Accra Mr E.A. Sai, Chairman of the Public Services Commission, today reminded Chief Executives of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that the new salary/wage policy posed challenges to their managerial and financial capabilities. He said the challenges demand SOEs to toughen their muscles to improve on their performance in order to contain the situation.

Mr Sai was addressing the second annual general meeting of the Association of SOE's Chief Executives founded in November 1994. His topic was "The Price Waterhouse Report on the development of a medium and long-term public sector salaries and wage policy framework - its implications for SOEs". He said the private sector was doing well and asked the chief executives to take a cue from them in order to create job satisfaction in their organisations. Mr Sai said the exercise carried out by Price Waterhouse is aimed at putting an end to workers' agitation for better salaries and wages. "One of the objectives of the exercise is to eventually close the gap between the public and private sectors compensation levels and provide an enabling environment for the achievement of a lasting industrial calm".

He said besides filling the salary policy void, the policy will also make public sector compensation management easier, more transparent, more consistent and more comfortable. This would mean "a shift from the erratic, ad-hoc crisis approach to an orderly, disciplined, centralised and regulated approach to the salary issue". The policy, he added, will make public sector compensation more equitable through "a job worth and compensation equation." "These would remove distortions and inequities in compensation levels both within individual public sector organisations and across the entire public sector landscape''.