NOTES ON PUBLIC SERVICE EXCELLENCE #13
Public Service Motivation and the SDGs An unacknowledged crisis? The Issue: A looming crisis? Implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) depends on effective public service, and public services. Yet, almost everywhere, public service appears in crisis. Morale and motivation in the public sector has undoubtedly declined in many countries across both the developed and developing worlds. Public servants seem to have little trust in their own leadership. Job commitment, professional satisfaction and ethical climate in the public service is decreasing, putting at risk fairness and impartiality.1 In the long term, this could threaten citizens’ trust and state legitimacy, but in the short term may be resulting in increasing disengagement and lack of commitment, even misconduct. The extent of this crisis within public administration is unclear, yet the evidence suggests that in many countries it needs to be acknowledged as potentially a major challenge to the achievement of the SDGs. Reversing several decades of decline in public service will require ‘New Public Passion’ (NPP) through job enrichment, cocreation and credible leadership that values effective public service. Singapore is a rare exception in retaining high public service morale, but an exception that nevertheless confirms the importance of a strong public service ethos for achieving development results. The Evidence: Morale and motivation matter The role of public service in implementing and achieving international development targets has long been recognised.2 1 Christoph Demmke and Timo Moilanen, (2012), Effectiveness of Ethics and Good Governance in Central Administration of EU-27: Evaluating Reform Outcomes in the Context of the Financial Crisis, p. 23. Accessed from http:// www.integriteitoverheid.nl/fileadmin/BIOS/data/Publicaties/Downloads/Effectiveness_of_Public-service_Ethics_and_Good_Governance_in_the_Central_Administrations_of_the_EU-27.pdf on 24 August 2015. 2 Guido Bertucci and Allan Rosenbaum (eds.), (2007), ‘Implementing the Millennium Development Goals: Challenges and Responses for Public Administration,’ (New York: UN DESA). Accessed from http://www.unpan.org/ Portals/0/60yrhistory/documents/Publications/Implementing%20the%20 MDG.2007.pdf on 24 August 2015.
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Public service morale and motivation therefore profoundly affect outcomes. The decline of morale and the weakening of intrinsic motivation is emerging as an issue of potential concern for the achievement of the SDGs in developing countries around the world.
The decline of morale and the weakening of intrinsic motivation is emerging as an issue of potential concern for the achievement of the SDGs in developing countries around the world.
Employee commitment depends on: i) personal discretion at work; ii) opportunities to master new knowledge and skills; iii) tasks with a ‘higher’ purpose; iv) fair and respectful treatment in the workplace; and v) a sense of inclusion within the work group and organization.3 Many Public Sector Reforms (PSRs) cut across these and, unfortunately, the evidence suggests, have undermined morale and commitment. Stress appears to be on the rise where budgetary cuts cause a reduction in salaries and promotion opportunities.4 Public officials perceive increasing organisational and procedural injustice, such as unprofessional performance assessments and unfair recruitment decisions.5 3 Refer to literature on human resource management. 4 Demmke & Moilanen, Effectiveness of Ethics, p. 23. 5 Demmke & Moilanen, Effectiveness of Ethics, p. 95.
Like employees in the private and voluntary sectors, public sector staff are likely to be demotivated by conditions under which they are employed. A survey of 45 district-heads and sub-county employees in the Arua District Local Government in Uganda6 found that “the main de-motivators of public sector staff were lack of autonomy and variety, low salary, organizational politics, unending clients’ demands and ineffective communication”. The study recommended that the government initiate low cost housing schemes including soft loans for public sector employees, and consider providing official residences at remote locations employees were stationed in order to improve public servants’ motivation.
...while previous criticism of public service effectiveness tackled structural problems, recent bureau bashing appeared to be increasingly been directed towards bureaucrats themselves.
