Jackie Gallegos
Section 30243
Row D, Seat 8
How Can the Nation Ensure that Bureaucrats are Competent?
The term Competence can be used to refer to the ability of an individual to perform allocated tasks properly. It is a combination of cognitive skills, values, behavior, and theoretical and practical knowledge required for adequate performance. It also involves the state of being well qualified and well equipped to perform a particular task. In other words, it defines the requirements an individual needs to have in order to be part of an organization. Knowledge stands for the technical and operational understanding of people about certain things. While skills and knowledge are commonly used in the allocation of tasks, it is important to note that these are rarely used to differentiate individual performance. Skills and knowledge are necessary conditions, but they do not necessarily translate to performance (Elliot et al., 2017). Performance often depends on more deep-rooted aspects such as personal characteristics and work policies.
The term bureaucrat can be used to describe members of a bureaucracy and includes the administration of various organizations. However, the term is typically used to refer to individuals within different institutions of the government (Hummel, 2007). The government faces an intimidating puzzle because it operates in a significantly complex environment and is required to deliver on a variety of policy objectives. In a world that is characterized by rapid social change, technological innovations, and economic uncertainty, citizens often expect a lot from the government. On the other hand, the government faces various challenges such as inefficiency and shrinking budgets among others. The inability of government institutions to perform according to the expectations of citizens leads to loss of public trust, making it more difficult for the employees in these agencies to perform their duties as they should.
The United States federal government comes behind other organizations in the private sector in a number of areas and organizational performance aspects, particularly in ensuring personnel accountability, talent management, engagement and most importantly competence (Chen & Gant, 2001). It is common knowledge that managing institutions in the public sector is significantly different from managing organizations in the world of business. In most cases, the environments in which bureaucrats operate make it more difficult for them to achieve success in what they do. In such highly-visible environments, individuals need government workforce to be highly competent in order to become successful. This requires leaders in the public sector to recognize and address the factors that present challenges when it comes to increasing engagement with the public.
The government has been going through tough times, attracting criticism due to the rhetoric about effectiveness, function, and scope as well as various battles involving budgets. The criticism is not only directed at various institutions but also to individuals who deliver services to citizens in different areas. Government employees and agencies are denigrated in political speeches, media advertisements, and Congress among others. Some of the criticism comes as a result of the challenges the government faces in attracting and keeping competent individuals. Critics of the government including various media and political officials portray employees in the public sector as underworked and overpaid. Consequently, such an image has a negative impact on their morale as well as engagement.
Those who engage in criticizing the government and the individuals who work for tend to forget the role that the government plays in the public sector. It is important to note that the work of these individuals affects the majority of the citizens whether in their local communities or nationally. The public normally engages itself in criticizing bureaucrats while at the same time asking them to provide solutions for some of the most complicated issues. These include putting people back to work, protecting the public, fixing the economy, proving affordable health care, eliminating poverty, improving the quality of life and increasing opportunities through improving the education system among others (Niskanen, 1971). The inconsistency of attacking bureaucrats while at the same time expecting them to provide solutions for issues other sectors are unable or cannot handle places the individuals in a difficult situation.
Ever so often, bureaucrats also miss out on some important and valuable aspects of the government. The government is an excellent place for individuals to work and public service should be one of the most satisfying careers one can have. It has been proven in the past that when individuals are satisfied with their jobs, they tend to be more competent. However, the practices put in place in many government institutions are stuck in the past in that they are characterized by issues of retention and most importantly, incompetence (Fu & Deshpande, 2014).
Even in the face of challenges, there are still methods that government institutions can use to ensure that bureaucrats become more competent. In doing so, they can deliver the performance different citizens expect. One way to achieve this is through result-oriented government institutions that can make use of data and statistical analysis to guide their decisions. Government institutions must first decide what they want to measure and how they want to measure it. For instance, relevant organizations can look at ways to reduce the apparent complexity of dealing with various departments. This could be achieved by understanding the complexity of procedures such as starting a business or getting married because such activities involve the government, meaning that citizens must at some point interact with public agencies (Niskanen, 1971). The agencies can lay down measures to ease such processes and measure the satisfaction of citizens who interact with bureaucrats in order to establish whether they increase competency among individuals.
