ISLAMABAD: The management at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) is trying a new approach to improve staff performance based on rewarding employees for performing well rather than penalising underperformance.

Pims Vice Chancellor (VC) Dr Khaleeq uz Zaman on Saturday visited different departments around 8 am and instructed every staff member who was present to write their name and signature on a piece of paper. He collected these pieces of paper and left.

“The VC continued to do rounds of wards and outpatient departments until 9:30 am. We thought that he would take strict action against those who were not present,” a Pims official told Dawn.

He said that a number of doctors, paramedics and other members of staff are routinely late in the morning as there is no check on them by management.

“People who were late were worried all day. There were rumors that they might get suspended or transferred to other departments,” he said.

“Finally, at 1pm the VC office asked all the supervisors of all departments to come for a meeting. This caused panic among those who were late,” he added.

However, during the meeting, the supervisors were instructed by the VC to issue appreciation letters to those were present at the time of the VC’s visit.

The supervisors were asked to ignore those who were absent or late and not penalise them.

“Although this was good news for those who come late but people were confused by this new approach,” he said.

Underperformance will no longer be penalised, instead good performance will be rewarded.

When contacted Dr Khaleeq uz Zaman told Dawn that in the past action has been taken against those who underperform but this has not improved overall staff performance.

“I have decided to start rewarding those who are punctual and perform well. Not only appreciation letters would be issued to punctual employees but promotions and other incentives would also be given,” he said.

Dr Khaleeq, who is also head of the administrative committee of Pims, said that he would not take action against those who have failed to deliver. However, they will be completely ignored.

“They will not be promoted or given bonuses. I believe that this policy will be successful because those who work hard will no longer feel like they are not rewarded and they will be encouraged to keep working hard,” he said.

The VC said that he is aware of the problems at Pims and hopes that issues like cleanliness at the wards and punctuality of staff can be improved through this new policy.

Published in Dawn January 18th , 2015

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