In Zimbabwe, gains in public health coinciding with the increased availability of medical equipment and drugs is being eroded by low morale of public workers caused by poor salaries and inadequate infrastructure. This is, in turn, resulting in absenteeism and moonlighting, and in more extreme cases, corruption and unauthorised sales of free medicine.7 A recent study of public sector employees in Ghana identified that dissatisfaction with pay (83 percent) and working conditions (64 percent) are amongst the leading factors for a demotivated and unproductive public workforce in Sub-Saharan Africa.8 In Kenya,9 low morale is widespread in the public sector: 57 percent of officials think their salaries are too low; 19 percent believe they have no opportunity for promotion; 17 percent feel their working conditions are poor; and over 6 percent feel their work is unchallenging, and demeaning or that they are frustrated by their superiors.10
6 Kwandayi, H., Jagero, N. & Matata, J. (2013) De-motivators of Employees in the Public Sector in Arua District, Uganda. Business and Management Horizons, 1 (2). 84-93 7 IRIN, ‘Zimbabwe: Low morale erodes public health gains,’ IRIN website, 3 December 2010, accessed from http://www.irinnews.org/report/91283/zimbabwe-low-morale-erodes-public-health-gains on 7 September 2015. 8 James Baba Abugre, (2014), ‘Job Satisfaction of Public Sector Employees in Sub-Saharan Africa: Testing the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire in Ghana,” International Journal of Public Administration 37, no. 10 (2014): 655-665. 9 Mwangi S. Kimenyi and Josephine Kibe, ‘Africa’s Powerhouse,’ Brooking website, 6 January 2014, Accessed from http://www.brookings.edu/research/ opinions/2013/12/30-kenya-economy-kimenyi on 3 September 2015. 10 Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis, (2013), ‘A Comparative Study on Public-Private Sector Wage Differentials in Kenya,’ KIPPRA Policy Paper No. 5 (Nairobi, Kenya: KIPPRA).
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Similarly, although South Africa’s GDP is roughly seven times larger than Tanzania’s, a survey found that only 52 percent of South African health workers were satisfied with their jobs compared to just over 82 percent of their Tanzanian counterparts.11 More alarmingly however, a recent review of public sector reforms in Africa identified the decline in social values such as honesty, integrity, impartiality and fairness as a major challenge for successful public sector reforms. The review suggested that “these declining values have encouraged inefficiency and misappropriation of public funds”.12 A study examining the impact of criticism of policies and personnel on public service motivation (PSM) in Bangladesh13 found that while criticism of policies may be constructive in nature, direct criticism of personnel often demotivates bureaucrats14 in terms of their rational, normative and affective motives.15 In Bangladesh, while previous criticism of public service effectiveness tackled structural problems, recent bureau bashing appeared to be increasingly been directed towards the bureaucrats themselves. The study suggested that this is negatively impacting PSM and contributing to the poor state of governance. Austerity measures undoubtedly play a large part in the overall lowering of job satisfaction.16 A recent study found that 83 percent of OECD austerity countries are facing lower job satisfaction among public officials, and 84 percent are witnessing increasing distrust in leadership. Yet, austerity is not the only cause of malaise: 36 percent of the non-austerity countries are also having to deal with a decrease in workplace commitment in public service (58 percent for the austerity countries); 21 percent of the non-austerity countries are noting a decrease of trust (73 percent of the austerity countries); and a decrease of loyalty to the public service affects 14 percent of the non-austerity countries (58 percent of all austerity countries). Moreover, theft, fraud and corruption appear to be on the rise, and again not just in the ‘austerity countries’ of the OECD’s member states.17 11 Duane Blaauw, et. al., (2013), ‘Comparing the job satisfaction and intention to leave of different categories of health workers in Tanzania, Malawi, and South Africa,’ Global Health Action 6. Accessed from http://www.globalhealthaction.net/index.php/gha/article/view/19287 on 8 September 2015. 12 Hellen Kilelo, (2015), ‘Public Sector Reform in Africa: Focus, Challenges and Lessons Learnt,’ International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention 4, no. 7 (July 2015): 19-27. Accessed from https://www.academia. edu/14686900/Public_Sector_Reforms_in_Africa_Focus_Challenges_and_ Lessons on 7 September 2015. 