State Government Employees Research Articles

Learning for collaborative action: learning domains and processes in place-based climate adaptation workshops

Communities facing complex social and environmental challenges may benefit from opportunities for collaborative learning. Place-based climate adaptation workshops, which help stakeholders to incorporate climate projections into site-specific adaptation strategies, are one space where learning can occur. We studied learning in eight facilitated climate adaptation workshops held in-person (n = 2) and online (n = 6) in the United States between 2021 and 2023. Workshops averaged 24 participants and included state and local government employees, representatives from non-governmental organizations, interested citizens, academics, and others. We examined declarative, procedural, and relational learning and the processes through which knowledge was created and shared. We found evidence for learning across domains. Participants linked learning to a range of workshop elements, including collaborative workbooks, plenary presentations, and handouts. We found no meaningful differences between online and in-person workshops, suggesting that a range of workshop formats support meaningful learning. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications for understanding and fostering learning.

Perceptions of State Government Employees on Diversity and the Citizen Outcomes from Diversity in Government

Perceptions of State Government Employees on Diversity and the Citizen Outcomes from Diversity in Government

Elderly Public Servants: Assessment of their satisfaction with Quality of Life at Work

This work aims to test the Walton Model based on the perception of quality of life (QWL) of elderly employees of the state government of Amazonas. Furthermore, the model's predictive capacity to explain the satisfaction of public servants with QWL will also be analyzed. This research presents a quantitative approach in which the questionnaire represents the eight dimensions of Walton's model. Data collection occurred electronically by sending the Google Forms link to all state elderly servers. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results show that the dimensions of the Walton Model that most impact the overall QWL perceived by state government employees are balance, work relevance, and professional growth, respectively. On the other hand, social integration negatively impacts general QWL. Furthermore, it was found that the Walton Model can explain more than 73% of the overall QWL. The main theoretical contributions of this work fall on the test of the nomological validity of Walton's model, on the study that addresses elderly public servants who are little studied and presents specific and pertinent considerations on the support and rejection of the hypotheses that represent the eight dimensions of the Walton model.

DEVELOPING TALENT AND PERFORMANCE OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, CAPACITATE MALAYSIA’S DEVELOPMENT PLAN

The Twelfth Malaysia Plan (12MP) aimed at revitalizing the economy to restore the financial well-being of the people and comprehensively rejuvenate and strengthen the overall national economic growth. In line with the prominent national agenda, this paper aims to investigate talent management and its relationships with the performance of state government employees in Malaysia. When employees are motivated, skilled, and engaged, they are better able to work towards the company's objectives, improving job performance. Hence, talent management was identified to model its impact on state government employee performance in Malaysia. To gather data, survey questions from earlier studies are incorporated and modified. The 385 state government samples and SPSS version 22 are used for the data analysis. The study results show that talent management, recruitment, and retention significantly affect company performance. This helps those in charge of human resource management to appreciate the situation and decide how best to promote employee advancement.

Concept of Implementation of Artificial Intelligence for the Prevention of Conflict of Interest Situations in the Public Sector

Abstract The purpose of the article is to obtain, learn and analyse the international experience on the basic principles of artificial intelligence (AI) implementation in the public sector. In the article, the author examines the problems and offers proposals on the legal foundations that must be provided in the concept of introducing AI for the prevention of conflict of interest situations in the public sector. To achieve the goal, the author relies not only on the findings of other authors and the experience of other countries, but presents his own research. The author’s research is based on a survey of Latvian state and local government officials and employees. The author’s research was conducted but not fully completed at the time of submission of the article. However, in the article, the author has summarized the interim conclusions of the study and presents them. The author believes that the topic of the article and the research presented herein will allow a better understanding of the importance of AI technology, the need to regulate it, as well as ensure the safe implementation of AI in the public sector in the future with the aim of minimizing the risks of corruption and conflicts of interest.

Testing the Public Officials’ Integrity in the Moonlighting of State-Owned Company Commissioner

Conflict of interest is related to fraud and corruption, whose sources include the following, (a) concurrent positions or moonlighting, (b) public sector non-cooling off work/business activities post-employment, (c) work and personal business interests of family, friends, and associates, (d) affiliate relationship of community groups, organizations, and political aspirations. Therefore, this study aimed (1) to develop a catalogue of laws and regulations implicitly and explicitly prohibiting state officials or government employees from implementing moonlighting. It indicated the explicit prohibition of moonlighting against interfering with the conditions causing conflicts of interest. It also aimed (2) to examine the moonlighting of SOE commissioners through state officials. In this analysis, SOE was selected as the sample due to being simultaneously regulated by various policies prohibiting conflicts of interest and moonlighting. The sample was also exchange-listed because of the obligation to disclose information in the Capital Market Law as an Annual Report, where the profiles of the Commissioner members were often showcased. The results showed that moonlighting was unacceptable by public officials as commissioner members, regarding the compiled catalogue.

