Volume 17, Number 4 Article by Hasmukh Adhia December, 2005
Making Bureaucracy Work – Lessons from the US Experience :
When it comes to finding reasons for the non-performance of governments, the bureaucracy is by far the easiest target of politicians, the press and the people. Mired in red tape, with personnel policies that tolerate poor performance and neglect merit, most bureaucracies the world over are ripe for reform. The most important requirement is political will. It is also necessary to realise that civil service reforms are dynamic in nature and have to be ongoing at all times. Although socio-cultural differences need to be taken into account, drawing lessons from other countries, which have tried a set of reforms and met with success or failure, can help avoid costly mistakes.
In this article, Hasmukh Adhia looks at the US experience – the background and content of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, and the extent to which it has achieved the desired results – to draw lessons for India. The CSRA has yielded only marginal results because of some flaws in the conception. Failure to realise that public service motivation is very different from that of the private sector is a major shortcoming. An examination of the literature shows that public servants are drawn to public service out of a conviction that they are participating in the process of policy formulation. Many researchers in the West have found that managerial employees in the public sector place a lower value on financial rewards. This indicates that work motivation may be enhanced by greater perceived mission valence or task importance associated with contributing to a valuable public service. The US experience supports these findings. In India job satisfaction arising from financial security does not necessarily lead to greater motivation to work. This may be better achieved by clearly enunciating the vision and goals of government organisations, establishing linkages between the process and the goal, and involving all members of the staff.
Reprint No 05402