Public Administration Employees Research Articles

Remote recruitment and onboarding of public administration employees during the COVID-19 pandemic

During the fight against the coronavirus, public administration has struggled with the same problems as the private sector, reducing the scope of services provided and extending administrative deadlines. The pandemic has forced organizations to change drastically the way they operate. The necessary modifications of the applied procedures should also include recruitment and onboarding processes. The article presents the results of extensive research conducted at the end of 2020 in public administration bodies located in the Dolnośląskie Voivodeship regarding the impact of the pandemic on the recruitment and adaptation processes. The study shows the forms and tools used, and the scale of their implementation in offices. The results of the verification of the impact of the size of the organization on transforming the selection and onboarding processes of new local government employees are also discussed

Výberové konania učiteľov vysokých škôl – procesné detaily

Teachers of public universities are one of the categories of public administration employees, a specific category, when in general, and according to the legal imperative, schools can only conclude fixed-term employment relationships with them. As part of the process of filling the posts of university teachers, it is common and customary practice to carry out a selection procedure for a job up to the edge of the period when the teacher, who is still working in the given position, has a fixed-term employment relationship. The paper points out the negative consequences and impacts of this practice on the teacher, who puts a lot of effort into his pedagogical and scientific work, self-education and qualification procedure, while his employment contract ends, he is not at all sure of continuing his employment. At universities, where jobs are often filled on the last days of the employment of teachers still working for them, there is also a risk of violation of the provisions of the Labor Code on the creation of a new employment, as well as unnecessary administrative burden of the employer and employee. A critical analysis of the selection process results in a legislative proposal. URL: https://vsas.fvs.upjs.sk/

INTANGIBLE AWARD SYSTEM IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION UNITS AS A TOOL FOR CREATING AGILITY FEATURES IN EMPLOYEES

Employees and their knowledge are one of the most important resources of any enterprise. Material reward system often does not bring the assumed benefits. In public administration, it is trying to develop effective methods of rewarding employees that would not involve the entity’s financial resources and at the same time improve work efficiency. In this situation, it may be appropriate to introduce solutions used in agile organizations. The non-material reward system in the agile model allows for creating agility features in employees. The article includes an analysis of domestic and foreign literature on the subject and the author’s own research, carried out in two public administration units. In the context of the research gap, the author tried to answer the following research question: Can public administration units, like agile organizations, introduce actions aimed at creating agility characteristics in employees and thus achieve better results? The main goal of the study was to demonstrate the relationship between the introduction of intangible reward systems and the creation of agility in public administration employees. For the purposes of the study, the author formulated a research hypothesis assuming that non-material methods of reward contribute to creating agility features in employees.

Are Spanish public employees happier in their job performance in the era of Industry 4.0?

