Reflection Paper on Revitalizing the Federal Government for the 21st Century

A Reflection Paper on reviving the Federal Government for the twenty-first Century This is a musing paper on the recommendations proposed in the Revitalizing the Federal Government for the twenty-first century report by the bailiwick Commission on the mankind proceeds (Volcker Commission).The Volcker military mission, comprised of members from the three major political parties, recognizes the importance of disciplined insurance policy direction, operational flexibility, and clear and high action standards as guiding objectives (The content Commission on the general Service NCPS, 2003) for an organisational restructuring within the federal official official organization to meet the challenges of the 21st century. This author view ass with the flush in that no such chthonictaken has occurred since the Hoover Commission some 50 years ago.It articulates in my view a comprehensive plan to reclaim the dignity at once associated with exoteric armed service, and if rough-a nd-readyly utilized could re-establish trust surrounded by the American world and its disposal. The decline in confidence grappled by many Americans in the capability of federal personnel to carry unwrap the tasks of human race service must be addressed. The National Commission on the Public Service (Volcker Commission) recognized this need and published a 2003 report on the unrestricted service heavens titled Urgent Business for America Revitalizing the Federal Government for the 21st Century.The report, a collective collaboration amid veteran government employees, drew upon their knowledge and the expertise of outside sources from every political affiliation to address challenges that plague the civil service domain in the 21st century. The members of the commission focused on seven pick out studys which are the relationship amidst the government and the American public, organizational disorder, integrity size chokes all watchfulness, vanishing talent, personnel c arcasss, and labor-management conflict (NCPS, 2003).This author considers trust as the main component of any relationship and agrees with the commission that the distrust between the American people and the government is contributing to the decay of public service. The commission realized that that the policy changes need to combat the problems associated with public service in the 21st century will take a collaborative ride between the citizens of American and government.I agree with the commission that there is no quick fix that the government shares the blame for the shun perception, and must obtain every effort possible to regain that trust by sufficiently improving its performance. The organizational structure within the civil service arena was another focal operate in the commissions report. The members recommended that the federal government should be reorganized into a limited government issue of mission-related executive departments (NCPS, 2003, p. 14).The commission points out that most public servants are perplexed as to the masking and moment of their agencys undertaking and more often than not departments share responsibilities that could be combined to form one cohesive unit. For example, I launch it very disturbing that as many as 12 divers(prenominal) agencies share the responsibility of administering over 35 food safety laws (NCPS, 2003). The alter with organizational structure also presents the problem of effectively managing the mission of these soulfulness agencies. The commission notes that nine agencies operate 27 teen pregnancy programs hazard do back to.It is my opinion that the solution given by the commission to aggroup related missions under the same organizational structure would enhance employees maven of purpose and loyalty, provide opportunities for advancement and reduce waste of limited resources (NCPS, 2003). iodin size doe not fit all this entire cooky cutter approach to agency structure and management prac tices is no yearner viable. The needs of the American public are far more tangled and vary significantly than those confronted by civil service reformers of the past.Because the tasks performed by public servants range so greatly it is no grander feasible to jade that a single approach to management will be effective in every instance. The commission members make a valid point in that excellent performance requires organizational leadership and culture that fit the mission, not just a single theory of administration (NCPS, 2003, p. 8). The prox of attracting and retaining highly qualified workers in the public service profession appears bleak.The prestige and sense of accomplishment once considered attributes or incentives of public orbit betrothal is on a sharp decline amongst American citizens. This can be attributed to many factors such as inadequate work conditions, differential in public versus private empyrean salaries, personal safety, and the opportunity for advanceme nt. The two I found most interesting were the requirements for disclosure of personal information and the application motion. Ethics regulations are enacted by Congress to ensure the integrity of federal employees.It is a given than more that 250,000 federal employees must make one-year disclosure of the full details of their personal finances (NCPS, 2003). While I agree that such laws are necessary I also theorise the process can be modified as not to get across so many employees. As the commission states Congress needs to make federal ethics rules cleaner, simpler, and more directly related to the goals they are intend to achieve (NCPS, 2003, p. 22). The application process within the civil service sector is another deterrent that I agree with the commission on could be streamlined to expedite the procedure.Those applying for public sector employment find this process tedious and much more complicated than that of the private sector and typically get faster responses private e