Administrative Reforms Impact on Public Sector’s Human Capital: An Assessment of the New Public Management Era in Togo

Abstract

Inefficiencies in public administration have forced governments to re-assess their governance structures and systems. In the Togolese context, a number of New Public Management programs aiming at building the capacity for sustainable development were adopted. However these programs were applied without proper consideration of their impact on human resources in the civil service and to a larger extent, on the brain drain phenomenon. High-skilled emigration represents an important policy issue. This paper examines the effects the NPM had on human capital essentially civil servants, fresh graduates and job seekers in Togo in terms of retrenchment and suspension of recruitment, which led to an aging workforce and skilled human resources migration. At a time when the NPM is considered obsolete, it is imperative to note that administrative reforms can negatively impact national human capital especially the skilled human resources. This paper urges government and public administrators involved in decision making processes to properly assess reforms impact on national human capital before implementation.