The man working at the elderly people’s home has no patience. The lady at the orphanage cannot stand children. The person at the prison has absolutely no problem-solving skills. The younger woman at the blind institute has no background in working with the blind. The older woman at the children’s Down syndrome center does not know how to deal with such kids. The lady working at the women’s shelter already suffers from her own problems. The younger man in uniform at the airport arrivals section probably finds it against the laws of human rights to smile.
The reason, you ask? Too often in the Kurdistan Region, the wrong person is in the wrong position.
All of the above positions are led by determined individuals. Yet, there is one major issue.
Let’s say you are the director of the orphanage. You have someone arrive with a formal paper (with some signatures and stamps) stating they are now officially employed by the government to work at the orphanage. The paper even has a date on which your prospective employee has to commence work. You have never seen or heard of this person before.
You speak to her a little. No, she has no experience in dealing with children; she has no educational background in anything to do with psychology, childcare or anything else related to your needs. She begins work. After a week, you realize she cannot raise her own children, let alone young orphans. But, there is not much you can do. A person in a government job cannot be easily dismissed.
The reality is that a good 30 percent of the working population in the Kurdistan Region is employed in government jobs. The other 70 percent are probably waiting for their “taeen,” as it is called. Usually, when someone gets a government job, it is a huge cause for celebration because it means a monthly salary for life, and every few years a pay rise. Maybe down the road they will be eligible for a piece of land or even a promotion. What is the job? Who cares. Interview? CV? You have to be kidding.
The definition of taeen “employment” should probably be something like: Have a job till you decay, then die. Please do not misunderstand me. This certainly does not go for everyone. But it definitely does go for those who have a job but do not work. It applies to those who dread their work day from 8:30 to 1:30 pm five days a week, with public holidays of a day or two nearly every month.
How can we have a healthy, blossoming society when people do not enjoy the jobs they are in? How can we want our society to grow and prosper while, instead of putting someone who can do the job right, we have someone there who does not have a clue. How can you work when you do not even have a job description? All you have is a job title, which changes every few years.
The unfortunate reality is that, having these festering individuals working in your institutions will affect the hard working, motivated ones who enjoy and love their work. Even if 10 percent of your staff are doing nothing but gossiping, then consider your institution as a failed one.
Here is a three-step solution: First, no one should be given a permanent government job without completing at least three years’ experience working at that institution, and being in possession of a recommendation letter. Second, problem employees should be subject to warnings and dismissal if they do not perform well. Thirdly, the process of accepting individuals into temporary government jobs should include multiple interviews, because personality matters.
Kaka, this is the day and era of CVs and job references.
Kurdistan, with all your flaws, I still love you. Dear reader, please take this as constructive criticism. Let us be the change that we want to see in our beloved Kurdistan.
