Civil Service Management Research Articles

Application of e-Governance to Civil Service Management of Bangladesh: Does it Bring Efficiency and Effectiveness?

The effective civil service management is a dynamic process in developed and developing countries of the world. It plays a predominant role for bringing about social change and development whereas e-Governance is the transitional media for initiating effective and efficient civil service. To make the transaction process of the civil service management faster and easier, e-Governance is regarded as a problem remedying technique. Application of e-Governance in civil service management can be designed in such a manner that proper departmental system of the management activities can be improved but in consonance with the e-Governance system, civil service management can't improvise its efficiency and effectiveness due to traditional mode of operation, inadequate infrastructure, lack of legal framework. lack of maintenance and resource capabilities and so on. This paper illustrates that how e-Governance can be adopted by using ICT to strengthen information flow among inter-civil service agencies. The inductive nature of the study may aid the entire civil service management to learn about the prospects an readiness of e-Touch from the findings of the study.

Using technology to connect with people on employee engagement

PurposeIn 2008, the UK Civil Service took the decision to bring together all departments' staff satisfaction surveys, creating an overarching employee engagement survey across the entire civil service. Infogroup/ORC International was charged with the unprecedented task of organizing and implementing this survey, ensuring that it met the complex requirements of Civil Service managers. This paper aims to focus on this initiative.Design/methodology/approachIt was critical to understand the challenges associated with communicating a survey and its results to such a large and diverse population. Through the use of user‐centered design, client‐panels and best practice, ORC International designed an online tool, called “highlights,” to meet the Civil Service's needs, ensuring that the survey and its findings achieved the outlined aims.FindingsSince its launch, highlights has received over 300,000 hits, demonstrating the importance placed on the Civil Service People Survey and the success of the tool in communicating the survey results in an effective, user‐friendly format. Analysis of the use of the tool has shaped the future development, in preparation for the 2010 survey.Originality/valueThe paper discusses the challenges associated with communicating a survey and its results to such a large and diverse population.

The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978: A 30-Year Retrospective and a Look Ahead

President Jimmy Carter initiated the most sweeping reforms of the U.S. federal civil service in 95 years when he signed the Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA) on October 13, 1978. This introduction reviews the substantive reforms whose implementation began with creation of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), on January 1, 1979. CSRA's provisions were wide-ranging. They included reorganization of the agencies tasked with civil service management and regulation, establishment of a Senior Executive Service, creation of performance appraisal and merit pay programs, and clarification and simplification of appeal procedures for personnel actions. The introduction concludes with summaries of the five articles that appear in the symposium and their significance in the context of CSRA and developments of the past 30 years.

Imitation and inspiration in public sector reform: lessons from Commonwealth experiences

This article is based on a paper originally presented at the 2006 Conference of the Commonwealth Association of Public Administration and Management. It discusses case studies of reform in developing countries presented at the Commonwealth Advanced Seminar, held annually in Wellington, New Zealand. The cases are analysed in terms of major reform issues such as civil service reform, strategic planning, management decentralization and accountability for results to draw out similarities in challenges and responses across jurisdictions and also some lessons about the uptake and implementation of policy ideas from other governments. The cases illustrate the influence on developing country governments of public management ideas, ranging from specific imitation of new management `technologies' to more generalized inspiration of the possibilities of reform. Points for practitioners There are significant similarities of reform issues across the diverse countries of the Commonwealth, indicating the value of cross-jurisdictional dialogue about reform agendas, particularly when participants share a common official language. Some ideas about New Public Management continue to exert a strong influence on reform agendas — particularly those relating to linking individual performance to organizational tasks and objectives. Nevertheless, inspiration, rather than imitation, may sometimes be the most useful result of cross-jurisdiction discussions about public sector reform, particularly when practitioners can discuss common issues and challenges.

CIVIL SERVICE REFORM IN THE UK, 1999–2005: REVOLUTIONARY FAILURE OR EVOLUTIONARY SUCCESS?

In December 1999, the UK Civil Service Management Board agreed an internal reform programme, complementing the more externally‐oriented ‘modernizing government’ programme, to bring about major changes in the functioning of the civil service –‘step change’ rather than continuous improvement. This paper suggests that the aims of the reform programme were only partially achieved. While some step changes did indeed occur, even such central elements of reform as ‘joined‐up’ working with other public organizations were still only at an initial stage some three years later and others – for example, business planning and performance management systems – have taken 20 years to achieve acceptance within the civil service. It appears that examples of meteoric change are rare in the civil service – the reality of the changes are better characterized as ‘evolution’ and ‘continuous improvement’ than ‘revolution’ and ‘step change’.

