VALUES THAT SHAPE THE MODERN CAREER PUBLIC SERVICE

IN 1991, KEN KERNAGHAN OBSERVED THAT “THE CONCEPT OF CAREER PUBLIC SERVICE HAS RECEIVED REMARKABLY LITTLE ATTENTION IN CANADA” AND THAT THERE IS NO GENERAL STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES OF CAREER PUBLIC-SERVICE

KERNAGHAN PROVIDED A BRIEF DIFINITION OF CAREER PUBLIC SERIVICE – “PERMANENT EMPLOYEES APPOINTED ON THE BASIS OF MERIT” – AND THEN IDENTIFIED A PARSIMONIOUS SET OF RELATEDE PRINCIPLES:

1) APPOINTMENTS TO THE PUBLIC SERVICE ARE MADE WITH A VIEW TO PRESERVING ITS POTENTIAL NEUTRALITY.

2) APPOINTMENTS TO, AND WITHIN, THE PUBLIC SERVICE ARE BASED ON MERIT, IN THE SENSE THAT THE PERSON APPOINTED IS ONE WHO IS BEST QUALIFIED.

3) AS FAR AS POSSIBLE, APPOINTMENTS ARE MADE FROM WITHIN THE PUBLIC SERVICE.

4) PUBLIC SERVANTS ARE ASSURED OF ASSISTANCE IN SELECTING THEIR CAREER GOALS AND THE PATH TO THOSE GOALS.

MARGARET THATCHER OBSERVED THAT THE “SHEER PROFESSIONALISM OF THE BRITISH CIVIL SERVICE, WHICH ALLOWS GOVERNMENTS TO COME AND GO WITH A MINIMUM OF DISLOCATION AND A MAXIMUM OF EFFICIENCY, IS SOMETHING OTHER CONTRIES WITH DIFFERENT SYSTEMS HAVE CAUSE TO ENVY.”

SUCH COMMENTS ACKNOWLEDGE THE PUBLIC SERVANTS, AND THE LARGER PUBIC-SERVICE INSTITUTIONS, HAVE PIVOTAL ROLES IN CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACIES

THE CHALLENGE IS TO DECIDE, IN THE LIGHT OF CONTEMPORARY AND EMERGING CIRCUMSTANCES, THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE PUBLIC SERVICE DOES ADHERE, AND SHOULD ADHERE, TO THESE PRINCIPLES

SEVERAL IMPORTANT VALUES THAT SHAPE THE MODERN CAREER IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE (NOT FULLY EMBRACED IN KERNAGHAN PRINCIPLES)

1) REPRESENTATIVE è APPOINTMENTS AND PROMOTIONS SHOULD ATTEMPT TO REFLECT THE DIVERSITY OF THE CITIZENS THAT GOVERNMENTS SERVE (GENDER, ETHNICITY, LANGUAGE, ETC.) BASED ON THE PRINCIPLE THAT A MORE REPRESENTATIVE PUBLIC SERVICE SHOULD BETTER BE ABLE TO SERVE CITIZENS AND THAT ACCESS TO PUBLIC-SERVICE CAREERS SHOULD BE OPEN TO ALL QUALIFIED CITIZENS.

2) TRANSPARENCY è THE USE OF ALTERNATIVE DELIVERY STRUCTURES (SPECIAL OPERATING AGENCIES, PARTNERSHIPS, CONTRACTS, ETC.) AND RECOGNITION OF THE LIMITS OF MINISTERIAL RESPONSIBILITY, HAS MADE SENIOR PUBLIC SERVANTS ACCOUNT MORE DIRECTLY TO MANAGEMNENT OF PROGRAMS BY MEANS OF BUSINESS PLANS, PERFORMANCE REPORTS, AND TESTIMONY TO LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEES.

3) ADAPTABILITY AND RESPONSIVENESS è GOVERNEMENTS HAVE SOUGHT MORE FLEXIBILITY IN HOW THEY MANAGE HUMAN RESOURCES THEROUGH CALLS FOR INCREASED DELEGATION TO MIDDLE MANAGERS AND FRONTLINE WORKERS – BROADER CLASSIFICATION CATEGORIES THAT ALLOW FOR EASIER DEPLOYMENT OF PUBLIC SERVANTS, AND GREATER LATITUDE TO CONTRACT-OUT OR RELY ON ASD [ALTERNATIVE SERVICE DELIVERY] ARRANGEMENTS

4) CAREER DEVELOPMENT è IT HAS LONG BEEN RECOGNIZED THAT PUBLIC SERVANTS NEED TO DEVELOP NEW SKILLS AND PLAN FOR NEW JOBS BUT WHETHER THIS IS A PERSONAL OR CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY HAS BEEN DEBATED FOR YEARS. HOWEVER, IN THE “INFORMATION AGE” – WHERE KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS-LEARNING AND ADABTABILITY ARE CRITICAL – THIS MATTER LOOMS LARGER THAN EVER.

A CAREER IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE CAN BE CONCEIVED AS A LARGER CLUSTER OF CONCEPTS: