Haenam-gun Wins 'Prime Minister's Award' at Local Personnel Innovation Competition

Published 04 Nov.2021 16:35(KST)

The Only Gun-Level Local Government Nationwide... Achievements in Improving Work Methods

It was selected as the best in the nationwide county-level category at the Local Personnel Innovation Competition and received the Prime Minister's Award. ⓒ Asia Economy

[Haenam＝Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Hyun] Haenam County in Jeollanam-do was selected as the only top winner among nationwide counties at the Local Personnel Innovation Competition hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, receiving the Prime Minister's Award.

According to the county on the 4th, the Local Personnel Innovation Competition has been held annually since 2016 to discover excellent cases in local government personnel management innovation, performance management and expertise enhancement, and improvement of working methods, sharing personnel innovation achievements that the public can feel.

Presentations and evaluations of excellent cases from seven local governments that passed the preliminary round were conducted, and considering creativity, effectiveness, ripple effect, and effort comprehensively, Haenam County was selected as an excellent institution in the 'Improvement of Working Methods' category.

Haenam County received high praise for implementing a sympathetic administration with employees within the organization under the theme of 'Cheer Up Proud Haenam County Public Officials,' creating a healthy workplace culture harmonizing work and life, and embodying the image of public officials leading Haenam's pleasant changes.

Visiting major industrial sites with colleagues to enhance understanding of county administration and take the lead in revitalizing the local economy through the Haenam Love Tour, holding enjoyable regular meetings filled with employees' small stories instead of stiffness and formality, and appointment ceremonies with families who silently supported as partners of public service?all these beautiful journeys led to lively and pleasant changes among public officials.

Additionally, by operating employee capacity-building education and policy research competitions in the new normal era, Haenam County is taking the lead in fostering a public service culture that responds swiftly to new challenges and engages in research.

Furthermore, believing that public officials must be healthy for residents to be happy, Haenam introduced Jeollanam-do's first unmanned mental health screening machine and operates a professional counseling center within the government building to support employees' mental health. To encourage employees exhausted from COVID-19 response, the county granted a two-day paid leave to all staff, promoting time for recharging with their families.

These internal organizational changes not only actively transform public officials but also lead to increased resident trust through improved county administration, such as a 97.1% civil complaint satisfaction rate, achieving the highest grade for three consecutive years in pledge fulfillment, maintaining the second grade in integrity by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission for three consecutive years, and scoring a perfect 10 for two consecutive years in personnel transparency.

County Governor Myeong Hyun-gwan said, “I am very pleased that the positive and responsible mindset of public officials, fostered through a public service culture of empathy, communication, and collaboration during the 7th local government term, has been recognized as reaching the residents.” He added, “We will continue to actively support making Haenam a shining and proud county.”