1. The (new) policy agenda for public administration reform in the actual
crisis
─ Enhancing civil service leadership and work capacity to overcome the
impact of fiscal restraints context
Nuno Miguel Cunha Rolo
Context
In the aftermath of the current economic crisis, various countries has embarked on a series
of structural and administrative reforms to improve the efficiency of the public service, and
facilitate consolidation to get back on the path and sustain economic growth. One of the
key challenges to this endeavour is to restore public finances.
Governments knows that the experience of OECD member countries suggests that fiscal
consolidation plans should place particular emphasis on cutting expenditure over raising
revenues in order to have the most durable impact on stabilising finances and achieving
deficit goals. In this context, public sector employment has come under scrutiny, in terms of
numbers of public servants and their pay levels. Cause the public sector workforce
represents a significant share of public expenditure.
It is common say that civil service is characterised for its rigidity, low productivity, and has a
reputation of being unresponsive to the needs and specialised skill demands of
contemporary society. The total cost of government employment is increasing.
The public sector is also facing competition for skilled labour when trying to scoop up the
best candidates to join the public workforce. An ageing population is creating new demands
for public services, and is increasing the fiscal burden while decreasing the immediate
capacity to respond to new challenges.

2. Double Meeting The Real Priority On Civil Service Policy Strategy – Nuno Cunha Rolo
This adds to the loss of experienced employees due to redundancies caused by spending
restraints, creating a looming talent shortage. There are also demands to enhance equality
between men and women and promote the inclusion of all groups of society into the public
workforce; progresses made in previous decades in this respect have been slow.
However, the crisis has also revealed broader governance issues, as government strategies
competence, its ability to fully cope with the new challenges, and really policies good
governance have come into question.
Challenges
The public policy and management of civil service is a highly sensitive issue and face many
challenges in most countries, especially OECD countries, and the policies must consider the
pressures from economic and societal contexts and changes, cultural values, and history.
Moreover, in the aftermath of the current financial and economic crisis, governments have
to deal with governance environments and management frameworks restraints that affect
the result or the perception of success, such as, globalisation of labour markets, the
spreading of information technologies, ageing societies, and the advent of knowledge
economies.
The civil service and structural reforms, as part of a full national public policy strategy – this
view is more than a requirement, it’s a responsibility - , must address fundamental actions
and values regarding political confidence in the government system as a whole, equity and
fairness will, and ensuring a focus on efficiency, productivity and effectiveness to restore
public finance and sustain national economic growth.
National authorities (could) know that efficiency and effectiveness in government’s
performance depend on the talent of public employees, the quality of their knowledge and
skills, and top and middle public managers, probably the best critical manager level to value
public efficacy.
But governments has to meet a double challenge: on the one hand, government has to
restructure the management of the public workforce to make it more inclusive,
transparent, flexible, cost-effective, efficient, and effective for service delivery; but, on the
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3. Double Meeting The Real Priority On Civil Service Policy Strategy – Nuno Cunha Rolo
other, reforms should also outgrow fiscal consolidation plans by reducing operational
expenditure. Moreover, to governments it is also critical to maintain commitment and trust
in public institutions and ensure the public actions legitimacy.
Strategies
Therefore, in our view, any strategy on this matter must deal with a comprehensive modern
human resources management in order to manage good governance and civil service.
People are crucial to a strategy that meets two main principles or dimensions of the state,
public servants and their organisations reform plan (which of them are linked):
1. Enhancing the state and societal holders - political and civil service commitment
2. Investing in people - real and strategic HRM in personnel policy practices
We must say that all these two policy macro principles have to be linked to governmental
cuts, modernisation projects and excellence of leadership, political and administrative.
Enhancing the state and societal holders - political and civil service commitment
In quasi all occidental countries reforms and the current main modernisation practices on
them present some considerations, such as the marginality and the partiality of HRM issues
in public administration reforms and projects of modernisation. So governments should try
an ambitious and new policy strategy, based on the main principles of good governance:
government and public sector relationship, legitimation, participation, rule of law,
communication, which means on state and societal holders.
The environment of organisations has changed, but it is not necessary that their internal
structure has to change too, especially regarding high performance organisations. In fact, it
is more turbulent, but bad reengineering could grasped performance and commitment.
