A To Z For Public Service Newbies

Whether you’re new to the Public Service or a seasoned officer, it’s always good to learn and remember important public service terms. Read on to familiarise yourself with the A to Z of the Public Service:

A: Annual Variable Component (AVC)

The bonus everyone looks forward to two times a year.

B: Business Continuity Plan (BCP)

Ensures that agencies can still operate in the event of unforeseen circumstances. It’s why we took turns to go to the office during the pandemic.

C: Committee of Supply (COS)

The time of the year (usually between February and March) when Parliament gathers to discuss the Budget. It’s a busy time for officers, but a great time for the kopi stall aunties and uncles near our offices.

D: Digital Workplace

A suite of digital tools, technologies, and platforms to help you better collaborate within and across agencies.

E: Employee Engagement Survey

When your agency sends you a feedback form to find out how engaged you are.

F: “For Clearance, Pls”

Use this in an email subject line for the fastest way to get a higher-up’s attention when you need a submission (see below) approved.

G: GSIB

Stands for Government Standard Image Build. Better known to public officers as one’s “work laptop”.

H: Head of Civil Service (HCS)

The highest-ranking public officer. Enough said.

I: Internal Approving Authority (IAA)

Your agency’s funding approval team that ensures that money is spent following the three principles of transparency, open and fair competition, and value for money.

J: Jaga the Hedgehog

GovTech’s thorny and cute mascot who reminds us all to stay cyber safe. Use the Jaga URL Reporter to report suspicious links.

K: Knowledge Management

The process of creating, transferring and integrating knowledge within an agency. It’s the reason you don’t panic when it’s time for handover – if you file your stuff faithfully, that is.

L: LEARN App

The Civil Service College’s digital learning application that allows you to learn anywhere, anytime. Like TikTok, but with fewer cats and more learning.

M: Management Executive (MX) Scheme

A scheme of service that is used by the largest number of agencies.

N: Networking

Going to an event and connecting with others over how nice the food is. Add them on LinkedIn after and like their posts till the end of time.

O: Official Secrets Act (OSA)

The law that prevents the disclosure of confidential, restricted or sensitive information to unauthorised persons. If you’re not sure whether something is an official secret, it probably is.

P: Permanent Secretary (PS)

Like a CEO for ministries – they oversee their ministries.

Q: Quality Service Management (QSM)

The team that handles and manages public feedback via channels such as phone, email, hardcopy mail, etc. You get the drift.

R: Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Creates “workers” that take on time-consuming manual tasks so you don’t have to.

S: Submission

Any official written work that you submit, such as reports and proposals. It’s good to save your draft every 10 minutes… just in case.

T: Tabletop exercise (TTX)

Planning for every possible scenario way in advance so that the team will be ready for anything. The best time to ask: “What if something (or everything) goes wrong?”

U: Unknown unknowns

We don’t know what we don’t know.

V: (Public Service) Values

The three words that define Public Service work: Integrity, Service, and Excellence.

W: Whole-of-Government (WOG)

A catchier way of saying “everyone in the government”.

X: X-shaped officer

Someone who is skilled in leadership and has deep expertise in overlapping fields. The person many of us aspire to become.

Y: Years in Service (YIS)

A fancier way of saying how long you’ve been a public officer.

Z: Gen Z

Our next generation of public officers!

Text by Hidayah Md Sham

Illustration by Ryan Ong