Since the end of the 20th century, economists have been attracted to the study of the economics of happiness (e.g., Singh, & Alexandrova, 2020; Crespo & Mesurado, 2015; Ferrer-i-Carbonell,2013). The use of the term happiness characterizes an essential volume of this bibliographical production as a synonym for the words satisfaction, well-being, or quality of life (Teixeira&Vasque, 2020; Carlquist et al., 2017). Under this umbrella, the culture of happiness management teaches us that a management model or direction oriented to the holistic search for happiness or job satisfaction of its employees is one of the essential axial pieces that organizations have to increase the commitment of their human capital, and therefore, their productivity and business performance (Ravina et al., 2019). Public administration employees are not exempt from this reality, a group that is characterized by job stability compared to private company employees. This article is dedicated to them. The era of Industry 4.0 is a period that is characterized, among other things, by the high precariousness of labor that is originated by the implementation of management models in advanced economies. This phenomenon is derived from the technological point of view by the automation and massive robotization of production processes and the supply chain. Together with the digitalization of companies, both factors are very present in the ecosystems of the Covid-19, and have come, perhaps, to stay in the future (Bragazzi, 2020; Ghadge et al., 2020). In line with the above, a more holistic examination of this issue seems likely to show that there is a keen interest among people to enter into Work mostly in public administrations, in search of a permanent contract for their entire working life. As is known, this is especially true in countries with high unemployment levels, such as Spain. Its unemployment rate is 20.1% in mid-2020. In the collective imagination of these individuals, there is the conviction that this type of Work constitutes ambrosia of eudaimonic happiness, job security, and quality of life, especially at present, in times of the Covid-19 pandemic (Fernández-Urbano, & Kulic, 2020). In this sense, it should be noted that in the last decades of the 21st century, there has been a growing interest in researching public employees' job satisfaction (e.g., Ryu&Bae, 2020; Steijn &Van der Voet, 2019; Luechinge et al., 2010). Most of the studies carried out on this scientific topic to date show empirically that public sector workers are happier than individuals in the private sphere. It's basically due to the intrinsic benefits (flexibility, vacation, or family reconciliation, among others) that this type of government entity offers concerning for-profit organizations (e.g., Lahat&Ofek, 2020; Sánchez-Sánchez, & Puente, 2020; Danzer,2019). In this context, this article aims to examine, as a priority in the era of Industry 4.0, whether there are observed differences in the levels of congratulations between human capital working in the private sector and that working in the public sector in Spain, by analyzing a set of variables that define positions: hours, salary, stability, promotion, and stress. Finally, we must indicate, on the one hand, that the choice of this spatial framework is motivated by the scarce literature investigating the happiness of Spanish public employees in an economy with high levels of youth unemployment (Núñez-Barriopedro et al., 2020). On the other hand, the results achieved in this study may be useful in the future for the implementation of public policies aimed at significantly promoting the welfare of working citizens through the happiness management approach (Ravina-Ripoll et al., 2019), or for taking this management concept to private companies to increase the motivation of their employees (Foncubierta-Rodríguez & Sánchez-Montero, 2019). Keywords: Happiness, human resources, Industry 4.0, public sector.

Conceptual Basis of Legal Monitoring Implementation in The System of Public Administration

In the study, the question of the theory and practice of legal monitoring is developed and the expediency of introducing legal monitoring into the system of public administration of Ukraine with the purpose of its perfection is substantiated. It is shown that the basis of monitoring is a system of indicators that characterize a concrete measure of a change in a particular phenomenon or process. The practice of applying the integral indicator of government administration to Governance Research Indicator Country Snapshot is presented. Moreover, examples of monitoring are provided for such indexes as government effectiveness; regulatory quality; rule of law. As a result of the study, a recommendation was made to assess the state of the state administration system, focused on the results of monitoring the effectiveness of legislation and its practice. The monitoring mechanisms are proposed for elimination of shortcomings in the legislation. The improvement of the legal system is an incentive for improving the legal and informational literacy of all categories of civil servants. Such a task can be solved by introducing new criteria into the system of attestation of specialists in public administration and court employees. This is necessary to add and refine the training programs for students in management and information specialties. Legal monitoring should be part of the administrative and legal reforms in Ukraine.

FOREIGN EXPERIENCE OF ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL SUPPORT OF ELECTRONIC GOVERNANCE AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION IN UKRAINE

The relevance of the article is that effective e-government can provide a wide range of benefits for government and governmental organizations, businesses and citizens, including increasing their efficiency by reducing costs, increasing transparency and increasing citizen participation in political life. Information and communication technologies are widely used by government agencies, but “e-government” and “e-government” involve much more than simply using electronic, digital tools, namely rethinking the mechanisms of government, its structures and processes, behavior change, relationships between participants in e-processes. governance. Properly implemented e-government allows citizens, businesses and organizations to communicate with the government more easily, quickly and at a lower cost. The purpose of the article is to study the experience of foreign countries of administrative and legal support for the formation and development of e-government and the possibilities and feasibility of its implementation in Ukraine. The article examines the experience of some foreign countries in administrative and legal support for the formation and development of e-government. Approaches to holistic and systemic thinking are described. The success of digital governance has been found to be the coherence of institutions, organizations, people, technology, data and resources to support desired change both in the public sector and beyond in order to create social values and improve the well-being of the population. It is proved that the experience of foreign countries can be useful for the development of e-government in Ukraine. It is determined that the lack of training of public administration employees for the introduction of e-government is noticeable. The digital transformation of government and its units consists not only of the ability to use information and communication technologies. The essence, first of all, is the transformation of public administration as part of the vision and strategy of national development of the country as a whole. Capacity building for the transition to e-government is fundamental.

