{"id":49334,"date":"2025-05-13T17:21:25","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T00:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/?p=49334"},"modified":"2025-08-07T18:43:44","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T01:43:44","slug":"civil-service-systems-impede-efforts-to-improve-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/about-gov\/civil-service-systems-impede-efforts-to-improve-performance\/","title":{"rendered":"Civil Service Systems Impede Efforts to Improve Performance"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ custom_padding_last_edited=”on|desktop” admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”4.25.1″ background_image=”https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/howardR-scaled-1.jpg” min_height=”629px” custom_margin=”||-6px|||” custom_padding_tablet=”50px|0|50px|0″ custom_padding_phone=”” padding_mobile=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,2_3″ admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_padding=”0px||126px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_divider show_divider=”off” disabled_on=”on|on|off” _builder_version=”4.16″ height=”200px” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.25.1″ text_font=”PT Sans||||” text_text_color=”#ffffff” text_font_size=”72″ text_line_height=”1.1em” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” max_width=”620px” custom_margin=”0px||0px|” text_font_size_tablet=”52″ text_font_size_phone=”” text_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

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Civil Service Systems Impede Efforts to Improve Performance<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ custom_padding_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”4.16″ min_height=”1978px” custom_margin=”-86px|||||” custom_padding=”11px|||||” custom_padding_tablet=”50px|0|50px|0″ custom_padding_phone=”” padding_mobile=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,2_3″ column_padding_mobile=”on” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” max_width=”1200px” custom_padding=”20px||0px|” custom_padding_tablet=”0px|||” custom_padding_phone=”” use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”1200px” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Screen-Shot-2020-06-06-at-9.44.14-AM.png” title_text=”Screen Shot 2020-06-06 at 9.44.14 AM” show_bottom_space=”off” align=”center” align_tablet=”center” align_phone=”” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” disabled_on=”on|on|” _builder_version=”4.16″ animation=”off” sticky=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text disabled_on=”on|on|” _builder_version=”4.16″ text_font=”PT Sans|on|||” text_text_color=”#02b875″ text_font_size=”20″ text_line_height=”1.2em” header_text_color=”#000000″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” text_orientation=”center” max_width=”140px” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”20px||0px|” global_colors_info=”{}”]HOWARD RISHER<\/a><\/span>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text disabled_on=”on|on|” _builder_version=”4.16″ text_font=”PT Serif||on||” text_text_color=”#363636″ text_font_size=”16″ text_line_height=”1.4em” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” text_orientation=”center” max_width=”140px” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”10px||60px|” global_colors_info=”{}”]Howard Risher has 40 years of experience as a consultant and HR executive with clients in every sector.\u00a0He has published frequently in HR journals and websites.\u00a0 He is the author or co-author of six book and a growing list of ebooks. The most recent is\u00a0Building the Workforce Government Needs.\u00a0\u00a0He is associated with Grahall Consulting Partners.<\/i>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.25.1″ text_font=”PT Serif||||” text_text_color=”#363636″ text_font_size=”24″ text_line_height=”1.5em” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” max_width=”720px” custom_margin=”0px||0px|” custom_padding=”||0px|||” text_font_size_tablet=”” text_font_size_phone=”” text_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

Government performance has been seen as a problem possibly forever, but the federal Department of Government Efficiency has triggered a renewed focus at all levels of government. Recent reports suggest the number of states with similar initiatives is growing. But if history is repeated, the results will not be impressive. As the old saying argues, every dollar counts but the top-down strategy to cut costs misses the real potential for savings and improved results.<\/p>\n

President Clinton\u2019s \u201creinventing government\u201d initiative led by Vice President Gore provided the evidence that could have been translated into significant savings. In its initial 1993 report the National Performance Review task force proposed some 380 recommendations for government downsizing, reorganization and management reform. Over Clinton\u2019s two terms, NPR produced the only budget surpluses in the last half century and eliminated over 400,000 federal positions. As NPR deputy John Kamensky described, \u201cWe focused on how the government works, not on what it should be doing.<\/p>\n

Federal budget surpluses today are wishful thinking. Media reports on federal job cuts are not current but it\u2019s clear the totals do not approach the NPR numbers. More importantly, the cuts are adversely affecting agency results. The latest is Bill Gates claim \u201cthe cuts will cause millions of deaths.\u201d The longer term impact is the impact the cuts are having on worker morale and adversely affecting their performance. CNN reported the cuts triggered a \u201cvery intense culture of fear.\u201d That could have been avoided.<\/p>\n

One prominent difference between the best performance management practices in the private and public sectors is the importance of workforce performance. In the best performing companies, employees are empowered and expected to make work-related decisions to improve results. A core NPR principle, then new and largely ignored, was the idea of empowering employees to make work-related decisions. Their innovative ideas were recognized in the hundreds of NPR Hammer Awards.<\/p>\n

Empowerment is discussed in the many books on creating high performance work teams. It\u2019s a common thread in the \u201cGreat Places to Work\u201d lists. As far back as the 1970s companies experimented with eliminating direct supervisors \u2013 that alone cuts costs \u2013 and trusting autonomous work teams.<\/p>\n

