Yogi government in Uttar Pradesh in its first 100 days transferred most of the IAS and IPS officers in the state including chief secretary and director general of police .A new transfer policy is in place and transfer of other services and levels is continuing. But such an exercise may be give a signal that a new government has come in place of the old but hardly any thing else. What is needed is a combination of decisions and an approach which gets the much-abused civil service out of a state of burnout and raises its morale.(I include all rungs and branches (generalist, police as well as technical) of civil servants in this phrase civil services) Without motivation and morale, all decisions of new government will be implemented half-heartedly. In Uttar Pradesh , a majority of civil servants suffers not only from burnout , but also from cynicism , low morale and lack of meaning and pride.
Morale of civil servants is essential for
building effective , accountable and inclusive governance institutions .It indicates
the health and the capacity of
civil services to deliver services and results. Morale is the
degree to which civil servants have respect for their own jobs and a
commitment to the organization.
Burnout is “ a condition
of emotional exhaustion , depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment that can occur among individuals who work with people in some capacity” (Maslach ,
Jackson and Leiter ). When employee’s
resources fall short of the demands and
expectations of leadership , burnout may result. Burnout
leads to low morale , reduced
quality of service , high rates of illness and absenteeism , indifferent and
cold attitude ,a tendency to devalue one’s work(negative self-assessment) ,
high staff turnover, and low career satisfaction. In India , where unemployment levels are high , public servants do not quit despite low morale , because of
the security that a government job offers
.
The
factors which affect the morale of
civil services in India are as below:
1.Ethical climate:
In a
work culture, steeped in corruption ,
the stress levels of honest employees are high .They are
called upon to exercise inappropriate use of powers , resources and even
connive in frauds. .This makes
them either corrupt , or
if they choose to fight against
corruption , they end up in burnout.
2.Administrative
Leadership:
If the selection
of the administrative leader
is not on merit ,
integrity and
professionalism but on the basis of
connections and loyalty to political
bosses , the administrative leadership becomes weak or absent . Such leaders lack commitment to engage
people in organizational improvement efforts. They have little courage to take or recommend action against corrupt or inefficient subordinates. They are
unfit to lead.
John Le Carre wrote:” A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world”. When leaders
spend more time behind their desk and less time
outside connecting with the real people , they display a lack of empathy and
a poor understanding of how
the government works
for the common man .
Sometimes , when the top starts behaving in retaliation , there is a fear all
around and a toxic culture prevails throughout the organization .
3.Narrowing decision
making powers:
The Rules of
Business vest practically all decision
making powers in the departmental ministers. Secretaries and Heads of
departments and other levels have very little powers to decide
4.Fair and Respectful
treatment at work place:
If there is
a perception that employees in general do not receive the desirable level of respect from the
organization. then , employees also harbour feelings of disrespect for their bosses , though such feelings may be
disguised. This results in low morale.
5. Expectation
of loyalty to the party in power:
Loyalty to the party
in power rather than neutrality is being increasingly demanded by political
leadership. This discourages honest
public servants who wish to remain
neutral and unpoliticised.
6.
Criticism of civil servants by
political leadership:
Politicians, backed by media , often
accuse civil servants(babus) of blocking plans, being overpaid and under
worked ,” unhelpful and uncooperative “ “ Red tape “ “indolent pen
pushers” are some of the terms used for
bureaucracy bashing . This accusatory culture
undermines the trust of civil servants in political leadership, demoralizes
them and
raises doubts about the future of civil service . Further , the efforts
of political leadership to” reform” and
reorganize the civil service only end up in demoralizing the civil service because such steps are projected as efforts to shake up the self-serving , lazy, apathetic and incompetent bureaucrats .
Blaming civil servants for failures
of polticians, as a scape goats,
to deflect public criticism from
their own inadequate leadership also demoralizes the civil servants. .Civil
servants are always an easy targets .
7.Political and
bureaucratic turn-over and continuity:
Political leaders
have brief tenures , specific political
agendas and short term perspectives .The tenure of senior civil servants is also short , often
less than a year. These frequent and abrupt changes in political and administrative leadership makes it difficult for civil service
to sustain engagement .
8.Accessibility and authenticity of
leadership:
Political leadership
is generally not accessible even to the senior civil servants. Even when they are
available , open-ness and authenticity seem very rare. There are hardly any genuine and credible interactions .This also
applies to interaction between senior civil servants and their junior
colleagues.
9.Inquiries and
disciplinary proceedings :
Often , CBI or vigilance inquiries are instituted
against the senior civil servants without
proper scrutiny and thought .If
this is done against officers who have a reputation for honesty and good
conduct , as has happened recently in
Coalgate scam , it demoralizes the entire bureaucracy .
10.Recognition and
Rewards:
.When
recognition/reward /award system is arbitrary and whimsical
and awards are handed down to the favourites regardless of merit, it results in only a contempt for the awards
. Placement , promotion , rewards and awards
should be based on merit , competence
, hard work .But instead ,often , they
depend on loyalty , yes- man ship ,
recommendation of parliamentarians and other powerful individuals.
11. Unchallenging Environment:
When there is a lack of leadership and direction ,
it gives rise to an unchallenging and dull work environment , which in
turn offers no opportunities to rise ,
learn or grow. This in turn leads to low
morale.
12. Excessive
reliance on consultants:
Sometimes , consultants are appointed at huge expense ,
to reform a sector .Such consultants may
have no knowledge of local background , culture and field conditions ,
and end up in suggesting remedies which are worse that the disease .
Outsourcing services,
running government like a business may
also result in poor
services and poor morale.
In India , job commitment
, professional satisfaction, engagement
and ethical conduct in public services is declining. Trust in organization and
leadership is also decreasing
,resulting in poor governance. In the
long term , this could threaten
citizen’s trust in state legitimacy .While we want the best and the brightest
youth to join the IAS and other services , our system is actually scaring them
away .A major cultural change is required that
puts data at the heart of policy
making and management practice. Government must change its relationship with
citizens so as to address their ever increasing demands. A consistent
monitoring of morale of the employees is
required to ensure that corrective actions are taken regularly.
(This article was published with some editing
changes in the magazine News Times Post
, Lucknow , July22,2017 issue.)
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