Competition has increased, customers have growing demands, and all leads to continuous
change in organisations.
Traditional tayloristic and bureaucratic organisation does not respond to more complex and
flexible organisations. So, should b given more responsibility and job autonomy, based on
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4. Double Meeting The Real Priority On Civil Service Policy Strategy – Nuno Cunha Rolo
the idea of more individual worker autonomy and focus on the creation of a committed
work force, as an important intermediate variable between personnel policy practices and
outcomes.
Is known that a not committed knowledge worker to his work or organization, fade away is
motivation, talent and competencies, not delivering the best services to the public and not
gain their goals.
Investing in people - real and strategic HRM in personnel policy practices
Consequently, it is important to scrap the lack of investment in people, in order to get more
committed workers: try to stimulate self-control of employees (instead of relaying in
control by management, being based on truth, being based on an organic organisational
structure, integrating in the line, looking for an optimal use of employee capabilities are
important HRM policies to implement.
On the other hand, dissatisfaction with politics and management has something to do with
the leadership-style and the organisational form. Management by commitment should
prevails on management by control.
So tenure must be kept, senior management is important to the stability and institutional
memory, to motivate staff and promote cultural change. With the senior people oj the side
of the reform, positive consequences on leadership, morale and healthy effects on
performance and effectiveness reforms. The organisation's leadership in people
management contributes to individual and organisational achievements.
It has also necessary to increase the attractiveness of public organisations as employers
which is to important to service delivery and the (negative) image of working in the public
sector. In this, taking strategic HRM seriously has to be stressed, especially if we want long-
term results and short-term political gains.
Now What?
Integrating countermeasures with measures to cope with the present economic stagnation,
to keep morale and a satisfactory level of “public services”, “civil service” and make public
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5. Double Meeting The Real Priority On Civil Service Policy Strategy – Nuno Cunha Rolo
sector (as employer) attractive to the “best”, considering the long-run demographic
changes and effects on labour market and economic growth, its important to invest in real
and widely commitment, HRM programs, management by commitment, delegating to a
lower levels, i.e., to the people.
Therefore, any policy strategy to enhancing the capacity of the civil service in the context of
fiscal restraints has to address the nation and people beliefs, values, management style,
norms (i.e., culture); the development human capital, management capabilities, skill levels
of the employees (i.e., the people); the structure, accountability mechanism, reporting
lines, job roles (i.e., organisation); human resources systems, where people-focused
mechanisms delivers the strategy to face all the current challenges and problems that
governments are dealing with on a daily basis, especially, in casu, the general need of a
“people” public management that is able to pursue performance, flexible and cohesion
oriented governance and management.
In a word, enhancing the capacity of the civil service in the context of fiscal restraints, not
reducing or outsourcing (good) public governance.
…and How?
Well, we’ll discuss it alive at the Lisbon Group on Leadership and Culture Studies meeting!
Lisbon, February, 2013
Nuno Cunha Rolo
(Invited Researcher, CAPP-ISCSP)
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6. Double Meeting The Real Priority On Civil Service Policy Strategy – Nuno Cunha Rolo
sector (as employer) attractive to the “best”, considering the long-run demographic
changes and effects on labour market and economic growth, its important to invest in real
and widely commitment, HRM programs, management by commitment, delegating to a
lower levels, i.e., to the people.
Therefore, any policy strategy to enhancing the capacity of the civil service in the context of
fiscal restraints has to address the nation and people beliefs, values, management style,
norms (i.e., culture); the development human capital, management capabilities, skill levels
of the employees (i.e., the people); the structure, accountability mechanism, reporting
lines, job roles (i.e., organisation); human resources systems, where people-focused
mechanisms delivers the strategy to face all the current challenges and problems that
governments are dealing with on a daily basis, especially, in casu, the general need of a
“people” public management that is able to pursue performance, flexible and cohesion
oriented governance and management.
In a word, enhancing the capacity of the civil service in the context of fiscal restraints, not
reducing or outsourcing (good) public governance.
…and How?
Well, we’ll discuss it alive at the Lisbon Group on Leadership and Culture Studies meeting!
Lisbon, February, 2013
Nuno Cunha Rolo
(Invited Researcher, CAPP-ISCSP)
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