The appointment of five new Turks and Caicos Islands’ Government Permanent Secretaries (PSs) was ratified by His Excellency Governor Ric Todd on Monday, 9 Jan 2012.
This is a vital strategic step towards restructuring and improving the delivery of public services to the people of TCI: one of the first tasks for the new PSs is to play a key role in the creation of five new larger ministries as Government reorganizes from the present nine ministries.
Following a fair, objective and transparent process the following persons have been appointed by the Governor as the strongest candidates when assessed against the published requirements (listed in alphabetic order by last name):
* Judith Campbell
* Wesley Clerveaux
* Clara Gardiner
* Susan Malcolm
* Anya Williams
His Excellency Governor Ric Todd said:- QUOTE “This is fantastic news as we begin what will be a momentous year for the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Reform of the public sector is one of the eight milestones that will allow UK ministers to determine if elections are held here in 2012.
“The appointment of these five individuals, and the central role that they will be playing in Civil Society here in the Islands, is a key step on the journey that will allow public services to be reformed and to focus more on what everyone here tells me are their priorities – education, health, infrastructure and the economy.
“I am hopeful that by clarifying the process used for the selection process, it will scotch the mischievous, politically motivated rumours that the Interim Administration had a pre-determined result in mind: I am confident that the process was open, objective and transparent,” END QUOTE
New TCI Government Chief Executive Patrick Boyle, one of the interview panel members added:- QUOTE “I was extremely impressed by the standard and professionalism of the final ten candidates who played their part in the selection process. They can all feel justifiably proud of their personal commitment to outstanding public service.
“I spoke to all ten of the candidates over the weekend, both successful and unsuccessful, and relayed just how impressed I was with each of them.
I have offered a meeting to the five unsuccessful candidates to determine how we may can continue to make use of their competence and experience for the greater good of the TCI. And, of course, I will be working hard with Judith, Wesley, Clara, Susan and Anya to continue to transform our Government services for the
better,” END QUOTE.
Providing a summary of the recruitment process for the new Permanent Secretary posts, Governors Spokes-person Neil Smith noted:-
* The appointments were advertised on 10 November 2011 on the TCI Government website and in TCI’s three local newspapers with a closing date
of Sunday 27th November 2011. Thirty-three candidates applied, one of whom was not a Belonger and so was in-eligible.
* The selection panel met on 8 December 2011 to consider the applications, reviewing them against the experiential requirements and competences published in the candidate specification.
* Twelve applicants were selected for the short list based on the strength of their applications. On the evidence of their applications, the remaining applicants were not considered by the panel to be a strong enough fit against the required profile and were informed that they had been unsuccessful.
* The shortlisted applicants were called for interview over the period 4, 5 and 6 January 2012. Two applicants withdrew for personal reasons ahead of the interviews so the panel ultimately interviewed ten candidates for the appointments.
* Prior to the interviews, candidates were asked to complete online psychometric tests and exercises. These comprised a motivation questionnaire, the results of which were made available to the panel ahead of the interviews to guide their questioning, and a battery of reasoning tests (verbal, numeric and inductive reasoning). Performance in reasoning tests has been shown to correlate well with performance in other senior government appointments but the test results were used only to confirm the outcome of the interviews and were made available to panel members only after they had recorded their post-interview ratings. No candidate was
selected or deselected only on the basis of psychometric tests.
* Candidates were asked to nominate two personal referees, and these references were taken up ahead of the interviews, with referee comments being made available to panel members to contribute to their decisions.
The panel comprised:-
* Martin Stanley (outgoing Chief Executive TCIG) – Chairman
* Mr Carl Simmons (Tropical Shipping) – External member
* Ms Sandra Lightbourn (Scotia Bank) – External member
* Mr Patrick Boyle (incoming Chief Executive TCIG) – Member
The panel engaged the supporting services and advice of David Richards (OCT Associates Limited), an executive search consultant experienced in senior civil service appointments in the United Kingdom, including permanent secretary appointments. Mr. Richards provided administrative support and process advice to ensure that the panel followed a fair, objective and transparent process but was not responsible for panel decisions and judgements.
For the interviews, each candidate was asked to prepare and deliver a short presentation to the panel members. Their presentations were followed by two separate interviews with panel members, with questioning based on the published competence requirements. Each panel member individually rated the candidates against these competences using a structured rating form. The panel then discussed these ratings collectively to arrive at an agreed grading for each candidate. Panel
members were unanimous in supporting the final decisions on all candidates.
Panel members recorded their assessments on individual rating sheets for each candidate. The recommendations of the panel are made collectively with the full agreement of all panel members.
