The (not very secret) ingredient to reform public administration

Major change is in the air for Public Administration (PA): the simplification decree, the introduction of smart working, the push toward digitalization, generational transition, orientation for the new workforce, and the list goes on.

Will it really happen this time? Of course, this isn’t the first attempt, but our bureaucracy has always been very resistant to change, almost beyond any hope of reform.

We could debate endlessly about the obstacles that have impeded change over the years, but it might be worthwhile to focus on an aspect that we usually don’t talk about much: the role of the public employee. In keeping with the Weberian model of bureaucracy, the army of government workers is seen as a group of passive people who have to adapt to the “machine” and to regulatory provisions. The general feeling is that public employees do not have to perform; they simply have to make sure to do the bare minimum to justify their salary. They don’t need to be motivated, because they already enjoy the privilege of a stable, secure job. The gaps in their competencies are never fully exposed, or else investments would be needed to fill those gaps. So all in all, where once there was the noble figure of the civil servant who resembled a hero of old, driven by deeply-held values and a distinguished sense of duty, we’ve now moved on to a representation of public employees weighed down by an amorphous mass of bureaucrats, turned in on themselves, letting in very little of the demands of the outside world. And when we come to the worst cases, we see government workers as loafers and schemers.

Obviously not all this reflects reality. But the stereotypical image of the PA generates a sharp contrast between two worlds that are growing further and further apart. On one hand we have public employees, who feel undervalued, underpaid, badly managed and labeled - whatever they do – as “entitled people in cushy jobs.” On the other, we have reformers who see a PA that is behind the times, with employees who are not qualified to tackle the challenges of modern times, who tend to avoid taking responsibility, putting themselves out there, or investing personal energy in their jobs.

But how is it possible to action the major changes that are needed if we don’t think the leading protagonists are up to the job? and they don’t feel appreciated? In reality, looking at successful turnaround processes in both the public and private sphere, we can see that employee engagement represents an essential condition, a determining factor.

To avoid the umpteenth reform on paper alone, it’s time to figure out how to leverage the government workers themselves to promote and action change. In the end, all we need are a few simple measures that effectively give public employees a new role, awakening in them a sense of pride in working for the common good, reviving the sense of membership in their organization. One idea could be to get them to participate in co-designing and activating reform processes, devising a new agile organization that lays the foundation for a truly simplified PA, one that can even work remotely. We need to evaluate these employees not only to reward them, but to emerge their strengths, to fill the gaps in their skills and to build new prospects for professional development. What’s more, we need to train them starting from a serious assessment of needs, with innovative tools and continuity, rewarding the productivity, proactivity innovation and creativity they put into play. But beyond all this we need to offer them something more, or better still, something different: flexible work hours, extra vacation days or time off linked to their outputs, the chance to access health insurance, company services (day care, on-site doctor, special arrangements with other businesses, etc.), opportunities for external visibility. Also, when people acquired certain skills, they can be assigned the role of in-house trainer. Lastly, we can offer them the prospect of career development by creating growth opportunities that are not only contingent on passing competitive exams, but based on actual merit.

Doing all this takes a bit of simplification, and a few tweaks to employment contracts here and there, but above all, revamped human resource management.

So now is the time to abandon the idea of HR managers as administrative experts who concentrate on formal compliance with the processes they are in charge of. We need to give strategic impetus to the HR department, qualifying the roles and the competencies of the people who run it in the PA. In other words, we need people who know how to read the context in general terms, helping to formulate strategies, and people who can plan the qualitative/quantitative evolution of human resources accordingly. We need people who are capable of developing the organization as a whole, overcoming resistance and building commitment across the board, engaging internal and external support for the administration. We need people who can plan and mobilize an organization that is streamlined, but at the same time solid and effective, capable of making a difference. Lastly, we need an HR department that is active and credible, one that builds trust, and strikes the right balance between past habits in the comfort zone, and a future that is necessary and desirable, but uncertain.

We still don’t have the full recipe for making a new PA, but no doubt one ingredient is essential: we need to start with the human resources and the people who are tasked with managing them.