. For example, we are giving greater autonomy to Ministries on the appraisal of junior officers⁵. We are training supervisors to better understand and implement the system. These help to foster greater ownership of the system.

Our officers have also told us that they want more timely feedback on their performance and career development opportunities. Arising from this, we introduced the Individual Development Plan in 2014 to institutionalise regular career development conversations between officers and their supervisors. To complement formal appraisal, the Civil Service is experimenting with digital technology to enable officers to seek "on-the-go" informal feedback periodically or when a piece of work is completed. We have recently completed trialling a real-time feedback app for officers to more easily seek feedback from people whom they work with, be they subordinates, peers or supervisors.

We look out for officers who exhibit innovative thinking. Officers who exercise imagination and creativity to generate innovative solutions will be appraised more favourably. However, a culture of innovation comes from our broader practices, beyond the appraisal system. The Civil Service encourages innovation in a number of different ways. For example, many "makeathon" sessions have been held across the public service. These bring together public officers from within and across agencies, as well as members of the public to brainstorm new ideas to transform the public service to improve policies and better serve citizens. Officers who display excellence in innovation are publicly recognised through Public Service awards such as the Excellence through Continuous Enterprise and Learning (ExCEL) Awards.

⁵ Ministry PSes are empowered to approve decisions on their relatively more junior officers for (1) CEP up to grade 10; (2) performance grade up to grade 11A; and (3) merit increment and crossing of salary bar up to grade 11A. Decisions on more senior officers remain with the personnel boards. It is a balance between giving greater autonomy to ministries and maintaining greater consistency across ministries.

Source: Hansard (Parliament of Singapore)

Louis delivered his budget cut on Delinking Academics and Careers at Committee of Supply 2019.

Louis: Sir, last year, I spoke about the need to better recognise public servant contributions and skills beyond their formal academic qualifications.

Minister Ong shared that one initiative was to merge existing schemes for diploma and degree holders. Beyond the point of recruitment, an officer's progression is pegged to their on-the-job performance rather than their educational qualification. This has been done for MOE, the generic Management Executive Scheme in the Civil Service, and the Air Traffic Control Officer Scheme.

Minister Ong indicated that PSD will work with other public agencies to identify more areas where this can be implemented. 

Can the Minister provide an update on which other public agencies no longer have different salary scales and progression structures for diploma and degree holders? Can we also extend this to ITE graduates and not just diploma and degree holders?

Mr Chan Chun Sing (The Minister for Trade and Industry): Mr Louis Ng asked about single structures for ITE graduates, diploma and degree holders. Since 2015, the Public Service has been merging salary schemes, such that the ITE graduates, diploma and degree holders are recruited and progressed on the same structure. Where schemes require particular qualifications – for example, doctors, accountants and engineers – we will specify these. Today, almost all public agencies have single-structure schemes.

Louis: I think Minister Chan Chun Sing has responded to my cut in saying that almost all public agencies have now a single structure scheme in terms of career progressions for a public servant. Could I just ask what percentage do not have this single structure scheme and what are we doing to close this gap?

Mr Chan Chun Sing: Mr Chairman, let me first clarify that our aim is not to merge every scheme possible. You cannot do that because there are schemes that are for professionals – doctors, engineers, accountants. So, our aim in the Public Service is not to merge every scheme. Our aim is to merge the schemes where it is possible to do so. And the last I checked, for the 50 over agencies, I think I would say almost 50 of them have done so; and the rest who are not able to do so, it was because they have good professional reasons.

Now, even for those who have done so, we will constantly challenge ourselves. Are we able to merge those schemes even earlier, at an earlier stage whereby we take into account an individual's performance rather than just the academic grades?

So, going forward, we will see the following things. Yes, academic grades will be taken into account as one of the signs as a proxy of what the person is capable of, but increasingly, as I mentioned, there will be other skillsets that we are required to take into account for a holistic assessment of the individual. To what extent we can, I think beyond those professional schemes and engineers, qualified engineers and doctors, we will try to that extent possible. So, that answers the first question. 

Source: Hansard (Parliament of Singapore)

Louis asked the Prime Minister whether the Government intends to abolish the Civil Service performance management system of stack ranking.

Mr Chan Chun Sing (for the Prime Minister): The Civil Service seeks to operate a transparent and fair performance management system which rewards officers according to their work contributions.

We adopt a system of relative ranking, where an officer’s performance is not just assessed by his own supervisor, but also cross-ranked against his peers by a ranking panel comprising direct and indirect supervisors. The system allows us to moderate supervisor subjectivity and establish common and consistent standards of performance assessment, to identify and recognise stronger performing officers. It also correspondingly helps identify weaker performing officers to help them improve their performance.

On balance, we find that a system of relative ranking of performance still serves its purpose. Nevertheless, we have also allowed flexibility for deviation where the case merits, depending on the performance of individual officers. We continue to study alternative systems of performance management so that we can ensure our system remains relevant and effective as our operating landscape changes.

Source: Hansard (Parliament of Singapore)

Louis asked the Prime Minister whether the Government intends to abolish the use of Current Estimated Potential (CEP) within the Civil Service.

Mr Chan Chun Sing (for the Prime Minister): The Civil Service adopts the concept of Currently Estimated Potential (CEP) as a proxy of an officer’s potential. It is expressed in terms of the largest job responsibility level an officer is assessed to be capable of undertaking in his or her career in the Public Service. Today, it is used as a long-term talent development and succession planning tool for key leadership positions and a career management tool for progressing and developing officers.

Last year, the Civil Service embarked on a review of the CEP system, as part of a proactive review of its Human Resource (HR) systems and policies, to support Public Sector Transformation. We concluded that while CEP is still a useful tool to identify and develop officers with leadership potential, we need to adapt its application in a few ways.

First, we need to refresh what qualifies as having high CEP, or “leadership potential”. The set of leadership competencies has been refreshed to be more holistic. For instance, leaders must have the cognitive ability but also be able to build systems for the future, lead people well and have a good sense of the ground. These qualities will be consistently observed through job rotations as well as through new channels such as 360 feedback.

Second, we will use CEP more lightly in our HR decisions. It is a means of identifying those with leadership potential for early development but will no longer be the single most important determinant of career development and progression. We will place greater weight on assessing officers’ demonstrated skills and competencies as part of performance management, progression, and talent identification and management.

Third, we will place more emphasis on helping individuals identify their potential and career goals within the short to medium term of three to five years, and work with them on achieving these goals. The Public Service has started to expand training, job rotations and career coaching as we expect that as our operating landscape changes, the CEP of our officers will keep changing. What is important is to create the best conditions, for our officers to discover their passion and talents and to maximise their full potential.

Source: Hansard (Parliament of Singapore)