Civil service reform

Technical aspects of civil service reform

There are a number of tried and tested measures in the technical application of civil service reforms. The limited success of these measures to date has less to do with their internal adequacies than with the political context in which they have been inserted.

Page contents:

• New public management
• Recruitment
• Performance management
• Pay and conditions
• Donor salary support
• Brain drain
• Training
• Employment
• Ethics

New Public Management

Many of the 'second phase’ reforms in the 1990s have been called 'New Public Management' (NPM) reforms, which originated in the industrialised countries, especially New Zealand and the UK, in the 1980s. The following three texts are examples of current thinking about NPM.

Lodge, G. and Kalitowski, S., 2007, 'Innovations in Government: International Perspectives on Civil Service Reform', Institute for Public Policy Research London.
What are the challenges confronting civil services around the world? This paper from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) surveys several case studies from developed countries to identify a variety of international approaches to civil service reform. Some common challenges include: enhancing accountability; improving policymaking; developing institutional memory; building staff expertise; and promoting joined-up government. Meeting these challenges requires clarifying the roles of ministers and officials, opening up policymaking, capturing innovation and narrowing the gap between the centre and frontline delivery services.
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Two contemporary examples of developments in the UK – one very practical (Stanley), the other more academic (Rhodes) – are:.

Stanley, M., 2007, 'How to be a Civil Servant: Civil Service Reform since 1997’, online
To what extent has the Labour government reformed the Civil Service in the United Kingdom (UK)? This note from civilservant.org.uk reports on a series of civil service reviews and reforms since 1997. Whilst the Labour Government has concentrated on improving the efficiency and capability of the civil service, it has made no attempt to make fundamental changes to its structure, culture or motivation.
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Rhodes, R., 2000, 'New Labour’s Civil Service: Summing up Joining-up', Political Quarterly, vol. 71, no. 2, pp. 151-166.
How has the Labour government reformed the British civil service? To what extent have the reforms achieved the stated aims of improved co-ordination and efficiency? This article from Political Quarterly examines the policy statements and decisions of the Labour government on civil service reform between 1997 and 2000. Although the government’s support for ‘joined-up’ administration and emphasis on policy networks rather than centralisation should be welcomed, reforms have had unintended side-effects, such as administrative fragmentation and accountability gaps.
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Managerial devolution (as opposed to political decentralisation) has been the most prominent part of NPM, in the form of ‘executive agencies’.  Tanzania has gone further down this path than any other developing country.  A good, critical insider review of Tanzania’s experience is:

Kobb, D., 2005, 'Executive Agencies: Do they Perform Better?' In: Monitoring and Evaluation Unit, P.S.R.P., Government of Tanzania (ed.), Dar es Salaam
Has the transformation of some Tanzanian ministerial departments into executive agencies (EAs) improved their delivery of services and internal efficiency? This paper, published by the Tanzanian President’s Office of Public Service Management, analyses a series of indicators relating to several former ministries to assess the effect of their new identity as agencies. While there have been slight improvements in service delivery, overall financial performance has remained unchanged. Human resource management has seen improved staff composition indicators, but this has been cancelled out by growing personnel shortages.
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The following documents discuss some of the problems of NPM reforms when applied in a development context.

McCourt, W., 2002, 'New Public Management in Developing Countries' in eds. McLaughlin, K., Osborne, S. and Ferlie, E., 'New Public Management: Current Trends and Future Prospects', Routledge, London
Why has the scale of the implementation of New Public Management (NPM) in developing countries been only modest? Where it has been implemented, what has the experience shown? In what form is NPM applicable on a wider scale? This paper from the Institute for Development Policy and Management addresses these questions, highlighting the importance of adapting the NPM model to meet the needs of governments and their political contexts.
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Flynn, N., 2002, 'Explaining the New Public Management: the Importance of Context' in eds. McLaughlin, K., Osborne, S. and Ferlie, E., 'New Public Management: Current Trends and Future Prospects', Routledge, London.
How can the differences in how governments describe their public sectors and behave towards them be explained? Do particular contexts make implementing change easier or harder? This study examines the proposition that different contexts generate different discourses and affect how governments diagnose the problems that they seek to solve. It maps public sector management changes in a wide sample of European countries and analyses how diagnoses are constructed according to particular economic, political, institutional and cultural contexts.
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Recruitment

Recruitment is about getting the best person for the job. In Commonwealth countries, it is usually dealt with by the Public (or Civil) Service Commission (PSC). Recruitment should be fair, which means that the PSC should be genuinely independent. It can be harder to ensure fairness in a decentralised system, which is why many developing countries resist devolving recruitment to line agencies. Recruitment should also use skilful methods, e.g. developing selection criteria, introducing occupational testing at assessment centres, standardised interview structures and training for interviewers.

