The Public Service Commission (P.S.C.) with the assistance of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime plans to roll out its first Public Sector Staff Engagement Survey this month.

While there have been undertakings of this nature before, they were mostly on a smaller scale, the Commission said in a media release that was issued recently.

The Commission said this will be the first whole-of-government survey since the reforms of the 1990s, and it is considered a critical piece of work under the public administration sector, as it will help identify areas where Government could do better in engaging and motivating public servants.

The P.S.C. Chairperson, Lauano Vaosa Epa, highlighted the importance of this work at a meeting of human resource management focal points in Government Ministries last Wednesday. 

"The survey aims to collect data to assist the Government in identifying ways to empower public servants and increase productivity across the board," the Commission's statement reads.

"Further, it will inform strategies to foster and ignite a 'spirit of service' to strengthen service delivery, as well as develop new standards on how to do evidence - driven human resource management in Samoa and other Pacific Island countries."

The Commission plans to mobilise key personnel in Government agencies to ensure that the survey findings will be succinct, informed and targeted. 

"The P.S.C. and the UNODC believe that the finishing product is not the survey itself, but the interventions that will be developed and implemented at a later stage."

Chairperson Lauano noted that this work will contribute to the realisation of the long-term outcome of the public administration sector to have a trusted, citizen-focused public administration.