Organizational Culture In The Public Sector

Abstract

ABSTRACT.The mainstay of the paper is formed by an analysis of the need for leadership continuity and stability, organizational change in the public sector, and the role of HR professionals in local government units. Thus, my aim in this paper is to examine the relationship between employee discipline practices and organization culture, the shift towards the neo-managerial model, and conditions that brought about the changes in personnel administration.JEL codes: O19, D23, D73Keywords: organizational change, public sector, manager, employee1. IntroductionConsiderable research attention has focused on the underlying conceptual values on the need for diversity in organizations, the relationship between public sector reform and processes of identity formation, and market-based and performance-driven change programs. The material gathered in this study provides a rich and diverse context for understanding the role of managers in the change process, the influence of culture on employee discipline, the multiplicity of conditions that are working in concert to change the public workplace, and the flaws of the rigid civil service system.2. Managing Workforce Diversity and the Organizational Change ProcessBatchelder and Alexander write that the use of at-will employment practices1 have come full circle from the spoils system, through the meritsystem, and are returning now to a modified political patronage system: managers should receive institutional incentives, encouragement, and sup- port to develop and augment their personnel-related management techniques and strategies. Public administration officials are operating in a shifting environment. The political-administrative separation acted as a check on the corruptive influences of the spoils system. Bureaucracies are slow to react to the changing demands of managerial, employee, and customer needs.A related point is that there are advantages and disadvantages to the changes that are occurring in personnel management. As Batchelder and Alexander explain, employees can no longer be treated as costs or as they were under the bureaucratic paradigm. Managers must develop a new skill-set to be able to effectively deal with contractors providing government services. Government employment is returning to a modified civil-service system. The goal of civil-service reform is strengthening the authority of middle and lower managers. Reinventing government will modify the civil service system and bring about a greater use of the merit-based performance system.2Franklin and Pagan hold that explanations for variation in discipline practices can be discerned by exploring the influence of cultural cues supervisors receive regarding appropriate behavior. First-line supervisors face the challenge of deciding what action to take when faced with employee performance problems. In terms of employee discipline, an organization's culture could define what a supervisor should consider as a problem that must be addressed, prescribing what an acceptable response is. The supervisor has discretion in determining what constitutes a discipline problem requiring action. The use of informal strategies should examine the cultural cues that supervisors receive regarding how they should handle discipline problems. Norms on discipline are shaped in practice by a whole range of informal practices.But perhaps even more importantly is that the choice of discipline strategies may be based on cultural cues suggesting that formal strategies are not the way things are done in an organization. Franklin and Pagan focus on operationalize culture as a system of shared values and beliefs constructed by an organization3 and by its employees through tangible and intangible cues. New employees learn culture after they enter the organization. In terms of employee discipline, ensuring consistency in supervisors' actions can depend on the resources committed to a systematic acculturation process. …

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