The role of Chief Executive Officer – or rather, CEO – is pretty much the most important one in any entity. This is the man or woman who runs the show and ensures that the entity in question is effective in fulfilling its duties and carrying out the tasks bestowed onto it.
Yet under this government it appears that the post of CEO is something of a revolving door being held open for the same few people. That in itself is already a negative – something pointed out by the Malta Chamber of Commerce this week.
The frequent changing of ministers and CEOs creates instability for business, the CEO of the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, Marthese Portelli, told The Malta Independent.
“One issue that definitely affects businesses is the frequent changing of ministers and frequent changing of CEOs and people in top positions. That means having to start from scratch every time someone changes, and we have had a number of changes occurring within crucial portfolios,” Portelli said.
“Look at the number of times we saw changes in the top management of critical entities such as Jobsplus and Transport Malta, amongst others. It creates instability, and instability does not allow one to plan properly, which is the reason why The Malta Chamber advocates against thinking in five-year electoral cycles and in ensuring continuity unless there is a drastic need for a policy direction change," she added.
Indeed in recent months we’ve seen the same people lead different entities in completely different sectors.
Steve Ellul went from Project Green CEO to unsuccessful Labour Party MEP election candidate to Infrastructure Malta CEO (on a €128,000 per year contract).
Leonid Mackay went from the Housing Authority, to the Authority for the Responsible Use of Cannabis, to JobsPlus and then after just a few months, to Labour Party CEO.
Mark Mallia went from Identity Malta, to the Foundation for Medical Services, to – after just two weeks, Transport Malta, to then end up as the Prime Minister’s chief of staff a couple of months later.
Transport Malta, for instance, has had four different CEOs in two years, with the last one being Kurt Farrugia – who was transferred from being at the helm of Malta Enterprise, having previously been the communications coordinator for former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.
There are too many instances to count, but the key takeaway is that there is very little longevity, and when changes are made it always seems to be the same set of people who are appointed in different places.
The Chamber is right to say that this creates instability – particularly as these entities all carry significant importance for both businesses and people in a more general sense.
It makes no sense to shift around people in such positions so frequently. If a person in such a position is involved in wrongdoing or at the centre of a scandal, or blatantly performs poorly, then yes that person must be removed.
Further to this, it’s clear that the CEO role in government entities cannot – for the good of the country – remain a role seemingly reserved for those close to the party in government.
There is a lot of untapped talent and professionalism which is going unused which can change this country for the better – yet as things stand, it appears all are happy to keep such roles for party people to be given a bumper salary through.
In the interest of both accountability and of attracting the best talent that can possibly be attracted, there would certainly be no harm in making these roles open via a public call.
The government is going to have to do this sooner or later for the Public Broadcasting Services (whose CEO, as it happens, has also just resigned) due to a European directive – and there’s no reason why the practice cannot be expanded from there.