Mainstreaming Ethics and Professionalism in the Civil Service Week 6 Slides.ppt

8/14/2019 Mainstreaming Ethics and Professionalism in the Civil Service Week 6 Slides.ppt

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CIVIL SERVICE AND

PROFESSIONALISM Mainstreaming Ethics and

Professionalism in the CivilService

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Possible actions• Anti-corruption commission•

Ombudsman• Human rights commission• Code of conduct• Ethics committee/officers at

institution level



Ethics and anti-corruption agencies

1. Discuss the limitations and problems of anticorruptionagencies/offices in dealing with unethical problem?2. What is your role in combating unethical problems withanticorruption commission, human right and or Ombudsman?

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Developing code of conduct/ Code of Ethics

Is one response by organizations to the questions ofethics

Has to be communicated to all employees.is a written document

outlines the principles of conduct to be used inmaking decisions within an organization. It is the values and ethical standards that

guide and govern the overall actions of anorganization.should provide employees with direction in

dealing with ethical dilemmas.

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The three philosophical bases are:i. The principle of justice : Involves making decisions

based on truth , a lack of bias , and consistency .

ii. The principle of individual rights : involves making

decisions based on protecting human dignity.

iii. The principle of utilitarianism : involves making

decisions directed toward promoting the greatest

good (happiness) for the greatest number of people.7




Codes of Ethics should clarify the following ethical dilemmas:1. Conflicts of interest : Employees are obligated to avoid situations

that involve a potential conflict of interest with their institution.

2. Compensation, benefits or gifts from other sources

3. Personal advantage: Employees are not allowed to use theirposition to acquire personal advantages not available to thegeneral public unless approved.

4. Use of institutions property: institution’s property is not to beused for personal or private use except as specifically authorized.

5. Political influence: Employees may not use their position orsystem resources to advance a political party or candidate.

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Other Policies and Procedures

Employees must comply and be conversant/familiar with all policies and

procedures that apply to their areas of responsibility.

o The following policies are some examples:

Nondiscrimination : Free of illegal discrimination or harassment based on

race, sex color, religion, etc.

Sexual violence prohibited : All of us deserve to work in an atmosphere

that is free from sexual violence.

Fraud and other dishonest acts : Fraudulent and other dishonest acts are

not to be tolerated.

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http://www.mnscu.edu/board/policy/1b01.html


http://www.mnscu.edu/board/policy/1c02.html


















Characteristics of good organizational code ofconduct

To be more effective, organizational code of ethics mustnot contain obscure principles ;

should be specific, simple and clear .•

More effective institutional code of ethics can bedesigned by pursuing the following general ‘rules’ :

– Simplicity: Do not cover every possible situation in the code. – Relevancy: Focus on the specific outcomes you are trying to

achieve. – Clarity: The language and ideas must be used accurately. Avoid

confusion.

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Characteristics of good organizationalcode of conduct

– Inclusiveness : The code of ethics development should be

participatory.

–

Publicity: Collectively designed and implemented codes ofethics should not be kept secret. They should be declared

open and let the ‘whole world’ know about them since public

trust emanates only from ‘public’ code of ethics. – Familiarization: Familiarization training should be introduced,

at least twice a year, for everyone in the organization.

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Designing organizational code of conduct…

– Institutionalization: Integrate the code of ethics into

personnel management, especially performance

assessment.

– Innovation : Review the code at least every two years.

Ethical standards can change, as community values

and standards change.12



Strengthening Transparency and accountability inthe Civil Service

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Decisions taken by civil servants should be madeas transparent and open as possible , i.e.legitimate reasons must be given for officialdecisions.

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End of part one

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Professionalization of the civil Service

Various approaches can be undertaken to promote

professionalism in the Civil Service.These include:

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1. Rightsizing the Civil Service

Through the application of HRM rules, the Public Service has to be right

sized based on some defined criteria to weed out those who are not

professionally, technically and ethically competent to continue.

For example:

officers/civil servant believed to be grossly inefficient in the

performance of their duties;

officers/civil servant with unsatisfactory character;

officers/civil servant without entry qualifications;

Other criteria

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This is to ensure the transformation of the service froman input-output-process system to a result-oriented performance system and to spin-off/follow otherdevelopments such as systematic training, process re-

engineering and organization-customer harmony, etc.

