The federal government has a knack for changing the top men in many institutions. Recently, the FBR chairman was changed for the sixth time in three years and now we see new faces in the Punjab IG and chief secretary offices. Aside from the law and order department and provincial workings of the government, there has also been a change in the head coach and the chief selector of the Pakistan cricket team. One may wonder about the wisdom behind these frequent changes as one should. Why is it that the government changes the top men so very often? There could be multiple answers but the most plausible and optimistic seems to be the inadequacy of the individuals that keep them from performing on the merit set by the government. If we look to the other side, we may come across some a tad bit political reasons for which these offices keep getting new faces. There could be multiple reasons for the changes, however, that is of no concern. The concern develops while looking at the consequences of such changes. Of course, there could be both positive and negative results that come out of these decisions.
On one hand, frequent changes add to the volatility of the situation. With a new head every, on average, six to eight months organizations may crumble. Other employees have to readjust to the change over and over again and this may lead to delays in the ongoing procedures. A change in the office of the Police IG means that some operations could essentially come to a halt, there could be complacency in reporting and an overall damage could be done. On the other hand, such frequent changes could put across a message that unlike the previous governments, this government will not allow for any complacency. Therefore, if one person does not perform well at their job, they will be replaced in a heartbeat. This is likely to motivate individuals to do better so that they can keep their jobs. Moreover, in the case of the cricket board’s head coach and chief selector, the earlier heads did not perform upto the mark as Pakistan’s national cricket team was more or less losing most of its matches and with a change in the heads, hope has been reignited and maybe now the team will perform well. Although, it is common to see such changes in a political environment, such volatility may lead to negative consequences. Therefore, the government should choose people carefully.
