My Reflection on Civil Service Management

April 4, 2014

1. Introduction

Bhutan embarked on modern development in 1961, when the first five year development plan was launched. With the onset of modern development the bureaucratic Civil Service system came into existence.

During 1960s the respective agencies had the authority to recruit, place and promote its employees. As management became more complex, the Government felt the need to have a central personnel agency with a clear mandate.

In 1973, the Department of Manpower was established under the Ministry of Development. In 1982, the Royal Charter for the Royal Civil Service Commission was issued for improving management of Human Resource (HR) engaged in delivery of public services.

Mandated by the Royal Charter 1982, the Royal Civil Service Commission (RCSC) was established in 1983. The RCSC was made responsible to ensure uniformity in HR actions, promote efficiency and effectiveness, motivation and morale, loyalty, and integrity among Civil Servants.

Since then, the RCSC has been the apex body for Civil Service HR management and development. Included in the RCSC’s mandate was to reform Civil Service and ensure its relevance in changing circumstances.

In 1989, the RCSC adopted Cadre System (CS), and classified the Civil Service job into eight Cadres. A hierarchy of Grades ranging from 1 to 17 was adopted. The entry Grade with corresponding qualification and training requirement, and the highest Grade for each Cadre were determined.

In 1990, the first Civil Service Rules and Regulations (BCSR-1990), was released to ensure just, equitable and fair treatment to every Civil Servant. The subsequent editions of BCSR were published in 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2012.

The Good Governance (GG) for Gross National Happiness (GNH) exercise held in 1999 outlined the following recommendations for RCSC:

Sl. No.	Action	Initiation of Process	Effective Date
1.	Decentralize the implementation of non-academic short term training, workshop, and seminars from the RCSC to line agencies.	November 1999	July 2000
2.	Decentralize appointment and recruitment of wage, GSC cadre and drivers to the Ministries and Dzongkhags against sanctioned posts.	November 1999	March 2000
3.	Institute Selection and Promotion Committees in all Ministries and Dzongkhags.	November 1999	January 2000
4.	Transfer pre-service undergraduate scholarship from RCSC to Education Ministry	November 1999	By 2002.
5.	Simplify the process of obtaining all clearances with the application of IT.	November 1999	No date
6.	Review caderisation system and develop a job classification system.	November 1999	By July 2002

The GG plus for GNH (2005) exercise reiterated and reinforced some of the pending recommendations of the GG for GNH (1999), and outlined additional new recommendations, which, besides others, included:

Sl. No.	Action	Date	Indicators
1.	Establish Administrative Tribunal	July 2007	Tribunal Established
2.	Institute induction programs	Immediately	Included/incorporated in PCS
3.	Training on code of conducts	Immediately	Included/incorporated in PCS
4.	Continual in-service training.	Immediately	Included/incorporated in PCS
5.	Introduce personal development programs.	Immediately	Included/incorporated in PCS
6.	Institute training programs for front line employees to promote customer relationship.	July 2006	Customer survey for satisfaction
7.	Institute award system for innovation.	July 2006.	List of awards given.
8.	Create merit based system	Immediately	Included/incorporated in PCS
9.	Require rural posting as criterion for promotion to Grade-V and above.	Immediately	Included/incorporated in PCS
10.	Decentralize non-academic short term trainings/ workshops and seminars to line Ministries.	July 2006.	Confirmation from the Ministries.
11.	RCSC should adopt strategy for right-sizing the civil service.	Periodically starting July 2006.	Staffing of all agencies rationalized.
12.	Implement Position Classification System.	January 2006.	PCS implementation as proposed.

In 2005, in compliance with the recommendations GG for GNH (1999) and GG Plus (2005) exercises, the RCSC embarked on transforming the Cadre System (CS) into Position Classification System (PCS). In the same year, the PCS policy (2005) was endorsed by the Government. Indeed the adoption of the PCS was propelled by the recommendations GG for GNH (1999) and GG Plus (2005) exercises.

The primary objective of the PCS was to prepare the Civil Service for the forthcoming parliamentary democratic system of governance. The intent was to dissociates Civil Service from politicization and provide stability and continuity across Governments of different political philosophies.

