The job of a public servant is to be of service to the public.
It seems obvious (and tautological) when stated like that, but upon joining a public sector organisation, you’d be forgiven for thinking otherwise. Welcome packs1 will discuss the organisational values and stress the importance of involving residents in decision-making, being ‘sustainable’, or tackling the latest social issue. These ideas are reinforced through lengthy induction programmes, KPIs, ‘employee experience frameworks’, and other HR policies.
There’s nothing wrong with having and disseminating organisational values. The problem is that unless these values are in service to a broader goal or purpose, they’re either ignored or become ends unto themselves. For example, delivering high engagement metrics may become necessary for promotion, but the public does not care for engagement for the sake of engagement. The public wants quality public services and to be engaged as necessary to ensure their views are incorporated as best they can be. Engagement that does not inform a decision is a waste of everybody’s time and resources.
Any organisation that lacks an explicit unifying purpose will come to serve an implicit purpose instead. Staff come to see their role as a means to an end. Another step on the career ladder, or a chance to see their ideology enacted perhaps. A culture of service is supplanted by a culture of careerism or political activism. The best one can hope for is that these merely compete for attention and resources and reduce the quality of the service provided. More likely, the principal-agent problem arises, and the incentives of public servants begin to run counter to the public interest.
The term ‘civil’ service was coined to distinguish it from ‘military service’. Civilian work, rather than military, but a vocation of service nonetheless. Some Western societies (most notably the USA) have retained a culture of service within their military. This culture is reinforced both from within and without through high expectations of competence, while service members are compensated with honour and public respect.
After decades of cascading mismanagement and elitism, trust in public institutions has declined markedly. Lurching from one disaster and cost overrun to another, what value it does provide is largely thanks to the decaying legacy of infrastructure and institutions laid down by past generations. Reform is needed to cope with the demands of a rapidly changing world.
Nevertheless, a career in public service is worthy of your time. You get to wield enormous regulatory and financial power far in excess of all but the most senior private sector executives. The rewards are in seeing the community you’re a part of thrive and prosper, creating a world of possibilities for the next generation.
A meditation. Think about your neighbours: tradespeople, business owners, doctors, retirees, and solo mums. All of whom could no doubt use a few thousand dollars extra in the bank each year2, but instead have no choice but to pay for your salary. Your work is your neighbourhood’s contribution to the collective. Can you look them in the eye, knowing that they’re better off for having you there?
These were randomly selected from the first page of a Google search for ‘council staff induction documents’. As far as I can tell, almost all English-speaking local councils are like this these days.
Or, if you’re working for central government: think of fewer households paying a much higher proportion of their income through taxes.