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After reading this article you will learn about the foundations of personnel system:- 1. Tenure System 2. Position Classification System 3. Spoils System 4. Merit System 5. Government Service as a Career.
1. Tenure System:
One of the most important problems of personnel organization is that of tenure by which civil servants will hold office. As at present there are three tenure systems, i.e., (i) Tenure at the will of appointing officer; (ii) Tenure for a fixed number of years; and (iii) Tenure during good behaviour or life tenure. The question is as to which of the three tenures shall be employed for civil servants.
Tenure at the will of appointing officer
Now so far as the tenure at the will of appointing officer is concerned it does not suit the administrative services. It is the system which is almost universally found in private undertakings where conditions differ radically from those obtaining in government undertakings.
In the former the proprietors or the managers are not the representatives of any outside interest but their whole interest is in having the work prosecuted with utmost economy and efficiency; while in the latter the managing heads are not directly interested in the financial results secured.
This system would cause severe hardship to the employees by unjust dismissals and also create instability and inefficiency in administration. So that the officers might work with a high sense of independence and impartiality, it is essential that they must be guaranteed a permanent and sufficiently long tenure.
Tenure for a fixed term:
The second system, i.e., tenure for a fixed number of years suits only the offices of political nature, but does not suit the administrative class because short terms, say four, five or seven years, can neither provide capable persons nor provide any opportunity for specialisation and experience. “About the time officers and employees have thoroughly learned the duties of their positions and have acquired proficiency in their performance, they will drop out and their places will be taken by new and talented employees.”
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Moreover, the system would make public office political ‘spoils’ to be appropriated by the party victorious at the polls as it happens in America. Many of the officers and employees in USA are appointed by the party victorious at the polls for four years’ term as corresponding with the term of office of the President with the result that every change in American Presidency brings a change in such committed officials and employees.
Thus the third system, i.e., Tenure during good behaviour should be applied to the administrative services. This system will secure efficiency in administration by making the office permanent and continuous. It makes government service a permanent career, a profession which capable men would choose.
2. Position-Classification:
Among the various problems of personnel organization none exceeds in importance than that of effecting a systematic classification of all employees. Such a classification constitutes, indeed, the basis of the whole personnel structure. Without it, it is not possible to meet satisfactorily the many problems to which personnel administration gives rise.
Definition of position:
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The basic unit of an administrative organization is ‘position’ which is different from its incumbent. The duties and responsibilities of a post are attached with the ‘position’ and not with its occupant. Civil servants fit themselves in the ‘positions’, ‘positions’ do not fit themselves to the calibre of civil servants.
What is Classification?
Classification means grouping together of persons or things on some common basis. In public administration, it means grouping together of posts into various classes on the basis of their respective duties and responsibilities. According to Prof. Milton M. Mandell, “by classification is meant the grouping of positions on the basis of similarity of duties and qualifications requirements,”
Marshall E. Dimock defines it “as the systematic sorting and ranking of positions in a hierarchical sequence according to comparative difficulty and responsibility. Dr. White defines classification thus, “In its final form, a classification plan consists of a number of classes adequate to enable a place to be found for each existing position, arranged in orderly fashion with respect to each other, and supplemented by a set of rules and regulations for its administration, interpretation and amendment.”
The Committee on Position-classification in Public Service appointed by the Civil Service Assembly of the United States and Canada in 1945 defined the term thus:
“Reduced to its simplest terms, classification of positions means the process of finding out, by obtaining the facts and analysing them, what different kinds of ‘classes’ of positions, calling for different treatment in personnel processes, there are in the services; it further includes making a systematic record of the classes found and of the particular positions found to be of each class.
In a paper entitled “The Classification and Standardization Movement in the Public Service,” Mr. Fred Telford, Director of the Bureau of Public Personnel Administration, U.S., stated the requirements of classification system as follows:
(i) The collection of detailed facts with regard to the duties attached to each individual position, with regard to its place in the organization unit in which it occurs, and with regard to the functions, organization and administrative procedure of organization units.
(u) On basis of this information, a grouping of individual positions into classes.
(iii) A written definition or description for each class of positions setting forth definitely the duties attached to the positions to be included in the class.
(iv) A written statement of the minimum qualifications which an individual must possess in order to perform the duties of the position successfully.
