CAGAYAN de Oro City — The Civil Service Commission (CSC) has awarded the Cagayan de Oro city government a Bronze Award for its human resource management system, recognizing efforts to improve how employees are recruited, trained, assessed and supported.

The award was formally conferred on Sept. 30 under the CSC’s Program to Institutionalize Meritocracy and Excellence in Human Resource Management (PRIME-HRM).

For Kagay-anons, however, the bigger question is whether better HR systems will translate into better government service.

The city’s Office of the City Human Resource Management Officer (CHRMO), headed by Acting Officer-in-Charge and Department Manager Xsyclyn Faith “Kanzai” B. Lumbatan, has introduced reforms aimed at improving personnel services.

One example is the Request for (Re)Employment Monitoring System, a digital platform that allows City Hall Job Order workers to check their reemployment status online instead of personally going to the HRMO office.

Launched in July under Lumbatan’s leadership, the system can help workers save time and reduce unnecessary trips to City Hall.

A 100% assessment

Before receiving the Bronze Award, the city CHRMO underwent a two-day onsite assessment by CSC Region X on April 15 and 16.

The office obtained a 100% score across the four core HR systems assessed by the CSC:

  • Recruitment, Selection and Placement

  • Learning and Development

  • Performance Management

  • Rewards and Recognition

The result gave the CHRMO a Level 2 Maturity Rating and led CSC Region X to recommend the city government for the national Bronze Award under PRIME-HRM.

The assessment covered both the executive and legislative branches of the city government.

Under the PRIME-HRM framework, Level 2 indicates that an agency has defined and documented HR processes and has reached the intermediate level of HR maturity.

What it means for residents

An HR award may sound like an internal government matter, but its effects can reach the public.

City employees handle permits, records, inquiries, social services and other transactions that residents depend on.

That makes the Bronze Award more than a recognition for the HR office.

The real test is whether the systems recognized by the CSC result in fairer personnel processes, better-trained employees, more capable frontline workers and faster, more consistent service.

The Job Order monitoring system provides one concrete example of how an HR reform can directly benefit workers.

But sustaining the reforms will be the bigger challenge.

The city government and CHRMO will need to ensure that the systems recognized by the CSC are consistently applied in the day-to-day operations of City Hall.

For Kagay-anons, the value of the Bronze Award will ultimately be measured not by the recognition itself, but by the quality of government service they experience.