Sir Peter Kenilorea, speaker of Parliament, describes and evaluates recent efforts to rebuild the Solomon Islands public service, which was near collapse when external intervention ended five years of civil unrest in 2003.  Kenilorea gives a detailed account of his own efforts, together with Taeasi Sanga, clerk of Parliament, and a United Nations Development Programme adviser, Warren Cahill, to strengthen the Parliament Secretariat.  By hiring and training a cohort of recent graduates, Kenilorea and Sanga largely avoided the absenteeism and patronage problems that plagued other parts of the Solomon Islands government.

Case Study:  Starting from Scratch in Recruitment and Training: Solomon Islands, 2004-2009

Lisa Cleary talks about the role of the Public Service Improvement Program and her role as human resource adviser to develop a human resource strategy for the Solomon Islands.  First, she conducted a human resource survey across every ministry in order to develop a baseline for future work the PSIP would do to put a new payroll system in place.  Then she mapped workforce budgeting to prepare a strategic plan to change the way people are recruited and hired in the workforce and to develop a collective bargaining agreement.  She talks about problems such as patronage appointments, the length of time between recruitment and processing an appointment, the inequities in salary structure, the problems in service delivery and the problem of accelerated promotions.  She also talks about devising an administrative procedure toolkit for civil service positions as a way to achieve change in the processes to make them transparent and fair.

Case Study:  Starting from Scratch in Recruitment and Training: Solomon Islands, 2004-2009

Ellam Tangirongo talks about the period of civil unrest from 1999 to 2000, when the collapse of the economy in the Solomon Islands affected the ability of the civil service to function.  The Regional Assistance Mission for the Solomon Islands (RAMSI), made up of Australia, New Zealand and some of the South Pacific Islands, helped restore order and reestablished the public service.  Tangirongo describes how, as part of RAMSI, the Public Service Improvement Program (PSIP), with the help of consultants and advisers, developed a vision and mission statement for a new public service free of corruption.  Tangirongo talks about methods the PSIP used to establish a human resource program to improve practices involving recruitment, training, equipment and promotions at the national and provincial level.  He discusses the problems that result when ministers try to influence the choice of members on the Civil Service Commission and the important task of the commission in serving as a coordinating organ to involve the ministries and senior officers.