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2.Review of Performance Management System



• Review of the rules and regulations that facilitate on-going public service reforms, especially in the areas ofrecruitment/appointments, deployment, discipline,

performance management and incentives and voluntaryexit incentives, among others.• To study, analyze and review the existing Public Service

Rules, Financial Regulations, circulars and other extantregulations and to bring them in line with the currentreforms of government.

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3. Review of Public Service Rules andRegulations





5. Service wide capacity building• Training and development in the content and

rationale of Codes of Ethics.

• The proper use of official power and the ethicalrequirements of professional responsibility.

• Effective external and internal complaint andredress procedures.

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Civil service reform program to strengthen professionalism inEthiopian civil service

• NPM concepts and techniques transform many of theassumptions of traditional bureaucratic public administration .

• Civil Service Reform program as one of the waves of NPM triesto change the way business is done in the public sector.

Assumptions• NPM must be adopted carefully in response to the emerging

needs and demands of the People - We must not copy• NPM is not a single concept , but an umbrella team covering a

broad range of “New ways of thinking ” about getting publicbusiness done properly by drawing from a highly inter – disciplinary field of study .

• So we learn how to think not how to apply from such

initiatives. 21



NPM paradigm has five interrelated meanings(Borins 1994)Provide high - quality services that citizens value ;

Increasing managerial autonomy ,particularly by reducing

central agency control ;

Demanding , measuring ,and rewarding both organizational and

individual performance ;

Providing the human and technological resources that

managers need to meet their performance targets ;

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Civil service reform program to strengthen professionalismin Ethiopian civil service



The public administration of developmental state must be governed by thefollowing basic values

A high standard of professional ethics ;

Efficient , economic and effective use of resource ;Public administration must be developmental oriented ;Service must be provided impartially , fairly ,equitably and withoutbias ;

People’s needs must be responded to and the public must be

encouraged to participate in policy – making ;Public administration must be accountable ;Transparency must be fostered by providing the public with timely ,accessible and accurate information ;Good human resource management and career – developmentpractices to maximize human potential ; andPublic administration must be broadly representative of the diversepeople with employment and personnel management practices basedon ability, objectivity, fairness, and the need to redress the imbalancesof the past to achieve broad representation( Fakir 2007 )

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The Ethiopian government is engaging in civil servicereform for the last ten years in the following majorareas:

Top Management system reform sub program ;Human Resource Management System Reform SubProgram ;Service Delivery improvement Reform Sub Program ;

Government Expenditure and Control reform SubProgram ; and

Ethics Sub Program.

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why reform?Top leaders in the civil service were not visionary and supportive ;

Top leaders were not developed and managed adequately , systematically andrationally as a result they were with low level of leadership competencies ;

Low level of civil servants’ performance resulting from incompetence and low

level of morale ;

Inefficient service as a result of poor design of work and wrong employees’

attitude towards clients or citizens ;

Inappropriate utilization of public resources. For instance public resource

utilization was input driven and resources were not tied to results that

accountability losses its ground ; and

Unethical practices in delivering the service. For example, bribes, kick backs,

embezzlement, and etc. 25



In general;

The purpose of the civil service reform program is tocreate efficient and effective civil service that servesthe government of the day

ethically andprofessionally.

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Main initiatives of the reform program & their contributions to promote &strengthen professionalism in the civil service

Business Process Reengineering (BPR)

According to Hammer & Champy business process reengineering is “the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business process , in order toachieve dramatic improvement in critical contemporary measures of

performance such as cost, quality, service and speed .”

Hammer strongly emphasizes that the main purpose of BPR is to create process – based organization which has many manifestations among all customersatisfaction , outcome orientation, team building.

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According to AH consulting(2010) survey, the following are achievements of BPRimplementation in Ethiopian public service .

Organizations have been organized around processes , outcomes or results ;

Processes are defined and designed in such a way that they can add value tocustomers ;

Efficiency has been improved – less time is taken and less money is spent to

provide services as a result of BPR ;

Achievements of flatter structure – less time to decide ; empowering employees

and increasing flexibility of service ;

BPR helps to drive the HRM reform agenda of the civil service which is highly

related to professionalism of the civil service ;

Customer satisfaction has been registered in many implementing agencies ;

Improved effectiveness – in most institutions, BPR has helped institutions to do the

right things as defined in their mission and vision. 28



BPR cont’d

Change attitudes – the attitudes of the civil servants started to change to

be client focused.

