By Zayed Alzyoud
The University of Jordan (UJ) took part in the Public sector Human resources indicators schemes launching ceremony, organised by the Service and Public Administration Commission (SPAC) under the patronage of Prime Minister Jaafar Hassan, with the participation of representatives from ministries and official institutions, as well as local and international experts.
UJ was represented by Vice President for Administrative Affairs, Financial Affairs and Digital Transformation Prof. Ziad Hawamdeh, Director of the Centre for Strategic Studies (CSS) Prof. Hassan Al Momani, and Director of the Public Opinion Polls and Surveys Dept. at the CSS Dr. Walid Al Khatib, alongside a team of UJ researchers.
The ceremony was held in cooperation with the Organisation for Economic Co operation and Development (OECD) and the SIGMA programme (Support for Improvement in Governance and Management), a joint OECD EU initiative aimed at supporting public governance reform and strengthening public administration.
President of SPAC Eng. Fayez Al Nahar said the scheme represents a shift towards management by indicators, moving decision making away from judgement based approaches towards processes grounded in data and evidence. He added that the initiative seeks to improve the work environment and enhance the quality of public services.
Minister of State for Public Sector Development Badria Al Balbisi said the study underpinning the scheme provides a clear picture of public sector performance, reflecting workplace conditions, employee expectations and key challenges. She stressed that empowering public employees and strengthening their capacities are essential to building an efficient and transparent public administration.
She noted that the findings showed job satisfaction at 77 pct and employee engagement at 69 pct, explaining that the results help assess institutional culture and performance while identifying areas requiring further attention, particularly work life balance and workplace conditions.
SPAC Sec Gen Yasser Nsour said the framework supports systematic M and E through unified standards, emphasising that policies should be based on facts and data rather than impressions. He referred to intl reports indicating that around 70 pct of countries consider admin reform a key entry point to reforming public sector HR.
Figures presented during the ceremony showed that 97 govt entities participated in the voluntary survey, generating approx 40,000 responses, making Jordan the first Arab country to take part alongside 32 countries worldwide.
UJ said the CSS, through its Public Opinion Polls and Surveys Dept., contributed to developing the scheme and implementing the field survey, underscoring the university’s role as a national partner in evidence based public policy and public sector modernisation.