GHANA HAS ‘NO EXCUSE’ NOT TO PURSUE PRODUCTIVITY AGGRESSIVELY – FAIR WAGES BOSS

GHANA HAS ‘NO EXCUSE’ NOT TO PURSUE PRODUCTIVITY AGGRESSIVELY – FAIR WAGES BOSS

Ghana has “no excuse” not to pursue productivity aggressively, Chief Executive of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission Dr George Smith-Graham has said, urging a national shift toward pay-for-performance and a culture of accountability.

Delivering the keynote address at the Management Development and Productivity Institute’s  symposium on the theme “Transforming Mindsets, Driving Efficiency: The MDPI Approach to Sustainable Productivity for Ghana’s Economic Growth,” Dr, Smith-Graham said Ghana’s prosperity depends less on natural resources and more on the productivity of its people and institutions.

“Across the world, nations that have successfully transformed their economies have done so not only through policies and infrastructure, but through deliberate investment in a productivity culture,” he said. “Countries like Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, and here in Africa, Rwanda, have shown that productivity growth is the foundation for sustainable economic transformation.”

The symposium forms part of activities marking the 2026 National Productivity Week.

From rhetoric to results

Dr. Smith-Graham identified low productivity, weak accountability, poor time management, resistance to change, and a growing culture of entitlement as major barriers holding back Ghana’s development.

“The greatest transformation many nations can achieve is not merely infrastructure—it is mindset transformation,” he said. “Productivity is fundamentally behavioral before it becomes economic. It is reflected in how people think, how they manage time, how they approach work, and how committed they are to excellence.”

Link pay to productivity

A central theme of the address was the need to redesign Ghana’s public sector pay system to link compensation to performance.

“Sustainable compensation systems cannot be built solely on annual salary increments without corresponding improvements in productivity,” Dr. Smith-Graham said.

He said the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission is working with the Public Services Commission, State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA), MDPI, and other institutions to strengthen performance management and explore practical ways to tie pay to measurable outcomes.

MDPI’s role

Dr Smith-Graham stressed that leadership sets the tone for productivity.

“Where leadership tolerates inefficiency, indiscipline, and mediocrity, institutional decline becomes inevitable,” he said.

He praised MDPI as a critical national asset in shaping leadership thinking, building managerial competencies, and driving organizational transformation.

He urged Ghanaians to build a culture that values hard work, innovation, and accountability.

“If we transform our mindsets, we will transform our institutions. If we transform our institutions, we will transform our economy. And if we transform our economy, we will secure a prosperous and sustainable future for generations yet unborn,” he said.