Workshop #1

On to the first workshop, which is on “Competency Based Recruitment”. Cathie and Ather (pictured above on the left) are sharing the best practices of the Ontario Public Service around recruitment practices – everything from writing a Job Ad, to preparing for interviews, to the interview itself, screening candidates – basically, how to hire the right person.

We started off with an “official” opening ceremony with formal introductions and remarks from the Rt. Hon. 2nd Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Public Service. (This position would be equivalent to my Minister of Government Services, Minister McMeekin, in the Ontario government.) In his speech, the DPM commented that today, focus needs to be on “Quality at the Gate”, and that members of the Uganda Public Service need to target employees who can add value, not those who are merely seeking value. He spoke of a focus on customer service, of understanding the customer’s needs and expectations, and having enough humility to admit when we do not know the answers and need to learn.

I loved his pattern of speech, the lilting tone that was so sincere and thankful for the partnership between Uganda and Ontario, and how he challenged his people to listen, “cogitate” (great word), and learn. The participants hung on his every word – clearly a popular man.

As I write this, I find the group is fascinating – there are 25 participants, about a third of whom are women, and about a 75/25 split between staff and management in HR functions. It must be close to 30C in this room, and yet most of the group refuse to remove their jackets. They remain extremely interested and engaged – there is no shortage of questions, volunteers for activities, and serious thought (or “cogitation” as the Minister would say) on the issues.

There is excellent discussion, and the participants have no trouble challenging each other and really getting to the heart of the matter. I was concerned at first because there seem to be a lot of sidebar conversations going on, and at times some people don’t seem to be paying attention at all. And yet the next minute those very people are raising their hands, adding to the exercise and really getting in to the work. Clearly, different learning styles work for different people!

I am really interested in the questions they are asking. Many of them focus on how to ensure that candidates are not falsely representing themselves and their qualifications. They also are wary of giving interview candidates “too much” information in case they become “experts” at passing interviews, at screening large pools of applicants, and at appropriate vs. inappropriate selection criteria (such as age). Excellent questions, and not unfamiliar to us. Cathie and Ather are very adept at handling all their comments, and an excellent session is had by all.

Here’s an interesting story. What is your operational definition of “microphones”? In other words, if you asked for microphones for a workshop, what would you supply? Well, we got a massive sound system, complete with speakers, a DJ, and music playing during the workshop right outside the door, complicated wiring, tables set up, and several sound technicians. And, no microphones.

Ah, you have to laugh. You especially have to laugh when it’s 400 degrees in the room, and no matter how many times the AC is turned on, it goes off again within minutes. And then you laugh one last time for the day when you get stuck in The Jam and it takes almost two hours to travel 20km.

Cathie and Michael and I were trying to think how to best articulate a description of The Jam. It's not just like a bad day on a Friday before a long weekend on the 401 in Toronto. It's much much more - try to picture half a dozen or so roads merging into one and then branching off again into a different half a dozen roads. Then picture no traffic lanes. Well, there are lanes, but no one pays attention to them. (I asked my driver why 3 cars were side-by-side in 2 lanes, and he said it was necessary to get anywhere, otherwise it's "too slow". I'm sorry, I just can't imagine it being any slower.) There are also only about 5 (literally) traffic lights in the city, and they are ignored if a traffic warden or police officer is present. Then all bets are off and you just race through and hope they don't mind. There are boda-bodas going every direction in every lane, across lanes, the wrong way through lanes, on the sidewalks and up the medians. There are buses and taxis and trucks and beat up cars and polished Mercedes - all inching, bit by bit, up the street. Speeding is NOT a problem during The Jam, and yet we narrowly missed hitting a boda-boda at one point. I guess when the Travel Clinic folks warned me that car accidents are the #1 cause of death in Uganda, they weren't kidding!

Oh and the people! Jaywalking is too tame a word for what goes on! A little boy crossed the street quite calmly with cardboard trays of eggs on his head. A woman and a little girl walked right in front of on-coming vans, a man in a business suit wove his way in and out of the cars and boda-bodas, and a man selling posters of the alphabet (A is for Axe here, not Apple) plastered his wares against our window.

And all of this is happening all at once in all directions. I wish I could describe it better! I almost called it organized chaos, but it's not organized at all. Oh my kingdom for a video camera! Apparently there are some clips on YouTube if you search Kampala and traffic. I also got one photo - this doesn't capture it, but it's a start... all the boda-bodas below are going ACROSS the traffic. Sheesh.

Thankfully we made it to the hotel and checked into our lovely new surroundings. What a gorgeous hotel this is - again, an oasis in a chaotic city! I will enjoy listening to the frogs in the garden as I review my material for tomorrow and then have a good sleep.

With a wake up call I hope.