The Closed and Open Models of Public Administration
The closed and open model approach to the study of public administration focuses on the organization itself. One way to study complex organizations is to view them as an open or a closed system. Before we try to understand the open and close system with respect to the study of public administration in general and […]
Types of Team Members in a High Performance Team
Types of Team Members in a High-Performance Team The key to the success of the High-Performance Teams is determined by the composition of the members of the team. The team members represent diverse functional, cultural and social backgrounds, who collaborate to achieve specific goals under pre-defined deadlines and resource limitations. The team members can be […]
Authority vs Leadership
The authority exercised is a kind of legitimate power and people follow figures exercising it, because their positions demand so irrespective of the person holding the position. Leaders in organizations and elsewhere may have formal authorities but they mostly rely on the informal authority that they exercise on people to influence them. Leaders are trusted […]
Effective Presentation Skills
Presentation can be defined as a formal event characterized by teamwork and use of audio-visual aids. The main purpose of presentation is to give information, to persuade the audience to act and to create goodwill. A good presentation should have a good subject matter, should match with the objective, should best fit the audience, and […]
Homogenous Vs. Heterogenous Bundling in Reinsurance
The insurance industry is a large and diversified industry. It has several different types of products and operates in multiple geographies. This means that the risks on the balance sheet of the insurance company can be quite diversified. This means that a reinsurance company is also exposed to a lot of variety when it comes […]
Employees form the core and the backbone of any organization and public organizations are no different. According to authors William Mosher and J. Donald Kingsley, the key to better governance lies in effective personnel management.
For effective personnel administration there are certain criteria that need to be fulfilled like:
Classification is the first step in personnel management wherein similar kinds of posts are grouped together based on their duties and responsibilities. A formal classification plan shows all the classes with each existing job and position suitably placed with respect to each other in an orderly manner. This in turn is supplemented by rules, regulations for their administration, interpretation and amendment.
The second step becomes position classification which explains the individual position of that role within the public administration machinery. It also defines the duties and responsibilities for which the individual holding the position shall be accountable for.
The third step is the process of recruitment. Recruitment in government organization is all about finding the right people for the right job. It involves having good public relations, employment campaigns and effective systems of selection of the people.
The next step is the training. Training develops skills and habits and also develops the requisite mental attitude and morale of the civil servants. Training helps the civil servants to carry out their day to day job related transactions with precision, adapt to the changing socio-economic needs, and understand the larger and broader picture of administration and also to make their job interesting and be able to take newer responsibilities.
Next comes, the promotion or the increase in rank or status. It is essential that the employees are provided with timely promotion to develop their talent and increase their morale and motivation levels. While the process means increase in pay grade and responsibilities for the employees, the same process allows the management to select and pick the best suitable person from an available pool to fulfill higher responsibilities.
The last step is the pay and service of the civil servants. The salary scales of civil servants are based on several factors like:
The service conditions include leave, holidays, hours of work, accommodation, healthcare, working conditions and other miscellaneous aspects.
One of the oldest problems that plague the personnel administration in all countries is the liberal seepage of politics in all its aspects. Despite of the attempts of the scholars to separate politics and administration, the divorce exists only in textbooks and on paper. The personnel administration of the public organization has emerged as a triumph of technique over purpose. While the civil servants are selected through rigorous methods of written examination, personal interviews, scores, the rule of three, split-digit ranking etc, but the question remains whether they actually serve the objectives of the organization.
The system which cites itself as based on merit degenerates into a protectionist system. The entrance exams are designed to test competence for jobs at junior levels only and later there is no system of objective evaluation of desired competence level for senior and complex roles. For most parts, these exams rarely test the attitude and seem outdated and redundant to meet the challenges of the current needs. The career growth as well, within the system is based on patronage and politics rather than qualification and merit. The disqualification based on incompetence is rarely ever heard in public organizations and even when it happens, the government bears heavy expenditure for the same. The presence of an unnecessarily large workforce also is a problem with the government organizations. A lean structure in these organizations would mean efficient and timely performance.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