PEMBERDAYAAN UNTUK MENINGKATKAN KOMPETENSI PEJABAT STRUKTURAL PEMERINTAH: Kasus di Bidang Kepegawaian di Provinsi DKI Jakarta dan Provinsi DI Yogyakarta

The civil service management had to change its paradigm in appointing the structural goverment officials (SGO)’s so far the work achievement of goverment structural officials was still low. In conjunction with this, the objectives of this research were: (1) To evaluate the level of empowerment, internal organization characteristics, motivation and competency of SGO; (2) To determine the factors that influence the empowerment, competence and motivation of SGO; and (3) To formulate the model for increasing the structural geverment officials (SGO) competency. This research was accomphlished in DKI Jakarta and DI Yogyakarta. This research was a census, 163 government structural officials were interviewed. The research results pointed out that: (1) The levels of empowerment, attitudes, motivation and competency of every officials interviewed were good. Additionally, their nonformal education and organization technology was also good. (2) The non formal education, attitudes and mastering of organization technology were related to the SGO empowerment; (3) The empowerment and the motivation of SGO were significantly related to their competencies; (4) The SGO empowerment was related to the SGO motivation. Based upon these fundings, it could be concluced that all factors investigated were related to the empowerment, and on the other hand the empowerment was related to the SGO motivation and competency.

PEMBERDAYAAN PEJABAT STRUKTURAL KEPEGAWAIAN PEMERINTAH TERHADAP PRODUKTIVITAS KERJA YANG BERMUTU: Kasus dalam Bidang Kepegawaian di Provinsi DKI Jakarta dan Provinsi DI Yogyakarta

The civil service management was changed of paradigm to some extent, that is appointment of the personnel of government structural officials (PSOG) is carried out based on profesionalisme principle. Although in implementation, work achievement of the personnel of goverment structural officials (PSOG) indicate is still unsatisfying. This research objectives are: (1) to evaluate the level of empowerment, internal characteristics of organization, motivation, and competency of PSOG; (2) to decide the determinant factors that influence the empowerment, competence, and motivation of PSOG; (3) to formulate the model to increase competency of the personnel of government structural officials (PSOG). Location of the research are in DKI Jakarta and DI Yogyakartaof which 14 government offices were selected as study sites From the analysis of data obtained the scores as follow: (1) Level of empowerment, attitudes, motivation, and competency with category good. Level of non formal education (seminar, discussion and workshop) and organization technology with category good. Level of works experience with category not good; (2) The factors of non formal education (seminar, discussion and workshop), attitudes and organization technology is significantly influence the empowerment of PSOG; (3) The factors of empowerment and motivation of PSOG significantly influence competency; (4) The factor of empowerment of PSOG is significantly influence the motivation of PSOG.

Les marges de manœuvre de la gestion des carrières des personnels d'encadrement de la fonction publique d'Etat

<titre>Room for maneuver in the Civil Service Management&#160;: Administrative Joint Commissions. Testimonies </titre> The principles of status in the civil service rest on the recognition of agents&#8217; &#8220;professional value&#8221;. However, in the day-to-day reality of career management, texts are interpreted in such a way as to leave room for seniority as well as for impersonal, bureaucratic regulations, thus reducing the recognition of an individual&#8217;s &#8220;value&#8221; to that of the competitive examination required for access the post. Though such practices exist in some parts of the civil service, they are not at all general, and are in fact entirely absent in some sectors of the administration. The testimonies presented here are those of individuals in charge of staff management and union representatives. They provide examples of &#8220;true&#8221; human resource management and suggest under what conditions they could exist elsewhere. They also explain certain problems that arise, in particular those linked to the &#8220;hard core&#8221; of career management, the administrative parity commissions (CAP).

Italian Administration in Transition

Italy is in a period of transition: deep changes are underway in the political and institutional system. Yet many of the processes are far from having reached a stable conclusion: parties are unable to agree on a reform of the electoral system and the attempt to modify the constitution has come to an abrupt halt due to conflicts among political parties. One field where very substantial transformations are instead underway is administrative reform; notwithstanding its relevance, this aspect has attracted much less attention from scholars and public opinion alike. Italian national administration has hardly undergone any change in its essential traits over almost half a century, even though levels of performance have been far from satisfactory; administrative reform has mainly concerned civil service management, largely reflecting the interests of personnel themselves. Only since the early 1990s has a reform of the administration, within a more general process of reshaping of the role of the state, become possible, thanks to a unique window of opportunity generated by a combination of factors, both internal and external to the national polity. This article examines recent policy efforts aimed at modernizing public administration (with a focus mainly on the central state). The conclusion is that, despite arguments that reform in this area had made little progress until recently (compared, for example, with the improvement in the situation of public finances), administrative reform has, in fact, covered considerable ground since the early 1990s.

Management development in the British and Irish Civil Services

Management development has become an important part of the debate over reforms of public services in the UK and Ireland since the early 1980s. The argument was that the crisis of public sector delivery was not one of resources, but of the management of available resources. Thus management became the central focus of restructuring. The emphasis on the central role of management meant the reformulation of old ideas around notions of new public management and human resource management. Failure to treat the management development of managers according to the tenets of HRM may indicate both practical mistakes associated with implementation and/or deep seated misconceptions in the relevance of management reform to the wider reform of public services. Our evidence, taken from samples of UK and Irish Civil Service managers, shows a more subtle set of failings associated both with traditional aspects of Civil Service management and with problems in the new systems.