The Role of Leader and Subordinate Gender in the Leadership–Empowerment Relationship

Building on prior research on leadership and gender, the current study explores whether leaders’ and subordinates’ genders influence the impact of leaders’ behaviors on subordinate attitudes. More specifically, this study identifies three moderator variables that might influence the relationship: gender congruence and gender combination between supervisor and subordinate and gender ratio (gender composite in a work unit). Using a sample of state government employees, the current study found that supervisors’ transformational leadership style was more likely to influence male subordinates’ feelings of psychological empowerment than female subordinates’ feelings of psychological empowerment, regardless of the supervisor’s gender and that the positive effect among male employees becomes weaker when they are in a work unit with more women. Ultimately, the findings from this study contribute to our knowledge base regarding leadership and gender, in general, and deepen our understanding of supervisor–subordinate gender dynamics and how these dynamics are associated with gender ratio in public sector organizations.

The Long-Term Solvency of Teacher Pension Plans: How We Got to Now and Prospects for Recovery

The COVID-related financial market decline and economic recession have raised new concerns regarding the financial sustainability of retirement plans for state and local government employees, the largest group of whom is public school teachers. Using data from the Public Plans Database and the National Income and Product Accounts, I analyze teacher pension plans over the 2001–2019 period, seeking to answer questions regarding teacher pensions’ funded status, investment decisions and returns, adequacy of contributions, and generosity of benefits. These data show that teacher pension funding peaked at the beginning of the 2001–2019 period due to the tech bubble’s inflation of asset values, but then it declined thereafter due to investment returns that significantly underperformed assumptions, failures by sponsoring governments to consistently make full contributions, and increases in the generosity of pension benefits. School districts will face substantial funding challenges in the post-COVID period, as investment losses are factored into contribution rates, government revenues available to make contributions shrink, and education funding from state governments comes under pressure. I outline several policy alternatives that policymakers may consider, but none would make restoring teacher pensions to full funding a painless process.

State Governments: Constructing Fortifications Against Fraudulent Activities

Vision, mission and objective statements are essential for the government departments to declare their fortifications for protecting public assets and upholding the highest possible ethical standards. Vision, mission and objective statements are defined and documented by state government departments in Malaysia to deter, among other things, official wrongdoing and dishonesty. The objective of this study is to investigate the efforts made by state government agencies to stop employee fraud and misconduct. The phrase integrity and its synonyms in the vision, mission and objective statements are recognized and examined after studying all of the state governments' official websites in Malaysia. The fact that the term "integrity" even exists can serve as a sign of how committed state government agencies are to upholding a responsible and reputable organization. The descriptive statistical analysis technique was utilized in the study to examine Malaysian state government departments' attention to preventing fraudulent actions from occurring. A keyword search method was employed. An examination of the official websites of state-affiliated organizations with the goal of determining if local governments promote integrity in their major identity statements. Results from the study indicate most state governments in Malaysia are not committed to the fight against fraud because integrity is not emphasized in their vision, mission and objective statements. Future research may take into consideration each term and phrase that has an identical meaning to that of the integrity. To date, studies on the importance of these statements are quite limited. Therefore, this study can be a preliminary study to provide important information in instilling integrity in state government employees by emphasizing it in the vision, mission and objective statements.

Practical Applications of The Trouble with State Government Employee Pension Plans: The Case of Connecticut

In <b><i>The Trouble with State Government Employee Pension Plans: The Case of Connecticut</i></b>, from the Winter 2022 issue of <b><i>The Journal of Retirement</i></b>, author <b>Mark J. Warshawsky</b> of the <b>American Enterprise Institute</b> explores threats to the financial viability of state- and municipal-employee pension plans. Unlike the private sector, most public-sector employers still offer defined-benefit (DB) lifetime pensions to employees. However, many of these pensions are seriously underfunded. That threatens the retirement income security of public employees and puts taxpayers at risk of having to pay for bailouts. The author pinpoints several factors contributing to this problem. Most significantly, states and municipalities have contributed too little to their DB plans and have made optimistic assumptions about future investment returns. Using the State of Connecticut’s DB plans as a case study, the author finds they have tried to address these problems by extending amortization periods to pay off liabilities. The author tests these measures and finds that the Connecticut plans are still overly optimistic and at risk of shortfalls. He therefore suggests that the federal government regulate public-employee DB plans and that Connecticut close its DB plans and offer defined-contribution (DC) plans instead.

