Careers-Employment
"Smarten Up" Public Servants Warned
?Smarten Up? is the message to thousands of senior public servants in South Australia (?The Advertiser ? - 11 September 2006). Pull up your socks, get with the change program or dust off those Resumes!
How often do we hear governments of all persuasions, and in different parts of the world, talk about ?world class public sectors? or ?best practice? in terms of public administration? Public Sector reform is fraught with all kinds of hazards and difficulties. Beauracracy is notoriously cumbersome and resistant to change, potentially frustrating taxpayers and governments alike. However, it is also this apparently impervious culture that ensures a politically independent public service, not subject to the whim of government.
Nevertheless, South Australia has embarked on a process of major change in their public sector over the next 18 months, and in all probability, beyond. A ?Government Reform Commission? has been established to identify areas of duplication, wastefulness and inefficiencies. The intention is to address these areas, making savings and delivering a more customer responsive public service.
The ?smarten up? theme is directed at public servants in senior management positions below the level of Chief Executive. Most senior public servants still enjoy the benefit of ongoing tenure in government, though executive level positions have in recent years become tenured contracts. Extending the reach of contracts to sub-executive levels would have a profound impact on the psychology and operation of the South Australian public sector. The elected government and business sector argues that the increased use of tenured contracts will make public sector workers more accountable, therefore delivering improved outcomes and services. Extended further, the argument suggests that the implementation of tenured contracts will contribute to a less ?risk aversive? public sector.
Conversely, proponents of an independent public sector argue that the use of tenured contracts undermines the independence of the public sector, producing a malleable puppet subject to government manipulation and coercion. They would also argue that inefficiencies relating to personnel in the Public Sector could be managed with a more effective approach to performance management and poor performance procedures and processes. The ?risk aversive-ness? of the public sector is seen as a strength, guaranteeing sound stewardship of public assets. Many South Australians remember the disaster in which the state government owned bank almost went ?belly-up? and was subsequently restructured and sold off.
There is no denying that any substantial workforce (public administrations being no exception) will have areas of inefficiency and wastefulness. There is no denying that these weaknesses should be minimised as far as possible. However, the challenge to government, (and an area of risk to the general population), is to ensure that good government and democratic principles are preserved. Poorly thought out reforms will not achieve these aims.
Lewis Stratton has worked in both government and non-government sectors for many years at senior levels. He is a regular contributor to many online resources including www.ezinearticles.com, http://www.progressenterprise.com, users.chariot.net.au/~progress/ and www.citehr.com. |
Lewis Stratton
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