People: hearts and mindsTowards rebirth of the public service ethic

RUTH HUBBARD

Public Service Commission, Canada

SUMMARY

No country will escape the enormous forces that are now buffeting the public sectorworldwide. The massive changes underway are affecting peopleÐpublic servants and citizensalikeÐand not just bottom lines. Standard approaches to dealing with change mayunwittingly overlook the fact that Public Services are ®rst and foremost ``people systems''.The article provides a timely reminder that players in public organizationsÐsenior of®cials,middle managers and front-line workersÐexperience change differently given their distinctperspectives and levels of authority. While responses to change may vary considerably withinorganizations, a common humanity is what ultimately unites people. As a result, governmentsthat choose to ignore rather than acknowledge the human side of change may experienceneedless dif®culty in bringing about the successful renewal of the public sector. (& 1997 byJohn Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

INTRODUCTION

How many of us, at one time or other, have felt like a giant Gulliver, observing ourorganizations, fascinated by the miracle of thousands of employees synchronizingefforts in one cause? Or again, how many of us can identify with Gulliver, pinneddown by criss-crossing red tape, struggling to gain even the slightest margin ofmanoeuvre?These days, being a senior of®cial in a public service is no sinecure. Globalization

is upon us. Cynicism aimed at public institutions is growing. De®cit-reduction andaccountability of government are at the forefront of public policy, forcing us torevisit the whole issue of governance. By their very nature, governments mustoperate beyond the bottom line. The public sector cannot behave like the privatesector because expectations and responsibilities are different. Indeed, there is acertain risk in treating public services like private enterprises because unique motivesunderlie public sector employment.Without exception, all of our public services face formidable challenges, no matter

what country we hail from. Each and every public administrator has wrenchingdecisions to make. And each and every one of us will feel like a Gulliver at one timeor other, rising tall, surveying the horizon but standing utterly alone on the shores of

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT, VOL. 17, 109±114 (1997)

CCC 0271±2075/97/010109±06$17.50& 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Ruth Hubbard is President, Public Service Commission of Canada, Ottawa, Canada, KIA OM7 and Hon.Treasurer of CAPAM.

uncertainty. We know the loneliness associated with leading and managingorganizations, in doing what is right rather than what is easy, in trying to balancebudgets and keep our public services from fraying or losing their professional values.There is loneliness because senior of®cials are not immune from paying the priceÐespecially in human termsÐof the changes that are buffeting the public sectorworldwide.

IMPACT OF PUBLIC SERVICE REFORMS ON INDIVIDUALS

What is the record about the impact of public service reform on individuals in avariety of jurisdictions around the world, including Canada?Governments really seem not to have done a good job of managing the reform

process, as it affects public servants. The prevalent philosophy seems to be thatchange is something that happens to people, not something that you can reallyplan for successfully. Governments even seem somewhat disinterested in reform'simpact on the public serviceÐperhaps because they are seen in many cases asmanifestations of the problem to be ®xed (excessive, unaffordable, public sector)or, perhaps because they do not believe they can do much about it. One view isthat there are good new systems in their public sector, but there are a lot ofcasualties. Some speak about `horrendous' loss of institutional memory and aworry about erosion of loyalty to the public service. Others mention a concernabout more patronage and increased politicizationÐa legacy of mistrust that mayimpede further changes.Some of this sounds remarkably like the experiences of private sector

organizations that have been living through extended and signi®cant change. Asone senior public servant said: `Public sector organizations are no different frommost others which are going through extended change management. Some peopleare inspired and motivated by the changes, but many are disturbed anddemotivated by them and the new demands and skills that are expected of them.The comparison with the experiences people go through in bereavementÐfear,shock, denial, anger, depression, adjustment, reorientationÐseems to be arelevant model for understanding what is going on.' The trick, this personsays, is for managers to help people come to terms with the changes that arefuture driven and stop looking backwards. They can then focus on the newopportunities presented by the changed circumstances. This is not even easy tosay. It certainly is hard to do!The rapid and irreversible changes going on around the world as public sector

reform continues are having a profound impact, not only on public servantsthemselves, but on members of the public who must begin to adjust to a reducedgovernment presence in their lives. Having a dynamic private sector can help inmaking the social and economic transition. But not all countries have this goodfortune. And in some countries, the issue of reform's impact on public servants isclosely linked to the issue of social policy because of the role the public service hasplayed in providing individual income supportÐeven if at meagre levels. In addition,it may mean asking people to go from less demanding jobs with low wages to moredemanding jobs with a promise of good wages at some point in the future that

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cannot be de®ned. These realities can make reform even more dif®cult and stressfulfor public servants. And there are certainly stresses on all of us.