Association between Field of Work, Years of Service, and Sickness Absenteeism in Public Administration

Abstract Background and Purpose: Statistics of sickness absenteeism in public administration in Slovenia is considerably higher (7.1% in 2018) than the percentage that applies for the whole of Slovenia (4.5% in 2018). The data also shows a similar pattern in the public sector in other countries. According to that, the main purpose of our research is to investigate the connection between fields of work, years of service, and sickness absenteeism in public administration in Slovenia. Methodology: Research data was collected with the help of an online questionnaire, which was designed for empirical research and consisted of several sets of questions. The collected data was processed using the SPSS statistical program. Results: The research was conducted in 2015 in public administration institutions, and 3,220 employees from public administration were included in our research sample. The results of the research show that there is a statistically significant connection between sickness absenteeism in public administration and years of service and the field of work of employees in public administration. Conclusion: The survey helps us to understand the connection between sickness absenteeism and years of service and field of work of employees in public administration. With regard to the results, it would be reasonable to adopt measures focused on groups of employees in public administration (older employees with a greater length of service, employed officials and professional-technical public employees) where sickness absence may be reduced. Sickness absenteeism in these groups of employees could be reduced by providing employees better leadership and conditions for satisfaction in the workplace.

Emocionálne inteligentná verejná správa - je to len Utópia?

The aim of the contribution was to analyze level of emotional intelligence and its factors towards public administration employees and analyze potential gender differences within emotional intelligence. 102 respondents (67 women and 35 men) with the average age of 34.94 years (SD = 12.27) answered the questions measuring emotional intelligence by Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire - TEIQue-SF (Petrides, 2006; slovak version Kaliská, Nábělková, & Salbot, 2015). The results showed that the extent of emotional intelligence was lower in general (M = 2.79; SD = .71) and in particular factors, as well. There were no significant gender differences in level of emotional intelligence (U(89) = 1018.00; α = .276).

Work satisfaction and the relationship between the psychological contract and an employee’s intention to quit. The results of a survey of public administration employees in Poland

This study focused on demonstrating that the psychological contract influences employees’ intention to leave the organization. Both factors in the context of work satisfaction. It also examined: (1) whether there is a relationship between the psychological contract, work satisfaction and the intention to quit; (2) which variable (the psychological contract or work satisfaction) better predicts the intention to quit; (3) whether - and how - the type of the psychological contract differentiates the intensity of work satisfaction and the intention to quit. The questions were answered based on information obtained during Computer-Assisted Web Interviews conducted with 5,930 employees representing three levels of a public administration organization. The effect of the psychological contract and work satisfaction on respondents’ intention to quit was measured by structural equation analysis. According to the study’s results, a relational psychological contract significantly contributes to the development of strong relations between the employer and employees and makes the latter less willing to leave the organization. Its association with employees’ intention to leave can be direct or indirect, through work satisfaction. It has also been established that a relational psychological contract can be useful for the studied organization as a predictor of employees’ intentions to stay or leave.

