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Public Service Values CPMR 39

Public Service ValuesMuiris MacCarthaighCPMR Discussion Paper39 Public Service ValuesFirst published in 2008by the Institute of Public Administration57-61 Lansdowne RoadDublin 4 Irelandin association withThe Committee for Public Management 2008 with the Institute of Public AdministrationAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may bereproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recordingor any information storage and retrieval system, withoutpermission in writing from the Library Cataloguing in Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available from the : 978-1-904541-74-5 ISSN: 1393-6190 Cover design by Creative Inputs, DublinTypeset by the Institute of Public AdministrationPrinted by ColourBooks Ltd, DublinCONTENTSF orewordviiAcknowledgementsixExecutive SummaryxChapter 1: Focus of the Structure of the paper3 Chapter 2: Why Public Service Values ?

Chapter 7: Instilling values 49 7.1 Planning the development of values 49 7.2 Key elements in values development 53 Chapter 8: Conclusions and recommendations 60 Appendix 1 - Selected Codes of Conduct 71 References 78 vi

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Transcription of Public Service Values CPMR 39

1 Public Service ValuesMuiris MacCarthaighCPMR Discussion Paper39 Public Service ValuesFirst published in 2008by the Institute of Public Administration57-61 Lansdowne RoadDublin 4 Irelandin association withThe Committee for Public Management 2008 with the Institute of Public AdministrationAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may bereproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recordingor any information storage and retrieval system, withoutpermission in writing from the Library Cataloguing in Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available from the : 978-1-904541-74-5 ISSN: 1393-6190 Cover design by Creative Inputs, DublinTypeset by the Institute of Public AdministrationPrinted by ColourBooks Ltd, DublinCONTENTSF orewordviiAcknowledgementsixExecutive SummaryxChapter 1: Focus of the Structure of the paper3 Chapter 2: Why Public Service Values ?

2 Why Public Service Values ? The re-emergence of values5 Chapter 3: Defining Defining Values and Ethos, conduct and principles11 Chapter 4: What are Public Service Values ? Identifying Public Service Categorising Public Service values17 Chapter 5: value conflicts and challenges to value Challenges to values25 Chapter 6: Values in the Irish Public Values expressed in official and secondary Contemporary Values in the Irish civil Commentary on key workshop findings47vChapter 7: Instilling Planning the development of Key elements in Values development53 Chapter 8: Conclusions and recommendations60 Appendix 1 - Selected Codes of Conduct71 References78viThis paper is the thirty-ninth in a series undertaken by theCommittee for Public Management Research.

3 TheCommittee has developed a comprehensive programme ofresearch designed to serve the needs of the Irish publicservice. Committee members come from the following eightdepartments: Finance; Environment, Heritage and LocalGovernment; Health and Children; Taoiseach; Transport;Communications, Energy and Natural Resources; Socialand Family Affairs; Office of the Revenue Commissionersand also from Trinity College Dublin, University CollegeDublin and the Institute of Public series aims to prompt discussion and debate on topicalissues of particular interest or concern. The papers mayoutline experience, both national and international, indealing with a particular issue. Or they may be moreconceptual in nature, prompting the development of newideas on Public management issues.

4 They are not intendedto set out any official position on the topic under , the intention is to identify current thinking andbest Duffy, ChairCommittee for Public Management ResearchDepartment of FinanceFor further information or to pass on any comments pleasecontact:Pat HicksonSecretaryCommittee for Public Management ResearchDepartment of FinanceviiFOREWORDL ansdowne HouseLansdowne RoadDublin 4 Phone: (+353) 1 676 7571; Fax: (+353) 1 668 2182E-mail: would like to thank the Public servants who gave of theirtime to take part in the workshops which contributed to thefindings presented in this study. I am also grateful to themembers of the CPMR for their suggestions and commentson earlier drafts. Thanks also to my colleagues in theResearch Division of the IPA, and particularly Richard Boyleand Peter Humphreys for their comments and suggestionsduring the development of this project.