International and national benchmarks possess great potential but are underutilized as input to guide decision making, especially in a world where different institutions face similar issues, and not a single one of them excels across the board. There are variations in institutional performance in almost any metric, including health, unemployment, and security. It is safe to say that such inconsistency is expected, especially since the absence of competition in the public sector is likely to lead to sub-par performance. However, best practices in various institutions and agencies can be useful to other organizations and can motivate implementation of changes that can lead to improved competency.
One of the factors that has contributed to heightened public expectations of government is the responsiveness of the private sector to customer demands. The private sector has made significant steps towards ensuring that their customers access services quickly in a bid to increase satisfaction and remain competitive (Mazzucato, 2015). For instance, people can do their banking and shopping on the internet using internet-enabled gadgets. Because of this, people expect bureaucrats to make it easier for them to complete processes such as submitting their tax returns or apply for driver s licenses among others. As such, government institutions should invest in research and development of procedures and policies that can meet these expectations. The government can invest in electronic service portals to eliminate the need to visit offices for various services physically. Additionally, government officials can be taught about different methods of increasing efficiency and be involved in initiatives such as mobile government offices meant to make service delivery easier for people who live in remote regions.
The government can also use innovation to come up with ways in which citizens can make their voices heard, allowing them to provide input about the provision of services, budgets as well as regulations. That way, citizens can play a crucial role not just in the planning, but also in public sector service delivery.
Some of the most valuable assets in the public sector are mission-driven employees. However, many government institutions are unable to utilize or get the most out of their personnel because they do not invest enough time and resources in the development of skills and expertise. Often, government institutions invest in the wrong kind of training. Past research has proven that employees learn more through practice and feedback than through what people would term as lectures, yet many training programs in the public sector involve self-study and classroom sessions (Kroll & Tandardini,2017). Institutions and agencies can ensure that their employees develop and improve skills that matter in their respective fields. Additionally, the government can invest in building expertise building collaboration with social and private sectors. This is a way of adapting to the changes in the ecosystem in which the challenges are shared by institutions in different sectors. The need for government institutions to work together with businesses and non-profit organizations exist regardless of whether the government is acting as a public good, economic stakeholder or service provider.
Another efficient way to ensure that bureaucrats are competent is through the integration of program evaluation into performance management. While measuring performance can play a significant role in telling leaders what is going on in different agencies and institutions, program evaluation is crucial in determining why certain things occur. Additionally, evaluation expertise can be incorporated into performance discussions. Research has demonstrated that various systems are more likely than not to succeed when leaders show their dedication towards performance (Kroll & Tandardini,2017). The competency of bureaucrats can, therefore, be ensured through selecting leaders for various positions according to their past demonstration of performance management skills. Moreover, institutions should connect with Congress and other stakeholders in the government in order to get input into how they should set strategic goals.
Conclusion
A lot has been done over the years to shape government institutions and agencies into what they are today. Although there have been significant challenges along the way, individuals have shown commitment to making these bodies better. Despite the problems, the public sector has played an essential role in the attainment of various public results that have served the interest of the public. Nevertheless, a lot more can be done to ensure that bureaucrats become more competent so that citizens can enjoy seamless service delivery.
References
Chen, Y. C., & Gant, J. (2001). Transforming local e-government services: the use of application service providers. Government information quarterly, 18(4), 343-355.
Elliot, A. J., Dweck, C. S., & Yeager, D. S. (2017). Handbook of Competence and Motivation: Theory and Application. Guilford Publications.
Fu, W., & Deshpande, S. P. (2014). The impact of caring climate, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment on job performance of employees in a China s insurance company. Journal of Business Ethics, 124(2), 339-349.
Hummel, R. P. (2007). The bureaucratic experience: The post-modern challenge. ME Sharpe.
Kroll, A., & Tantardini, M. (2017). Motivating and Retaining Government Employees: The Role of Organizational Social Capital. International Public Management Journal, (just-accepted).
Mazzucato, M. (2015). The entrepreneurial state: Debunking public vs. private sector myths (Vol. 1). Anthem Press.
Niskanen, W. A. (1971). Bureaucracy and representative government. Transaction Publishers.