Skilled workers – multiple tasks were carried out by individuals that

pushes employees to learn more in order to have multi skills ;

One – stop – shopping service has been introduced that makes the civil

service easy to do business ; etc

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Result oriented Performance Management changeInitiative (2002 – 2007)

• The Ethiopian civil service has been engaging inbuilding result - oriented performance managementsystems in the last eight years. A

•

As a result Organizationally aligned employees’ performance appraisal system is introduced thathelps employees’ to focus on results that cancontribute for organizational success.

• This initiative was criticized for its focus onmeasurement alone which is unwanted business byemployees and misalignment of individualperformance with that of the organization .

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Balanced score card (BSC) (2008 – 2011)

- is an integrated strategic management system.- focuses on critical few strategic matters- helps to align individual performance with

organizational goals.- helps organizations to think beyond financial

bottom lines such as employees’ capacity,leadership capability, process efficiency and aculture of performance.

The peculiar feature of BSC is its power to alignintangible asset with expected tangible results that ithelps much to build professionalism in the civilservice.

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BSC’s achievements to – dates are:

Many civil servants and leaders have got training on BSCThe training helps leaders to get different perspectives togauge organizational success in balanced view ;It is widely understood by leaders and employees that

BSC is an important tool to align strategic planning,performance management, project management,Business processes and budget ; andMany professionals and leaders recognize that BSC is astrong tool in communicating and implementingstrategies at any level.

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The following are features of BSC :

It is integrated strategic management system ;

It is a communication tool ;It is a change management tool ;

It focuses on four main perspectives, namely : customer / citizens,finance / budget , internal processes , learning and growth ;

It aligns internal and external organizational achievements ;It is about showing the logic of value creation with the help ofstrategy maps ;

Aligning intangible asset with the tangible asset through valuecreation mechanisms ; andAbove all it is about focusing on critical few issues of theorganization (Kaplan & Norton, 2005).

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The role of BSC in strengthening professionalism inEthiopian civil service

– Since BSC values intangible asset such as human resource andprocesses and their technologies, its application helps much tostrengthen the civil service professionalism.

– The developmental and motivational aspects of BSC cancontribute much to create high performing civil serviceinstitutions which emphasize the importance ofprofessionalism.

– The performance management system of BSC helps much toimprove values of professionalism. This has been observed inmany European and North American civil service.

– Even South Korean and Chinese civil services have used BSC tostrengthen professionalism (Qin G 2009, Cho C, 2009).

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Despite the various impediments the following achievements in HRM reformshall be recognized. These are:

– Federal Civil Servants Proclamation had been revised in line with modernHRM concepts and practices ;

– The devolution of HRM functions pave the way to flexibility andempowerment of line managers ;

– The reorganization of the former Federal Civil Service Agency at Ministrylevel shows the importance given for human resource management ;

– The HRM reform drives training and education institutions to focus onHRM. This gives professionals an opportunity of getting training andeducation in the subject ;

– The establishment of leadership institute which is fully dedicated forleadership development will have greater role to supply skilled andmotivated cadre of leaders ;

– Training courses and university curriculum (which leads to post graduatedegree in HRM) are introduced in the past few years. This is an importantmeasure to professionalize the civil Service HRM ;

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Best practices of strengthening Professionalism in

the Civil Service The following can be taken as best practices to promote & strengthenprofessionalism in the civil service. The best practices can be applied to Ethiopianin particular & the Continent’s civil service at large.

Refining and implementing comprehensive merit system is the basis for civilservice professionalism.

The North American and West European experiences indicate that adhering tomerit principles is key success factor to establish legitimate and respected civilservice. Since public services are working in an environment that is in constantchange, effective training and development are investments with high return . Asprofessionalism is the quest for Excellency continuous learning will be the newculture of the civil service.

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Creating a performing culture through integrated performancemanagement system is critical to enhance professionalism in thecivil service. Since effective performance management systemaddresses both developmental & motivational objectives, it is aninstrument to promote and strengthen professionalism in thepublic service.

Moreover, effective performance management system helps tocombat corruption and curb other unethical practices. As stated byHammer, in traditional pay systems, people are paid for seniority,for showing up, for following rules, for being pleasant to the boss,or perhaps even for performing & completing assigned tasks. But

they are not paid for producing results, which is ultimately the onlything that really matters (Hammer M. 1996: 57).

