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Description
Introduction
Most countries have witnessed the emergence of determined efforts to reform the civil service in the last few decades. Driven by such traditional catalysts, like financial crises or loss of trust for the state, many governments have pursued ambitious public service reforms: better control over the application of public policies, more flexible procedures and services geared more closely to the citizens' needs. Such orientation is now deeply reflected in the increased accountability for senior managers. The missions of senior managements have been stripped back from line management to strategic management of public policies. Reforming senior management is currently becoming a common theme in many countries around the world. Many countries have created or restructured the senior civil service group in an effort to manage their senior managers in a different manner from the rest of the civil service (OECD, 2004).
The Roh Moo-hyun administration (2003-present) announced in 2003 that it would establish a new senior civil service and that plan received salient attention not only from officials in the civil service itself but also from everyday citizens as well as from the business community. Finally, it was introduced on July 1, 2006. In order to improve the government's world competitiveness, the Korean government has carried out various reform measures including civil service reform in the last couple of decades. These reform measures include: the establishment of the Civil Service Commission, job posting (government-wide competition) within the civil service, open posting (internally and externally) for a number of designated positions (20 percent of grade 3 and above), performance-related pay and bonus schemes, the diversification of the civil service entrance examination, personnel exchanges from all directions, utilization of 360-degree feedback, and more (Kim, 2000a, 2000b, 2001, 2002, 2003). (1)
During the Kim Dae-jung administration (1998-2003), one of the government's achievements was civil service reform (Kim, 2000). In 1999, President Kim Dae-jung established the Civil Service Commission and implemented various reform agendas on public personnel affairs as mentioned above. However, one of the unresolved issues was the establishment of senior civil service during the Kim administration. At that time, the Presidential Committee of Government Innovation (PCGI) reviewed this issue raised by the PCGI working group on personnel and organization affairs but the issue failed to materialize due to a lack of understanding and political support. (2) In other words, PCGI put the senior civil service issue on the review table, but it did not become a part of the government agenda (Kim and Lee, 1999). (3)
When President Roh Moo-hyun (2003-Present) took power in February 2003 he organized the Presidential Committee of Government Innovation and Decentralization (PCGID) as a principal arm for public sector reform. PCGID prepared various reform roadmaps. The first roadmap prepared by PCGID was a roadmap for personnel reform; one of the major issues in the roadmap for personnel reform was the establishment of a new senior civil service. The reform of the senior civil service was chosen as a central task in accordance with the core concept of public personnel management of the Roh administration.
The Roh administration selected a roadmap for personnel management reform as a major task. Research on the senior civil service was contracted out to an independent institute in 2003. Job analysis of positions involving office chief and bureau directors was conducted in 2003 and 2004. In 2003, the analysis targeted 457 positions of relatively more importance out of a total of 957 in 18 ministries and agencies; in 2004, the analysis targeted 431 out of a total of 558 in 37 agencies and committees. A job analysis was then carried out to find a way to improve performance and accountability, analysis of competency, and compensation. (4) Also, government-wide competitive job postings and cross-agency appointments were carried out in January 2004 for 32 bureau-director level positions in 32 central ministries and agencies. (5)
Accordingly, review of the establishment of a new senior civil service would be timely and informative for the interests of both the general society and academic communities. Along this line, the purpose of this article is to review one of the hottest current issues in the Korean government's public service reform and share some lessons for further development of higher-level civil service.
International Trends
In OECD countries that have taken the lead in reform, a similar system has long been in force in order to promote competition, competency, leadership, professionalism, and a global viewpoint among senior officials. In the United States the Senior Executive Service (SES) was adopted in 1978 (effective in 1979) affecting more than 7,000 officials at the bureau director level in charge of management, supervision and policymaking. (6) In the United Kingdom about 3,800 officials were formed into the senior civil service in 1996. (7) In Canada, the Executive (EX) Group was established in early 1990s through various steps and consists of almost 4,000 individuals. (8) In Australia ranks and grades were simplified and the positions of about 1,450 officials above division chief level were pooled into the Senior Executive Service in 1984. (9) The Netherlands Senior Public Service, which was instituted in 1995, affected those at or above bureau director level and expanded in 2001 to include division chiefs. (10) In all, about 900 officials (top management group and management posts) are involved in 2003.
For international comparison, it would be better to review at least a few cases around the world. Many Asian and African countries are latecomers in installing a separate higher-level civil service. Also, many Latin American countries are still under the substantial influence of the spoils system. Accordingly, examples of higher-level civil service were selected from the continents of North America, Europe, and Oceania. Cases from five countries which have higher-level civil service are briefly described in the following section for a comparative perspective. They are: the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands. (11)
The United States
The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 established the "Senior Executive Service" (SES) as a separate federal personnel system. SES is managed by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and includes more than 7,000 positions throughout the federal government. (12) SES executives potentially serve as key links between top political appointees and the rest of... |
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