AUTUMN 2013
FMI
*
IGF JOURNAL
27
Stewardship of Sustainable Public Service Renewal
and Reform
John Wilkins
Effective public leaders offer non-partisan
pastoral care for those who champion
innovation against the odds. They help
create a sense of community among public
servants at the centre of government, on the
front lines, and in the middle of the system.
They are stewards of public service renewal
and reform who network government to
develop capacity, institutionalize change,
and account for results.
There is conjecture whether leaders are
more or less successful depending upon
their place, position, and role. How do
different leadership scenarios explain the
results achieved in the setting and context?
Does where you stand depend upon where
you sit?
It is held that there can be no meaningful
public sector reform without public service
renewal–no agenda for change and no
progress without capacity development.
And there can be no innovation without
the stewardship of dynamic leaders.
This also means no transformation in
today’s networked government without
collaborative leadership. These dilemmas
shape the challenges of sustaining public
service renewal and reform, with real
development implications.
Public sector reform and capacity
development
Many countries are taking steps to
streamline
government,
strengthen
institutions, and modernize management.
Open and accountable government is
critical for realizing people’s rights and
delivering public services. Institutional
capacity enables good governance, efficient
administration, competent leadership,
strategic
planning,
and
resource
management.
The gap between enacting and
implementing public policy is out of step
with growing citizen expectations. The
management challenges are daunting–focus
on internal process and organization rather
than on citizens; untapped technologies
to improve service quality and timeliness;
fragmented and incoherent policy agendas;
renew public services must be managed
concurrently with reform.
The reform deficit is most pronounced in
settings with weak institutional capacity. In
many countries, this capacity has eroded,
such that there are:
• Major human resource shortages in
professional and technical occupations;
• Limited budgets for recruitment and
retention of qualified knowledge
workers;
• Talent migration towards stronger
economies in other sectors and abroad;
and
• Poor leadership skills to motivate and
manage public service performance.
In developed countries, the workforce
is aging, requiring attention to succession
planning, working conditions, pension
fund solvency, and health and social costs.
In developing countries, the workforce is
increasingly diverse, mobile, and motivated
by higher paying job opportunities in
a global market. There are trade-offs
between the security and continuity of
long-term public service employment
and the performance basis of short-term
contract employment, particularly for
executive cadres.
The changing dynamics require new
strategies and flexible policies, practices,
and terms and conditions to create an
employment environment conducive to
attracting, retaining, and developing talent
for the public service. The intent of reforms
has been good, but the experience on the
ground indicates shortcomings in support
mechanisms. There are renewed efforts
to network training institutes to replenish
public service skill gaps. And Cabinet
Secretaries and/or Heads of Public Service
are sharing and championing whole-
of-government strategies for capacity
development.
Stewardship of innovation and
leadership development
Innovation and learning are important in
times of uncertainty. Innovation is front
and centre again as a core element of the
indifference to performance culture
and accountability for results; and weak
capacity in ministries and sub-national
governments. New approaches are needed
to bolster public sector interventions and
to mitigate management challenges.
The World Bank admits that not all
problems can be solved. It has a new,
more realistic approach to public sector
management which recognizes that:
• Reform matters and is best seen as a
problem-solving task;
• Reform is difficult because knowledge is
weak and political economy is spotty;
• The development community has less
knowledge than it thinks, but more than
it uses;
• The Bank is a distinctively strong player,
spending $4-5 billion a year on reform;
• The Bank is committed to doing better,
knowing better, and integrating better;
and
• Working with the Bank starts with
defining the functional problem to be
solved.
Implications for capacity development
One unknown in this new approach
to reform concerns the role of public
service
leadership.
The
Overseas
Development Institute confirms that
progress depends upon leadership, policy,
institutional foundations, and international
partnerships. Developing the capacity of
government to administer, deliver, and
Where nations stand in the
economic ladder will depend
on their strategic human
resource development.
Singapore
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