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Vice-president Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur has made a case for the public service to be given a new face to inspire confidence among the public. He said the reform would require changing the value system and employee practices to guarantee improved performance in the public sector. Opening the 7th conference for public service chief executives, chief directors and chairpersons of governing boards and councils in Kumasi yesterday, Mr Amissah-Arthur underscored the need for the concept of leadership in the public service to also change. Leadership roles �Leaders must inspire, provide guidance, be supportive and view work as an exciting challenge,� Mr Amissah-Arthur said, adding that the leader must, therefore, direct his energy towards guiding the employees towards results orientation. The two-day conference is on the theme: �Renewing the face of the public service for higher performance.� Delegates will discuss emerging issues in public service administration and implement strategies for improved performance. Mr Amissah-Arthur called on public service chief executives to endeavour to acquire the anticipative, adaptive and innovative capacities needed to adapt to the changing socio-economic environment. Board conflicts The Vice-President deplored the regular conflicts between chairpersons and chief executives and management staff of public institutions, noting that such conflicts result from an insufficient appreciation of roles. �If unresolved, these have a negative impact on the organisation,� he said. He said it was to prevent or minimise the occurrence of conflicts that the Public Services Commission (PSC) developed a manual to guide the board-management relationship. Talking about the government�s responsibility to the public service, the Vice-President said, among other things, that while improving remuneration, the government had also taken the decision to ensure parity in remuneration for public service employees. �As a government, we also demand as a reciprocal gesture, on behalf of the taxpayer, a commensurate increase in productivity and performance,� he said. PSC boss Earlier in his welcome remarks, the Chairperson of the PSC, Mrs Bridget Katsriku, noted that the economic challenges facing the country were the result of the effort to transform the economy into a fully fledged middle-income status. She explained that the transformation of the economy would entail structural dislocations and operational adjustments for which reason there must be radical changes and prudent measures which would propel and accelerate the needed transformation. A former Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Professor Stephen Adei, who chaired the opening session, called on public workers to put the national interest above theirs.