13 Jahan, F. & Shahan, A. F (2912) Bureau Bashing and Public Service Motivation: A Case for the Civil Service of Bangladesh. International Journal of Public Administration, 35(4): 272-284 14 Perry, J.L. and Wise , L.R. 1990. The motivational bases of public service. Public Administration Review, 50(3): 367–373. 15 Perry, J.L. 1996. Measuring public service motivation: An assessment of construct reliability and validity. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 6(1): 5–22. 16 Christoph Demmke. (2014), Public Administration Reform and reform effects in Western Europe (Paris, France: SIGMA), p. 28. Accessed from http://www.slideshare.net/SIGMA2013/presentation-by-dr-christoph-demmke-oecd on 24 August 2015; and Christoph Demmke and Timo Moilanen, (2013), Governmental Transformation and the Future of Public Employment: The Impact of Restructuring on Status Development in the Central Administration of the EU-27 (Frankfurt/M: Peter Lang). 17 Revelations as part of the recent Wikileaks and FIFA scandals showed that governments and representatives of several OECD countries to be involved in corrupt activities.
Effects of Reforms on Workplace Behaviour (since 2008 – answers of 28 OECD countries). Source: OECD, (2015), ‘The Impact of Budgetary Constraints on HRM - Report on Survey Results,’ OECD doc GOV/PGC/PEM(2015)11/REV1, p.34.
The evidence on collapse in public service morale and motivation shows the problem is more complex than simply the result of austerity. Some believe that Singapore manages to retain high intrinsic motivation because it pays its officials well. Yet, the public service of Switzerland, one of Europe’s most prosperous countries, is surprisingly amongst those most affected by negative workplace behaviour and a general breakdown of morale. On the other hand, evidence indicates that motivation in the UK public service is less affected despite budgetary constraints.18 For example, while austerity measures decimated job security and pensions (rated as important or very important to 88 percent and 86 percent of UK employees respectively19) many employees stayed on because of their passion for what they did (72 percent believed that providing a public service is an important or very important motivation for staying in the Civil Service, and 51 percent felt that being a civil servant was important), even though only 24 percent felt fairly paid. In fact, although 53 percent wanted to quit in the next year or so, 89 percent remained interested in their work. A similar inference can be drawn from the results of Trinidad and Tobago’s public service employee survey.20 Among respondents the average satisfaction 18 OECD, (2015), ‘The Impact of Budgetary Constraints on HRM - Report on Survey Results,’ OECD doc GOV/PGC/PEM(2015)11/REV1, p. 34. 19 Cornerstone OnDemand, Civil Service World surveyed 4,196 public sector workers to find out what motivates people to join and stay in the civil service. 20 MORI Caribbean, ‘Trinidad & Tobago 2008 Public Service Employee Survey: Overall Findings (Full Data),’
levels for ‘interesting work’ (69 percent) and ‘levels of responsibility’ (65 percent) were high, despite 59 percent feeling that their ministries were understaffed and 42 percent describing the public service as mismanaged. Additionally, 59 percent of those surveyed “felt proud” to work in the public service. Of course, it is also worth noting that levels of PSM can vary by seniority within an organisational hierarchy. For instance, India’s State of Civil Services Survey showed that motivation among ordinary public servants is a challenge (35 percent of staff did not think the appraisal system was objective or fair), although motivation among the Indian Administrative Service and other elite officials remains relatively high.21 Moreover, motivation can also vary across sectors in a country. A World Bank survey in the Philippines found that, with the exception of teachers, the primary motivation for nearly 80 percent of other public sector workers was job security.22 In recent years, reforms undertaken have also appear to have added to the general discontent among public sector workers. Within the UK Civil Service, for example, Accessed from http://www.mpa.gov.tt/cms/images/stories/tt%20 pses2008%20presentation%20full%20data.pdf on 4 September 2015. 21 Government of India, Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances. State of Civil Services Survey 2010. Accessed from http://darpg. gov.in/darpgwebsite_cms/document/file/civil_services_survey_2010.pdf on 4 September 2015. 22 World Bank, ’Philippines: Improving Bureaucratic Performance Assessment of the Performance-based Bonus Scheme,’ World Bank Working Paper AUS3494, 1 June 2014, accessed from http://documents.worldbank.org/ curated/en/2014/06/24225111/philippines-improving-bureaucratic-performance-assessment-performance-based-bonus-scheme on 11 September 2015.
