The Permanent Secretary of the State House in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, Tijani Umar says accountability is the key to success and good stewardship for all employees.
He made the declaration in Abuja, at the official launch of the Revised State House Service Compact (SERVIICOM) Chatter and presentation of awards to deserving Staff of the State House.
Addressing the gathering, Umar said all personnel must be accountable in their work place, adding that being accountable is an important behaviour that must be imbibed at all times, in order to achieve more.
He used the opportunity to commend the SERVICOM unit of the State House for ensuring proper service delivery in all departments of the seat of power.
“I want to thank the SERVICOM leadership in the State House for keeping the flag flying and maintaining the tempo of activities by keeping everyone on his toes, to ensure that there is accountability.
“Accountability is not about punishment, it is not about accusing you of not doing what you ought to do. Accountability is about understanding that you are delivering services and that people can call you to say ‘thank you very much, you have done this very well and consistently too.’ That is what I understand by accountability,” The Permanent Secretary said.
He however agreed that there is difficulty in ensuring adequate delivery of service at all times but urged workers to be determined to deliver on their tasks or mandates.
“Day in and day out, putting yourself out there in person trying to ensure that service is delivered adequately and promptly, is the most difficult part of service delivery,” he added.
While launching the revised SERVICOM Chatter, the Permanent Secretary described it as the operational roadmap for the Management and Staff of the State House.
“The SERVICOM Chatter is a set of commitments that communicate the willingness of management to deliver. In other words, this is our roadmap. These are the things we want to do because people can read and also hold us accountable,” he stated.
Umar also said the document would continue to be revised periodically so as to fine-tune it in line with current realities.
Awards
Addressing the 18 recipients of the SERVICOM Award for 2022 Staff performance, the Permanent Secretary urged them to continue to put in their best, having been identified as hardworking in their various departments and units.
“I am very happy because the SERVICOM programme in the State House is still active and alive and has been able to identify people delivering good services in the different service windows. This is a fair representation of the variety of windows that we have in the State House,” he said.
While advocating the sustenance of a reward system in all workplaces, the National Coordinator of SERVICOM, Mrs Nnenna Akajemeli, identified employee appreciation as a fundamental human need.
“Awards are a good way to encourage Staff to put in their best. It improves productivity, evokes friendly competition, motivates Staff to deliver service more effectively to serve all customers right,” she said.
Commenting on the SERVICOM Chatter that was launched, Mrs Akajemedi, who was represented on the occasion, said the document was very relevant for the improvement of services in the seat of power.
“The service chatter is a strategic document that communicates promises and commitments of services provided by an organization to its customers. For example, timeline for resolving conflicts and standards for services rendered by the State House.
“It is therefore, eminent that the centrality and implication of service chatter in the service delivery chain cannot be overemphasized and its relevance is better imagined than expressed,” she said.
Welcoming guests earlier, the Nodal Officer, State House SERVICOM, Shettima Gaji, said the SERVICOM Chatter was revised in order to effectively execute the best SERVICOM-compliant departments in the State House.
He said the award recipients were carefully chosen on merit, based on their work schedules and performance.
Among the awardees were a Deputy Director (Audit), Mr Tope Atteh of the Internal Audit department, Moses Peter of the Media department and Sarah Umoh of the Catering department, all in the State House.
The recipients expressed delight that their services were recognized. They said the award will spur them to double their efforts as they continue to serve the nation in their own little way.
PIAK
