In a certain office of New Mexico government, a friend tells me, three clerical assistants work with a group of professionals.\u00a0 One clerk is competent and hardworking.\u00a0 The other two are incompetent and unreliable.\u00a0 All the professionals try to snag the good employee for their projects.\u00a0 She works much harder than her peers but is paid the same.\u00a0 Eventually she will get tired of this and will either stop working so hard or find another job.<\/p>\n
Another professional in state government describes her frustrations with management.\u00a0 She has to travel around the state to do her job, but because of budget constraints she\u2019s not allowed to stay overnight.\u00a0 Overtime is not authorized.\u00a0 So she drives long distances during work hours, wasting taxpayer dollars and providing less service.<\/p>\n
Yet another friend is opening a business that requires a special state certification, including mandatory training administered by the licensing agency.\u00a0 The employees who present the training are sloppily dressed, unprepared, and impolite, showing little respect for their subject or the valuable time of the attendees, who are trying to open businesses so they can be productive taxpayers.\u00a0\u00a0 My friend says the required forms are badly written and confusing; if she calls and asks a question, she suspects they move her application to the bottom of the pile.\u00a0 This friend is an expert on public sector management; she herself is a recently retired state government senior manager.<\/p>\n
Staff reductions at state agencies are in effect, and we poor citizens are waiting to see how much worse things will get for us.\u00a0 As a survivor of the bureaucracy wars, I offer this perspective:<\/p>\n
There are qualified people and unqualified people in most state agencies, and it\u2019s just dumb luck who\u2019s where.\u00a0\u00a0 Talented and caring people work for incompetent managers.\u00a0 Competent managers get stuck with unqualified front-line employees.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Occasionally a governor appoints a thoroughgoing dud to the top position.\u00a0 What happens then depends how artfully the second-level managers can work around the boss.\u00a0 If they are clever, dedicated, and willing to take armloads of guff, the place will still function, you\u2019ll never know the difference, they will never be thanked, and the dud will get the credit and the big bucks.<\/p>\n
Folks in the private sector say this happens where they work also.\u00a0 But there is a critical difference.\u00a0 The private sector has consequences.\u00a0 If a company consistently fails to deliver, the customers will go away and eventually it will go out of business (unless it\u2019s subsidized by government or too big to fail, but that\u2019s for another day).<\/p>\n
Far too many state employees are decent people with inadequate training or preparation for the work they do.\u00a0\u00a0 New Mexico state government has never been good at identifying what employees need to know in order to provide good service.\u00a0\u00a0 A determined attempt was made some years ago by a small multi-agency committee called the State Training Council, but it had no official statutory standing.\u00a0 Therefore the Council, along with eight years of work product, simply evaporated between administrations.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s going to happen next is predictable.\u00a0 Work that must be done will be done.\u00a0 Administrative requirements and deadlines will be, as always, top priority.\u00a0 Work that can be postponed will be, such as customer service to those least able to complain.\u00a0\u00a0 Some agencies and bureaus — the lucky ones — will continue to function happily and productively but many will experience a sag in productivity that will not be measured but will drag subtly on the economy.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s often said the public sector doesn\u2019t fire people who should be fired.\u00a0 True enough.\u00a0 It also doesn\u2019t do enough to give employees the chance to excel.\u00a0 In this year\u2019s economy, that won\u2019t change.<\/p>\n
Triple Spaced Again, \u00a9 New Mexico News Services 2011<\/p>\n
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In a certain office of New Mexico government, a friend tells me, three clerical assistants work with a group of professionals.\u00a0 One clerk is competent and hardworking.\u00a0 The other two are incompetent and unreliable.\u00a0 All the professionals try to snag … Continue reading