Asking the Right Questions about Public Employees

An excerpt from Chad’s book “Thinking Aloud: Reflections on Ethical Leadership”. We hope you enjoy the essay – and perhaps introduce the questions below as a way to start conversations with your teammates. – ELA Team

Asking the Right Questions about Public Employees

As government budgets occupy the political consciousness, rhetoric about public employees is heating up.  Some pundits advocate outsourcing public work or reforming public employment, while others argue the public employees actually represent a good value, in part because they may be paid less than private counterparts for some kinds of work.  At a deeper level, we all agree: we want public employees to provide excellent quality and value.  Then we can decide what functions and services are appropriately filled by public agencies.

There are no magic solutions.  If we agree that our goal is efficient and excellent public service, we can work together to solve the problems and eliminate the barriers to that objective.  Achieving that goal should be no harder – but it will also be no easier – than it is in the private sector.  Have you ever had bad service from a private sector employer?  Ever ordered a hamburger (or an angiogram, for that matter) and been disappointed by the experience?  Of course.  We don’t jump to the conclusion that the employees involved were pampered or overpaid.

My perspective on this issue is informed by my work as a consultant and trainer in the public sector; I teach and develop ethical leadership in law enforcement and fire/EMS organizations.  Every day I see great people committed to doing excellent work.  Do I encounter a few grumblers or knuckleheads?  Yes, a few.  Such is the human condition.  However, my experience overwhelmingly involves workers that any employer would be proud to employ.  There are certainly problems and challenges in public organizations, but I have seen nothing to justify the level of angst that I hear from some elected officials and many media pundits.

Raising public ire will not improve productivity.  Leadership might, if it begins with clearly articulated objectives, and translates them into observable outcomes and measures. Leadership could then get the right people into the right roles, set expectations, and provide appropriate support so that public employees can effectively serve the public.  Compensation plans must enable public employers to attract and retain the right workers.  Management must promote worker engagement and effective pursuit of well-defined missions.  The workers, in turn, must be held accountable for the outcomes that best serve the public.

I do not believe that public employees should be above criticism, but that criticism must be aimed at constructive solutions.  The debate should focus on driving actual improvements, rather than bemoaning the status quo or throwing in the towel.  When we roll up our sleeves and strive for excellence, we make great progress.  I see public employees doing just that, almost every day.  (And, for the record, who doesn’t have bad days once in a while?)

Conversation Starters

Public employees should be led well: held to high standards in pursuit of clear missions, and recognized for good work.  They also deserve fair treatment in our public discourse about the proper scope of government.

• What should the government do? At what level of government?
• What criteria are you using to make those choices?
• Can you see the logic that might lead others to reach different conclusions?

At Ethical Leaders in Action we believe that most, if not all people, can develop themselves to play leadership roles in many different spheres both large and small. The foundation of this development process is a short but powerful list of virtues which can be developed and improved through conscious effort. For more information feel free to take the Virtues of Ethical Leadership Self Inventory (VELSI) which breaks these virtues down into features that can be individually developed. The results of the VELSI come with a quick reference guide to help you understand how the virtues and their individual features fit together. https://ethinact.com/velsi/

See a list of other posts in this series at Blog Post Series

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