Georgia to Introduce Performance Appraisal System in Civil Service

The best models of performance appraisal in civil service were discussed at a workshop on November 8, attended by over 60 Georgian government officials and representatives of international organizations. The event is part of the preparations for introducing a performance appraisal system in Georgia’s civil service starting from January 1, 2018.

Ekaterina Kardava, Head of the Civil Service Bureau, Revaz Javelidze, First Deputy Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs of Georgia, and George Khanishvili, Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Georgia, addressed the participants at an opening session.

“An effective system of performance appraisal is critical for ensuring that civil servants have opportunities for career growth and professional development,” Kardava said.

She also stressed that performance appraisal is one of the requirements of Georgia’s Law on Civil Service and the Government’s Decree on the Approval of Rule and Conditions of Civil Servants’ Performance Appraisal.

The establishment of an effective performance appraisal system in civil service is part of the ongoing Public Administration Reform (PAR) in Georgia, which aims to promote effective, transparent and accountable public administration as a backbone of an open and responsive government.

The reform is supported by the UK aid from the UK Government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in partnership with the Administration of the Government of Georgia, Civil Service Bureau, six Georgian ministries and public agencies.

Speaking at the workshop, Gigi Bregadze, Democratic Governance Team Leader at UNDP in Georgia, underlined that professional civil service is one of the vital preconditions for the success of the reform.

“We assist the development of a professional civil service recruited and trained to unified standards. Through introducing sound mechanisms, civil service will be able to protect itself against malpractice and arbitrary decisions, and civil servants will be afforded with uniform training and skills they need to do their job and opportunities to grow professionally,” Gigi Bregadze said.

The assistance to the Public Administration and Civil Service reforms in Georgia was launched in 2016 and will continue until 2020.