Stan kadr administracji publicznej z perspektywy ogólnokrajowej i regionalnej

This paper tackles staff problems of contemporary public administration. It starts with an analysis of the dependence between the efficiency of administration and the effi ciency of public servants in administration, whose efficiency depends on the level and quality of their qualifications. The analysis was carried out in three perspectives (i) with regard to the whole public administration of the State, (ii) with regard to the State and government central administration and (iii) with regard to regional public administration, on the example of the Lower Silesia region. It was assumed that the quality of the staff in administration is related to and depends on the legislation regulating the recruitment for public administration offices. The relevant provisions determine the choices made in the recruitment process and the subsequent creation of career paths. However, unstable and poor legal provisions have a negative impact on the quality of public administration personnel, which is manifested in poor performance, high employment fl uctuations and a diminishing interest among the younger generation in a career in public administration. This, in turn, may distort the natural generation exchange of administration staff in the future. As can be seen from the statistical analysis conducted in respect of the numbers of public administration employees and the fluctuation among them, as well as the demographic structure examined with regard the gender, age and length of employment, the initially assumed hypothesis of the negative consequences of the inconsistent legislative policy governing the regulations of the public administration staff. The sociological picture illustrating the attitudes among the members of the society to public administration confirms the hypothesis of the poor condition of public administration and a loss in confi dence in its activities or actions. The main reason for the current situation is that the constitutional principle of the neutrality of civil servants is realised only by orders that prohibit combining civil service with political activity, but do not limit or reduce the strong and direct influence exercised by political parties on the legal regulations within public civil service or the policies of appointing candidates to key administrative positions in (not only government) offices.

Professionalism of employees in public administration in the conditions of social and political change

Professionalism of employees in public administration in the conditions of social and political change

The Effect of Monetary Incentives on Individual and Organizational Performance in an Italian Public Institution

This paper addresses the role of monetary incentives with regard to the performance of employees and organizations. The distribution of monetary incentives among employees in public administration has been investigated. Specifically, the traditional approach of bureaucracy that pays a premium to each employee, based on the position held, is compared with a merit approach which tends to recognize and reward individual contributions. A task advice centrality indicator and a value index have been defined and used to study the performance of employees. The results show a modification of individual behaviors, in line with the theoretical foundations and predictions formulated.

Job mobility in Turkey

The degree and quality of job mobility is an important factor of optimal allocation of resources and growth in an economy. Job mobility facilitates productive employer-employee matches. In that respect, job mobility allows employees to work in industries which suit their skills and enables earning gains. It also supports industry level productivity gains by providing shift of employment from less productive firms to more productive ones. In this study, a descriptive analysis of job mobility is conducted using Entrepreneurship Information System data. The results suggest that job mobility is higher among young and men. In addition, more than half of the job movers switch to jobs in bigger, more productive and more profitable firms. Job mobility is intensive within manufacturing and trade-transportation industries and employees in mining, construction, public administration, education and health industries are more likely to switch to jobs in other industries. Finally, the determinants of job mobility between regions are analyzed and a positive relation between internal migration and intra-regional job mobility is found.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF MOTIVATION OF CIVIL SERVANTS AND PUBLIC SERVANTS IN THE LOCAL STATE ADMINISTRATION – CASE STUDY OF SLOVAKIA

The topic of public service motivation is very actual. In several countries, including Slovakia, the public administration employees are divided into two major groups, which are civil servants and public servants. The civil servants are the state employees, while public servants are doing public service work. As we meet these two groups of employees in the public administration, who in terms of job and working conditions perform different tasks and receive different wages and benefits, we assumed, there is a difference in their motivation level. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to present a comparative analysis of motivation of civil servants and public servants in the local state administration of Slovakia. In order to carry out the research, one of the basic methods of quantitative research was chosen, the questionnaire survey. The results of the research are mainly highlighting the differences between two groups of employees working in the local state administration.

