E. Additional reading. Meeting personnel needs

MEETING PERSONNEL NEEDS

The national educational system is the main source of recruitment for the civil service. Thus, the quantity, quality and specialities of graduates become important variables for civil service and personnel administration.

A serious problem which has become an issue nowadays especially in developing countries is the emergence of a dual educational system. Some institutions catering to general education lack the proper facilities and competent teaching staffs in adequate numbers. The other stream comprises local elite institutions or education abroad. Many fields of study continue to be dominated by foreign textbooks and methodologies. The result of the dual system is that graduates of local elite institutions or educational facilities abroad have an edge in competitive examinations over the graduates from indigenous institutions. Thus, the civil service comes to be dominated by graduates of certain institutions, regions and social groups. This runs counter to the declared government policies to make the civil service a representative institution.

RECRUITMENT AND INDUCTION PRACTICES

Recruitment practices in the civil service vary from casual methods to elaborate selection systems. Most vacancies in the civil service are filled through casual methods. Only a tiny fraction are subjected to systematic selection procedures, and these usually concern encadred posts leading to eventual senior appointments.

The casual methods include appointment on the sole basis of educational qualifications, interviewing combined with educational qualifications, or some cursory knowledge and skill tests. Elaborate recruitment programmes typically involve written competitive tests, extensive interviews and even psychological tests.

(Abridged from Rethinking Public Administration: An Overview, pp. 77-80)

PROMOTION OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

PERSONNEL

Like other human beings, civil servants should have opportunities to realize their full potential. They should be able to attain higher positions commensurate with their capabilities and demonstrated achievements.

Promotions are generally made on the basis of written examinations and/or performance appraisals. The promotional examination resembles the merit entrance examination except that it is open only to those employees who qualify for consideration for promotion.

Promotion remains a controversial aspect of public personnel management. In hierarchical organizations there are fewer positions at the top than at the bottom. Therefore, there is a limit on how high up an employee can rise. Most employees will always be lower down in the organization’s ranks. What is one employee’s gain (promotion) is another’s lost opportunity. The competition can be fierce and can lead to discord among employees. Thus a written promotional examination has certain virtues and helps to avoid favoritism. Trade unions often stress the principle of seniority. However, seniority is not necessarily the best indicator of productivity. Sometimes merit-oriented promotion and seniority are combined.

INCOMPETENCE AS PROMOTION MISTAKES,

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