MANAGING EXODUS AND OPPORTUNITY

The last year has seen the premature departure of many Canadian career publicservantsÐall of them hard-working people who had dedicated the best years of theirlives to serving their country. Some left to take up new challenges. Others leftperhaps more reluctantly. As for those of us who remain, we need to summon all ourinner strength to meet the tasks at hand. We need to tap the resources that lie withinus, the values, the experience, the wisdom, the compassion and the determination toact. And we will carry on, supporting our organizations and providing the bestpossible advice to our governments in their efforts to renew and prepare our publicservices for the 21st century.Yet, while the challenges facing us may be formidable, so are the opportunities to

in¯uence the course of events. Opportunities that will help forge a new socialcontract between citizens, governments and public servantsÐa new civil society thatwill make it worthwhile.It would be misleading to leave the impression that only those at the top have

to deal with the strain of change, that only senior of®cials try to bridge the gapbetween what the heart desires and what the mind knows is right. Gulliver, let'srecall had other incarnations too. He was not just a giant among Lilliputians.Gulliver also journeyed to the land of the Brob-ding-nag-ians where, in acomplete reversal of fortune, he found himself standing only ankle-high to a raceof heavy-footed giants.Probably many public servants today would feel a certain kinship with the

miniature Gulliver, scrambling to avoid being trampled underfoot. Like the tinyGulliver needing all his wits just to survive, many public servants at all levels areexperiencing the same disorientation and uncertainty about their future. They seetitanic forces that are not only beyond their control but, worse still, are completelyoblivious to their presence or their hopes and aspirations.Imagine, if you will, a world where legions of employees have provided loyal and

diligent service to their organizations for years on end. Then things begin to change,imperceptibly at ®rst.Time-honoured traditions give way to new realities. New technologies invade

the workplace. Opportunities for promotion begin to dry up. Workloads increase.Rumours of downsizing begin to swirl. Unions complain they are not consulted.Politicians demand action. The media castigate public servants of modestmeans as fat cats. The anxiety employees feel becomes pervasive, distilled into afear of seeing jobs mutate over and over again, of watching friends andcolleagues disappear, of losing the camaraderie and perhaps even their means oflivelihood.Under such circumstances, should we be surprised if the commitments

and attachment of front-line workers to their organizations turns to anguish?Are they right to feel like small cogs in a gargantuan and indifferent

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machinery of government? Does anyone care about them? Is anyone listening?The truth is that the anxiety, the fear and the anguish are all real, and oftenpalpable.Today, hosts of public servants are grapplingÐin their hearts and mindsÐwith

the end of the traditional employment contract. They are dealing with apsychology of entitlement that has, until recently at least, underscored employer±employee relations. And that dilemma is having a profound effect on the workingand personal lives of tens upon tens of thousands of good people. We cannotafford the status quo. Nor can we afford to leave behind employees who feelbetrayed. Are we at an impasse?

REBIRTH OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE ETHIC

I do not believe so. I believe there can be a rebirth of the public service ethic, arecommitment to values associated with government service, a return to moredynamic assumptions regarding public sector employment. Employees need to bevalued, trusted and reassuredÐhonestly, constructively, adequately and openly.People can always live with decisions, even if they don't agree with them, providedthey understand how and why those decisions have been reached. This means thatwe need to consult and communicate far better. We need to learn how to listen andhear with the heart as well as the brain. In the process, and with patient effort, a newemployment contract will take shape and a new and appropriate consensus willemerge. It will not be easy, nor will it happen overnight. But one thing is sure: it willtake all the Gullivers in our organizations to succeed.Spending time as a puny little creature in the land of giants did not rob Gulliver of

his capacity to think or feel or make positive contributions. Quite the opposite.Front-line Gullivers can provide alternative and enriching perspectives, a much-needed ballast for our organizations. Front-line employees are a force for renewalbecause they are organically rooted, and they are in day-to day contact with ourclients, our organizations' raison d'eÃtre. Virtually all employees can think creatively,solve problems, learn, grow and help our organizations renew themselves. We needto provide opportunities for people to regenerate themselves. We need to greet everyeffort with enthusiasm and appreciation, recognizing that organizations have muchto gain by nurturing, instead of neglecting, the aspirations of employees.So when we talk about continuous learning organizations, we need to remember

that learning is not an activity of the mind, but of the hearts as well. Indeed,everyone in our organizations has a heart and mindÐincluding those who ®ndthemselves midway between the top and the bottom, the middle managers.This brings us to the third type of Gulliver: the voyager who returns to his native

land only to be scoffed at for his tales of giants and tiny beings. What makes thisthird reincarnation of GulliverÐthe 5' 10'' GulliverÐany different? Gulliver'sencounters with the giant Brob-ding-nag-ians and tiny Lilliputians exposed him tonew perspectives that made him wiser. Yet, those experiences did not transform himinto either a giant or a tiny being.

