African Training and Research Centre in Administration for Development Hanns Seidel Foundation HIGH-LEVEL SEMINAR FOR POLICY MAKERS AND POLICY IMPLEMENTERS ON RESULTS BASED MANAGEMENT Enhancing synergies between Policy Makers and Technocrats in Implementing Results-Based Management in the Public Service Disconnect between Politicians Technocrats: The missing link in entrenching a culture of Results-Based Management in Governance and Public Administration? ISSUES OF DISCONNECT BETWEEN BUREAUCRAT AND POLITICIAN AND HOW IT AFFECTS ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE by MR. ALIDU FUSEINI CHIEF DIRECTOR OFFICE OF THE HEAD OF CIVIL SERVICE GHANA 1
ISSUES OF DISCONNECT BETWEEN BUREAUCRAT AND POLITICIAN AND HOW IT AFFECTS ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE 1.0 INTRODUCTION In the pursuit of achieving success in organizational performance within the public sector the relationship between the politician and the technocrat cannot be over emphasized. It is said that the Policy Makers are mostly the Political Leadership while the Technocrats constitute the cadre group for the implementation of policies. Politicians may be the final authority in the choice of policies, but it is the responsibility of the Technocrat to set out all the best policy options that will guide the politician in the choice of policy for implementation. It could be added that the final implementation of the chosen policy lies within the domain of the Technocrat. Therefore the sort of interactions that guides the relationships between the politicians and the bureaucrat play very great role in the outcome of policies and programmes. Following from above, the premise with which this paper would be based is the observation that the achievement of results in the implementation of policies depends so much on the relationship between the political Leadership and the Bureaucrats. In this paper, it will be useful to define the politicians as the elected representatives of the people, some of whom are appointed by the Government into public service offices as the Political head of the bureaucratic institution. Politicians are held accountable at the elections, and for how they can satisfy the voters. The bureaucrats are the professional and semi professionals who have gained appointments through the merit system into the organization as career staff The bureaucrats are accountable to the Government of the day as well as their professional peers and to the public at large for how they have fulfilled the goals of their organization. The technocrat and the politician must necessarily work together towards the attainment of the goals, targets and objectives of the public organization to which they have been assigned. They must share in the vision of the organization so that they can lead each other to the realization of the organizational vision. In Ghana the introduction of the Performance Management system was meant not only to improve service delivery but also refocus the mind set of public service away from a culture of inward looking towards a culture of business as focused on customer and results. 2
2.0 OBJECTIVE OF PAPER This paper identifies and discusses some critical factors that affect the relationship between the bureaucrat and the politician. For the purpose of this discussion the paper would attempt to demonstrate how the actions and inactions of these two can negatively affect performance. It is therefore organized as follows: The Introduction The objective of the paper The Issues at hand The factors leading to the Disconnect between the Politicians and the Technocrats The Effect of the Disconnect on Result Based Management Some Recommendations and The Conclusion 3.0 THE ISSUE AT HAND: THE DISCONNECT BETWEEN POLITICIANS AND TECHNOCRATS The relation between politicians and technocrats is often seen as one that is sometimes beset with conflict. Ministers, at several forums with the leadership of the Civil Service outlined the following as some reasons why it was difficult for them to work with the Technocrats and urged that a way should be found to address the matter. i. Ineffective support from the Technocrats and low quality of work. ii. iii. iv. The Officers do little analytical work. The Senior Technocrats do not add value to the work originating from their subordinates. The Officers report to work late but leave early to attend to other businesses and so the Ministers are tempted to use the services of consultants to do the work of employees. v. The Technocrats do not assign work to their subordinates therefore these officers come to work and get frustrated. 3
The Bureaucrats on the other hand indicated that the Political Leadership: i. Lack understanding of their work as Ministers or Leaders. ii. Lack trust and respect for them as Technocrats iii. Refuse to heed to their professional advise iv. Doubt their loyalty and so prefer to use consultants and special assistants v. Attempt to circumvent laid down rules and regulations for their own benefit. vi. Overlook organizational values of merit, professionalism, neutrality, etc vii. Come into office with an already prejudiced mind and suspicious of the Bureaucrat. This seeming lack of cordial relationship between politicians and technocrats is a source of worry since it could lead to organizational non-performance. It is therefore critical for such platforms to be created to share ideas on some of these issues and learn lessons. This problem is peculiar to most developing counties and Ghana is no exception. It is based on this premise that this paper has been developed to share and discuss some of