Enhancing leadership capacity in the public sector: branding as an employer of choice

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 155-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim A. Mau
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Leadership Capacity ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Case Study Analysis ◽  
The Public ◽  
Private Sector Organizations ◽  
Employer Of Choice ◽  
Federal Public Service

Purpose Public services around the world are grappling to enhance their leadership capacity. One approach is to provide leadership training and development to public servants, while another would be to target and hire individuals with proven leadership ability. The purpose of this paper is to focus on that latter strategy by critically examining the concept of branding the public service as an employer of choice as a means of recruiting and retaining sufficient leadership capacity. Design/methodology/approach The paper begins by outlining the challenge faced by governments to recruit the best and brightest employees into the public service. It then reviews the literature on the concept of branding as an employer of choice, including its perceived advantages and limitations, before undertaking a case study analysis of the 2007 public sector branding initiative of the Canadian federal government. Findings It is very difficult to develop a single, master brand given the diversity and complexity of the hundreds of organizations that comprise the public sector. While it may be a popular concept for private sector organizations, the concept of branding the public sector as an employer of choice has yet to demonstrate its merit. Canada, which was ostensibly the vanguard in terms of public sector branding, has been unable to position the federal public service as an employer of choice. Originality/value There is very little research on the use of branding as an employer of choice in the public sector. This paper contributes to the knowledge about the limitations of such strategies for ensuring that the public sector has the requisite leadership capacity.

“Representative bureaucracy as a leadership issue: the Canadian case”

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 393-410
Author(s):  
Tim A. Mau
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Representative Bureaucracy ◽  
Gender Representation ◽  
Administrative Leadership ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Sector Leadership ◽  
Federal Public Service

PurposeThe public administration literature on representative bureaucracy identifies several advantages from having a diverse public service workforce, but it has not explicitly focused on leadership. For its part, the public sector leadership literature has largely ignored the issue of gender. The purpose of this paper is to rectify these limitations by advancing the argument that having a representative bureaucracy is fundamentally a leadership issue. Moreover, it assesses the extent to which representativeness has been achieved in the Canadian federal public service.Design/methodology/approachThe paper begins with a discussion of the importance of a representative bureaucracy for democratic governance. In the next section, the case is made that representativeness is fundamentally intertwined with the concept of administrative leadership. Then, the article provides an interpretive case study analysis of the federal public service in Canada, which is the global leader in terms of women's representation in public service leadership positions.FindingsThe initial breakthrough for gender representation in the Canadian federal public service was 1995. From that point onward, the proportion of women in the core public administration exceeded workforce availability. However, women continued to be modestly under-represented among the senior leadership cadre throughout the early 2000s. The watershed moment for gender representation in the federal public service was 2011 when the number of women in the executive group exceeded workforce availability for the first time. Significant progress toward greater representativeness in the other target groups has also been made but ongoing vigilance is required.Research limitations/implicationsThe study only determines the passive representation of women in the Public Service of Canada and is not able to comment on the extent to which women are substantively represented in federal policy outcomes.Originality/valueThe paper traces the Canadian federal government's progress toward achieving gender representation over time, while commenting on the extent to which the public service reflects broader diversity. In doing so, it explicitly links representation to leadership, which the existing literature fails to do, by arguing that effective administrative leadership is contingent upon having a diverse public service. Moreover, it highlights the importance of gender for public sector leadership, which hitherto has been neglected.