Despite the long-track record, the idea of empowering employees is rarely found in discussions of agency performance. As the NPR history clearly shows, in every sector the answers to operating problems are often known by employees who want their organization to be successful. As one website describes it, \u201cWhen employees are motivated, inspired, and confident, they\u2019re more likely to go above and beyond in their roles. The key is to build a culture that encourages these qualities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The History of Civil Service Highlights the Problem<\/h4>\n

The performance problem is buried in the history of federal and, with few exceptions, state and local civil service systems. The core principles of civil service are widely understood globally to be \u201cmerit\u201d selection and protection from arbitrary dismissal based on political pressure. Those principles have been defended rigorously through history.<\/p>\n

Additionally, when government\u2019s administrative systems were formalized early in the 20th<\/sup> century, they were more advanced than in many businesses. Industry then was very different. Businesses were typically small and owner managed. \u201cPersonnel offices\u201d were yet to be created. Workers were strictly a cost to be controlled. Top-down management was common in all organizations.<\/p>\n

The prevailing management philosophy in that era is credited to the writing of Max Weber, Frederick Taylor, and Woodrow Wilson. Max Weber argued, in his book Economy and Society<\/em>, that leaders articulate the policies which are then carried out by managers and employees in a series of specialized offices. In government, to quote Weber, \u201cThe honor of the civil servant is vested in his ability to execute conscientiously the order of the superior authorities.\u201d Taylor\u2019s contribution is his Principles of Scientific Management<\/em>, published in 1911. Taylor advocated using time and motion studies to learn the most efficient way to perform each work task. Workers were expected to do \u201cwhat they were told.\u201d\u00a0 Wilson argued \u201cfor the separation of administration from political policy making. . . It is the duty of career civil servants to carry out those policies in good faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

The federal Classification Act of 1923 was based on that philosophy. Current federal civil service laws and regulations, with two exceptions, continue today to be based on the same principles. The exceptions are the Classification Act of 1949 that \u2018modernized\u2019 the pay system created in 1923. The second is President Carter\u2019s Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 that created the Senior Executive Service and replaced the Civil Service Commission with the Office of Personnel Management. Those laws changed the work lives of only a few federal workers.<\/p>\n

Many states continue to operate with similar, outdated civil service laws. A prime example is New York State\u2019s civil service law that was adopted in 1909. The state\u2019s \u201cCivil Service Primer,\u201d published in 2019, repeats the century old regulations. Illinois\u2019s law was passed in 1905. Pennsylvania passed a new law in 2018 but largely \u201cleft in place 1941 regulations.\u201d Other states like Georgia enacted laws more recently.\u00a0 Quasi-judicial civil service commissions enforce the laws, which locks in the management philosophy and impedes the adoption of new practices.<\/p>\n

The thinking of that era continues as the common basis for the administration of \u2018work\u2019 and workers. It\u2019s interesting that unions generally support enforcement of the old laws. It\u2019s the basis for administering the federal General Schedule salary system, with its outdated, multi-page job descriptions. There is no evidence in the law that improving employee performance is a consideration.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, when NPR was in the headlines, the current interest in employee engagement and high performance was a decade away. Republicans gained control of Congress in the 1994 elections, George Bush was elected in 2000, and that triggered a distinctly different agenda for reforming government. The reform initiative lost its momentum and the NPR ceased operation in January 2001. Today, the NPR experience is no longer a consideration.<\/a><\/p>\n

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In the best performing companies, employees are empowered and expected to make work-related decisions to improve results.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ text_font=”PT Sans|on|||” text_text_color=”#888888″ text_font_size=”12″ text_letter_spacing=”2px” text_line_height=”1.2em” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” text_orientation=”center” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”20px||20%|” custom_margin_tablet=”20px|||” custom_margin_phone=”” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|tablet” global_colors_info=”{}”]HOWARD RISHER[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”4″ column_padding_mobile=”on” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” max_width=”1200px” custom_padding=”0px||0px|” custom_padding_tablet=”0px|||” custom_padding_phone=”” use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”1200px” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.25.1″ text_font=”PT Serif||||” text_text_color=”#363636″ text_font_size=”20″ text_line_height=”1.4em” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_margin=”19px||0px|||” custom_margin_tablet=”40px||0px|” custom_margin_phone=”” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|tablet” text_font_size_tablet=”” text_font_size_phone=”” text_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

State Laws and Agency Performance<\/h4>\n

Clinton\u2019s reform initiative also resulted in passage of the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) and that was followed by passage of the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010 (GPRAMA). Both focus narrowly on agency performance planning and reporting. Both are silent on civil service administration. In contrast to what is effectively the universal practice in business, federal executives are not seen as accountable for agency performance.<\/p>\n

At the state level, the best source of information is the website, Results for America and the \u201cInvest in What Works State Standard of Excellence\u201d recognition of effective performance management practices. State practices generally are based on the same logic as GPRA, focusing on the use of agency goals, metrics and evidence-based decision making. Each year state practices are evaluated against criteria (for 2024, the first of 12 criteria was \u201cEvaluation Leadership\u201d).<\/p>\n

The best state practices for 2024 were:<\/p>\n