Ejada shifts locus of control from others to ourselves
Published: 05:07 PM,Jul 17,2023 | EDITED : 09:07 PM,Jul 17,2023
“As soon as I became Prime Minister I realised that we have an ambitious vision and objectives to achieve; economic growth in addition to improving ease of doing business, healthcare and most significantly education. So to achieve this, I agreed with my cabinet on three team Objectives and Key Results- OKRs: first, performance rewards will depend on both each Minister’s performance in his or her portfolio and, second on the overall cross-functional team performance. Third, credit will be given where credit is due so performance excellence will be publicly recognised and highlighted as a national and career achievement and attributed to the relevant cabinet team member.” This was a part of an insightful conversation with the nation of Georgia’s former Prime Minister Nika Gilauri (2009-2012).
His cabinet’s results are inspiring, including, +8 per cent growth rate, 100 new hospitals built by private sector, and secondary and tertiary education reform. It also improved the nation’s Ease of Doing Business rank in five years from 112th to the 9th.
There are best practices to be shared from this Georgia experience as the Performance Measurement and Institutional Excellence System, known as Ejada, has become one of the most discussed relevant topics for people from every walk of life in Oman.
Individual KPIs
Key Performance Indicators are not a goal on their own right, they serve as a way to remind us of the collective objectives. While there are many previous performance management systems, these types of systems need consistent refreshment and update, just like the apps in our phones, to improve performance. For example, where previous management systems were right, top-down job description dependent forms, Ejada system is participatory and invites team members to set their own KPIs with their line managers. The significance of this improvements is that it shifts the locus of control from “others” to “ourselves”, which is important in limiting any tendency to blame others instead of thinking and acting as critical thinkers and problem-solvers.
Team KPIs
Teamwork is easier said than done, everyone talks about it and all institutions write in their values, and a few leaders are actually able to make it happen. Challenges to teamwork include but are not limited to our tendency to envy and be self-centred since the dawn of time and the time of our ancestors Cain and Able. This self- centredness combined with connectivity through 24/7 technology and social media is negatively impacting our empathy and teamwork.
While being connected online is helping us communicate faster and get matters done more efficiently it has enabled us to to stay for ours without face-to-face human connections, and has been plagued with famous influencers who succeeded in gaining hundreds of thousands of followers through unusual click-baiting for clout and money, not realising that these unusual behaviours, called trends, nudge significant segment of our communities, especially youth, to adopt superficiality as a habit in dealing with all serious and not-so-serious matters in life. A similar solution to this cross-functional team KPIs such as in the Georgian Cabinets is now being tested in China as a social credit system where all public behaviour is measured; the positive is rewarded and the negative chips away from your public good standing and credit score.
Public Recognition
A few years ago, newspapers reported that a late Arab leader kept a secret government agency called “Anti-Stars Unit”. This unit had only one objective- neutralise anyone with extraordinary public performance, fearing they might develop future ambitions and become competitors. What is the result? A crisis for the nation and a talent shortage that has caused failures in every sector for a generation. For this reason, appropriately giving credit where credit is due ensures social justice and motivation for excellence.
Georgia is a beautiful nation that remind me of the Sultanate of Oman, with proud people who are proud of their national heritage and spirit and stood up for them for millennias, and they also managed to modernise and attract investments with balance. I am hopeful that the brilliant Ejada system will also contribute to the workforce modernisation objectives and key results that we are all looking forward to in Oman Vision 2040.
His cabinet’s results are inspiring, including, +8 per cent growth rate, 100 new hospitals built by private sector, and secondary and tertiary education reform. It also improved the nation’s Ease of Doing Business rank in five years from 112th to the 9th.
There are best practices to be shared from this Georgia experience as the Performance Measurement and Institutional Excellence System, known as Ejada, has become one of the most discussed relevant topics for people from every walk of life in Oman.
Individual KPIs
Key Performance Indicators are not a goal on their own right, they serve as a way to remind us of the collective objectives. While there are many previous performance management systems, these types of systems need consistent refreshment and update, just like the apps in our phones, to improve performance. For example, where previous management systems were right, top-down job description dependent forms, Ejada system is participatory and invites team members to set their own KPIs with their line managers. The significance of this improvements is that it shifts the locus of control from “others” to “ourselves”, which is important in limiting any tendency to blame others instead of thinking and acting as critical thinkers and problem-solvers.
Team KPIs
Teamwork is easier said than done, everyone talks about it and all institutions write in their values, and a few leaders are actually able to make it happen. Challenges to teamwork include but are not limited to our tendency to envy and be self-centred since the dawn of time and the time of our ancestors Cain and Able. This self- centredness combined with connectivity through 24/7 technology and social media is negatively impacting our empathy and teamwork.
While being connected online is helping us communicate faster and get matters done more efficiently it has enabled us to to stay for ours without face-to-face human connections, and has been plagued with famous influencers who succeeded in gaining hundreds of thousands of followers through unusual click-baiting for clout and money, not realising that these unusual behaviours, called trends, nudge significant segment of our communities, especially youth, to adopt superficiality as a habit in dealing with all serious and not-so-serious matters in life. A similar solution to this cross-functional team KPIs such as in the Georgian Cabinets is now being tested in China as a social credit system where all public behaviour is measured; the positive is rewarded and the negative chips away from your public good standing and credit score.
Public Recognition
A few years ago, newspapers reported that a late Arab leader kept a secret government agency called “Anti-Stars Unit”. This unit had only one objective- neutralise anyone with extraordinary public performance, fearing they might develop future ambitions and become competitors. What is the result? A crisis for the nation and a talent shortage that has caused failures in every sector for a generation. For this reason, appropriately giving credit where credit is due ensures social justice and motivation for excellence.
Georgia is a beautiful nation that remind me of the Sultanate of Oman, with proud people who are proud of their national heritage and spirit and stood up for them for millennias, and they also managed to modernise and attract investments with balance. I am hopeful that the brilliant Ejada system will also contribute to the workforce modernisation objectives and key results that we are all looking forward to in Oman Vision 2040.