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So developing a performance related pay ( PRP) which is based on objectiveperformance measurement system is instrumental to cultivate the true

professionalism.• Besides, paying for competence is vital to attract brightest and talented young

work force to the public service.• This is an effective mechanism to realize the continuity of the civil service in

time of change. Performance related pay together with competence related pay

can realize paying for contribution (Armstrong & Angela, 1998). Contribution payenhances professionalism in the civil service. In addition, contributions payhelps the government to improve the total compensation that is vital toenhance professionalism.

• Flexi – time allows employees to choose, within certain limits, when they start

and end their workdays. Usually the organization defines the core period. Flexi – time allows professional employees to use their biological clocks to be effective.• Again this must be taken as an important strategy in Ethiopian civil service to

retain talented employees in hard finding skills like Medicine, Engineering Law,Business, and etc (Adebabay, 2008: 54).

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Th ff i f h h d d ff i HRM



• The effectiveness of the human resource depends on effective HRM systems.• So developing a structure and systems of HR professionals’ is vital. In this

context, designing a set of HR professional standards is critical . Besides,redefining the HR personnel’s role is a step ahead to professionalize human

capital management. In modern HRM, the officers’ role will be advisory,facilitation, HR system designer etc. In addition to this, licensing both HR andother professionals can be cited as best practice for African civil service.

• According to Linden, the use of self – managing teams is growing in the public

sector. Self managing teams plan, implement, and evaluate their own work, withminimal involvement from senior managements. They focus primarily onexternal customer needs not the bureaucracy (Linden, 1994: 5). Introducing aself – managed team is valuable in terms of value creation to citizens. It is alsoimportant to cultivate a culture of organizational learning.

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S lf d i hi hl d d i k ki k



• Self – managed team is highly empowered and risk taking workgroup that it is conducive to strengthen professionalism at the grassroot level of civil service organizations.

•

Moreover, self – managed teams create time space for seniormanagers to focus on coaching and mentoring business. In thisregard, introducing systems and structure that helps to grow self – managed team is advantageous and mandatory. Empoweringcitizens through total engagement of end users will create demandside pressure to the civil service.

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Th d d id i i l f



• The demand side pressure is important to create a culture ofaccountability which leads to capacity building for both servicegivers and service users. The introduction of charter and chartermark programs in many west Europe and North American civilservices helps to improve the quality of the civil service.

• It also realizes stakeholders’ full engagement and insight in theprocess of service delivery. The experiences of developed countriesshow that citizens in public service are not only end users but alsoowners and solution seekers for the challenges facing the service.

• Such an engagement of citizens’ is not only to ask rights but alsoto seek solutions. Introducing competition among civil serviceinstitutions through charter mark was fruitful in UK publicHospitals (IIes & Sutherland, 2000).

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• As far as keeping the systems effective charter mark induces competition among civil



• As far as keeping the systems effective, charter mark induces competition among civilservice institutions and creates an environment to learn from the total process of thecompetition. This is an important leap in strengthening professionalism in the publicservice.

• Creating citizens’ awareness on public service, through citizens’ charter, organizationalcharter and accountability reports helps to empower the citizen and reinforceprofessionalism. Building professionalism demands enriching and enlarging jobs.Enriched and enlarged jobs motivate employees’ to improve their knowledge andskills which is central in promoting and professionalizing the civil service.

• Leadership development programs play an important role in professionalizing the civilservice. The purpose of the leadership development shall be to create forwardlooking, innovative, and courageous leaders in the civil service.

• Most importantly creating model leaders is critical factor in the process of buildingprofessionalism in the civil service. West European experience including countries likeFrance, Italy, Germany and Holland show that systematic leadership development is

vital for professionalizing the civil service. Since human resource development is aninvestment, civil service institutions shall consider installing effective recruitmentmechanism of leaders.

• If institutions recruit leaders unwisely, their investment will have less return. So inmany professional civil services the top management system is installed with greatcare and focus.

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Opportunities and Challenges of professionalizing the Ethiopian Civil Service



Opportunities and Challenges of professionalizing the Ethiopian Civil Service • The growth and transformation plan of Ethiopia (2010 – 2015) which has an

integrated stretched goals calls for effective civil service leaders and employees.According to the plan, civil service institutions are expected to perform at the

highest possible to realize the vision of the plan. Such circumstance availsmultiple opportunities to professionalize the civil service.

• Stretched development goals calls for superior organizational performancewhich is possible with mobilizing professional employees in any organizationincluding the civil service. The growth and transformation plan embraces

capacity building as one of the pillars of its strategy.

