Five-day work week to require regular performance evaluations

Five-day work week to require regular performance evaluations

JAKARTA (JP): The level of productivity of civil servants
should be evaluated regularly when civil servants go to a five-
day work week next year, a City Council deputy chairman said
yesterday.

"The results of the evaluations could be later used to
determine future provincial administration plans to further
enhance the performance of their employees," H. Ismunandar said.

He said this method could detect and later help adjust weak
points discovered in the working mechanism.

Ismunandar expressed guarded optimism that the decision could
actually reach its intended goal, that is to increase the level
of productivity on the part of civil servants as well as to
tighten the state budget, particularly with regard to the use of
electricity, water and telephone lines.

"I'm pretty sure that the employees will be more physically
fit, feel more fresh and be mentally more prepared when they
start working again on Mondays, having enjoyed two days of rest
on the weekend," he said. "This will subsequently contribute a
great deal to efforts to enhance their working performances and
increase the level of their productivity at work."

Minister of Administrative Reforms TB Silalahi on Tuesday
announced that the plan -- which was designed following a
recommendation by President Soeharto -- will commence nation-wide
on Aug. 17 of next year, Indonesia's 50th independence day.
However, he added, that it will not be put into effect until a
test run has been completed earlier in the year.

But Silalahi said that not all government agencies will
introduce the program, especially those involved in public
services, including civil servants working at airports, harbors
or railways stations.

The minister said in the first phase the offices will
introduce the long weekend program once a month. The frequency
will be gradually increased until civil servants are allowed to
have Saturdays and Sundays off every week.

Support

The decision has been generally hailed with enthusiasm by
various quarters. Most have said each employee will have more
time to engage in activities on Saturdays and Sundays. Efficiency
in social services is also expected to improve and the government
will gain substantial savings on electricity, water and telephone
bills.

"It goes without saying that the program will have a lot of
advantages for both the civil servants and the government alike,"
said Harun Al Rasyid, the secretary of the municipal
administration. "The government has made the right decision."

However, despite all the positive responses to the decision,
reservations about the plan were expressed by several experts.

Prabowo, a member of the Indonesian Institute for Management
Development, is of the opinion that the program will not
significantly improve productivity and efficiency in the
workplace.

"I think reducing the number of work days has very little to
do with productivity," he said.

He said there are other more relevant and effective methods of
increasing productivity that the government could supervise and
change.

He said one of the methods is to raise salaries of civil
servants in order to narrow the wide gap between the earnings of
private business employees and those of civil servants. (bas)