ANNEX R
STAFF IN CONFIDENCE
BTC
STAFFING NEEDS
General
The quality of UK-based staff is high: of LE staff mixed. The work-loads are very uneven.
1.
2.
Of the key people, TC, MO and Archivist are excellent. The weakness is with the PA. She is a young LE III, and the idea of an inexperienced LE III supporting a Senior Grade Officer in one of the most sophisticated of environments is as odd as anything I have come across in the DS.
3.
4.
I can find no explanation for the proposal to add a Grade 5.
The actual reason for proposing an additional LE I is that the incumbent is incompetent and should have been retired long ago. We have not done so because of the cost. This is the wrong solution.
Proposals:
A.
5.
LE STAFF
The main aim should be to build up a mix of LE staff on 3 year contracts. The best will rise and be retained. LE Is should not be recruited but trained in-house. In the first instance we should recruit an LE III/possibly II to understudy the weak LE I.
6.
bent. relive him {wee it) ?
Depending on the future of the CTU, we should retain a senior LE commercial officer to concentrate on Hong Kong-based developments in China.
7.
There may be a case for an LE III/II to monitor sub-contacts on the major projects. Or a rolling secondment from the DTI. This will depend on the DTI defining its needs.
B. PA
8.
on the
We shall reaffirm the bid for a UK-based PA, understanding that only a good $2 will do. We can train her but she must have the ability and will to learn. She will not come at the earliest for a year?
9.
So we up-grade the job, if necessary to LE I. It is a key post; she will have to work with and be on a par with PAS of the top businessmen in Hong Kong. It will be hard to find the right person since demand is high and wages elsewhere are better. But if we can
/find
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STAFF IN CONFIDENCE
emoving!