Toward a micro‐level perspective of organizational publicness: Felt organizational publicness in the eyes of state government employees

AbstractOrganizational publicness is a foundational construct for public administration. It has largely been conceptualized deductively and focuses mostly on the macro‐ and meso‐levels of analysis, leaving under‐explored how public employees perceive it at the micro‐level. Through a grounded theory analysis of state government employees' interview data, this study aims to uncover public officials' perceptions about organizational publicness. We find that participants' perception of organizational publicness is a composite of five themes: four represent the core meanings of felt organizational publicness, essentially reflecting a cultural/ethical perspective (purpose, value, behavior, and outcome), and one represents the context of the meanings (external environment). Linking the dimensions with the literature and publicness at other analytical levels, we discuss the findings' implications. We emphasize that employee perceptions of organizational publicness play an important role in achieving realized publicness.

Perception of State Government Employees of Kerala about Forensic Accounting and Investigation standards issued in August 2021

Government Employees draw salary from the consolidated fund of India. Besides, they handle money and properties of the society. Therefore, they have to be cautious. Even though, Forensic Accounting and Investigation is applied by Banking and related industries, it is equally significant in all spheres of life. A Basic understanding about Forensic Accounting and Investigation and its latest amendments like newly issued Forensic Accounting and Investigation standards is necessary to be cautious and protect the public money. They should be cautious while allocating large contracts and dealing with parties. They should not try to get personal gains from the contract. Forensic Accounting is a way to nab the culprits. It gives evidence before a court of law. Therefore, all levels of Government employees should try to understand the Forensic Accounting and Investigation. If they are unaware, proper training should be given to them. Therefore, researchers try to understand the Perception of State Government Employees of Kerala about Forensic Accounting and Investigation standards issued in August 2021.

Implementing federal food service guidelines in federal and private worksite cafeterias in the United States leads to improved health outcomes and is cost saving.

Poor diet increases cardiometabolic disease risk, yet the impact of food service guidelines on employee health and its cost effectiveness is poorly understood. Federal food service guidelines (FFSG) aim to provide United States (U.S.) government employees with healthier food options. Using microsimulation modeling, we estimated changes in the incidence of cardiometabolic disease, related mortality, and the cost effectiveness of implementing FFSG in nationally representative model populations of government and private company employees across 5 years and lifetime. We based estimates on changes in workplace intake of six FFSG dietary targets and showed lifetime reductions of heart attacks (-107/million), strokes (-30/million), diabetes (-134/million), ischemic heart disease deaths (-56/million), and stroke deaths (-8/million). FFSG is cost saving overall, with total savings in discounted healthcare costs from $4,611,026 (5years) to $539,809,707 (lifetime) $U.S. This study demonstrates that FFSG improves health outcomes and is cost saving.

A field experiment characterizing variable detection rates during plant surveys.

Surveys aimed at finding threatened and invasive species can be challenging due to individual rarity and low and variable individual detection rates. Detection rate in plant surveys typically varies due to differences among observers, among the individual plants being surveyed (targets), and across background environments. Interactions among these 3 components may occur but are rarely estimated due to limited replication and control during data collection. We conducted an experiment to investigate sources of variation in detection of 2 Pilosella species that are invasive and sparsely distributed in the Alpine National Park, Australia. These species are superficially similar in appearance to other yellow‐flowered plants occurring in this landscape. We controlled the presence and color of flowers on target Pilosella plants and controlled their placement in plots, which were selected for their variation in cover of non‐target yellow flowers and dominant vegetation type. Observers mimicked Pilosella surveys in the plots and reported 1 categorical and 4 quantitative indicators of their survey experience level. We applied survival analysis to detection data to model the influence of both controlled and uncontrolled variables on detection rate. Orange‐ and yellow‐flowering Pilosella in grass‐ and heath‐dominated vegetation were detected at a higher rate than nonflowering Pilosella. However, this detection gain diminished as the cover of other co‐occurring yellow‐flowering species increased. Recent experience with Pilosella surveys improved detection rate. Detection experiments are a direct and accessible means of understanding detection processes and interpreting survey data for threatened and invasive species. Our detection findings have been used for survey planning and can inform progress toward eradication. Interaction of target and background characteristics determined detection rate, which enhanced predictions in the Pilosella eradication program and demonstrated the difficulty of transferring detection findings into untested environments.

Urgency of developing the capacity building on Saniri institution

The Government of Hunut Village, Baguala District, Ambon City has built several state saniri units as traditional institutions on customary lands with their main tasks and functions. The type of research used is qualitative research with descriptive elaboration. Furthermore, this research will be conducted in Mamala State, Leihitu District, Central Maluku Regency. Interviews in this study were conducted by asking informants or informants, namely the Mamala State Saniri, Mamala State Government Employees, Soa Heads, Community Leaders, and Traditional Leaders. Strategy for strengthening the capacity of sanitation institutions in Mamala Country. The results obtained are that in carrying out the duties and functions of the State, Saniri has not been maximized. The reason is, the senior has only been carrying out its duties and functions for approximately seven months. The factors that affect the performance of Saniri are the human resources factor of the Saniri institution itself and the unavailability of facilities and infrastructure to support the work of the Sansiri institution.