ISO 9001 and the public service: an investigation of the effect of the QMS on the quality of public service organizations

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Armando López-Lemus
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Service Quality ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Public Services ◽  
The State ◽  
Iso 9001 ◽  
Knowledge Generation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the influence exerted by a quality management system (QMS) under ISO 9001: 2015 on the quality of public services organizations in Mexico. Design/methodology/approach The methodological design was quantitative, explanatory, observational and transversal, for which a sample of 461 public servants from the state of Guanajuato, Mexico was obtained. To test the hypotheses, a structural equation model (SEM) was developed through the statistical software Amos v.21. For the analysis of the data, software SPSS v.21 was used. Regarding the goodness and adjustment indices of the SEM (χ2 = 720.09, df = 320, CFI = 0.933, TLI = 0.926 and RMSEA = 0.05) which, therefore, proved to be acceptable. Findings According to the results obtained through the SEM model, the QMS under ISO 9001: 2015 is positively and significantly influenced tangible aspects (β1 = 0.79, p < 0.01), reliability (β2 = 0.90, p < 0.01), related to response quality (β3 = 0.93, p < 0.01), guarantees (β4 = 0.91, p < 0.01) and empathy (β5 = 0.88, p < 0.01) of the quality related to public services in Mexico. The study’s key contribution is that it discovered that implementing a QMS in accordance with the ISO 9001: 2015 standard has an impact on the quality of public services, with the most influential quality of response. Similarly, the assurance and dependability of service quality turned out to be important in providing public service quality. Research limitations/implications In this paper, the QMS was only evaluated as a variable that intervenes in the process of obtaining quality in public service under the ISO 9001 standard in its 2015 version. In this regard, the results’ trustworthiness is limited to the extent that the findings may be generalized in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico’s public service. As a result, the scientific community is left primarily focused on service quality to promote new future research. Practical implications The ISO 9001: 2015 standard’s QMS is one of the tools for success in both the commercial and government sectors. However, there are practical limitations, which focus on the time during which managers exercise their vision in the public sector: first, the dynamics that managers play in public policy; second, the length of time they have served in public office; and third, the interest of directors of public institutions to improve the quality of service provided by the government. Other practical consequences concern organizational culture and identity, public servant commitment, senior management or secretaries of government, as well as work and training. Originality/value The findings of this paper are important and valuable because they foster knowledge generation in the public sector through the ISO 9000 quality area. A model that permits the adoption and implementation of a QMS based on the ISO 9001: 2015 standard in public organizations that seek to provide quality in their services offered to the user is also presented to the literature. Similarly, the paper is important because there is currently insufficient research focusing on the variables examined in the context of public service in Mexico.

Emotional intelligence as an antidote to the negative implications of perceived managerial supplication: a sectorial comparison

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Galit Meisler
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Aggressive Behavior ◽  
Political Behavior ◽  
Turnover Intentions ◽  
Mediation Model ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Moderated Mediation Model

PurposeThis study investigated whether managers' nonaggressive political behavior can result in negative emotional and attitudinal outcomes such as aggressive behavior and the role of emotional intelligence (EI) in this context. The authors explored a moderated mediation model in which perceived managerial supplication elicited hostility that increased turnover intentions and the emotional abilities included in EI acted as antidotes to these outcomes.Design/methodology/approachThe authors tested the moderated mediation model using two large samples, one from the public sector and the other from the private sector, providing a cross-sectorial comparison. The authors collected the data for this study in three waves.FindingsThe authors’ findings revealed that the model fit the public sector alone. Moreover, others' emotion appraisal was the only aspect of EI that moderated the hostility and turnover intentions of public servants.Practical implicationsInterventions aimed at increasing the EI level of public servants can be a powerful tool for reducing their hostility and turnover intentions. However, these interventions must focus on all four aspects of EI , particularly others' emotion appraisal.Originality/valueManagers' nonaggressive political behavior can result in negative emotional and attitudinal outcomes such as aggressive behavior. However, EI reduces these negative outcomes among public servants.

Mexico power centralisation will bring heavy criticism

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Central Government ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
State Capture

Subject Balance of powers in Mexico. Significance Since taking office last year, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) and his National Renovation Movement (Morena) have taken several measures to make savings in the public sector and to allocate resources to tackling poverty and corruption. Such goals enjoy widespread support, but some of the mechanisms employed to achieve them are concentrating power with the central government. The areas most affected include constitutionally autonomous entities within the administration, other branches of government such as the judiciary, and state governments. Impacts Given the role of poorly paid public servants in state capture, salary cuts may prove counterproductive in fighting corruption. Without a system that impartially investigates, prosecutes and sanctions wrongdoing by public servants, corruption will not abate. Centralisation will strengthen the administration initially but leave it vulnerable in the long term when things do not work as intended.

scholarly journals Does PSM matter among innovative government managers?