McCourt, W., 2007b, 'The Merit System and Integrity in the Public Service', Paper presented at Conference on Public Integrity and Anticorruption in the Public Service, 29-30 May, Bucharest.
How can governments ensure that public appointments are fair, transparent and challengeable? This paper presented at the Conference on Public Integrity and Anticorruption in the Public Service explores issues of merit and integrity in the public service. To advance merit, governments should establish a sound institutional framework and upgrade appointment methods.
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Performance management

Capacity is difficult to assess directly, so it is most often inferred based on the outcomes produced.  Even so, there is difficulty in measuring performance in public organisations. As a result, proxy measures are used such as the extent to which the civil service focuses on results, methods of monitoring accountability against agreed standards, or levels of employee morale and job satisfaction.

Public agencies can manage performance at two levels: (i) at the level of the agency itself and (ii) at the level of the individual civil servant.

At the first level, in what is known as the 'executive agency' or 'next steps' model, agencies are given a great deal of operational freedom. To assess whether the agency is performing effectively, the government often uses performance indicators. Examples include the semi-autonomous Revenue Authorities in Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia.

Clarke, J. and Wood, D., (2001), 'New Public Management and Development: The Case of Public Service Reform in Tanzania and Uganda, in McCourt, W. and Minogue, M., (eds.) 'The Internationalization of Public Management: Reinventing the Third World State', Edward Elgar, Cheltenham
New approaches in public management (NPM) are in vogue in the Anglophone Western world, and are increasingly being adopted in middle-income and developing countries. But can they work in Africa? This chapter of a book on the internationalisation of public management evaluates the experiences of Tanzania and Uganda. Civil service reforms in both countries have been successful at addressing structural problems and strengthening basic administrative systems but less effective at eradicating poverty and improving service delivery. There is potential for NPM to address poverty, but implementation must be tailored to local conditions.
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At the level of the individual civil servant, performance is monitored and supported by the line manager. This takes place through regular appraisals or interviews that include feedback from the manager, objective setting for the future and employee participation. There may be a 'performance related pay' element, although in practice, this can be very hard to manage. More often, there is a link to promotion as most public agencies promote from within.

Martineau, T and Martinez, J., 2001, 'Introducing Performance Management in National Health Systems', Institute for Health Sector Development (IHSD) Issues note, IHSD, London
What are the prerequisites for the successful introduction of performance management systems appropriate for developing country situations? This study by HLSP Consulting and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine is based on 15 case studies worldwide. It suggests that it is important to measure and value staff performance, but that this requires levels of organisational management and an external policy environment that are seldom in place in a developing context.
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Pay and conditions

Pay reform is a widely researched topic. In developing countries, governments are often unable to pay competitive salaries to civil servants. It is well documented that low pay reduces performance and motivation but what are the effects of pay reform and how does reform affect different social groups? Can pay reform reduce corruption and improve state capacity?

McCourt, W., 2000, 'Pay and Employment Reform in Developing and Transition Societies', United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), Geneva
Pay and employment reform has been adopted, usually within a wider programme of microeconomic reform, throughout the world. Has it succeeded in meeting its targets, and what are the consequences of pay and employment reform? This paper published by the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) examines these and other questions.
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Van Lerberghe, W., Conceicao, C., Van Damme, W. and Ferrinho, 2002, 'When Staff are Underpaid: Dealing with the Individual Coping Strategies of Health Personnel', Bulletin of the World Health Organisation, 80 (7), Geneva  
Health sector workers respond to inadequate working conditions by developing various individual coping strategies, some of which are of a predatory nature. What are the consequences of these practices? This paper by the Prince Leopold Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, looks at the implications of brain drain, competition for time, and conflicts of interest. It argues that Governments need to recognise these phenomena and assess the consequences of policy and behaviour of the individuals on the situation.
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Pay reform is not just a technical issue - the following papers explore the political context of pay reform:

PWC, 2004, ‘Pay Reform: a Critical and Complex Public Service Issue’, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Briefing Paper.
This short briefing paper sets the context for pay reform by exploring the close links between politics and pay reforms.
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Kiragu, K. and Mukandala, R., 2003, 'Tactics, Sequencing, and Politics of Public Service Pay Policies in Developing and Middle Income Countries: Lessons from Sub-Saharan Africa',  Draft report to DFID, World Bank, Africa Region, Public Service Reform and Capacity Building Unit, Washington
How does politics affect public service pay reform? What approaches can increase the prospect of success for pay reform in developing countries? This study for DFID and the World Bank Africa Region Public Service Reform and Capacity Building Unit analyses pay reform strategies since 1990 in eight African countries: Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. There is no model approach to pay reform. Technical solutions must pay attention to political context.
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Donor salary support

Raising salaries to 'competitive levels is unrealistic in many of the poorest countries given the low level of state resources. Donors have often intervened with salary 'top-up' programmes. Research in this area emphasises the political difficulties of salary increases and the lack of clarity as to whether 'top-ups' really reduce moonlighting. The World Bank has published the following guide to salary 'top-ups' which explains three different types of salary support: position based, task based and donor funded.

Mukherjee, R. and Manning, N., 2002, 'Salary Top-ups' Administration and Civil Service Reform website, World Bank
How are civil service positions affected by salary top-ups? What role do donors play in this process? This note was prepared by the World Bank’s ‘Governance and Public Sector Reform’ team. It identifies the existing types of incentives available for civil servants, highlights the underlying risks associated with this practice and draws on various examples to illustrate the problem.
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Countries such as Bolivia and Ghana have introduced a 'Selective Accelerated Salary Enhancement Programme' (SASE), and results so far are promising. See Kiragu and Mukandala (2003) for more details.