(v) A title for each class of position suggestive as far as possible of the duties attached to the positions in the organization unit in which they occur.
(vi) On the basis of the class definitions and definite knowledge of the duties attached to each position, the allocation to the proper class of every position classified.
(vii) The lines of promotion, showing the lower classes of positions from which recruiting is normally done and the higher classes of positions to which employees are normally advanced when vacancies occur.
(viii) The compensation schedules for each class giving maximum, minimum, and intermediate rates to be paid to employees holding positions in the class.
(ix) To make the whole plan easily comprehensible.
Different categories of classification:
There are three principal categories of classification—the service, the class and the grade. The service is the first and the broadest category of classification, the class is the sub-division of service and the sub-division of class is grade. In India the IAS, the IFS; Secretariat Service are examples of services. Within these services there may be classes as senior, junior or as I, II, III, etc., and within a given class there may be several grades of pay.
In making classification of position, the agency has to take into account a number of considerations which are (i) field of work, subject-matter or activity of a position; (ii) the kind and degree of supervision from above to which it is subject; (iii) the kind and degree of supervision flowing from the post downward; (iv) responsibility other than supervisory; if any; (v) the difficulty or simplicity or complexity of work; and (vi) qualifications required for the post.
In India the services of the Government of India are classified into All-India Services and Central Services. All-India Services include the Indian Administrative Service, the Indian Foreign Service, the Indian Police Service, etc. The Central Services are sub-divided into classes, I, II, III and IV. There is also a separate Central Secretariat Service divided into classes, I, II, III and IV.
Advantages of Classification:
Its advantages may be briefly stated as follows:
The first great advantage of classification is that it systematizes and simplifies personnel administration. With classification the various posts, which run into hundreds of thousands are fitted into a dozen classes or so. If these posts are not classified and the government deals with each post singly, the burden of personnel administration would be intolerable.
Second classification facilitates the problem of personnel recruitment. It makes it possible for the operating service to determine definitely its personnel needs and inform the recruiting agency accordingly. Recruiting agency prescribes the same kind of tests for the employees of a particular class and prepares a list of ‘eligibles’ out of which the departments make appointments.
Third classification acts as a safeguard against arbitrariness and favouritism in the fixation of pay scales for particular classes. It ensures equal pay for equal work. The salary does not depend on the arbitrary will of the official. A direct relation between salary and work done is established.
Fourth it makes possible the establishment and operation of a promotion system that will at once do justice and tend to bring about advancement according to merit. Promotion is made from a lower position to a higher one within the same class. The official can know in advance what to expect by way of preferment in due course. If there had been no classes and no fixed lines of promotion, anybody from anywhere could be brought to fill up higher vacancies anywhere. The result would be discontentment and loss of morale.
Fifth classification facilitates budget making “by enabling those having the duty of framing and acting upon the budget to scrutinize with intelligence estimates for personnel and to confine their attention to the number of employees in each class required without having at the same time to pass upon the difficult question of compensation that should be provided for.
Lastly, classification fosters the growth of corporate consciousness, esprit de corps, pride, self-respect and morale within each class.
Prof. Marshall E. Dimock summarises the uses of this system in these words:
“Based on the principle of equal pay for work, position-classification is designed to eliminate the injustice of different rates of compensation for the same work in different agencies of the government. It also provides a basis for determining recruitment procedures, examinations, salary schedules and promotions and hence has come to occupy a central position in personnel administration.”
Classification advances the interests of the employees, the management, the legislative body and the tax payers. Writing about the advantages of classification Herman Finer observes: “The experience of all countries shows how necessary is such a classification. Without categories there is no calculation, no comparison, no relative assessments and evaluation, and in a popular governed state, particularly where publicity and government by political amateurs necessitates easily grasped facts and figures, control ceases where categories end….The least amount of evil in State service is produced by the best classification.
Disadvantages:
There is only one objection to classification, namely, that it produces class-consciousness among the services. The higher classes develop a type of superiority complex and the lower classes suffer from inferiority complex. This danger is already clearly visible in our public services. A sort of ‘administrative casteism’ has swept our administration, thus upsetting harmonious relations between the higher and the lower classes in the services. But this is a defect which is inherent in hierarchical organization and is unavoidable in administration. However, it can be minimised by providing a proper system of promotion from lower classes to the higher.