The PCS policy (2005) advocated three key principles of right person for the right position, open competitive selection, and equal pay for equal value of work. The other determining principles of PCS were professionalism, meritocracy, efficiency, fairness, transparency and accountability.

The adoption of PCS caused a major shift from a guaranteed life time employment to constantly challenged situation for having to compete and excel for career progression.

In-spite of many desired features of the PCS, and all the efforts made for smooth transition from CS to PCS, the dissatisfaction and confusion were evident. In 2008, Cabinet forwarded the PCS related issues raised by the Ministries and Agencies to the RCSC, with a directive to address the views of the implementing agencies.

In 2009, when the first RCSC Commission was appointed as per the provision of the Constitution, the process of PCS fine tuning was on-going. The new Commission took note of the difficulties and decided to internally review PCS. The PCS Review Repot (2009) outlined recommendations for way forward for every PCS issue for amicable resolution.

Although the dissonance to the Cadre system was not very clearly established, the PCS brought about three credible reforms:

(i) Classified Civil Service jobs in a more comprehensive manner which enabled the Civil Service to specialize and address the ever increasing development challenges, needs and complexities,

(ii) Introduced the system of open competition which made it possible to select only the competent Civil Servants with convincing management and leadership traits to take up the management and executive positions, and

(iii) Created specialist career path for well qualified Civil Servants.

2. Objective

PCS was adopted at time when Bhutan was in the process of having democracy. It was desired that the Civil Service remains apolitical with high standards of accountability and transparency, and low level of corruption at all levels. It was also desired that the Civil Service of the day is able to anticipate and rapidly respond to the development challenges.

The primary purpose of adopting the PCS was to ensure a Civil Service guided by a highest standard of ethics and integrity that is professionally competent and responsive to every democratically elected government.

Indeed in a democracy it is the stable Civil Service that guarantees institutional continuity for social and economic development of the country which must be responsive and relevant, and remain so in every changing situation.

This study was undertaken keeping in view the challenges being confronted in Civil Service management in post PCS adoption period with the following objectives:

i. To understand the problems associated with the adoption of the PCS, and

ii. To outline the way forward for resolving the issues.

This study is expected gauge how PCS had ensured merit principles, adherence to laws and rules particularly the application of the uniform rules, transparency in all HR actions, and integrity among Civil Servants.

The study took note that an honest and efficient Civil Service is critical in nation building. It is the effective management of Civil Service that ensures high degree of accountability and transparency that brings about engagement of Civil Servants in a professional manner. It is the management dynamics that determines motivation and morale of the Civil Servants that brings about effectiveness and efficiency in public service delivery.

It also noted the challenges of growing size of the Civil Service at a predictable pace and the complexities of public service delivery having to deliver effectively and efficiently.

3. Study Method

The basic framework of this study was to understand how Civil Service of Bhutan had progressed with the adoption of PCS.

The historic perspective, the information and records of RCSC decisions, HR plans, acts, rules and regulations were studied.

The important documents referred were: Royal Charter of the Royal Civil Service Commission -1982, Report on Good Governance -1999, Bhutan Civil Service Rules and Regulation-1990, 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2012, PCS Policy document -2005, Report on Good Governance Plus-2005, Position Classification System Manual-2006, Report on Organizational Development: Strengthening the Bhutanese Bureaucracy-2007, the relevant provisions of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan, and the Civil Service Act of Bhutan 2010.

Relevant literatures on Civil Service systems and on reforms of similar nature elsewhere were reviewed.

Consultations were held with Civil Servants of different agencies at different levels.

The views of some senior officials were sought who had gone through the process of planning and implanting the PCS.

No formal survey or structured data collection, analysis and interpretation were done for determining the way forward and arriving at conclusion of this study.

4. Literature Review

In 1883, the 47^th U.S. Congress passed Pendleton Civil Service Act which was the centerpiece of the administration of Chester A. Arthur, the 21^st President of the United States (1881-1885). The act was inevitable to have merit based Civil Service to get rid of the existing spoils system.

