Flexibilities in the German Civil Service

Abstract

In view of the distinctiveness of civil service reform policies in Germany, it is not surprising that most types of flexibilities identified by Farnham and Horton (1997) are not to be found. There is the need, however, to increase labour productivity in the German public sector which has a permanent fiscal deficit. The question that this paper raises and seeks to answer is, is there a third way to increase labour productivity other than traditional cut-back policies or the flexibilization of the civil service structure? Sociologists such as Klages (1997) claim that even within the traditional rigid bureaucratic German civil service there is enough leeway to develop intrinsic motivational factors and so achieve the same objectives of flexibility. Is this a second-best solution for personnel management for the German public service? In view of the distinctiveness of civil service reform policies in Germany, it is not surprising that most types of flexibilities identified by Farnham and Horton (1997) are not to be found. There is the need, however, to increase labour productivity in the German public sector which has a permanent fiscal deficit. The question that this paper raises and seeks to answer is, is there a third way to increase labour productivity other than traditional cut-back policies or the flexibilization of the civil service structure? Sociologists such as Klages (1997) claim that even within the traditional rigid bureaucratic German civil service there is enough leeway to develop intrinsic motivational factors and so achieve the same objectives of flexibility. Is this a second-best solution for personnel management for the German public service?

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