Sir, – As a former civil servant and an unwilling participant in PMDS (performance management development system) I am amazed to find the Government has only discovered now that it has been a failure (Front page, April 11th). I and many other civil servants could have told the minister that 10 years ago.
PMDS was a controlling system rather than a management system; a system which purported to develop but instead caused individual development, initiative and innovation to stagnate. It focused staff on not upsetting their “superior officer” for fear of not getting the magic number three or higher so that promotion was possible in the future. Two working days were allocated to sitting with one’s “superior officer” filling out a form which listed the work done and how it was done. Upward feedback was “encouraged” particularly if you did not want promotion! Needless to say “superior officers” were wonderful. They were instructed not to award a 5 to a civil servant except in very exceptional circumstances. The forms were filled, signed and countersigned, many copies made and then forgotten about until we had to repeat the exercise all over again the following year. – Yours, etc,