The Selangor Select Committee on Local Government will look into MBPJ’s decision, made through a full board meeting resolution, that MBPJ council staff across the board will be receiving bonuses equaling to their 3 months salary.
The Select Committee comprises of 7 assemblymen, chaired by YB Dr Idris Ahmad, State Assemblyman for Ijok and others, including myself and one representative from UMNO.
While I am not against bonuses as a means of rewarding and/or incentivizing council staff, it should be done together with a stringent and transparent assessment of their performance and KPIs.
An essential element that has be taken into account before such incentives are given out, is the public perception of the performance of the council, and by extension, the officers. While MBPJ may be one of the better performing local councils in Malaysia by the Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Ministry’s bi-annual rating, much still needs to be done for it to further improve.
Among the items that the Select Committee will have to look into, would be the mechanisms on which the employee evaluations are done, and how is it that over 90% of the employees in MBPJ have scored so well, to be rated above 80%. This will also include the necessary check and balances to ensure that favoritism does not become the key-determining factor in the evaluation, but true performance.
There has to also be analysis as to how the aspirations of MBPJ as well as other local councils to further improve itself is translated into the right KPI’s for its employees. We also need to take into account the financial position of all 12 local councils within Selangor, so that the rewarding mechanism is to some extend consistent, not to dishearten the employees in councils with lower revenue.
Only then can MBPJ and other local councils reward those who have been truly performing well and above their duty.