Govt wants transparent hiring process
PHOTO: FILE
The government has decided to hire chief executive officers (CEOs) in key public sector enterprises (PSEs) by ensuring transparency in the appointment process.
Earlier, the government had been hiring heads of major PSEs mainly through headhunting firms.
The cabinet, in a recent meeting, took up a summary titled “Selection of procedure for chief executives in key public sector enterprises”, submitted by the Establishment Division, and said the ministry or division concerned should ensure transparency.
It decided that ministries and divisions would first advertise the post and in case no suitable candidate was found the matter may be placed before the Cabinet Committee on Institutional Reforms (CCIR) for allowing, or not, the recruitment through headhunting firms.
The cabinet directed that the Establishment Division would explore the possibility of selecting a panel of headhunting firms, whose services would be utilised by the ministries and divisions, instead of engagement of a separate headhunting firm in every single case, to save time and cost.
The Cabinet Division pointed out in the meeting that the summary submitted by the Establishment Division had been circulated in terms of Rule 17(1)(b) of the Rules of Business 1973 among 28 federal ministers for recording their opinion and subsequent return to the Cabinet Division.
Eighteen cabinet members endorsed the proposal, replies from eight members were not received within the stipulated time whereas two ministers - minister for human rights and minister for planning and development - raised observations. The summary was subsequently sent to the prime minister for approval.
Keeping in view the observations of the cabinet members, the prime minister desired that the case may be placed before the cabinet in terms of Rule 19(3) of the Rules of Business 1973.
During discussion, there was difference of opinion amongst the cabinet members as to whether hiring through open advertisements and headhunting firms should be mutually exclusive or simultaneous.
Some members were of the view that there was no need for open advertisements if the option of hiring through headhunting firms was adopted. It was pointed out that the simultaneous exercise of the options would give rise to litigation.
Another point of view was that opting exclusively for headhunting would compromise transparency and deny equal opportunity, which in turn could lay the ground for the process to be challenged in courts.
A suggestion was made that the suitable candidates identified through headhunting could be encouraged to apply through open advertisements.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 24th, 2020.
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