THE Mandaue City Government has started “right-sizing” City Hall employees as officials plan to either eliminate or retrain non-performing workers.
City Administrator Jamaal James Calipayan said on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024, some City Hall departments have started to comply with their Individual Performance Commitment and Review (IPCPR) forms since December as part of their annual employee evaluation and right-sizing.
“If you say it’s right-sizing, you don’t need to downsize nor upsize but try to fit in the employees where they are actually fit,” Calipayan explained.
“In fact, last year, we abolished positions that haven’t been filled up for a long time because it has been created a long time ago, like 30 years ago, and it’s not applicable now. We also create positions that the departments need to fill,” added Calipayan.
In business, right-sizing is restructuring a company to gain a profit more efficiently and meet updated business objectives. Organizations usually right-size their businesses by reducing workforce, reorganizing upper management, cutting costs, and changing job roles.
The IPCR, as defined by the Civil Service Commission, refers to the performance management tool required to be submitted by an employee every semester, which contains his commitments to attain office goals and objectives, and accomplishments at the end of the rating period.
Calipayan said all IPCR forms will be screened and evaluated by the department heads and the city human resource department. There would also be a separate evaluation of their work performance, including public complaints received and drug test results.
Job order employees
As of Jan. 4, the City Government had around 3,200 job order (JO) and 900 regular employees.
A dissatisfactory rating in the evaluation for employees would mean a non-renewal of contracts for JOs and reassignment and retraining for regular workers, Calipayan said.
He said around five JO workers were unable to renew their contracts upon testing positive for illegal drugs and refusing to undergo the City’s rehabilitation program during last year’s employee performance evaluation.
“We don’t have a specific number, we don’t have a target, we have enough budget for the existing JO; so budget wise, we can maintain the existing employees. The only thing we really want is that we will not also harbor and continue to maintain employees who are not able to help the city,” he said in a mix of Cebuano and English.
Mandaue City Hall employees were asked to submit an updated personal data sheet to update their ongoing human resource information system development and help speed up the payroll.
Calipayan said they also asked barangay officials to refrain from hiring more city-paid employees; but instead, follow their quota which is a maximum of 10 to 20 JOs.
Calipayan advised officials to prioritize hiring employees for vital services such as those for solid waste management and frontline services.