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-279
Author(s):  
Ellysson Fernandes Rosa ◽  
Estela Najberg ◽  
Marcos de Moraes Sousa
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Multiple Correspondence Analysis ◽  
Hierarchical Cluster ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Servant ◽  
High Level ◽  
Innovation Competition ◽  
Innovation Practices

PurposeThe need to improve the efficiency and quality of public services has increased the interest in innovation. This study seeks to understand the relationship between the Public Service Motivation (PSM) index and the profile of strategic-level public servants who are considered innovative.Design/methodolog/approachQuestionnaires were applied to the group of government managers who registered their projects in an innovation competition. Data were analyzed using t-test, multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA).FindingsThis paper concluded that the PSM level of these innovative public servants is significantly greater than public servants overall. In terms of the profile of these innovative government managers, it was found that the majority were female, with a high level of education and a background in Information Technology.Practical implicationsThe discovery that innovative government managers have a significantly higher PSM (p < 0.05) than public servants overall may be relevant, because it confirms a statistical tendency that it would be advantageous for policy-makers to invest in actions that increase public servant PSM since these servants with high PSM are more innovative.Originality/valueThis article has sought to fill a gap in studies that associate the level of PSM with the innovation practices in the public sector, as well as verify the profile of public servants with high levels of motivation in public service (PSM).

scholarly journals The Dilemma of Accountability and Good Governance for Improved Public Service Delivery in Nigeria

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kehinde David Adejuwon
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
The Public ◽  
The People ◽  
The Government ◽  
Effective Service

The public sector in Nigeria is irrefutably beset with gross  incompetence and ineffective management. Perplexing difficulties endure in the Nigerian public sector in spite of a number of reform programmes that have been designed to enhance efficient and effective service delivery for almost two decades. The fact that public service has failed dismally to achieve its laudable objectives is the reason for the vote of no confidence passed on its administrators by majority of the Nigerian populace. The article examines the dilemma of accountability and good governance in Nigeria and demonstrates that the critical point in achieving meaningful developments in the country intrinsically lay with improved service delivery in the public sector. The basic reason why the public service has become the scorn of the people is because for too long, both the government and public servants have paid lip service to the crucial issue of effective and efficient service delivery. The article argues that improved service delivery will improve both the performance and the image of public service and re-awaken the citizens’ interest and trust in them to do business with public servants. It suggests that  in order to bring sanity back to the Nigerian Public Service,  all unprofessional tendencies such as ethnicity bias and nepotism in appointments and promotions, lack of security of tenure of office, and appointment of non-career public servants into key positions in the public service must stop. Also,  effective service delivery must be tailored to the circumstances of Nigeria. The study made use of secondary data obtained from various sources. It therefore concludes that without a reawakening of the culture of accountability and transparency lost over the years, the trusting relationship needed to forge between the government and the governed for the actualization of good governance will not materialize.

Wider applications for Lean

2014 ◽  
Vol 63 (5) ◽  
pp. 550-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Bateman ◽  
Peter Hines ◽  
Peter Davidson
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Service ◽  
High Volume ◽  
Royal Air Force ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Lean Principles ◽  
The Public ◽  
Lean Enterprise ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Uk