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only 30 percent of respondents agreed that changes made were “usually for the better”; only 31 percent felt that change was managed well in their ministry; only 44 percent had faith in management; and only 45 percent believed that a strategic vision existed. The evidence from Anglophone Africa is even more disturbing. Any impetus for development seemed to have collapsed when public sector wages declined 80 percent in real terms between the early 1970s and 1980s (parallel to the general decline in per capita GDP).23 More recently, research in Eritrea found that morale had collapsed and development had stalled as a result of restructuring and streamlining since the mid-1990s. A country of 5 million people saw civil service positions reduced by 34 percent, with over 11,500 people losing their jobs.24
Yet, maintaining high levels of PSM and morale can be equally challenging. Core public service ‘pro-social’, altruistic attributes – concern for the long-term interests of the nation, backed up with common-sense practicality, indisputable probity, sound judgement, diplomatic tact – can crumble if the political leadership lacks similar state-
On the other hand, higher levels of PSM can positively impact job satisfaction too. Research from Indonesia that sampled 136 public servants in a BY-NC UK Cabinet Office / Public servants sharing skills and knowledge. particular district, found that “PSM has a positive and significant effect on job satisfaction”, building incentives and feels frustrated by the constraints implying that public servants with higher motivation in these qualities create. Even in parliamentary systems, providing public service are more likely to be satisfied loyalty to the party in power, rather than neutrality in with their jobs. Additionally, job satisfaction was found the wider interest, is being increasingly demanded.26 In instances where ‘bureaucracy’ is an easy target for shortterm, populist and narrow political interests, this too seems to negatively affect of the morale and motivation “Even in parliamentary of public employees.
systems, loyalty to the party in power, rather than neutrality in the wider interest, is being increasingly demanded.”
to positively impact on organisational citizenship behaviour - “public servants who have a high motivation in providing public service and high satisfaction with their jobs often display prosocial behaviours”, i.e. above and beyond the behaviours formally expected by their organisations.25
23 Nicolas Van de Walle, (2001), African Economies and the Politics Permanent Crisis (New York: Cambridge University Press), p. 134. 24 See M. Tessema, (2005), ‘Practices, Challenges and Prospects of HRM Developing Countries: The Case of Eritrea,’ Ph.D. Thesis, Tilburg University; and M. Tessema and J. Soeters (2006). ‘Challenges and prospects of HRM developing countries: testing the HRM–performance link in Eritrean civil service,’ International Journal of Human Resource Management 17 (1): 86–105. 25 Sunaryo. S & Suyono. J (2013) A Test of Model of the Relationship between Public Service Motivation, Job Satisfaction and Organization Citizenship Behaviour. Review of Integrative Business and Economics. 2(1). 384-398
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What is to be done? Promote ‘New Public Passion’ (NPP) As ambitious and wide-ranging as they may be, the SDGs however, have almost nothing to say on delivery. The vital role of the public service in delivering the SDGs is seemingly assumed away. Yet the evidence of widespread demoralisation and demotivation among public servants at the national and sub-national levels in many countries, developing and developed, does indeed represent an unrecognised crisis confronting the SDGs. The first step must be to recognise that a a serious problem exists. Organisations are made up of people and the state of public service motivation, therefore, illuminates the overall health of public service and its capacity to deliver. Research suggests there are no easy answers where morale or motivation is weak, but some key steps to tackling the problem in regard to the SDGs are:
26 Rhodes, R.A.W. (2015). Recovering the ‘craft’ of public administration in Westminster Government. Paper presented at the Political Studies Association 65th Annual International Conference, 30 March - 1 April 2015, Sheffield, UK.