Col Kirpal Singh Award

Background:Psychiatric disorders are one of the increasing causes of disability and work-related problems. As per the available data, 10% of the total working Indian population have major psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety disorders, psychosis, and substance use disorders.Aims:To study the relationship between Psychiatric disorders and Absenteeism in State Government Employees in a Tertiary Healthcare center.Methodology:The retrospective data of the last two years of the candidates referred for psychiatric evaluation to the Department because of absence at work was collected from the Hospital records and were analyzed for the number, gender, education, presence of mental illness, treatment is taken, substance use and outcome of the referral.Statistics:Categorical variables were analyzed with the Chi-squared tests. Significance levels for all analyses were set at P <0.05. Mean ranks were tested using the Kruskal Wallis test.Results:Significant difference was found between Prevalence of Psychiatric disorders, length (p=0.045), and frequent periods of absenteeism (p=0.03).Conclusions:Our study examined the psychiatric diagnostic categories, past absenteeism at work, the outcome of the referral, and associations if any which might help to provide better psychiatric services for the referrals of government employees in the future.

National Pension Scheme in India: Functions and Performance

National Pension Scheme is a mandatory for all central and state government employees who joined in services after 2005. Although the scheme is implemented in 2006, most of the government employees are unknown about the benefit of the same scheme. Hence, this paper highlights functions of national pension scheme and performance of pension fund managers in terms of its return in 2020. ANOVA tool is employed for analyzing differences in return by pension fund managers. The study is concluded that HDFC pension fund gives more return other than pension fund.

The Trouble with State Government Employee Pension Plans: The Case of Connecticut

The Last Gift is an observational HIV cure-related research study conducted with people with HIV at the end of life (EOL) at the University of California San Diego. Participants agree to voluntarily donate blood and other biospecimens while living and their bodies for a rapid research autopsy postmortem to better understand HIV reservoir dynamics throughout the entire body. The Last Gift study was initiated in 2017. Since then, 30 volunteers were enrolled who are either (1) terminally ill with a concomitant condition and have a prognosis of 6 months or less or (2) chronically ill with multiple comorbidities and nearing the EOL. Multiple ethical and logistical challenges have been revealed during this time; here, we share our lessons learnt and ethical analysis. Issues relevant to healthcare research include surrogate informed consent, personal and professional boundaries, challenges posed conducting research in a pandemic, and clinician burnout and emotional support. Issues more specific to EOL and postmortem research include dual roles of clinical care and research teams, communication between research personnel and clinical teams, legally required versus rapid research autopsy, identification of next of kin/loved ones and issues of inclusion. Issues specific to the Last Gift include logistics of body donation and rapid research autopsy, and disposition of the body as a study benefit. We recommend EOL research teams to have clear provisions around surrogate informed consent, rotate personnel to maintain boundaries, limit direct contact with staff associated with clinical care and have a clear plan for legally required versus research autopsies, among other recommendations.

How Will COVID-19 Affect Pensions for Noncovered Workers?

Federal law allows certain state and local government employees to be excluded from Social Security if they are covered by an employer pension of sufficient generosity. As a result, approximately one-quarter of state and local workers are not covered by Social Security on their current job. Before COVID-19, these “FICA replacement plans” all satisfied the letter of the law in terms of providing benefits of sufficient generosity. This study has three aims. The first is to document the immediate impact of COVID-19 on the financial status of FICA replacement plans. The second is to investigate whether COVID-19 has led to cuts in benefit promises among plans, as well as the likelihood of future cuts. The third is to investigate the likelihood that FICA replacement plans will exhaust their trust fund assets and default on benefit promises.

Pension Finance Literacy of Indian Government Employees with Respect to the National Pension Scheme

Pension finance literacy of individuals in India is still at a nascent stage owing to low interest and lack of awareness in this sector. The Government of India, in 2004, introduced the National Pension Scheme for government employees in place of the Old Pension Scheme. A survey was done to examine employees’ awareness about the new scheme and understand whether they were aware of the various features of the scheme. The survey included a questionnaire designed specifically for government employees and included questions regarding the scheme’s features and characteristics. Another aim of the survey was to inspect the satisfaction level of the people from the new scheme. The participants included Central and State government employees. Analysis of the results was done using t-test and ANOVA. The effect of demographic variables such as education, gender, income, and marital status on government employees’ pension finance literacy was measured. The results revealed the mixed response of employees. Although a good number of people were found to be aware of the various aspects of the scheme, demographic variables majorly affected the awareness level. Employees were found to be dissatisfied with the scheme’s performance. People wanted some changes in the scheme in aspects such as withdrawal and taxation and generally thought that the scheme was not employee-friendly. Based on the discussion with employees, some suggestions have been put forward so as to make the scheme more alluring.