Hidden costs of cuts: Austerity, civil service management and the motivation of public officials in Central and Eastern Europe after the crisis

Jan-Hinrik Meyer-Sahling,Iveta Reinholde,Christian Van Stolk,Barbara Janta

doi:10.17979/ejge.2016.5.2.4320

Jan-Hinrik Meyer-Sahling, Iveta Reinholde + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.17979/ejge.2016.5.2.4320

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Abstract

The implementation of austerity measures presents a dilemma for governments. While austerity measures such as cutbacks aim to reduce costs and enhance public sector efficiency, the same measures might undermine the motivation of employees and, consequently, the prospects of effectively implementing austerity programmes. Based on a survey of ministerial officials in Poland and Latvia, this article finds that the scale of cutbacks explains a larger decline of staff motivation in Latvia than in Poland. The article further shows that motivation was more likely to decrease after the crisis if austerity measures involved cutbacks such as staff reductions, recruitment freezes, and a reduction of training opportunities.

Highlights

The global financial crisis has provoked a new debate over the status and contribution of public administration research in the age of austerity (Kelly and Dodds 2012; Lodge and Wegrich 2012; Potter 2012)
Much less is still known about the position of public officials vis-à-vis the economic crisis and the austerity measures that have since been passed to varying extent in European democracies
This article has examined the impact of cutbacks in the area of civil service management on the motivation of public officials in Latvia and Poland

Summary

Introduction

The global financial crisis has provoked a new debate over the status and contribution of public administration research in the age of austerity (Kelly and Dodds 2012; Lodge and Wegrich 2012; Potter 2012). The article focuses on the impact of human resource management practices that follow the enactment of cutback measures It examines five areas of civil service management including post-crisis changes in recruitment, promotion, dismissal, salary management and training policy in order to identify which of these areas have had an effect on the motivation of officials. In both cases, reforms are associated with a ‘negative’ development in that staff levels were cut, fewer officials were hired, promotion prospects narrowed, salaries were frozen or even cut and the provision of training was reduced.

Motivation change

Results and discussion

Conclusion