Inaugural session of Heads of Department Fellowship held (with photos)
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The Civil Service College (CSC) held the inaugural sharing session of the Heads of Department (HoD) Fellowship today (August 5), with the aim of strengthening leadership mindset and enhancing departmental management capabilities. At the session, the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, and the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mrs Ingrid Yeung, encouraged HoDs to practise proactive leadership by establishing effective management teams and operating systems, as well as fostering a positive culture of continuous improvement, so as to enhance the governance effectiveness of departments.
In his opening remarks, Mr Chan said that HoDs are not only policy implementers and the ultimate parties accountable for departmental performance, but also helmsmen of departments and shapers of organisational culture. HoDs should demonstrate “proactive leadership” in all areas of day-to-day management, develop a thorough understanding of operational realities and potential problems, and establish effective feedback mechanisms. They should also ensure that manpower deployment and financial resources are aligned with policy objectives, and take full accountability for their departments’ overall performance.
He remarked that the success of the HoD Accountability System lies not in the number of investigations activated, but in the continuous enhancement of departments’ execution capabilities through the proactive leadership of HoDs, ensuring effective implementation of policy measures and enhancing the overall standard of governance, while delivering tangible benefits to the public. This is the true purpose of the Accountability System. He also encouraged participants to make good use of this exchange platform to share experiences, pool the strength of solidarity and co-operation, uphold their original aspiration of serving Hong Kong, and continue to do their utmost for the public.
Addressing the session, Mrs Yeung pointed out that the performance of civil servants is the key to improving governance. HoDs must personally lead human resource management, ensuring that human resource strategies are closely tied to their departments’ overall work objectives and development needs. The Civil Service Bureau (CSB) has been actively strengthening relevant measures, including implementing the Performance Appraisal Enhancement Scheme for Civil Servants (Phase 1) in October this year, to more accurately reflect and differentiate the work performance of civil servants. The CSC has also been actively cultivating a culture within the civil service that values training, and launched the GovCPD Scheme last month to set out continuous learning requirements for civil servants. The CSB will continue to support departments in human resource management on multiple fronts, with a view to further enhancing departmental performance and the overall effectiveness of the Government.
The HoD Fellowship also serves as a platform for information exchanges, enhancing the exchanges of experiences and exploring and promoting best practices among departments. During the sharing session, the Head of the CSC, Mr Oscar Kwok, invited HoDs to share their experiences and insights on enhancing departmental services.
About 140 Permanent Secretaries, HoDs and their deputies from 63 bureaux and departments attended today’s sharing session.
The Chief Executive’s 2025 Policy Address announced the establishment of the HoD Accountability System, explaining clearly the concept of administrative accountability on the part of civil servants with managerial roles, especially that of HoDs, and introducing a new Administrative Responsibility Two-tier Investigation Mechanism for handling problems.