In spite of the rapid economic growth, which made Botswana the envy of sub-Saharan Africa during the 1980s and 1990s, total factor productivity either stagnated or declined over the same period (Botswana National Productivity Centre, 1997). The performance of the public service in
the implementation of policies had become a matter of concern, and the reform of the public
service and the transformation of its mind-set were major challenges to the nation. Productivity
improvement was seen as an important strategy for improving the standard of living and achieving sustainable economic diversification and growth in the long term (Botswana Government, 1991,
1997).