When the chief minister said in the States that appraisals are likely to be extended to all public sector employees, he was – presumably unwittingly – drawing attention to seven wasted years.

Such annual reviews with staff are an essential component of managing and improving performance and are thus vital for any organisation seeking to modernise and lift its game.

It was also a point made quite strongly in the final annual report of the independent States Audit Commission for 2003 that there was no performance-related pay in the public sector.

‘This is common practice in the commercial sector and in the UK civil service and has been proven as a valuable technique for productivity and performance improvement,’ it said.

Yet when a further report, commissioned by the Policy Council, was published in  February 2008, it was clear that no progress had been made and employment issues within the civil and public service were significant and remained unaddressed.

Fast forward to November 2010 and it is only now that a States-wide system of appraisals is being investigated – note, not implemented – and there was no word on performance-related pay.

While the good news is that the originally mooted ‘growth and expenditure restraint’ policy will get the island through the zero-10 financial deficit without GST being introduced, the downside is that government is demonstrating little appetite for serious change.

Not only is that an opportunity missed, it is storing trouble for the future.

Just like the debt millstone that is the public sector pension scheme, every missed saving now becomes an escalating cost in the years ahead.

Local business leaders know what needs to be done and offered to help, to no avail. Now, however, there is quiet despair of anything happening.

While there are those in government who also see the need for and benefits of change, the system appears paralysed when it comes to implementing it.

The most telling question for islanders is this: Did Guernsey skilfully pilot itself through a vicious recession or did it just happen to bumble through?

The answer explains why reform is long overdue.