1Concept note on initiative of Orientation Training for officials atvarious levels in the Ministries/Departments

1. BackgroundTraining Division, Department of Personnel and Training has been conductingInduction Training for the officials at various levels. However this training relatesto the day to day work relating to noting, drafting and other general aspects of thework of the Ministries/Departments. No domain specific knowledge as well asfamiliarity with the Ministries/Departments activities, policies and flag shipprogrammes is provided in the aforesaid Programmes. This is a significant gap,and has bearing on the job performance of the officials newly posted to thevarious ministries/departments of the Government of India. These officials intheir work are called upon to comment on/formulate policies and programmes ofthe Ministry in which they are posted and non familiarity with the domain, clientgroup organisational knowledge and existing programmes and policies becomesa significant handicap.In the aforesaid context Department of Administrative Reforms and PublicGrievances under the Capacity Building for Poverty Reduction programmes,proposes a structured Induction programmes for officials at the time of joining aMinistry/Department on posting/deputation or transfer.

2. Objective of the InitiativeThe goal of the Programme is to help officers joining a Ministry/Department onposting, transfer, deputation to reach the level of performance expected from anexperienced officer in the department quickly. This is expected to help in thefollowing:

The policies/ programmes designed/implemented by the new officers willbe informed by the existing institutional knowledge of the department aswell as an appreciation of the domain , ground realities, organisation'smission, goals, values and philosophy

The new officer will get an appreciation of the culture of theMinistry/Department in which he /she is posted and will help the officerget integrated into the working of the department quickly

By making the learning curve steep, would result in increasing efficiencyand saving in resources for the Government of India.

2 Expectations in terms of ethics, integrity, responsibility, job content etc. ofthe Department from the new officer are clarified upfront.

3. Content of TrainingWhile the actual training will be designed after a Training Needs Analysis, someof the possible contents of the induction training programme may include:

General training relating to the organisation, including values andphilosophy as well as structure and history, citizen charter, organisationoverview and structure, whos is who , housekeeping issues, generaladministration etc.

Appreciation of legal/technical aspects Existing programs/policies of the department Key statistics data

Training Methods to be used will customised as per the TNA and is expected tobe a sub set of the following:

mentoring on the job coaching delegated tasks and projects attending internal briefings and presentations special responsibilities which require obtaining new skills or knowledge or

exposure internet and e-learning visits to the field organisation attachment to project or other teams

4. TimelinesThe training is expected to be of 2-3 weeks including field visit5. Target GroupSection Officer, Under Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Director level officers newlyposted to a Central Government Ministry/Department6. Implementation

Under the initiative, the induction training would be piloted in fiveMinistries/Departments of the Government of India. The pilots would help in

3standardisation of the induction training protocol and design. The design of thetraining and development of training material would be done by ISTM (Instituteof Secretarial Training and Management). ISTM would also provide handholdingsupport to the pilot Ministries/Departments. Once the training design is testedand the efficacy of induction training established, the same can be extended to theremaining Ministries/Departments. However beyond the pilot phase, the cost ofthe induction training would be borne by the respective Ministries/Departments.Making the induction training mandatory will also be explored. The pilotdepartments/ministries to be selected would include those which has a mandatehaving bearing on policies/programmes for the poor.

7. How does the initiative fit into the CBPR ProgrammeOne of the key planks of the CBPR Programme is strengthening of organisationsand processes directly or indirectly related to service delivery. The initiative willprovide reinforcement to the new inductees in a given central governmentMinistry/Department to get integrated and become conversant with its policies,processes and programs. This is expected to substantially improve the on the jobperformance of the new officers and reflect positively in the deliverables. Thisinitiative also conforms to the programme intent of building collaborativerelationships with the Union Line Ministries