Varia Ranah - Sorotan Ilmiah Perkhidmatan Awam

329 Varia Ranah: Sorotan Ilmiah Perkhidmatan Awam INTRODUCTION The process in selecting “the next in line” of succession, especially to head a Ministry at the higher management level is still cloudy. Though JPA can claim that succession is from the “second in command” of the Ministry, the current situation does not permit so to happen. The succession has and always been seen as “preferential”; by the higher management it is known as “the point system”, where the Minister will “point” to a successor favorable to him. According to Hirsh (2000), succession planning is “a process by which one or more successors are identified for key posts and career moves, where development activities are planned for these successors. Successors may be fairly ready to do the job or seen as having longer-term potential”. Rothwell (2005) in his book “Effective Succession Planning” defined the process of succession planning is the “effort designed to ensure the continued effective performance of an organization or work groups by making provision for the development and replacement of key people over time”. Acknowledging that the higher management posts in the Malaysian Public Service is aging – with no strategic possibilities of suitable or available replacements – the department has since taken initiatives by benchmarking with other countries, such as Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, for them to find the best possible solution to mitigate such instances. To date, none has been successful, as political pressure and loyalty demand by the political masters has disabled the process of leadership succession in the higher management of the public sector. Therefore, this paper can be seen as vital to highlight the need of developing a suitable and more comprehensive model in leadership succession, not only for the higher management in the Malaysian Public Service, but additionally in a holistic approach throughout the service for an individual in the system.