United Nations Public Service Awards Case Studies

The Role of Ministry of Civil Service is to assure the compliance of Civil Service law in all its 39 ministerial organisations. Most of the Human Resource (HR) transactions for all these ministries must be approved by the Ministry of Civil Service (MoCS). Traditionally, these transactions and procedures were either carried out manually or incorporated to a legacy system implemented in 1986 at the Ministry of Finance. This system, however, was focused primarily in payroll rather than HR. As most of the transactions were done manually, it took a long time for approval and retrieval of information.

A feasibility study was done by the World bank in 1995. This study indicated that it was crucial to realize that MoCS as it was operated then was severely crippled to manage the present and plan for the future. This situation had already cost the government considerably and resulted in wasted money and effort and it would continue to do so unless the problem was addressed immediately.

In addition, without a unified database to support the decision making process, administering HR transactions for 39 organisations was tedious, time consuming and laborious tasks. This resulted in a lot of paper work done within each unit and between units under the Ministry of Civil Service. This translated to a lot of money spent by the government and large manpower resources required to support the manual system. Erroneous records common with manual record keepings often caused considerable delay and inefficiency which resulted in unpleasant communication and poor human resource planning.

What is the initiative about? (the solution)
The computer-based Human Resources Management System (HRMS) helped the HR departments in all civil service units to administer and manage all HR transactions electronically. The electronic workflow within HR departments and with MoCS saved the government time and money. It also helped the decision makers to evaluate the current transactions and re-engineer the workflows. Furthermore, it improved the service provided the HR departments. The Unified HR database helped the 39 units to get online information, reports and statistics that will help them to make the right decisions, at the right time and future planning. Validations done by the system have reduced the mistakes in all HR transactions. The system reduced the cost and time in paper transactions between MoCS and other units. MoCS and other units used to spend lots of time and efforts in manual letter writing for approvals in all HR transactions. Monitoring such approvals were also time-consuming and labour intensive. With the electronic system, there is no longer a need to prepare the document manually and hand delivered those documents. Hence, the cost spent in vehicles and manpower to deliver these letters were saved. Currently, the system is only available online via the intranet in MoCS and all the 39 Organisations. With plans to upgrade the HRMS to make it web enabled, the system will be available anytime anywhere. Once that is in placed, all civil service employees can access their personal data and update their address, phone numbers, apply for leave, and perform other services online through Self Service portal provided by HRMS. HRMS will also interface with the National Manpower System, Pension System and Civil Registration System for Government to Government (G2G) transactions. For Government to Consumers (G2C) transactions, users can access the online Application for jobs and for the Government to Enterprise (G2E) transaction; Enterprises can assess a wide range of services through the Self Service portal. In this way there will be a seamless integration of services across the different level of society and organisations cutting time and cost for each transaction.

Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
A Feasibility Study was done by the World Bank in 1995 highlighting the need to have HRMS system for all civil service units. It was suggested that the Ministry of Civil Service is the owner of the project. In 1998, a high level requirement analysis was done by Booz-Allen and Hamilton. All HR departments were involved in the requirements gathering. The analysis also defined the current transactions, processes, suggested reengineering of these processes and provided choices of available solutions in market. In 2001, MoCS selected a ready made package from Oracle (Human Resources Management System) as the basis of the HRMS. This application was selected because it satisfy most of the MoCS requirements, easy to manage, maintain and operate, it also incorporate new technology with HR best practises and processes worldwide. Arthur Anderson evaluated the proposals and recommended the solution. The implementation started in 2001 by a local company called (OHI). The deployment started in 2003 gradually to all units. Current, the HRMS have been deployed to 38 units successfully. Project owner and manager are from MoCS.

Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
a. What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
Involvement of HR departments in requirements gathering and testing the new system is the key success factor in implementing the HRMS. These departments are the main users of the HRMS, so their involvement right from the beginning enable gradual buy in from the users. Once the buy-in is obtained from the main users, it is much easier to implement the system down the line. A Steering Committee headed by the Minister of Civil Service was formed which provided the support to make the right decisions throughout the implementation period. There were a project manager and a project leader who managed the implementation and updated the steering committee with the project progress and suggested changes. Training the trainers were one of the strategies used by MoCS to provide trainers that will be the first line of help desk in each units. These trainers within the units are the champions of the application. It is easier for them to teach their own colleague, interact and transfer knowledge to them than an external trainer.

b. What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
The project started in 1995 with the feasibility study done by the World Bank. In 1998-1999 a high level requirement analysis was done by Booz-Allen and Hamilton. In 2000-2001 the project was tendered out. Evaluation of proposal were done with the help of Arthur and Anderson Company. In 2001, OHI started the implementation of Oracle HRMS. Due to the difficulties faced to interface with the payroll system in Ministry of Finance, the government decided to give MoCS the responsibility of implementing a new payroll system. In 2002, MoCS implemented the payroll system. In 2003, the HRMS deployment started gradually for 38 units.

c. What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
Resistance to change was the biggest obstacle that we faced. Traditionally, HR departments from the respective organisations were dealing with practices that were inherited since the issue of Civil Service Law in 1980. Therefore, it was difficult to gather the requirements and workflows used from these departments. Introducing a new technology with electronic workflows in an environment that were dealing with a lot of paperwork, manual labour and non-IT savvy environment posed another big challenge. We had to create awareness on the need to streamline the business processes, change the users’ and stakeholders’ mindset and managed their expectations. Through gradually and carefully planned implementation, we assisted the HR departments to perform their tasks effectively and efficiently. These are the main critical success factor for our project. In doing so, these departments can carry out effective manpower planning and manage other functions pertaining to human resource management. The gradual deployment of the system and the awareness campaign focussing on the benefits provided by the new system became the catalyst for other HR departments to send their staff for IT skills training so as to optimise the use of the electronic HR Management System. Overtime these units as users were able to provide useful feedback to improve the system further.

d. What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
Key functional users from MoCS and each of the 38 units were organized to provide the required information and contribute in testing the system throughout all stages. Other departments from MoCS were also involved in evaluating the requirements gathered from units and give the legal approvals. Top management gave a great support of implementing the system in all units and provided the right decisions when needed. The Steering Committee headed by the Minister of Civil Service provided the leadership in all stages of the project. The Technical team from MoCS IT department lead and manage the project. They prepared the functional requirement and prepared the technical implementation plan. The total cost of implementing the HRMS was 1 million Omani Rials.

Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
The decision of choosing a ready made package for HRMS from Oracle was done after careful study. The great concern was to have a system that is widely used by leading organisations in the world. This will ensure continuity and sustainability in terms of product lifecycle and support. Another requirement is the support of Arabic users, and good after sales and post implementation support locally and in the region. The system caters to high degree of scalability and interoperability. Oracle, having a large install base, provides extensive experiences and integration with different applications.

What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
In the process, we have discovered that there are many elements in ensuring a successful implementation and introduction of a new technology to an organisation. Some of them are: • Involving users in all development phases is a very successful factor. • Tapping on the knowledge of experts is very important to take the right decision. • Involving top management and get their buy-in is important in the support the continuity of the project. • Postponing deployment does not mean failure as it is better to do it right the first time rather then rushing for hasty deployment. • Restructuring and simplifying process is sometimes necessary rather then sticking to the old way of working. • No man is an island; to progress and improve will involve becoming part of an integrated system. For example E-Government initiative will bring the different Ministries and agencies together in providing effect and efficient services.


Institution Name:		Ministry Of Civil Service
Institution Type:		Government Agency
Contact Person:		Nouman Al Madhary
Title:		HRMS
Telephone/ Fax:
Institution's / Project's Website:
E-mail:		nouman@mocs.gov.om
Address:
Postal Code:
City:
State/Province:
Country:		Oman

The Problem

Solution and Key Benefits

Actors and Stakeholders

(a) Strategies

(b) Implementation

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

(d) Use of Resources

Sustainability and Transferability

Lessons Learned

Contact Information