If classification is to be effective, it is necessary that it should be reviewed from time to time. Positions change their nature and character with every change in the functions of an organizational unit. Therefore, classification must keep pace with the changes in day-to-day administration.
3. Spoils System:
In order to have personnel system based on sound principles, it is necessary that it should be based upon merit system. The earlier substitutes for the merit system were three—sale of offices, the patronage system and the spoils system.
Writing about the history of French Personnel System, Prof Herman Finer observes, “In France until revolution, almost every office, central or local, excepting the dozen or so highest offices in the kingdom, were attainable only by private purchase, gift or inheritance. All public offices were a species of private property, and a voluminous jurisprudence governed their transmission.”
It may seem odd today to sell public offices to the highest bidder, but it was defended in France in those days on the ground that it brought revenues to the State, enabled the common man to acquire posts and took the public offices out of court favouritism and politics.
The patronage system prevailed in England and most of the other countries. Under it the appointing authority selected the candidates on the basis of personal favour or political grounds. The spoils system prevailed in U.S.A. which was its ancestral home.
It means that public office constitutes a spoils to be enjoyed by the political party victorious at the polls. When a new party came into power it dismissed all the employees appointed by its predecessor and filled the vacancies with its own favorites. This system is also designated as “Hiring and Firing” of public officials and employees.
However, in U.S.A. the system suffered an eclipse when President Garfield was assassinated by a disgruntled employee who was removed by him from the office. To save the future presidents from such ghastly tragedies Pendleton Act was passed by the Congress in 1883. The Act gave the civil service permanency of tenure and its present character. The spoils system to some extent does persist even now.
When President Eisenhower assumed the reins of government he removed several officers from office. Many of the posts are still immune from the operation of civil service regulations. Appointments to these posts are made by the Chief Executive without consulting the Civil Service Commission. These are the spoils to be doled out by the President elect from the patronage basket.
In India, some temporary or provisional appointments are made without consuming the Public Service Commission. Thus the political party in power is in a position to appoint certain employees of its choice without consulting an expert body.
People appointed on ad hoc basis gain experience and ultimately on the basis of long experience, get selected through the Pubic Service Commissions at a later stage. This amounts to resorting to nasty practice the spoils system in indirect way.
Why Spoils System was in Vogue in U.S.A. ?
1. Americans’ faith in democratic principle induced them to opt for such a system. They advocate equality of rights and opportunities. As such “no man has any more right to official station than another.” The simplicity of their administration during 18th century was also responsible for upholding such a view.
President Jackson remarked in 1821, “Duties of all public officers are so plain and simple that men of intelligence may readily qualify themselves for their performance.”
2. Personal motive also played predominant part for opting for such a system. Dr. Finer correctly remarked, “Spontaneous friendliness, conviviality and generosity produced and produce spoils.” The Chief Executive is in a position to get assistance of a band of loyalists chosen by him on the basis of their personal qualifications.
3. The system is consistent with the system of party government.
The policy envisaged by a party can be properly implemented by officials appointed by the party boss, President Jefferson at the time of assuming office remarked, “If the will of the nation manifested by these various elections calls for an administration of government according with the opinions of those elected…. the removal or replacement of officials is a painful office but it is made my duty and I must meet it as such.”
Besides in a party government system, nepotism is an effective device of rewarding the party henchmen.
4. The theory of rotation of office also favours the system. This theory is considered as an effective means of stopping government from becoming a caste alien to the people, a means of maintaining the responsibility of officials to the people.”
Defects of Spoils System:
First, the ‘spoils system’ is a bane on efficient administration. Beautifully summing up its evils Dr. Herman Finer said, “Sheer inefficiency was the first result, an increase in public costs second; the creation of a class of office seekers third; political corruption, the fourth; a standing battle between the President and Senate for the control of appointments and removals a fifth; and a terrible waste of time and labour on the part of the President and heads of departments, coupled with the real pain of refusal of applications for office, the sixth.”
He concludes that “Never had a state been so debauched” George William Curtis observes, “Partisan prostitution of the public service is radical treachery to popular government because it makes private interest and not the public welfare the motive of political action….It is one of the chief evils of the Spoils System that reckless abuse of patronage, the most lavish and acknowledged corruption, have made party despotism so absolute that the conscience and intelligence of the country are largely enslaved by unprincipled ignorance and insolent cunning.”