the issues of disconnect between both players (politician and technocrat); how it affects results based management; and what can be done to lessen the effects, if not completely address them. 4.0 FACTORS FOR THE DISCONNECT BETWEEN POLITICIANS AND TECHNOCRATS A number of factors can be identified as accounting for differences between political heads and technocrats. These include: 4.1 Mode of Entry into Public Service The ways through which the politician and the technocrat enter the public administration landscape or environment has the capacity to create a divide between them. Technocrats- Technocrats are individuals with a high level of specialized academic training which serves as the principal criterion on the basis of which they are selected to occupy key decision-making or advisory roles in large, complex organizations both public and private (David Collier). They go through a process of recruitment and selection based on their qualifications, specialized skills and experiences in their various fields of expertise. In the public sector, they are the main executors of governments policies and programs. Voters have little to say about which technocrats are selected to fill key positions. 4
Political Heads - Politicians on the other hand are people who are elected into power and thus possess the mandate of the populace to prosecute the agenda for which they were elected. Their nomination to head public organisations may require a careful look at other key criteria other than or in addition to qualifications and experience. One may therefore have situations whereby a politician with probably less knowledge and experience may be made the boss over a more qualified and experienced technocrat. 4.2 Tenure of Office Technocrat- One of the main characteristics of technocrats has been their continued presence within the state apparatus, providing administrative stability during times of political transitions/ministerial reshuffles. To a large extent, the technocrat stays in office until retirement. Therefore witness the tenure of office of several political heads. Politician- The politician on the other hand has a limited time to stay in office. His focus, therefore, is to work to ensure that he remains in authority. This situation could result in resentment on the part of the politician if the work of the technocrat does not keep up to the pace and expectation of the Minister. 4.3 Outlook of Politician and Technocrat Politicians-They focus on the attainment of visible and quantifiable results intended get them reelected into office. They tend to criticize technocrats for their perceptible detachment from social and cultural reality and from the needs of the populace, as well as for their insistence on applying to developing economies policies based on technical and theoretical guidelines generated in industrialized countries. Technocrat- does not focus on ideological strategies, but rather on practical, effective ways to deal with the variety of pressing socio-economic issues. They tend, therefore, to look at long term results which may not necessarily be based on public sentimentalities. 4.4 Accountabilities The accountabilities of the Politician during their tenure of office is with the electorate. Their actions are constantly under close scrutiny and judged by the public. On the other hand, the 5
accountabilities of the Technocrat lie with their political heads, superior officers and organizational values. 4.5 Provision of Inaccurate and non factual information to the Politician In the execution of duties it is the responsibility of the technocrat to provide factual and accurate information or briefs to the politician. The inability of the technocrat to perform this responsibility efficiently and effectively could damage the reputation of the Politician. This can create tension between them and thereby have adverse effect on their work. E.g.: A minister of state going to answer questions in parliament and he/she gets there only to realize that his facts and figures are inaccurate. This can cause humiliation and embarrassment to the politician and lead to the politician drawing a conclusion that it was a deliberate act of omission or commission. 4.6 Technocrats and Politicians losing their identities (Politicization of Bureaucracy and Bureaucratization of politics) While some Politicians come to overlook the organizational values and impose measures that cannot be sustained after their tenure especially in appointments and radical policy changes, the Technocrats also forget their values of political neutrality and go out identifying themselves with political parties. These actions on the part of Technocrats eventually create a sense of mistrust and insecurity between themselves and existing or past governments. A Technocrat seen to have mounted a political platform or publicly known to have made political statements in favour of a particular political party may not be deemed trustworthy by the politician. The politician feels that such an officer is a threat to his work. This results in undue posting or sidelining of technocrats. 4.7 Staffing Politician sometimes break protocol by employing staff into the service without following due process. This can create issues of incompetency in the service. Such illegal appointees are sometimes incompetent and when their employers are no more with the particular organization they tend to be redundant. 6