Gratitude at Work Works! A Mix-Method Study on Different Dimensions of Gratitude, Job Satisfaction, and Job Performance

Gratitude may be defined as a personal positive tendency to recognize and respond with gratitude to positive experiences. It has been extensively described within personal relationship literature, showing its correlations with life satisfaction and decreased psychopathology. We propose here to consider gratitude as both a personal and an organizational value able to improve job performance and job satisfaction. The specific aim is twofold: to explore how public administration workers are used to express and perceive gratitude in the workplace, and to validate a serial mediation model, in which dispositional, collective, and relational gratitude are predictors of job satisfaction and job performance. We have designed a mix-method study, with a survey and a diary study, choosing to collect data also on a daily basis because we were interested in gratitude exchanges in work contexts using the event-sampling data method. Nine employees from several Italian public administrations completed a gratitude diary for ten working days in the initial qualitative part of the study. Afterwards, a sample of 96 Italian public administration employees filled in a questionnaire with measures related to job satisfaction, job performance, and three dimensions of gratitude: dispositional, collective, and relational. Results confirm that the three types of gratitude are predictors of job performance and job satisfaction and this relation has been tested in a serial mediation model. This investigation on gratitude has practical implications for the planning of training interventions framed in the positive psychology context.

Syndrom wypalenia zawodowego w administracji publicznej

Burnout syndrome in public administrationOccupational burnout is a state experienced by an employee in the domain of their psyche, somatics and social interactions. This phenomenon has a huge impact on the functioning of the structure in which this person is employed. In the case of employment in public administration institutions, the occurrence of the burnout syndrome is conditioned by specific factors having to do with the organizational and workplace culture-related conditions within a given institution, as well as systemic and organizational foundations of the administrative structure itself. The burnout syndrome in public administration officials and employees occurs at a similar frequency as in the entire working population; however, for those employed in aid-providing institutions, the risk is notably higher. As for the remedies, a major role is played by supervision and appropriate organizational climate that provides support and respect for other-than-professional areas of social functioning of an employee or a public administration official.

COMPARISON OF PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF PUBLIC SERVANTS IN SERBIA AND SELECTED COUNTRIES

The paper presents the experiences of Serbia and selected European Union countries in the field of professional development of civil servants as one of the most important factors in the reform processes of professionalisation and depolitization of the public sector. The performed comparison showed that the professional development of public servants in the observed countries has certain similarities, but also differences.Similarities relate firstly to the already established general consent to the treatment of this area as an important development factor for each state, then in the organization of management of professional development, as well as the technology of that performance with the accompanying evaluations. It was noted that the professional development of civil servants in the Republic of Serbia is still not being given the necessary attention in higher education, while significant improvements have been made in terms of improving the form of professional development through training and seminars.As for the technology of the observed professional development, it is in Serbia in the stage of constitution, and the expectations are that the latest amendments to the laws will improve this area. The significance of this contribution should be achieved through the work of the National Academy of Public Administration, as newly established centralized institutions entrusted with all expert and related executive and other state administration tasks related to the preparation, organization, monitoring and evaluation of the program of professional development of employees in public administration.

Understanding the trainers´ view of the effectiveness of continuing professional training: the case of public servants training

There is empirical evidence that the research findings on training effectiveness are hardly applied in organizations; one possible reason is that these findings do not reach trainers in a way that could help them make decisions about the design and implementation of training programs. This gap could be explained by the fact that most of those studies have primary been focused on the trainees´ perception of what factors affect the outcomes of training, while the trainers´ perspective on it has barely been studied. The goal of this study was to explore the trainers´ view on the efficacy of training, in terms of transfer outcomes; for this purpose, 300 trainers participating in the implementation of the training schemes addressed to Public Administration employees in Andalusia (Spain) were surveyed. The results showed that the trainers´ perception of training effectiveness was influenced by the characteristics of the current culture of continuing professional training in this organizational sector: an individualistic and centralized conception of training and the absence of the sense of responsibility for training outcomes. Furthermore, five conceptions of effective training were detected: one focused on ensuring that the design of the training event satisfies the trainees, other based on the use of workplace as a learning space, the third concept is concerned about accountability for training results, a fourth focused on addressing the organizational demands and the last reflecting an ecological conception of training effectiveness. It is concluded that research on training effectiveness should be more aligned with the trainers´ concerns if research findings are to be used by practitioners and, thus, they can help transform the culture and practices of employees training.

