ENHANCEMENT OF PERFORMANCE OF CIVIL SERVICE – POLISH EXPERIENCE

Professor Jacek Czaputowicz

Director of the National School of Public Administration (KSAP) in Poland

Content of the PresentationContent of the Presentation• Trends in public administration

• Historical background

• Characteristics of the Polish system of civil service

• Forces behind reform,

successes & failures

Pressure on statePressure on state

European Union

State Transitional

Local and regional authorities

globalisation

integration

fragmentationOrganisations

Factors & effects

• Budget constraints• Growing

expectations from the public

• Pressure for greater efficiency

• Fall in unemployment

=> Lower spending on administration

=> Service orientation, improved quality

standards=> Payment and

appraisal by performance

=> Tighter competition and the labour

market

Trends in Public Administration

• A need for the whole government

approach• Tension between the long-term and

short-term perspectives

• Strengthening the civil service

Historical backgroundHistorical background of the Civil Serviceof the Civil Service

• Under the communist regime: - No clear legal rules concerning the system of civil

service, recruitment, promotion and training

- Nomenklatura – system

- Arbitrary decision in different sectors of public administration

- Demonstration of political loyalty

- No clear decision concerning recruitment

Civil Service in Poland after 1989• Creation of professional and politically neutral civil service

- 1989 – 1995 – economic and political reforms in Eastern Europe; opposition allowed to the civil service

• Three stages of the transition period:

- 1996 – 1997 – the Civil Service Act (5th July 1995 and 18th December 1998) enters into force; division into political and politically neutral posts and contract employment versus nomination, managerial posts filled by way of competition.

- The 2006 Act – introduction of the National Personnel Reserve.

- The 2008 Act – internal promotion as means of filling higher posts., reinstatement of the position of Head of the Civil Service.

Employment in the Polish Civil Service System according to gender as of 31st Dec 2011

Group of Institutions

Percentage of women employed

Percentage of men employed

Ministries 65,0 % 35,0 %

State Institutions 58,1 % 41,9 %

Regional Institutions 72,4 % 27,6 %

Administration of Voivodships

69,0 % 31,0 %

Administrations in Districts

75,0% 25,0 %

Institutions Aborad 32,3% 67,7 %

Total 75,2 % 24,8 %

Average monthly salary by institution (gross)

Constitution of the RPConstitution of the RP

Article 153Article 153

1. A corps of civil servants shall operate in the organs of 1. A corps of civil servants shall operate in the organs of government administration in order to ensure a government administration in order to ensure a professional, reliable, impartial and politically neutral professional, reliable, impartial and politically neutral discharge of State’s obligations.discharge of State’s obligations.

2.2. The Prime Minister shall be the superior of such corps of The Prime Minister shall be the superior of such corps of civil servantscivil servants..

Civil Service corps members Civil Service corps members - rights and duties- rights and duties

Ban on the public manifest of political beliefs

Ban on participating in strikes and actions of protest, which interfere with functioning of the office

Ban on performing functions within trade unions

Ban on establishment or participatingin political parties

Ban on combining employmentin CS with self-government

councillor’s status

civil service employee civil servant

Career & position model Career & position model Career system Position system

France Poland The Netherlands, Canada,

Germany, Estonia New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, Romania, Great Britain Bulgaria

Civil service systems

• Traditional models: career and position, do not reflect reality

• Individualisation: to which extent rules and practices apply to an individual, not to the group

• Delegation/ fragmentation: level on which strategic decisions are taken (central, ministerial or lower)

Delegation and individualisation approaches to HR practices

Civil service models according to individualization and delegation/fragmentation criteria

 

Source:own study.

Position-based model(Great Britain, Australia)

Department-based model(Poland)Career-based model

(France)

Centralized, performance-related model

(the United States)

Delegation/

fragmentation

Individualization

Department-based Model

• Niska mobilnosc horyzontalna

• Zroznicowanie pensji w ministerstwach (porownanie ministerstwa kultury i finansow)

Challeges and dChalleges and difficultiesifficulties• Change of mentality and habits• Lack of sufficient financial resources

• High influence of political pressure groups particularly in local administration

• Fragmentation of Public Administration – a need for the whole government approach

• Tension between the long-term and short-term perspectives

• Strengthening the civil service & ethical behaviour

18

Challenges for Training in Poland

• PA programmes are within faculties of Law and Administration

• Programs are law oriented, not management oriented

• Not to petrify traditional model of bureacracy• ‘Unlearning’ of old values and behaviour and

learning new set of values and behaviour

Subject of Training:

• Skills, not academic knowledge • Managerial skills, coordination, cooperation, consensus

building • Ledership, leading others, taking risks, achieving results,

organisational goals, how to implement change • Written and oral communication, how to write

governmental papers • Teamwork, persuade others, inclusiveness, not individual

interests• Maintaining core values, client/citizen orientation, focus

on weak part of society, ethics, empathy

Employment in public administration in Poland

1999 2000 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Public administration

(overall)

307 315.3 367.7 371 379.8 387.7 428.3

Governmental and state

administration

148 135.8 164.6 164.2 165.5 166.7 182.7

Administration on other

tiers

159 178.7 202.2 206.0 213.5 220.1 244.7

% share of employment in

on non-central tiers

52 56 55 55 56 57 57

Accountability, Corruption and Political Neutrality

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Ranking 70 61 61 58 49 41

Index 3.4 3.7 4.2 4,6 5,0 5,3

No. of

states

159 163 180 180 180 178

The Role of the Civil Servants in the Presidency

• The challenges of the Polish public administration:

- efficiency of action,

- system for information exchange and

the circulation of documents,

- transparency of public administration,

- a professional policymaking process.

Female employment in civil service – country comparison