Kenya: Civil Servants to earn Bonuses based on Productivity

The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) has established a new framework aimed at recognizing productivity and performance in the Civil Service, leading to public servants earning bonuses after hitting targets in a government effort to boost productivity.

Under the new framework, public institutions will need to achieve at least 101 percent of the annual performance ratings to qualify for bonuses. Commercial and revenue-generating State corporations will also be obligated to demonstrate cost efficiency and growth in revenue and profit.

Individual employees who achieve a performance rating of at least 101 percent will also qualify for bonuses, which will be set by the SRC, provided that the institutions employing them beat the target as well.

The bonuses will be prorated based on corporate score and will be anchored on the basic salary of the State and other public officers, as well as the wages of accounting officers in the case of board members.

Productivity metrics will include measures such as quality, cost-effectiveness, and time taken in the delivery of services.

SRC Chairperson, Lyn Mengich, stated that the productivity bonuses will mark a turning point in efforts to trim the wage bill by focusing on expanding productivity.

“The wage bill has two elements to it, one is about revenue. The higher the revenue, the lower your wage bill-to-revenue ratio. That’s the target. We think it is a more sustainable route to reducing the wage bill,” Mengich stated.

The next performance contracting guidelines are expected to include productivity as one of the requirements.

Public entities will be required to set out productivity measures and have them evaluated by the SRC, after which the institutions and their staff will qualify for the bonuses.

This move by the government aims to incentivize increased productivity among civil servants and promote efficiency in the public sector.