A WCO mission was held in Fiji from 21st to 29th August 2017 to deliver a Human Resource (HR) Diagnostic to Fiji Revenue and Customs Service (FRCS).

The mission, funded by Customs Cooperation Fund China, aimed at assessing the current HR structure and needs of FRCS, benchmarking with the WCO standards and good practices, and identifying recommendations to strengthen the on-going HRM reform. Together with the WCO Framework of Principles and Practices on Customs Professionalism, the People Development Diagnostic Tool offers a complete set of instruments available to sustain the Members’ continuous efforts for Customs modernization. The embedded HR standards and methods are practical tools to guide Customs to align their HR processes with the Profession and organization’s specific operating models and competencies in a view to attract, develop and retain performant, motivated and agile workforce.

The Fiji Revenue and Customs Service launched an ambitious reform program through the Strategic Plan 2017-2020, based on main strategic focus areas: Partnership, Legislation & Process, People and Technology.

During the mission, the WCO facilitators worked with a highly committed project team composed by Members of People, Capability and Culture Department, Managers and Representatives of the Revenues and Customs areas. The team, previously familiarized with the WCO competency-based approach for HR through the WCO Framework on Customs Professionalism, performed a thorough analysis and in-depth discussions on FRCS’s current HR processes, policies and capabilities. Moreover, the WCO experts interviewed a number of HR stakeholders and clients, including Top manager, Senior and Middle operational managers, who provided valuable feedback regarding their perception on how HR is serving the organization.

The assessment resulted in the identification of recommendations and priorities for an enhanced implementation of an organization-wide competency-based HRM and HRD.