mployers. Personnel management systems in public service were originally designed to promote equity among the workforce. The truth of the issuance is equal behave for equal work is no longer realistic. This apprehension is antiquated because of the sophisticated high level tasks performed by some government agencies. The recommendation of the commission is to eradicate the General Schedule categorization system.This system has become too cumbersome to administer to guarantee equity in compensation this system will always require constant tinkering to specify equal work so that it can ensure equal hand (NCPS, 2003). What the commission has suggested, and what I agree with, is a broadband system under which the actual 15 pay grades are consolidate into six to eight broad bands with wider salary ranges (NCPS, 2003). This would give managers the flexibility to compensate based on capability and performance, and design personnel systems that best sustains the mission of the organ ization.The Commission notes that there are three very distinct factors that determine pay for the evoke majority of federal workers how an individual job fits into the General Schedule classification system, geographical location of the job, and the employees time in service (NCPS, 2003). I was disturbed by the fact that the superior of the work performed was frequently cut as a standard. It has to frustrating for workers who provide a high quality of service to be judged on the same merits as those of poor performers.The well-behaved Service Reform Act of 1978 was enacted to reward bonuses, merit pay and performance commendations to high performing civil servants (NCPS, 2003). This is rarely the case because of insufficient notes or an evaluation system that acts more as a rubberize stamp than an effective means of evaluation. Managers routinely were allocating funds as a means to compensate equitably across the board, and not as inducements or rewards for moderate achiever s. This is an area of reform which much attention should be given.It is inconclusive to believe that high performing employees do not pick up the slack for poor performers. It has been my experience that management comes to rely on this (as long as the work is getting done) instead of dealing with poor performers appropriately. This pose does nothing but destroy the morale of the unit as a whole. The last area of concentration by the Volcker Commission was the conflict between labor and management. The commission believes, as do I, that it is entirely possible to pass the public sector without jeopardizing the fundamentals of the merit system (NCPS, 2003).I agree that political affiliation should not be a factor for find out employment within the civil service sector, and that individuals employed by this sector should not be subject to arbitrary discipline or firing off based on political affliction. I also agree that labor- management collaboration can coexist within the feder al government. Numerous recommendations do to the president and Congress. What I found surprising about the report is that the commission instead of focusing exclusively on changes to the public service sector de right to voted much attention to a restructuring of the executive branch of government.Moreover, it calls for The nursing home and Senate to realign their committee oversight to match the mission driven shake-up of the executive branch (NCPS, 2003, p. 17) which is no small feat given the current political climate. The commission also made several(prenominal) other disputable proposals, for example, the President and Congress should work together to drastically decrease the number of executive branch positions (NCPS, 2003).In calling for an immediate and significant emergence in judicial, executive, and legislative salaries, the commission also recognizes the long-standing reluctance of members of Congress to vote for a pay increase for themselves (NCPS, 2003). The repo rt calls upon Congress to break the statutory link between their salaries and those of judges and senior political appointees (NCPS, 2003). While I found the report be very cohesive and comprehensive, a nd a blueprint for a more efficient government and let on quality of civil service employees I also felt several issues were not adequately addressed.Although, the repot does present sufficient advice as to restructuring organizational and management systems within the federal government it fails to address the core problems impact the delivery of public services. Primarily too often federal agencies solely dont have the resources they need to meet mission requirements an emphasis on pay compression for top ranking government positions overlooks the impact of pay disparities on front-line workers and much more needs to be done to address the negative impact of contracting out (Palguta, 2003).While the commissions report appropriately focuses on leadership in government as a primary area of concern, it tends to define leadership too narrowly as those individuals at the top of the organization. First-line supervisors and mid-level managers are a vital component of the leadership team. Finally, while agreeing that greater management flexibility is needed, there must also be balance with reasonable safeguards to ensure the basic merit principles are maintained (Palguta, 2003). References The National Commission on the Public Service. (2003). Urgent business for America evitalizing the federal government for the 21st century. Retrieved from http//docs. google. com/viewer? a=v&q=cacheKSnwxENfsmQJwww. brookings. e du/gs/cps/volcker/reportfinal. pdf+urgent+business+for+america+revitalizing+the +federal+government+for+the+21st+century Palguta, John M. Revitalizing the Federal Government for the 21st Century Presenting differing perspectives on the report of the National Commission on the Public Service (Volcker II). (Opinion Roundtable Volcker II). The Public Manager 32. 1 (2003) 7+. pedantic OneFile. Web. 6 Feb. 2011.