Brain drain

Many developing countries struggle with retention because of the problem of the 'brain drain’.

Wickramasekara, P., 2003, 'Policy Responses to Skilled Migration: Retention, Return and Circulation', International Migration Branch (MIGRANT), ILO
Does increased migration of highly skilled persons from developing countries (the ‘brain drain’) as a result of globalisation have a negative impact on these countries, or do the very features of globalisation counteract some of the negative impact? Should this movement be completely left to market forces or are some interventions required? This paper from the International Labour Office discusses recent trends in skilled migration and presents three policy approaches: retention, return and the circulation of skills.
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Training

'Projectisation', placing support for training under project budgets so that it contributes to project objectives, has been helpful in ensuring long-term benefits from training. The context and design of a training programme is just as crucial as the content. Training must be designed such that it supports overall reform objectives and trainees are able to transfer what they have learnt into their work. The following articles critique current training programmes, presenting alternative models of training design.

McCourt, W. and Sola, N., 1999, 'Using Training to Promote Civil Service Reform: a Tanzanian Local Government Case Study', Public Administration and Development, volume 19, pp 63-75
How effective are training programmes in promoting civil service reform? How do organisational and institutional factors affect the implementation of new techniques learnt during training? This article, published in Public Administration and Development, examines a training programme for senior Manpower Management Officers (MMOs) in Tanzania in relation to these questions. It argues that the institutional context in which public sector staff work does impact the effectiveness of training as a vehicle for reform.
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Lucking, R., 2003, 'Civil Service Training in the Context of Public Administration Reform: A Comparative Study of Selected Countries from Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union (1989-2003) Lessons on Best Practice in the Approach to Civil Service Training', United Nations Development Programme
What can Bosnia and Herzegovina learn from other countries in Central and Eastern Europe in terms of civil service reform? In particular, what external factors or choices shape the form and effectiveness of civil service training systems? This report from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Bosnia and Herzegovina reviews approaches to civil service training in Albania, Armenia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia between 1989 and 2003. It identifies the comparative lessons and warnings from these experiences.
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Employment

Employment reform, including basic job reduction may still be necessary in governments where there is a need to reduce spending on staff. However, it is important to make real savings on the public payroll without necessarily creating unemployment, as this may be expensive and will generally be opposed by civil servants. The World Bank model of employment reform through cost-cutting measures is outlined and evaluated in the document below.

Nunberg, B., 1994, 'Experience with Civil Service Pay and Employment Reform: an Overview', chapter 7 in Lindauer, D. and Nunberg, B. eds. 'Rehabilitating Government: Pay and Employment Reform in Africa', World Bank, Washington
What civil service pay and employment reforms have been implemented in developing countries, and what have been the outcomes? What lessons can be learned for future civil service reforms? This article from the World Bank provides an overview of World Bank experience in support of such reforms in various countries and assesses the progress made to date.
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This case study criticises the World Bank model and presents an alternative which takes account of political factors:

McCourt, W., 2001, 'Finding a Way Forward on Public Employment Reform: A Sri Lankan Case Study', Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, vol. 39, no. 1, pp1-22.
What is the best way forward for public employment reform in developing countries in the Asia Pacific region? This research by the University of Manchester explores and tests the viability of two contrasting reform models based on the experience of reform in Sri Lanka. The study focuses on the political, economic, institutional and employment contexts, and on the content and process of the reform programme and argues that a modified strategic model is a possible way forward.
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Ethics

Measures have gathered force since the late 1990s to promote greater commitment to ethical values of impartiality and honesty within the public service; essentially, to promote integrity. The focus of this section is on how to give force to the provisions on ethical behaviour that most governments have in one form or another.

Erakovich, R. et al. (2006) ‘A normative approach to ethics training in Central and Eastern Europe’, International Journal of Public Administration, 29: 1229-57
How can Central East European (CEE) countries overcome destabilising levels of corruption within government? This International Journal of Public Administration article offers a context for anti-corruption training in the public bureaucracies of CEE countries. It argues for an ecological approach to provide understanding of linkages between society and public bureaucracy as a basis for decisions on value, structural and normative frameworks and on the nature of training needed for implementation.
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In the following paper, the section on 'Promoting Integrity in Public Management: A Holistic Approach' gives practical examples of approaches to the promotion of integrity.

McCourt, W., 2007a, 'Efficiency, Integrity, and Capacity: An Expanded Agenda for Public Management?' Chapter 2 in Performance Accountability and Combating Corruption, ed. A. Shah, World Bank, Washington D.C.
What are the key issues involved in the introduction and sequencing of public sector reforms? This chapter from Performance Accountability and Combating Corruption, published by the World Bank, reviews three major approaches to public management reform that have taken place since the late 1950s and 1960s: efficiency, integrity and capacity. Whilst efficiency and integrity have attracted the most attention over the past twenty years, all three are possible orientations for governments to adopt, depending on their circumstances and political priorities.
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