• According to the capacity Building strategy of FDRE, Human ResourceDevelopment is critical. Thus, the Growth and Transformational Plan is a driverto build professionalism in the civil service. The capacity building initiatives in

Ethiopia are instrumental in building good governance, democracy and theeconomy by – and - large.

• Ethiopian capacity building program is comprehensive and encompasses allactors of good governance: public, private and civil society. The governmentpolitical commitment is very strong to implement programs of capacity building

that has greatest contribution to the national development. 43

Th it b ildi g g hi h f d l t f



• The capacity building program which focuses on development ofeffective and efficient systems, structures and people runs themeson human resources development that are focusing onprofessionalism of the civil service. Generally, the capacity buildingstrategy gives special attention for human resource. Moreover, thecapacity building strategy gives priority for the civil service that itopens an opportunity for professionalism.

• The country’s stride to democracy and good governance is highlydependent on the effectiveness of the civil service. Effective civilservice means professional civil service that can deliver as itpromises. Thus, professionalism is a prerequisite for civil serviceeffectiveness. In this regard, lessons shall be taken that the

effectiveness of reform initiatives can’t be realized withoutacquiring the required values & believes.

• The progress Ethiopia has made in democracy and developmenttells us that the more the nation respects the people’s right the

higher will be their engagement and therefore they demand more. 44



• Civil Service Institutions as vector of development has got an

opportunity to improve their service level continuously. As a result

the civil service of the day demands highly competent andprofessional civil servants. This reality obliges to professionaldevelopment.

• The National Growth & Transformational Plan with its stretchedgoals (In both its high case and base case scenarios) means thatthere is a lot expected from the civil service and in returncompensations and working conditions will be improved as targets

realized. Such transformation and renaissance era can create afertile environment to professionalize the civil service.

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• Last but not least, the civil service reform initiatives, as the major

ones are discussed in this paper, look after professionals’ showsthat both professionalism and reform have cause and effectrelationship which has a spiral effect.

• In discussing the challenges of strengthening

professionalism in the Ethiopian civil service thefollowing major points need to be highlighted

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A bli d i i i h ’ l h i f b i d d



• As public administrations are the state’s tools, their reason for being dependson the role of the state (Blaire D. 2009). Thus, aligning the Civil ServiceReform Program with the objectives of the developmental democratic statehas a paramount importance. The effectiveness of any civil service reform

program depends on its adaptability with countries’ context. This seemsunbeatable challenge in many developing and transitional civil servicesincluding the Ethiopian.

• Quality service depends on quality people . Reforming the civil service toserve the public better needs to have talented and inquisitive people. It is a

challenge for the civil service to attract and retain talented people withrelatively minimum compensation. But civil service institutions can minimizethis challenge by creating better attractive working conditions basis onintrinsic incentive schemes too.

• Installing effective training & development system is another challenge in

Ethiopian Civil service. Building skills of people in areas of training needanalysis which helps to identify right needs and suppliers will be a challengein the short run. Another skill challenge will be measuring trainingeffectiveness correctly. Without developing these two main skills in managingtraining and development, one can’t know the level of return gained bytraining investments.

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• Developing the right attitude for professionalism and making people transparent



Developing the right attitude for professionalism and making people transparentand accountable will stay long as a challenge.

• Building the right attitude for professionalism requires the right structure andsystem as causal factors. The more we stay long to install appropriate systems

and structure, the less will be the attainment of professionalism in Ethiopiancivil service.• Cultivating model leaders and professionals as much as possible will be a

challenge for the 21st African civil service. Without having model leaders andprofessionals in required number and quality, the ethos of professionalism can’t

be transferred easily from leaders to other civil servants. Lack of model leadersin required number means shortage of adequate mentors. In this regard leaders’ competency framework need to be established and a system of performancemanagement with its recognition and reward mechanisms shall be installedsoon.

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• Fighting corruption in a society where corruption is considered as

easy and proper access for wealth is a strong challenge that the

Ethiopian civil service encounters.• Installing effective Performance Management system is another

area of challenge in a situation where people are avoidingmeasurement and open appraisal. Open appraisal is a challenge in

high power distance and closed society (Schneider and Louis,1997).

• Implementing a comprehensive merit principles and make people

accountable for violating the law is also a challenge. For exampleaccording to Merit Magazine knowingly and unknowingly, there is aserious violation of merit principles in Ethiopian civil service (Merit,vol.15, No.2, June 2010).

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The end of the unit

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Mainstreaming Ethics and Professionalism in the Civil Service Week 6 Slides.ppt