A Decade of Civil Service Reform in Sub-Saharan Africa

This paper assesses a decade of experience in civil service reform in a sample of 32 sub-Saharan African countries. Many countries have made an important start towards reducing excessive staffing levels and the nominal wage bill, but less progress has been made in decompressing salary differentials in favor of higher-grade staff. In the CFA franc zone countries, real wages fell sharply after the 1994 devaluation, but the wage bill relative to tax revenue is still high in many countries. There is a need to consolidate quantitative first-generation reforms that contribute to macroeconomic stabilization. Equally important is the need to make progress on qualitative second-generation reforms, especially remuneration and promotion policies that reward performance and measures to improve civil service management. Such policies will require strong political commitment by governments.

Organizational commitment of civil service managers in Jordan: a field study

Probes organizational commitment of civil service managers in Jordan. Employs descriptive, analytical and field survey methodologies. A specially‐designed questionnaire was distributed to 420 civil service managers in Jordan of which 293 have been returned and analysed. Explains that the study reveals a weak yet negative relationship between managers’ commitment and sex, age, education and length of service and a weak yet positive relationship between managers’ commitment and organizational level. Claims that the study reflects a relatively high level of commitment of civil service managers in Jordan. Recommends that more attention and recognition be given to the importance of commitment in Jordan’s civil service. Argues for the making of a strong connection between commitment, its measures and motivation and control systems in the civil service in Jordan.

Civil Service (Management Functions) Act 1992

Civil Service (Management Functions) Act 1992

France in Search of a New Administrative Order

In recent years, drastic political changes in France have produced nothing but new questions on the national administrative pattern. The "alternance" did not basically alter public administration weight or social structure. At the same time, as a new institutional game was installed (decentralization, EC integration process, new demands coming from citizens), administrative change ("modernization") gained new interest. A general discussion of this modernization process (civil service management, policy evaluation, etc.,) shows that, in many respects, administrative reform is a substitute for political change. The traditional State-centred political system recently gave way to a pluralistic policy- centred system. But, if there are no more ideological controversies around public administration, nor are there any more political guidelines for the modernization process.

The real Civil Service management challenge

The real Civil Service management challenge

Italie. La modernisation de la fonction publique

&lt;i&gt;Italy. Modernization of the Civil Service &lt;/i&gt; The reforms of the 1980s resulted in the increasing use of collective bargaining, the introduction of “professional profiles” in career planning and an effort to standardize civil service management methods as well as controlling such management costs. An assessment of the implementation of these reforms revealed that certain objectives were not attained : improvement in job efficiency, improvement in responsibility of civil servants, cost control. The more recent measures tend to corne doser to private sector management methods ; they also tend to encourage productivity and make top civil servants into self-reliant and responsible managers.

Irlande. Maîtrise des coûts, efficacité et politique des cadres

&lt;i&gt;Ireland. Cost Control, Efficiency and Management Development at Senior Levels &lt;/i&gt; For the past few years drastic measures have been taken to reduce public expenditures and the size of Public Services. At the same time a study was undertaken that aimed at improving Civil Service management. A number of significant developments have occured over the past few years in order to improve management efficiency and to promote interdepartmental mobility at the senior levels. The use of financial incentives according to job performance and further-training policies for senior managers tend towards greater flexibility in human resources management and a change in culture within the Civil Service.

Allemagne fédérale. Formation des hauts fonctionnaires et «flexibilité» de la gestion : vers une nouvelle politique du personnel ?

The Federal Republic of Germany Training of Top Civil Servants and Flexible Management : Towards a New Policy for Civil Service The move towards the modernization of public services in the Federal Republic of Germany stems less from a common strategy than from a variety of experiments, the progress of which differs according to the sectors. This effort to modernize tends to replace the negative view of the Civil Service (as a cost factor), with a positive view based on the «Human Resource Development» concept. There should be greater flexibility when recruiting as well as when managing staff. The creation of the Civil Service Academy in Baden-Wurttemberg and of a Civil Service College in Rhineland-Palatinate shows that there is a reform movement in the field of training civil service managers.

Lasting Reforms in Civil Service Management?

Lasting Reforms in Civil Service Management?

Human Resource Planning and Budgeting: The Dallas Perspective

Human resource planning has long been a concern of private sector organizations, but the public sector has been somewhat slower in getting on the human resource planning bandwagon. With conflicting demands for increased service delivery and tax rates, governmental organizations have generally failed to see the long-term benefits of human resource planning. However, public entities are now beginning to recognize the benefits of such planning and make it a part of their organization structure. Dallas' efforts in human resource planning can be attributed to a concerted and integrated effort by the city's entire management staff. In considering the Dallas approach to human resource planning, several key elements will be addressed: the overall management plan, executive performance plans, the affirmative action task force, civil service task force, management development (succession planning), career development, and data based systems.