Dept Heads, Secretaries-General Face Strict Action For Failing Deep Evaluation

By Samantha Tan Chiew Tieng

PUTRAJAYA, Jan 24 (Bernama) – Department heads and public service leaders, including secretaries-general (KSU) of ministries, who fail the Demerit Performance Evaluation (DEEP) will face disciplinary action, including restrictions on salary increments or promotions, or face being transferred.

Public Service Director-General (KPPA) Tan Sri Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz said DEEP, to be fully implemented this year, aims to be a more progressive and fair system. Unlike the previous annual evaluations, DEEP assesses performance monthly, making it more objective.

Previously, a ministry or department’s performance in budget spending was often affected by a restriction warrant from the Finance Ministry (MOF), which did not always reflect the actual expenditure situation.

Hence, the DEEP evaluation is designed to address issues like delayed development projects that hinder progress and prevent the public from benefiting.

“It assesses project progress monthly and requires department heads to monitor them closely,” Wan Ahmad Dahlan said in an interview today.

He acknowledged monitoring shortcomings that have caused some government projects to fail or miss deadlines.

Under DEEP, a department head may start with a score of 100, but delays in a project could result in a demerit, causing their score to drop to 98. If performance continues to decline, the score could fall further.

However, the system has also introduced remerit points, to restore points for improvements or adherence to governance measures, serving as mitigation for failures.

“If the department head fails to improve, they may not receive their annual increment, be considered for promotion, or remain in their current role. If they cannot meet their responsibilities within a year, a transfer may be necessary,” he said.

The DEEP system also includes feedback from staff, including lower-ranking employees, on department heads' performance.

Launched on Jan 1, DEEP seeks to evaluate civil servants’ performance based on three dimensions namely generic (75 per cent), function (15 per cent) and survey (10 per cent).

The pilot project, which started with 13 ministries, will assess department heads and public service leaders from January to September 2024, in an aim to further improve public service delivery.

-- BERNAMA