Improving the performance of Bahrain's civil servants will come under spotlight at a two-day conference starting today (April 26).

The event, entitled 'Criteria for an Excellent Performance', will be held at the Diplomat Radisson SAS Hotel, Residence and Spa.

It has been organised by Bahrain Centre for Excellence under the supervision of Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa's adviser Shaikh Hossam bin Isa Al Khalifa.

'This is the centre's second event and we have achieved a lot in raising awareness amongst civil servants, but more has to be done,' said Shaikh Hossam.

'The government is trying its best to provide outstanding services to the public in the fastest manner possible.

'We want to be on par with international developments and this won't happen unless we develop ourselves.

'We have somehow created the mentality of performance competition, but that needs nurturing as we look for creativity, inventiveness and originality.'

Shaikh Hossam said the conference would focus on educating employees on the criteria needed for excellence.

'It will look into ways of building self-assessing employees, who are capable of evaluating their performance themselves rather than we doing it for them,' he said.

'We are aware that this will take time and that is why we have a five-year plan to have employees stand on their own feet in regard to self-assessment.'

Minister of State for Defence Affairs Dr Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, Social Development Minister Dr Fatima Al Balooshi, Education Quality Assurance Authority chief executive Dr Jawaher Al Modahki and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) chief executive Alan Horne have been invited to share their expertise at the conference.

'Developing employees' performance comes in line with Vision 2030 and the aspirations of the Prime Minister who wants a better administration,' said Shaikh Hossam.

'We have regular meetings with the Economic Development Board to come up with studies to end bureaucracy and administrative hurdles.

'We have signed numerous agreements with concerned organisations abroad since establishment in June last year. 'Our aim is not just government bodies, but the private sector also, but we have to start with ourselves first.'

Shaikh Hossam said awards for the best performers would be given to encourage more competition in future.-TradeArabia News Service