Union, principally financed by the EU
A joint initiative of the OECD and the European
Overview of Civil Service
Salary Systems in EU Member
States and some Reform
Trends
Sean Fitzpatrick
Bucharest, 25 April
2007
© OECD
Union, principally financed by the EU
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CV
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Irish Civil Servant for 35 years
Recent career in Ministry of Finance
dealing with Public Service reform
Seconded to the Bahamas
Seconded to EIPA
Currently reforming the Budget and
Estimate process
Pay study for EIPA 2002, OECD Study
2005
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Union, principally financed by the EU
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OECD Report
20 May 2005
224 pages
ISBN: 9264007555
Price: €28 | $36 |
£18 | ¥3700 |
© OECD
Union, principally financed by the EU
A joint initiative of the OECD and the European
OECD Report
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Overview of PRP policies for government employees in
selected OECD Member countries from 1985
Strengths and weaknesses of PRP policies assessed.
Explores the various paths of reform in each country, why
PRP policies are being implemented and how PRP
operates concretely.
Outcomes of PRP policies at individual and team levels
are evaluated.
Recommendations are made on what should be done or
avoided with the implementation of PRP.
The report includes a number of case studies.
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EIPA’s PRP Study 2002
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Spanish proposal,
Questionnaire drafted and agreed by
EUPAN, European Public
Administration Network, Ministers
responsible for Public Administration
in Member States
www.eupan.org
Report presented to Ministers at La
Rioja, June 2002
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Private Sector Ideas
Minister
Front-line staff
Top Mgmt
Middle Mgmt
Middle Mgmt
Top Mgmt
Front-line Staff
Support
and
resources
Minister
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Reform Trends
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New Public Management
Budgetary Reforms
Organisational restructuring
Marketisation
Efficiency and effectiveness
Customer orientation
Pariticipation
Requires Buy-in from staff – for what
rewards?
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Salary Systems Changing
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Responses indicate that reward systems are
under continuous review
While there are similarities, the range of rewards
differs substantially across public administration
The focus of both studies was on pay systems
linked to productivity or performance; it is clear
that there is a significant move under way in
most developed countries to consider
individualising pay to improve performance
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Pay bargaining
“An important argument in favour of
decentralisation of bargaining is that it allows to
adapt more flexibly than unified and centralised
systems to specific occupational or regional and
local labour market situations. This should
increase efficiency and effectiveness of the
public service.”
• Labour relations in European public service:
towards convergence within divergence?, 2002
• Koen Nomden and Marie-Laure Onneé-Abbruciati
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Spread of Salary Reform
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1980s – Canada, Denmark, Netherlands,
New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, UK, US
Early 90s – Australia, Finland, Ireland,
Italy
More recently – Germany, Korea,
Switzerland, Czech Republic, Hungary,
Poland, Slovak Republic
2004 – France – pilot scheme in 6
ministries for top level civil servants
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Salary as a Motivator
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Most replies say employees see link between
pay and performance but no analysis to support
this
Danish motivation survey showed that additional
money was not a significant motivator for
employees
Employees motivated to produce if they can taste
the fruits of their labour
However, when creating a compensation
strategy, clear communication of the scheme’s
aim is vital.
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What produces dissatisfaction?
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Time delays in filling vacant positions
Too few rewards for good performance
Formal job descriptions bear little relation to the actual job
Poor selection of candidates in recruitment process
Limited opportunity for promotion
HRM / Personnel policies poor
Lack of mobility
Need for fair systems of promotion and reward
Complaints of citizens
Poor image of public administration
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Is invidiualisation of salary enhancing
performance and motivation
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Studies show different implementation in practice
(scope of awards, individual or team)
Studies show rather disappointing results
Paradoxes: Employees want to be rewarded
individually but not that colleagues are better
paid
Failure to get it may be seen as punishment of
those who perform normally
Demotivating when the bonus is not repeated
BUT … Changes can help improve performance
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So, what is motivating … ?
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Interesting work (content)
Responsibility in the job
Challenges – career development
Good working conditions (pressure, holidays,
flexible working time, nice colleagues, etc.)
Pay
Job placement. The right position for the right
person
Good leadership
© OECD
© OECD
Union, principally financed by the EU
A joint initiative of the OECD and the European
Union, principally financed by the EU
A joint initiative of the OECD and the European
Reward System is a method of
reinforcement
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Reinforcement is the key to human motivation. People
behave in anticipation of positive and reward
consequences. By using reinforcement appropriately, you
can significantly increase motivation.
Appropriate reinforcement means Rewards should always
be contingent on performance; if you give rewards when
they aren’t deserved, they will lose their reinforcing value.
Don’t give too much reinforcement; too much is as bad as
none at all.
Reinforcement is personal; what suits one person may not
suit another.
Find out what is pleasant for people and use these
pleasant consequences as reinforcers.
Dispense reinforcers as soon as possible after their
desired performance occurs. Then the employee will be
more likely to associate the reinforcer with the
performance.
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Make sure that effort pays off in results
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Effort is the currency of motivation; this is how
people demonstrate it. If effort does not pay off,
there will be a tendency to stop trying.
A popular principle of human behaviour, the
“principle of least effort”, applies here. People
will expend the least effort necessary in order to
obtain satisfactory results.
This principle indicates that effort is a scarce and
valuable commodity. If effort does not result in
reward, effort will be withheld, just as money will
be withheld if its purchasing power decreases too
much.
Motivation is the effective management of effort.
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Be concerned with short-term and
long-term motivation
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Sometimes rewards and incentives are so
remote in time that their motivating impact is
weakened.
People should be given short-term, as well as
long-term, reinforcement. Conversely, people
who receive only short-term reinforcement and
incentives tend to fall short of optimal motivation:
they lack a long-term perspective on their jobs.
Effective motivational programmes utilise a
complementary set of short-term and long-term
incentives and rewards.
© OECD