Second, the far reaching effect of this system is upon the political life of the country. It causes a profound degradation into the life of politicians and “tends to place the contest of political parties on a materialistic plane of struggle for selfish advantage rather than one for the achievement of ends looking to public welfare.” The spirit of public service is damped and its place is taken by selfish interest and political chicanery.
Third, the employees make an illegitimate use of their offices to promote the welfare of their political parties or that of political chieftains to whom they are indebted for their appointment. National interests are thus completely ignored.
Fourth, anything like a development of a true esprit de corps and desire to excel is impossible as the further promotion of employees depends on the political influence that they can exert.
Fifth, frequent replacement of high administrative officials is detrimental to the keeping of continuity of experience which is so very essential for efficient administration.
It is on account of these evils that the system is being abandoned even in its home country. It is being increasingly realized that the perpetuation of this system brings politics and administration to the lowest ebb, and consequently makes the administrators face public ridicule.
4. Merit System:
Merit system implies a system in which the appointment and conditions of service of an employee are determined solely at his own intrinsic merit—which includes his educational and technical qualifications, personal capacities and physical fitness. Under this system, recruitment is made through open competitive examination held by a general personnel agency.
No distinction is made between citizens on the basis of any party affiliation. Civil servants remain neutral in politics and promotions take place strictly on the basis of merit. This system has, in fact, gained great popularity. In various democracies, civil service rules have been framed to apply the merit system to the selection and recruitment of public services.
The following conditions are generally laid down by the modern civil service regulations:
(a) Employees should neither be appointed nor removed on political considerations.
(b) Employees should not be forced to contribute money or services to party organisation
(c) An independent and impartial Civil Service Commission should be set up to exercise control over civil services regarding their recruitment, promotion and other disciplinary matters.
(d) The civil service positions be filled on the basis of written examinations or other tests.
(e) A special procedure may be adopted for protecting the employees against removal on political considerations.
Advantages of Merit System:
Merit system is obviously superior to the spoils system. First, it brings out public administration from the morass of political intrigues and personal caprices and accords it a place on scientific lines. This effects efficiency in administration and purifies political life.
In the words of Willoughby, “It means a purification of political life, the doing of justice between citizens in respect to their advancement, the endorsement of the principles of permanency of tenure, and that of making the government services offer permanent careers to their employees, and it removes the temptation from government employees to misuse the powers of their offices for partisan and personal ends.”
Second, right man is put at the right place and full justice is done by providing equal opportunities to all the citizens to compete for any office of the State. Thus merit system gives practical effect to the democratic principle of the “equality of opportunity and equality of treatment for all.”
Third, it frees the employees from the economic worries. The adoption of equitable rates of remuneration and proper retirement benefits relieve them of economic worries. Thus they are in a position to serve wholeheartedly any political party that comes in power.
Fourth, neutrality in politics is the sine qua non of efficient administration. That is possible only if merit system is adopted.
Fifth, they will not have the temptation of making hay while the sun shines, as they are permanently in power and a certain age is fixed for the retirement. They are not in job on temporary basis which may tempt them to procure maximum gains.
Though merit system has been widely adopted in the world still it would be too much to say that patronage and spoils system have completely disappeared or the merit system has been universally adopted. In U.S.A. it is estimated that the number of posts excluded from the merit system is still sizable 50,000 to 100,000. In our country political appointments, i.e., appointments to the posts of ministers, parliamentary secretaries, chief commissioners, governors, ambassadors, etc., are outside the purview of merit system.
Under Article 320 of the Indian Constitution the President and the Governors are empowered to exclude by regulation from the purview of the Public Service Commission’s of their respective jurisdictions such posts as they think necessary. Likewise ad hoc appointments are made by the heads of the Departments. This seriously impairs the Merit System.
Disadvantages of Merit System:
Despite the fact that merit system has been universally acclaimed as a better alternative to Spoils System.
Still it too has its pitfalls:
Since powers of appointment are concentrated in the hands of Civil Service Commissions, the principle of responsibility stands undermined. Hence there is a reaction against it. According to Pfiffner, “to-day, a theory of personnel has appeared which believes that the cardinal objective of personnel management is the positive motivation of people to become competent loyal and happy members of a production team.”
