It won’t be business as usual, RBZ boss tells staff

RESERVE Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor John Mushayavanhu yesterday warned staff and management that it would not be “business as usual” as they labour to regain public confidence.

In his message to management and staff, Mushayavanhu said there was a need to undertake personal transformation as well as develop a new “RBZ brand” to rebuild credibility and relevance.

“We are also aware that the market has lost confidence and trust in the credibility and impact of the central bank’s policies over the years, and this calls for a focused re-orientation and change in the way we do things in pursuit of our statutory mandate,” he said in a statement yesterday.

“It is expected of all of us to adjust to accept this ‘paradigm shift’ of a new work culture that will ingrain in us a responsibility to provide operational effectiveness and excellence.

“I will make sure this is accomplished by going ‘back-to-basics’ and supporting all RBZ staff, who embark on this culture of adaptability and creativity in the way we execute our statutory tasks.”

To achieve this, the governor said it was imperative to acknowledge that “our strategy will be in our structure”.

“Our change agenda will push for the comprehensive re-organisation and re-orientation of the bank’s tasks, people, structures, systems, culture, decision-making and policy-making processes to successfully carry out our core commitments and obligations,” he pointed out.

The appropriate “re-organisation of the reserve bank” will, therefore, be carried out in two phases, Mushayavanhu said.

He said in phase one, the new RBZ core strategic pillars framework that informs the design and rebranding of the bank, guided by the fundamental remit of maintaining price stability, and restoring market confidence and trust will be communicated to management and staff in due course.

“I want to reassure all employees and re-affirm that phase two is a normal process of learning the bank’s operational framework and should not be deemed to result in job losses or retrenchments,” Mushayavanhu said.

“I will be requesting that each division prepare a comprehensive information memorandum to help in the diagnostic process for phase two. This will allow me as your governor to gain a solid understanding of the institution’s people, systems, procedures, and culture.”

As a result, the central bank’s programmes will be better packaged, resourced and structured to fulfil its statutory purpose in the next five years (2024-29).

The primary objectives of the “back-to-basics” agenda will be to regain lost market trust and prevent undue harm to the central bank’s institutional credibility in policymaking, he said.

The central bank, Mushayavanhu said, should present itself with dignified confidence to fulfil its obligations to the Zimbabwean people’s aspirations for improved social and economic well-being.

“We will start with our internal culture,” he said.

“Over the next five years, our strategic intent of restoring credibility, confidence, and trust will be achieved by “walking the talk” — doing what we say we will do; doing the right things in the right manner first time around; and ensuring that what we say will happen, so happens.

“We all need to re-energise and rebuild a new spirit of teamwork and co-operation and reconnect to serve the interests of the Reserve Bank and our country. Every one of us should be working for the attainment of the bank’s mission and vision, cognisant that we are all here for the job and not about the individual.”

The central bank governor said performance excellence from all of the staff will be critical in achieving the objective of regaining confidence and trust as they will closely monitor and evaluate themselves.-newsday