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ROLE OF MIDDLE MANAGERS

Middle managers everywhere, like the 18th-century Gulliver, must live in the `real'world of competing pressures and demands. They cannot exercise the powers ofthose higher in the organization. They cannot abdicate their responsibilities and jointhe ranks of subordinates who have the satisfaction of doing `real work'. Nor do theyhave the luxury of escaping off on exotic adventures.Middle managers are faced with the task of integrating into their own existence the

experience of other worlds, worlds they often have to contend with. Managers muststraddle different currents, constantly helping levels of the organization mesh withone another. Succeeding at this task can be a source of great satisfaction. But, it canbe a source of great stress, too.Obviously, middle managers enjoy more authority to make decisions than their

subordinatesÐproviding a greater measure of control. But they cannot rely onauthority alone. They also need to be constantly creative, to keep their peoplemotivated to meet the protean goals of the organization. This is no easy task. As agroup of masters students who work in the public sector told one researcher, they feltlike they were trying to push jelly uphill with a pointed stick on a hot day!The middle managers typically are very decent individuals who want to do the

very best possible, who want to live and work according to a set of valuesÐprofessionalism, honesty, integrity, loyalty. Amongst those I deal with, I amconstantly amazed at their resilience and their ability to avoid becoming change-dazed. I am genuinely impressed by their ®erce loyalty to employees, a loyalty thatseems to grow stronger as situations become more dif®cult. Often, I wish I could sayto them: Just hold on a bit longer. Things will soon get better. Unfortunately, that issomething I simply cannot do. Not because my heart does not feel that way, butbecause my mind tells me otherwise.

CUTS IN THE CANADIAN PUBLIC SERVICE

In Canada, the Public Service Commission oversees staf®ng and training activitiesfor upwards of 225 000 federal public servants. In 1995, the Canadian governmentannounced reductions to this ®gure of 45 000 as part of restructuring to supportchange. The Public Service Commission is reducing signi®cantly, as part of thisexercise. Our budget will be reduced by 30% from 1995±96 to 1998±99. Thisrepresents the most substantial cuts to occur in our department since demobilizationafter the Second World War. And while such a decision may not surprise ouremployees, it will still send shock waves throughout the organization.I know that my middle managers will carry out whatever decisions are taken. In

many cases, those decisions will affect the lives of many employees with whommanagers have worked for years. The decisions will also directly affect the careers ofmany middle managers themselves. Some managers will be forced to inform theiremployees of the dreaded truth: that their services are no longer required. This willbe one of the hardest things they have ever had to do in their careers.But the responsibilities of managers will not end there. They will also need to tell

those employees fortunate enough to remain that even greater efforts will be

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expected of them. Rekindling morale and remotivating those who survive thetransition to the future public service will be no easy task. It will require all theempathy and patience and personal strength that managers can muster.There comes a point when managers cannot just give and give of themselves. With

no unions to look after them, with no network of permanent secretaries or deputyministers to share the trials and tribulations, middle managers must rely a great dealon their own individual capacity to manage loyalty to their employees, theirsuperiors and themselves and their families. This is why we need to pay specialattention to looking after those who look after others and to sustaining managersand employees through dif®cult change processes.No matter how we identify with GulliverÐwhether as a senior of®cial, as a front-

line worker, or as a middle managerÐwe need to remember that being a member ofan organization does not negate anyone's enduring predisposition to think, feel andact in certain ways. We have every right to be proud of our public services. They areincredibly rich organizations. What has made them rich is that they are, above all,systems based on people. Such systems need to be nurtured in all their sometimesinfuriating, sometimes exhilarating complexity. This side of public service reform isan important dimension that seems to have been neglected as public service reformcontinues to broaden and deepen around the world.Finally, the importance of getting reliable and balanced information about a

process that is complex and multifaceted should be stressed. Reforms strikedifferently in different places. Informed policy to help manage change has to bebased upon sound data, not conjecture and anecdote. This is clearly a dimension ofpublic service that needs a great deal more attention.In conclusion, as different and diverse as we are, public servants share essential

values, whether as senior of®cials, middle managers or front-line staff. This, Ibelieve, is what Gulliver discovered in his travels: the common humanity that unitesus all. If we keep this truth foremost in our hearts and in our minds, there is nothingwe cannot do.

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