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Summary
Ethics Class 07

OVERVIEW OF THE PREVIOUS CLASS (01:10 PM)

CHARACTERISTICS OF A DESIRABLE WORK CULTURE IN CIVIL SERVICES (01:12 PM)

  • 1) It should promote responsiveness and compassion towards the citizens especially weaker sections of the society.
  • 2) It should promote self-esteem and pride in one's work to ensure motivation towards one's work.
  • 3) The task at work should be assigned properly so that accountability can be fixed effectively at the workplace.
  • 4) Civil services should promote a learner attitude, especially towards acquiring new skills to deal with the challenges of the 21st century.
  • 5) It should focus on the simplification of rules and procedures or minimisation of discretionary powers in the hands of the civil servant.
  • 6) Civil service should lead by example, show the necessary leadership trade and be willing to make changes in themselves before they set out to transform society.

IMPORTANCE OF HEALTH WORK CULTURE IN THE CIVIL SERVICES (01:26 PM)

  • 1) It can help in reducing conflicts among individuals or various departments during the course of their work.
  • 2) In a healthy work culture employees enjoy a higher motivation level and attrition rates are considerably lower.
  • 3) It can enable individuals and teams to become self-organised in turn improving the quality of work and productivity.
  • 4) It can result in an increased loyalty towards the goals of the organization where the employees are always eager to help each other to achieve the common objectives.
  • 5) In the civil services, employees can become more considerate and compassionate towards the problems of the citizens.

DOES THE WORK CULTURE DIFFER FROM ONE COUNTRY TO THE OTHER (01:36 PM)

  • The social culture and the traditions in different countries have, Some of the practices in different countries are as follows:
  • AMERICAN WORK CULTURE
  • They tend to place a high priority on results and achievements. The work culture is highly individualistic and competitive and short-term results are often given a lot of importance.
  • Employees are expected to work beyond the office hours and deliver results at times they do not enjoy protection within the organisations resulting in uncertainty and insecurity, producing a highly competitive environment with less collaboration between peers.
  • GERMAN WORK CULTURE
  • German organizations tend to use formal titles and are rigid when it comes to punctuality.
  • There is no expectation of working overtime and the employees are expected to be at work on time and leave when the clock strikes 5.
  • Socialising, gossiping and chit-chatting are not encouraged at the workplace. A lot of emphasis is given to performing the task with diligence. Work-life balance is given the highest importance with a generous number of leaves.
  • SCANDINAVIAN WORK CULTURE
  • The well-being of the employees is given utmost priority, They have shorter work weeks ranging from 32-36 hours on average.
  • They enjoy longer vacations and five weeks of paid leave in a year is a common phenomenon.
  • Organisations often focus on a flat hierarchy and they encourage autonomy and independent decision-making.
  • JAPANESE WORK CULTURE (01:58 PM)
  • The work culture tends to focus on cooperation within the teams and emphasis on mutual respect for each other.
  • Even though teamwork is extensively promoted, Organizations tend to focus more on processes than the results.
  • Contrary to the German work culture, The employees are expected to socialise outside the work.

TRAITS THAT CIVIL SERVANTS CAN LEARN FROM THE WORK CULTURE OF PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS (02:07 PM)

  • Establishing a clear communication channel within the organization to discredit the informal channel of communication.
  • Adopting a flat structure in the organization and promoting democratic decision-making.
  • Emphasising customer satisfaction and seeking continuous feedback to improve the public service delivery.
  • Private organizations work on the principle of rewarding and recognising the best performers, government organizations should also incorporate similar principles in their work culture.
  • Private organizations often evolve standard operating procedures and focus on the time-bound execution of the projects.
  • Evolving standard guidelines within government organizations can also pay rich dividends.
  • Government organizations may consider adopting objective annual assessment methods such as KPI, KRA, OKR etc.

CREATING A POSITIVE WORK CULTURE (02:22 PM)

  • Creating or formalising the vision of the organization can help in attracting the right people and building a shared sense of purpose within the organization.
  • Employing people after assessing the cultural fit and in case a team member does not behave following the organization's work culture, The leadership should work closely with them to adjust their outlook and attitude according to the work culture.
  • Leaders must focus on promoting trust and empathy among the employees. Not only that they should be open to feedback from the rest of the team, and actively listen to the concerns of others and show appreciation for their achievements.
  • Dedicated spaces must be created at the workplace to foster socialisation.
  • Employees should be provided with support for providing physical and mental health.
  • Providing training and opportunities for personal development to the team members.
  • The leadership must show their commitment to the values of the organization through their actions and decisions.

UTILISATION OF PUBLIC FUNDS (03:04 PM)

  • PRINCIPLES TO GOVERN UTILISATION OF FUNDS
  • Public funds should be spent only for public purposes and the objective criteria should be evolved to determine the priorities of the Government.
  • Funds should be spent following the law made by the Legislature.
  • Utilization of public funds should be driven by outcomes rather than inputs and outputs.
  • Decision-making criteria behind the utilization of funds should be made public to ensure greater accountability.
  • Timely release of funds as per pre-decided schedule to avoid delayed execution.
  • The government's approach towards the utilization of public funds must be inclusive so that the problems of the most marginalized sections of society are given high priority.

ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH UTILISATION OF PUBLIC FUNDS (03:31 PM)

  • 1)Underutilization of funds
  • It often results in what is termed a "March Rush" where the Administrative Agencies try to spend a large portion of funds indiscriminately so that they don't lapse at the end of the Financial Year.
  • Delay in fund flow is one of the major factors causing underutilisation
  • 2)Mis-allocation of funds
  • Political parties often misuse Public Funds for Political advertisements. This ends up promoting narrow political interests rather than general Public Interests.
  • For example: UP government advertising in Delhi is a sheer waste of resources.
  • Freebies culture and its negative repercussions.
  • 3)Misappropriation of funds. 
  • Misappropriation is the syphoning of funds.
  • Out of every 1 rs spent only 15 paise is reached to the intended beneficiaries.
  • Please refer to the Handouts as well as suggested by the faculty.

The topic for the next class: Challenges to public service delivery, Corporate governance.