Maria Thompson Walters, executive director of the Transformation Implementation Unit (TIU), is encouraging public sector entities to make excellence ‘business as usual.’

Thompson Walters, addressing the recently held fifth annual awards & recognition ceremony of the Revenue Appeals Division (RAD), noted that, “excellence, colleagues, is not an elusive concept. It is a mindset that can be cultivated, nurtured, and embraced. RAD has so aptly demonstrated this in your journey to excellence. What you have achieved in six years is nothing short of amazing!”

She commended the RAD for surpassing their targets whilst acknowledging that the entity had a significant hurdle to climb when it was established. 

“The RAD was once behind international benchmarks, with appeals taking an average of 45 months to conclude, hearings backlogged for nearly three years, and an aging case-load inventory. However, over the past six years, RAD has transformed and achieved operational benchmarks such as concluding 60 per cent of appeals in 180 days, averaging 80 per cent in customer satisfaction and achieving an appeals settlement ratio of 100 per cent,” Thompson Walters reminded the audience. 

According to the TIU executive director, the RAD’s achievements bode well for public sector transformation.

Thompson Walters emphasised that the public sector “must foster a culture of continuous learning and innovation”.

“We must be willing to step outside of what we have proven that we can do – you know, that place they call ‘the comfort zone’. When we step outside of what we have already proven is when we truly discover what we are capable of,” she mused further.