Civil Service Resembling Private Sector

Civil Service Resembling Private Sector

             There has always existed a plan to reform the civil service. The public service receives pressure to change, for it needs to be able to deal with the 21st Century challenges that are currently being faced. Civil service also needs to reform because there is a need to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the public sector while offering assistance to the public. It should be noted that every government enters with the promise of civil service reforms but never lives up to their promises. It is the high time that the public service reforms to resemble the private sector.

According to the authors of the book The New Public Personnel Administration, civil reforms are seen as necessary to deal with the 21st Century challenges. Among one 21st Century, problems are making sure that the workforce is not only dominated by men, but also women are given equal opportunities (Nigro, 2014, p 257). The authors make a valid point of a gender-balanced workforce that is inclusive of highly educated women who can take up positions and help increase efficiency and effectiveness in the public sector. Current civil service hiring laws do not cater to gender equality in the public service; hence a reform is necessary.

For one to be hired as a civil servant, one has to undergo a lengthy process that often causes a lack of efficiency and effectiveness.  Hiring processes tend to take up a lot of time compared to the private sector, for it is lengthy in structure and complicated (Ogrysko, 2018). For one to get hired, one has to follow a very long procedure that’s not simplified and tends to be poorly designed (Nigro, 2014, p 70). A reform should take place so that the civil service can resemble the private sector, where selection strategies are well organized to meet organizational needs.

Can the American public be confident of the fairness and integrity of a civil service that uses human resources practices like those typical of the private sector? The answer is yes. The reason why the American public can be confident is that there is the adoption of policies that grant the civil service power to enter into contracts with employees and have significant rights over them just like the private sector. Due to the nature of the agreement, the public area can make a sudden decision to terminate this employee under contract, and it is done without hesitation.

The American public can be confident when the civil sector undergoes reforms to resemble the private sector because public services will be provided efficiently and at a lower cost. The provision of public services at a lower price can be achieved by the government lowering taxes imposed on its residents (Kramer, 2018). Reduction in the cost of public services leads to consumer confidence increase. Human resource practices of the private sector bring brought about in the general area will see the local industry being immune to any form of political influence. When privatization takes place, the newly reformed public sector will concentrate on making profits rather than making political affiliations.

The New Public Personnel Administration is a book that highlights the need for civil sector reforms that would make the civil sector resemble the private sector and aim to solve 21^st Century challenges faced by the government. The points raised by the book, such as the need for the public sector to cater to highly educated women is quite right since women need to be given an opportunity and raise their children properly. The privatization of the local industry means that lengthy hiring processes would be reduced. The American public would end up being confident with the fairness and integrity of the civilian area since contracts used, encourage competitiveness and profits would be an essential goal instead of political affiliations.

References

Kramer, L. (2018, October 26). Advantages & Disadvantages of Privatization. Retrieved from https://bizfluent.com/info-8166130-advantages-disadvantages-privatization.html

Nigro, L., Nigro, F., and Kellough, J. (2014). The new public personnel administration. 7th. Independence, Kentucky. Cengage. ISBN: 97811337324284.

Ogrysko, N. (2018, October 25). Trying to modernize the federal workforce? Look for solutions to these barriers first. Retrieved from https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2018/10/trying-to-modernize-the-federal-workforce-look-for-solutions-to-these-barriers-first/

Sifunda-Evelia, M. (2017). Human resource management practices: A biblical perspective. Singapore: Partridge. ISBN: 9781543742282.