5 My thanks are alsodue to Evelyn Blennerhasset. ixACKNOWLEDGMENTSWhy are Values important? Values are essential components of organisational cultureand instrumental in determining, guiding and informingbehaviour. For bureaucracies, adherence to high-levelpublic Service Values can generate substantial Public trustand confidence. Conversely, weak application of Values orpromotion of inappropriate Values can lead to reductions inthese essential elements of democratic governance, as wellas to ethical and decision-making dilemmas. While a coreset of Public Service Values is necessary, it is also true thatdifferent Values apply to different parts of the Public example, a distinction may be made between technical,regulatory and administrative tasks, or between those partsof a bureaucracy in direct contact with the Public and thosewhich are not.

6 Given the increasing range of demands on the publicservice, as well as the frequent ambiguity in terms of goals,relationships and responsibilities, value conflicts are notunusual. As Values can differ within different parts of thepublic Service , one of the principal tasks of managers andleaders is to co-ordinate, reconcile or cope with differingvalues between individuals or even between parts of theorganisation. Also, there are a number of dynamicschallenging traditional Values in the Public Service . Theseinclude new modes of governance and the fragmentation ofauthority, market-based reforms (such as New PublicManagement), politicisation and political expectations, thegrowth in the use of agencies, decentralisation orrelocation, changes in human resource management andrecruitment, and the advent of new technologies andmethods of information in the Irish Public serviceOfficial and secondary publications on Irish publicadministration document a range of Values associated withthe Service , including efficiency, impartiality, honesty,loyalty, risk-aversion, equity, hierarchy, integrity,accountability and fairness.

7 A series of workshops withpublic servants from the civil Service and local governmentxEXECUTIVESUMMARY sectors identified that there was greater emphasis on defensive Values in response to various pressures on thepublic Service . New or non-traditional Values occasionallyidentified included flexibility and value for money oreffectiveness. However, some Values that may have beenexpected in the context of modernisation, such asinnovation, did not emerge. The workshops agreed thatvalues were developed and transmitted in the workplace,and daily formal and informal communication withcolleagues were instrumental in developing value also agreed that Values were learned through osmosis rather than in a once-off manner.

8 Strong emphasis wasplaced on the role of line managers in the transmission ofvalues. In terms of how Values were changing, it was suggestedthat the pecking order of Values had altered in response topublic Service modernisation and related reforms, as well aswider social change. For example, many Public servantsreported that accountability was now the dominant value inthe performance and execution of their work. Others notedthat efficiency, in the sense of speedy Service delivery, hademerged in importance. EU and domestic legislativerequirements, as well as a greater emphasis on the role ofthe individual Public servant, were also identified as driversof change in respect of Values . On the issue of what valueswere necessary for the future Public Service , views rangedfrom the belief that traditional Values would become moreimportant, to the opinion that Values such as innovation,leadership and flexibility were increasingly Values are deemed to be appropriate for thepublic Service , the evidence suggests that performance willbe enhanced through their meaningful integration into allaspects of the work of the Service .

9 RecommendationsIdentification and expression of Values The evidence from the workshops suggests that publicservants are aware of the Values associated with publicservice. It also suggests that Public servants are awareof and receptive to the need for new Values to underpinthe changing nature of their work. However, there isuncertainty as to how Values such as innovation andxiflexibility can sit alongside more traditional , in the context of a more systemic review ofpublic Service Values , considerable emphasis must begiven to the issue of what Values are appropriate for themodern Public Service . In particular, consideration ofwhat the appropriate balance is between traditionalpublic Service Values and Values necessary to underpinthe changes of the last number of years is required.

10 While the work of the Public Service is increasinglyspecialised, a Public Service -wide Values statementshould be considered in order to bond all elements ofthe Service . As Codes of Conduct have emerged fordifferent parts of the Service , sector-specific value setshave also materialised. A Service -wide value statementoffers an overarching framework, which can becomplemented as necessary by the sector-specific valuestatements. It might usefully draw on the experience ofother developed bureaucracies, where categories or setsof Values are used. Naturally, the first step in thisprocess will be the identification of those Values deemedappropriate for a modern Public Service . In response tofeedback relating to the increasing influence of thepolitical sphere on the Public Service , a (re)statement ofvalues can help to reaffirm the role and limits of thepublic Service in Ireland.


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