Purpose – The lean enterprise model has been adopted in a wide range of industries beyond its origins in the motor industry. To achieve this there has been a considerable extension of the lean concept outside high-volume repetitive manufacture. The purpose of this paper is to present an in-depth study of the application of lean within the British Royal Air Force. It offers a number of new insights which have implications for the future development and adoption of lean in service contexts, and the public sector in particular. Design/methodology/approach – To illustrate the issues of application of lean outside automotive, this paper considers the adoption of the lean concept by the Tornado joint integrated project team within the UK Ministry of Defence. A review of methods of application of lean used within Tornado are studied. The paper considers how the fundamental principles of lean apply in this environment and how, considering these principles, methods of implementation should be modified. Findings – This paper finds that the five lean fundamental principles apply in Tornado but they need to considered specifically within the public service context particularly the pull principle. Hence the authors offer three propositions relating to the use of the lean principles of value, waste, flow and pull in the public sector, and one for perfection only relating to military organisations. Originality/value – This paper makes an important contribution by demonstrating that lean can be successfully applied, in a public service context, with only modest modifications to its core principles, principally about how customer demand (pull) is managed. The implication of this finding demonstrates that to be adopted successfully, lean must be adapted to its context and the lean principles need to be reviewed too.

Employee Perceptions of Leadership and Performance Management in the Botswana Public Service

2003 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kempe Ronald Hope
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Performance Management ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Employee Perceptions ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Perceptions Of Leadership

Public servants in Botswana play an important role as partners in the management of the public sector and national affairs; and, during the past three decades, the country has acquired a reputation for sound development management and good governance. That reputation has been derived primarily from the behavior and performance of the country's public servants who have been motivated to fulfill their duties honestly and effectively. However, in recent years, a culture of indifference and outright laziness has crept into the public service leading to serious bottlenecks in service delivery. This article discusses and analyzes employee perceptions of leadership and performance management in the Botswana public service in light of the country's reputation with respect to the nature and functioning of its public servants.

scholarly journals Appraisal of Human Resource Management in Georgian Public Service: Quantitative Research

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (28) ◽  
pp. 56
Author(s):  
Nino Sardlishvili
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Human Resource Management ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Future Development ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Sector Employees ◽  
Electronic Questionnaires

The ongoing reforms in the Georgian public sector are crucial for the future development of this field, as waves of reforms systematically increase the efficiency of the sector. The attitude of people employed in the public sector is decisive towards the ongoing reforms and is considered to be essential and interesting at the same time. Quantitative research was conducted using electronic questionnaires to examine the position of public sector employees. The research has shown that working in the public sector is very popular and the main reason for this popularity is for stability. Another interesting thing is the fact that public servants are actively involved in activities planned and implemented by their employer. Although despite their readiness, a large number of public servants are skeptical about the ongoing processes.

Public service motivation, workplace spirituality and employee well-being: a holistic approach

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sobia Hassan ◽  
Nighat Ansari ◽  
Ali Rehman
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Workplace Spirituality ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Public Service Motivation ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public

PurposeThe present research aims to examine the effect of workplace spirituality (WPS) and employee well-being (EWB) on public service motivation (PSM) in the public institutions. Workplace spirituality and EWB are two concepts related to the optimal level of human performance, while the motivation of academic staff is a vital concern in higher education institutions (HEIs), particularly in the public sector. In this competitive age, it is a challenge to improve the motivation of academic staff due to limited resources in developing countries. This study examines the association between WPS and PSM through the lens of EWB in the context of HEIs.Design/methodology/approachThis study opted for a quantitative research method by using a stratified sampling technique. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from the academic staff of renowned public sector universities located in Lahore, Pakistan. Hypothesized relationships were tested using structural equation modeling through AMOS: 22.FindingsThe results supported the established conceptual model that WPS is positively associated with PSM through the mediating role of EWB.Research limitations/implicationsThe research approach chosen may lack generalizability of the results because the data were collected from a specific population. Moreover, self-report measures were used, which may have led to common method bias which is also another drawback of the study.Practical implicationsThis study is a pioneer in conceptualizing and testing a model that links WPS, EWB and PSM in the context of HEIs. The implications regarding enhancing the culture of spirituality in the workplace, EWB and PSM are elaborated in the specific context of academic staff, attempting to fill a gap in the extant literature.Originality/valueThis study accomplishes a recognized need to study how PSM can be improved by facilitating EWB and WPS.

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