Another ‘best practice’ is the offer of ‘retirement seminars’ for the purpose of counseling prospective retirees The CSS in the Bahamas is exceptional in terms of the emphasis that it places on nonmonetary benefits. The monetary benefits although evidencing internal equity are apparently not comparable to private sector salaries. Professional Development Management The overarching training policy and plan for the Civil Service are being developed. The DPS, in tandem, designs and delivers centrally, a range of “new and innovative training programs that will empower Public Sector leaders and officers to become change agents, think out of the box and to make excellence” a core value of their organizations,(Public Service Centre for Human Resource Development, a Division of the Department of Public Service 2002-2003 Training Brochure page 2). Line agencies are invited to nominate individuals for training. Training is generally based on perceived needs and not necessarily informed by formal training needs analysis, or evaluated to determine costs relative benefits. These aspects of the professional development management subsystem need to be strengthened. Interconnections are evident between this HR subsystem and the employment management subsystem. Individual agencies including the ministries of Health, Education and the Royal Bahamas Police Force, have also established training units that independently provide in-house training or develop strategic partnerships with academic or other agencies to develop their staff. These partnerships are not limited to agencies in-country. The Ministry of Health has established a strategic partnership with an international University, so as to facilitate in-service awards. The existence of career planning/ paths that are linked to specific training regimes and requirements affect incumbents in the administrative, executive and clerical positions in the civil service (DPS CircularNo.21 of 2003). Individual agencies also undertake related programs. In the Ministry of Health there is the Nursing cadet program, in Education a comparable program for teachers. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has developed [in collaboration with the DPS] a foreign service career path that links promotional opportunities to performance and merit and employs an assessment center
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