The Federal Authority for Government Human Resources (FAHR) announced that it has made some fundamental amendments to the electronic strategic manpower planning system in the Federal Government, launched in 2015. The amendment was made to suit the requirements of the stage, the current circumstances dominating the world due to the outbreak of Coronavirus pandemic, and so that federal entities can now determine their vital jobs according to approved standards.
In this regard, HE Laila Obaid Al Suwaidi, Executive Director of Programs and HR Planning Sector at the Authority, explained that the Authority recently held a virtual workshop using live broadcast technology, which was followed by 50 human resources officials in ministries and federal entities. Participants in the virtual session were introduced to the most important updates that the Authority made on the electronic strategic manpower planning in the Federal Government.
HE said: “The updates come in line with the Authority’s directives issued last April, for all ministries and federal entities to identify their vital jobs. Federal entities were also required to ensure continuation of their employees to provide essential services through technical and electronic means, taking into account health and safety standards during working remotely, or at workplaces, especially in light of emergency conditions due to the outbreak of COVID-19 disease.
The vital jobs are the jobs that have political, economic, social, health or environmental importance, as decided by the head of the federal entity after coordination with the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources. These jobs must be identified based on certain criteria, including: the importance of a job in emergency circumstances and its relevance to the entity’s basic tasks, the possibility of performing the job remotely, and the the job’s impact on business continuity in the federal entity in emergency circumstances.
Laila Al Suwaidi further explained: “The electronic system provides human resources officials in federal ministries and entities with a set of reports related to their vital jobs, such as reports on the skills of current employees and the skills required for filling a vacancy, as well as a screen for the future planning of the entity, through which the entity can include analytical data over a period of ten years. The system also reads these data and provides an integrated analysis on growth factors, factors affecting productivity, and external impacts on jobs in the sector concerned with the labor market.”
She added: “The system will contribute to the effective planning of human capital in the long term, as it acts as an important component of institutional excellence, which is human resource planning. It also facilitates adjusting job budgets according to systematic and accurate electronic bases, and determining future expectations of vital jobs, skills and competencies, which improves the recruitment process, evaluates the performance of employees and develops their skills and competencies.”
She confirmed that the system ensures that decisions related to strategic man power planning in the Federal Government are based on facts and data instead of undocumented expectations and assumptions, as the system allows federal entities to obtain a more comprehensive view of their workforce and proper planning for the future, according to approved standards.