It is being seriously considered by this school that “workers must be motivated towards effective performance by their own programme leaders and supervisors.” This should not be taken to mean that the appointing officers should have authority to ‘hire and fire’.
It simply means that directing personnel should exercise control over their subordinate staff and there should be internal checks like service ratings over the authority of officers.
Secondly, it is felt that loyalists may not be recruited and there may be occasional conflicts between the political heads and the permanent services. However, this flaw can be easily removed if a proper balance is maintained between responsibility and efficiency.
The services are supposed to be loyal to the people rather than the party leaders. If they serve the former well the latter should not ordinarily interfere in their affairs or unduly harass them. The end before administrator is the welfare of the people and not pampering the political leaders.
Then flaws of merit system are not so glaring as those of the spoils system. Hence there is a tendency to adjust the personnel system more and more fully to the requirements of the merit principle.
Even the Civil Service Associations and Social Reformers have strongly advocated the merit principle and vehemently opposed the patronage system which results from spoils system. It appears that a time is fast approaching when spoils man would no more ride.
5. Government Service as a Career:
Another important foundation of personnel administration is the extent to which government service can be presented as life career. In December 1933 the U.S. Social Science Research Council appointed a commission of enquiry on public services which described the concept of a Government ‘Career Service’ in these words “We…recommend that the day-today administrative work of government be definitely made a career service.
By this we mean that steps shall be taken to make public employment a worthwhile life work, with entrance to the service open and attractive to young men and women of capacity and character, and with opportunity of advancement through service and growth to posts of distinction and honour.
The Commission defined a career as “an honorable occupation which one normally takes up in youth with the expectation of advancement and pursues until retirement.”
Willoughby defined career system as “a system that offers equal opportunities to all citizens to enter government service, equal pay to all employees doing work requiring the same degree of intelligence and capacity, equal opportunities for advancement, equally favourable work conditions and equal participation in retirement allowances and makes equal work demands upon the employees.”
According to Prof Milton M. Mendel, it is a system “predicated on recruiting young men and women with capacity for learning and growth, training them in order to develop and utilize their aptitudes, and offering them opportunities for advancement in responsibility and remuneration.”
The purpose of career service is to attract young men and women of talent and ambition in the government service. Such opportunities of promotion and advancement should be provided so that people may select government job as a permanent career.
Essentials of Government Service Career System:
To establish government service as career the following essentials are to be observed:
(i) There should be security and permanence of job. Permanence of tenure of office is the sine qua non of this system. Many people want to enter government service because it provides security of job.
(ii) There should be equal opportunity for all the citizens to compete for government service. No such special privileges should be conferred on any particular section of population as may check the best talents from entering into government service.
(iii) There should be equal pay for equal work.
(iv) Full freedom and opportunity of advancement should be provided. Promotion should be on merit and not on personal considerations. The road of progress from lower to higher positions should be kept open and not closed.
The advantages of career system are immense. It gives to the State a class of employees who are competent, loyal and contented members of the service. In the words of Prof. Milton M. Mandel, “the advantages are team work and continuity in administration and an effective way of attracting the ablest candidates to the public service?
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The employee gets security of service and adequate opportunities for promotion. It provides him freedom from fear of want during his service period as well as after retirement. To the citizen, the system ensures equality of opportunity.
It need not be emphasized that all classes of employees including specialists like medical men, engineers, chemists, accountants, statisticians, etc., should be provided with opportunity for advancement and promotion. Career service is the only effective way of attracting the best and talented men to public service.
No doubt in India the government can get the best talented persons for its services without making them career service due to high unemployment. The conditions of employment are so worse in India that a well educated person is ready to serve at a quite ordinary post carrying a very low grade of pay. It does not mean that the government should exploit the talents but it should provide suitable jobs for all.
It may, however, be said that too dogged an attachment to the career service system may sometimes prove detrimental to the interests of the State. Hence Prof Mandel is of the view that “an occasional injection of employees from outside the service in higher grade position can be justified.
He further maintained that, “new techniques in technical and professional services require new employees both on a temporary and permanent basis to provide leadership in the use of techniques. Also the stimulus to competition from outside an organisation if limited in its application so as to preserve the career idea, is a useful incentive to employees to keep abreast of the developments in their fields.”