Značaj i uspešnost stručnog usavršavanja zaposlenih u javnoj upravi odabranih zemalja

The professional development of public administration employees is an increasingly important factor in the success of any current nation-state. This statement stems from the increasing effect of the current scientific and technological progress and the breakthrough of globalization, which implicitly requires the establishment and modification of legal regulation of public administration and the permanent improvement of its employees. However, in world practice, there are marked differences in the effectiveness of vocational training, especially in public administration employees of certain countries, which have a decisive influence on the development efficiency of all those countries. Therefore, the subject of this scientific work was chosen to study the success of professional development of employees in public administration of selected European countries and Serbia, whose results seek to advance science in this field and contribute to the development of this practice not only in Serbia but in general. It has produced valuable scientific results that show that the professional development of employees in the public administration of developed countries is, for many reasons, more successful than in Serbia.

The right to strike in the public sector in Europe

The European Trade Union Institute coordinated the production of factsheets on 35 countries, setting out the legal provisions on the right to strike, identifying in particular specific rules affecting the public services. This provides a wealth of information to trade unionists who can now compare and contrast the legislative requirements in their country with many other countries across Europe. Many groups of public sector workers are restricted or even banned from taking strike action. Procedural rules and requirements to provide minimum levels of essential services can also further limit their rights. Recent challenges to the right to strike The right to strike is fundamental for trade unions in underpinning their ability to organise, collectively bargain and represent their members. However, this right has often been restricted for public service workers and in recent years has come under attack. There have been a number of worrying developments in recent years where governments and international institutions have attempted to undermine the right to strike. These include the following: In July 2018, members of the UK public and commercial services PCS union delivered the highest ‘yes’ vote and turnout in the union’s history. However, the vote was invalid because of restrictions on public sector strike action introduced by the centre-right Conservative government in 2016. Eighty-six per cent of almost 60,000 PCS members voted in favour of action to demand a pay rise, but although representing 42 percent of the workforce, their number fell short of the required 50 percent turnout threshold; In June 2018, the Belgian government proposed new laws to limit the right of prison workers to take industrial action. In January 2018, as part of the package agreed with European lenders, the Greek Parliament voted on restrictions on the right to strike as well as further public sector job cuts and cuts to pensions and tax allowances; and In January 2017, Italian forestry workers took to the streets to demand a delay in their forced transfer to the Carabinieri police force, effectively militarising them and denying them the right to strike. Which workers are denied the right to strike? Although it is common for members of the armed forces, the security services, the judiciary, and police and prison officers to be excluded from the right to strike, union organisations have successfully challenged outright bans even in these areas. In the Czech and Slovak Republics, workers in whole sectors of the civil service, public utilities, ‘crucial enterprises’ and essential services are excluded from the right to strike. They include those in health and social care, where a strike could endanger people’s lives or health; employees operating nuclear power stations or equipment; fire and rescue workers; air traffic controllers; and telecommunications workers, where a strike could endanger life or health or damage property. In Denmark, certain categories of civil servants are considered bound by a special relationship of trust and are banned from striking. Since 2012, deputy police prosecutors, public prosecutors and state prosecutors have not been considered to be civil servants and therefore now have the right to strike. However, the latest figures show the number of Danish civil servants denied the right to strike stood at 44,000. In Estonia a civil servant who is an official, that is a person in a public-law service and trust relationship with the state or local government, is not allowed to strike. Although the ban does not apply to employees in public administration generally, it does apply to rescue workers and employees in the Ministry of Defence, Defence Resources Agency and the Defence League. In Turkey, a law completely barring public servants from striking was passed in 2001. As set out in the country reports, these same groups of workers do have the right to strike in other European states. Restrictions related to essential and minimum services The ILO defines essential services as those ‘whose interruption would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population’. However, a far wider interpretation of ‘essential services’ restricts the right to strike in a number of countries. For example, in Albania, civil servants working essential services of state activity, including transport, public television, water, gas...