Professionalising the government

The work of the Civil Service affects every citizen. It performs many of its tasks admirably, despite enormous challenges of delivery in a world of increasing public expectations. Civil servants are extremely committed. Yet there is an opinion that Civil Service is not effective enough for the tasks it faces.

The Government clearly agrees that the skills of the service need to be improved. The skills required by the Civil Service are not static. Changes in emphasis of Government policy, or in methods of public service provision, require civil servants to develop new competences to reflect their shifting roles.

Today’s civil servants interact with complex networks of customers and stakeholders. They oversee increasingly long and indirect delivery chains. Policy often involves trying to influence behavior. As Government continues to move towards a social market for public service delivery, fewer civil servants will be engaged directly in the delivery of services, and there will be a greater need for skilled specialists.

In discussing the issue it may be helpful to start with some definitions:

• Skillsare the knowledge and personal abilities of an individual; the skills base of a department is no more than the sum of the skills of all the people it employs;

• Performancecan be either individual, or departmental. A department cannot perform without properly skilled people, but, however skilled the workforce, it will not be effective if management does not deploy its individuals effectively. Performance is a measure of what has actually been achieved;

• Capability is a measure for departments, not of what has been achieved, but of the department's ability to achieve in future. We will discuss it in some detail below.

Professional Skills for Government that all senior civil servants should have lists six core skills. Those skills are:

• Analysis and use of evidence;

• Financial management;

• People management;

• Program and project management;

• Strategic thinking;

• Communications and marketing.

There are several methods which can be used to boost an organisation's skills, ranging from increasing training provision and encouraging staff to seek professional qualifications to fast-tracking talent or buying it in from outside. The Government is trying all of these. In the last few years it has developed the Professional Skills for Government (PSG) program which is the primary tool for improving Civil Service capability.

PSG is a major, long-term change program designed to ensure that civil servants, wherever they work, have the right mix of skills and expertise to enable their departments or agencies to deliver effective services.

A highly skilled Civil Service is not an end in itself. The aim is to improve performance of Government as a whole.

The Government shares the wider concern about Civil Service performance. The goal of Government policy towards the Civil Service is the “professionalisation” of the service.

To ensure the Civil Service is admired worldwide for the quality of its policy advice, we need professional, highly skilled civil servants who provide objective, evidencebased advice without fear or favour. This requires professional civil servants with deep rooted, constantly refreshed skills. People who have the confidence to embrace the best ideas from colleagues and from outside, and who have the skills to implement those ideas.

We need a twin track approach: developing our own staff to meet their considerable potential, and bring in those with the talents we lack and with greater diversity of background.

Ответьте на вопросы к тесту

1) Is Civil Service effective enough for the tasks it faces?

2) What do changes in emphasis of Government policy, require civil servants to develop?

3) What professional skills for government should all senior civil servants have?

4) What methods can be used to boost an organisation's skills?

5) What was the Professional Skills for Government program designed for?

6) What is the goal of Government policy towards the Civil Service?

7) What kind of servants does Civil Service need?

6. Прочитайте текст Professionalizing the Government еще раз. Определите, какое из утверждений является истинным (T) или ложным (F). Отметьте варианты ответов

	T	F
1. The Government clearly agrees that the skills of the Civil Servants are very good.
2. Civil servants should develop new competences.
3. Nowadays there is a great need for skilled specialists and it will be greater in the nearest future.
4. Encouraging staff to seek professional qualifications isn’t the method which can be used to boost an organization’s skills.
5. The aim of the Professional Skills for Government program is to improve performance of Government.
6. We need only one approach to improve the skills of Civil Servants.

Повторите слова и выражения задания 3. Прочитайте обращение руководителя службы гражданских служащих Великобритании и переведите на английский язык слова и выражения, данные в скобках

“As Head of the Home Civil Service, I am personally committed to improving diversity in every part of the organisation.

As the (1. внутренние и международные проблемы) that we face continue to evolve, and as (2.ожидания общественности) continue to rise, the (3.требования) that we as a Civil Service face will continue to grow. In meeting these challenges, and in generating the kind of (4.инновационная политика) responses that will be needed, we will need a (5.персонал (рабочая сила)) that is diverse in its make up and is (6.способен) of bringing a (7.новая перспектива) to what we deliver. We need people who are passionate and have (8.чувство гордости) about delivering and improving services, have (9.профессиональный подход) to their work and are (10. гибким) and adaptable to change”.

Sir GusO’Donnell

Head of the Civil Service of the UK

8. Прочитайте еще один отрывок из выступления Гаса О’Донела и заполните пропуски в тексте словами и выражениями из рамки

the Civil Service works, senior civil servants, faces, important to focus, visited, improved, relationship, agenda (повестка), complexity of the challenge(сложность проблем), policy design or timing

“… However, although it is ___1___on how things could be__2___, we need to be clear about the context in which___3___, and about the challenges it___4___, which go far beyond those facing any private sector organisation. In the first place, the Civil Service cannot set its own___5___. Its leadership is shared between ___6___and the ministers whose policies they carry out. That ___7___ is complex. When we ___8___ the Top Management Programme at the National School of Government, we heard that private sector participants are always struck by the ___9___ faced by senior civil servants. No private business would knowingly model itself on a government department. Furthermore, some failures may result from___10___, for which ministers are responsible…”

9. Прочитайте текст Professionalizing the Government еще раз и завершите предложения информацией из текста

1) The work of the Civil Service affects…

2) The Government clearly agrees that the skills of the service…

3) Changes in emphasis of Government policy require civil servants to…

4) Professional Skills for Government that all senior civil servants should have lists…

5) There are several methods which can be used to …

6) Professional Skills for Government program is the primary tool for …

7) The goal of Government policy towards the Civil Service is …

8) To ensure the Civil Service is admired worldwide for the quality of its policy advice, we need …

9) Those who provide objective, evidence based advice without …

10) We need people who have the confidence to embrace the best ideas from colleagues and from outside, and who have …

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