4.8 Falsifying signatures and documents Technocrats who indulge in such acts could certainly incur the displeasure of the politician. No politician would be happy to see his signature and office abused. For instance technocrats using official letter heads to seek contracts and acquire visas. 5.0 EFFECTS OF DISCONNECT ON RESULTS BASED MANAGEMENT The issues discussed above could affect individual performance and also impact on organizational performance in the following areas: 5.1 Poor Planning and Decision Making The use of inaccurate and non-factual information/data could impact on organizational planning and budgetary allocation of resources. It could also lead to poor planning and decision-making within the organization. This could affect the confidence and credibility of both the technocrat and the politician. Who is to blame? 5.2 Inability to meet agreed targets and deadlines Technocrat and Politicians who abuse their office by falsifying signatures and documents tend to bring their own reputation and that of their organization into disrepute. Situations where legal issues arise out of such an act tend to lead to the loss of man hours due to engagement in legal tussles. The achievement of set targets and deadlines then becomes a difficult task. 5.3 Loss of Institutional Memory Technocrats who align themselves with party politics are sometimes penalized when there is a change of government. This often leads suspicion, frustration, undue posting and poor medical condition such as depression. In the event of the officer being moved out of office, he leaves with his knowledge and experience and institutional memory is sometimes lost. The loss of institutional memory could affect the overall performance of the organization. 7
5.4 Leads to time and financial wastage As a result of non-continuity of policies and programs especially whenever a new Administration comes to power, the money and time spent to start the program gets wasted and hence less funds to carry out the new policy. 6.0 RECOMMENDATIONS Demonstration of Commitment to Civil Service Leadership values - The politician and the technocrat have a contractual duty to observe the Civil Service Core values and both leaders are expected to exemplify the values shown below: GHANA At an open forum between the Head of the Civil Service of Ghana and the Technocrats, the issues of disconnect were discussed thoroughly and below were some of the solutions proposed and adopted for implementation: 8
The technocrat must know the Political Environment and the political sensitivity of the Minister study and understand the Minister s strength, weakness, goals, work styles demonstrate values such as cooperation, reliability, honesty, tact and diplomacy however difficult the situation conduct him/her self in such a way to merit the trust and confidence of the politician by demonstrating technical expertise grounded on scientific forms of knowledge in order to find technical solutions to political problems. learn to agree on issues before implementation be very strong in his/her analysis; ability to write and document all actions/advice given; knowledgeable in the political direction of the government and skew the Minister towards developmental goals; and have ability to manage situations where ministers tend to go contrary to laid down regulations. The Technocrat must use tact and skill in those circumstances to advice such a Minister. Make honest and impartial information relevant to a decision available to Ministers Not deceive or knowingly mislead their Ministers Not OPENLY identify with any political parties, make political speeches or join in demonstration in favour of any political party, person or propaganda Remain anonymous and attribute all initiatives at the workplace to his Minister The politicians too must Learn to listen and take decisions. This assertion is confirmed by Hon Mitchell Sharp (a former top Bureaucrat and one time Cabinet Minister in the Canadian Liberal Party) in his rebuttal as an advice to the amateur politicians, He said I ask questions, and I listen to their answers. Sometimes I agreed, sometimes I didn t, in the end I made my decisions and they carried them out. Make conscious effort to use in-house expertise Be abreast with laid down public administration rules and regulations Orientation for Political leadership Besides what is listed above, it is also important to look at what should be done for political heads. One key strategy to consider is the organisation of orientations for the political heads 9
on their assumption of office. Such workshops would provide the political heads the much needed insights into the public administrative system, and the rules and regulations governing work. Organising Regular Interactive Meetings between Politicians and Top Technocrats Regular interactive sessions between political heads and technocrats should also be organised to provide a platform to discuss common issues and agree the way forward. It is hoped that these measures will go to serve as a bridge and foster cordial relationships to enable the two parties to execute their roles and mandates in a very productive manner. 7.0 CONCLUSION Results Based Management is often taken to be fundamental to the delivery of improved services as part of Public Service Reform. Emphasis on performance management for delivery of results is undoubtedly influenced by the basic assumption of performance management which lies in its professed ability to improve a sort of UNANIMITY OT MINDS of institutional members on a common objective and galvanize them towards the attainment of this objective. It is this supposition of harmony of vision that underpins the Public Service Reforms faith in leadership and its favourable inclination towards managerial empowerment, as seen in performance management principles. 10