The Seven Causes of Public Service Demotivation – A Guide to Bureaucracy-Bashing People have been complaining about ‘red tape’, idle bureaucrats and indolent ‘pen-pushers’ ever since government was invented. In recent decades, the argument has been advanced on seven fronts: 1. ideological – an assertion, repeated often enough that it became accepted as a truism, that the public service is inherently incompetent, indolent and unresponsive by its very nature – rather than, if those characteristics were true, it is because political leaders allow this (contrast this with the post-independence Singaporean leadership’s determination and success in building a highly disciplined and motivated public service). 2. intellectual – a ‘Catch 22’ conundrum has developed in that Public Choice theory posits the idea that the public service is inherently self-serving and needed to be constrained; while New Public Management propagates the exact opposite view, that public service was inherently apathetic and needed to be incentivised into being effective. 3. commercial – big opportunities for consultants and business were created, based on the ideas of New Public Management, of running government more like a business, outsourcing services and promoting public-private partnerships. 4. political –blaming public service for failure offered a tempting scapegoat for politicians to deflect criticism of their own inadequate leadership and direction. 5. financial – pay levels in professional posts in the public service lagged behind those of the private sector that either many high-skilled vacancies could not be filled or special pay arrangements were required. 6. institutional – the marginal truth in the imagery of obstructive public service unions and unhelpful ‘street level bureaucrats’ managed to drown out the much more positive images of devotion to public good, such as was famously demonstrated by the unstinting self-sacrifice of officers of the New York fire service on and after 9/11. 7. organisational – that both elected leaders and senior administrators benefitted from creating an almost endless ‘permanent revolution’ of ceaseless reforms and reorganisation of the public service. Despite the mounting evidence over the years that many reforms achieved almost no lasting improvements but greatly demoralised staff, the temptation to appear to be shaking up supposedly lazy and incompetent bureaucrats was all too great.
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highlight that the 2030 development agenda depends on reversing the collapse of motivation, commitment and job satisfaction in the public service;
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be cautious with major service-wide structural reform that often fails and demotivates;
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promote job development;
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revise indicators of the SDGs, especially Goal 16 to acknowledge the motivation of public servants as essential for building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions; and
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measure public servants’ motivation – not just ‘capacity’ to act but the morale and intrinsic ambition to strive for success in promoting the public good.
enrichment,
by
organisational
As with any new approach, however, there could be potential problems associated with NPP too. Empathy may produce discriminatory behaviours, and co-design might lead to capture by vested interests and better organised civil society groups. In this regard, Wu-wei,
the ancient bureaucratic art of caution, could also be needed.27 Also, little is known about the ‘political settlement’ that promotes or constrains political support for effective public service, or the damage done to the public service ethos by market principles introduced over recent decades, supposedly to improve efficiency. What is certain, however, is that more research is needed. Nevertheless, addressing these issues substantively will help create the ‘New Public Passion’ that UNDP Administrator, Helen Clark has said is necessary in order “to nurture high job satisfaction by ensuring that all civil servants feel directly engaged in improving the lives of their fellow citizens … [and] that our contributions can help instil and renew such a sense of passion for development in public officials around the world.”28 27 Max Everest-Phillips (2015). Wu-Wei and Professional Ethics in Public Service: Non-Action for the 21st Century. International Journal of Civil Service Reform and Practice. 28 Helen Clark, “Modernizing Civil Services for the New Sustainable Development Agenda,” speech delivered at the Astana Economic Forum on “Meritocracy and Professional Ethics as Key Factors of Civil Service Effectiveness,” 21 May 2015.
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