The Pendleton Civil Service Act required Government job be awarded on the basis of merit and that government employees be selected through competitive examinations. The Act also made it unlawful to fire or to demote a Civil Servant, who is covered by the Act, for political reasons. The Act further prohibited Civil Servants to give political service or contributions to political masters.

The Pendleton Act established a Civil Service Commission whose mandate was to wrest the public service from the control of political leaders. With the passage of the Pendleton Act, the era of professional public service began (Skowronek 1982).

However, the US Civil Service Commission could mould the old federal public service, termed as spoils system, into merit based system only towards 1930s. Although the reformers had declared their victory over the forces of patronage and spoils, the recruitment into government offices was still being influenced by the politicians (Eric 1988).

The patronage system still prevails in many political systems, usually for top positions in the government, which is felt essential by the political leaders. Patronage system seems right particularly for specific sensitive positions in the government at which trust edge out merit.

Woodrow Wilson (1887), the 28^th President of the US (1913-21), in his publication in 1987, “The Study of Administration,” wrote Civil Service based on merit should not be subjected to politics. Wilson, considered the father of public administration, advocated four essential elements of merit based Civil Service: (1) separation of politics and administration, (2) comparative analysis of political and private organizations, (3) improving efficiency with business-like practices and attitudes, and (4) improving the effectiveness of public service through better management and training, and merit-based assessment.

Max Weber (1946) defined Civil Service systems as public organizations in which non-elected public sector jobs are filled through a process of credentialing based on merit. There exists a career ladder which is accessed based on merit. The tenure is secured barring malfeasance in office; where the in and out movement is regulated and compensated. The duties, bound by the rules and procedures, are performed for the state and not for the patron or political interests.

In 2006, the Inter American Development Bank (IDB) published a study of the public sector administration system in 18 Latin American countries (Grindle, M. 2010). The IDB report indicated five levels of merit-based appointment through a process of examination or competitive process. The levels ranged from zero level assigned for complete discretion of authority to levels 4-5 assigned for extensive coverage of competence factors (Table-1).

Table-1. Extent of merit in Civil Service in 18 Latin American countries

Level
0 (Low)	1	2	3	4-5 (High)
Panama, El Salvador & Honduras	Nicaragua, Guatemala, Paraguay, Peru, Ecuador, Dominical Republic & Bolivia	Venezuela, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay & Colombia	Chile & Cost Rica	Brazil
Predominance of discretion of authorities.	Largely unsuccessful efforts to limit discretion.	Merit systems exist side by side of patronage system.	Predominance of technical criteria.	Open recruitment based on competence using valid instruments. Non arbitrary firing on the basis of performance.

Merit-based Civil Service is considered as an antidote for corruption, nepotism, partisanship, lack of professionalism, incompetence, mediocrity, malfeasance and fraud. However, political leaders see advantages in their ability to appoint ‘right people’ following the patronage system. The weakness of patronage system is not that they inevitably lead to incompetence but they are capricious and subject to personal and political opinion.

Harvard Business School launched HR management as a new academic field in 1981 (Beer et. al. 1984). It laid the ground for Harvard Model of HR management, also called US Model. The Harvard Model requires HR policies and strategies to be aligned with that of the organization, so that the organization can drive with its full potential in achieving its objective.

Fombrum, Tichy and Devana (1984) advocated Michigan Model emphasizing that people should be managed like any other resources and it should be obtained cheaply, used sparingly, developed and exploited fully.

Guest (1987) respected Harvard Model but constructed his own model known as ‘Guest Comparative Model’, also called UK Model (Boxall 1992). In his model Guest advocated integration not only at the policy and strategy levels, but also at functional levels.

Storey (1989) typified Michigan and Harvard Models as ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ models respectively.

There is no one best-fit HR management model that is universal in nature. Rightly, Fowler (1987) said HR management does not pass muster either as a reputable theory or as a better form of managing personnel. Guest (1991) said HR management is an optimistic but ambiguous concept which is all hype and hope. Mabey et al (1998) said that the prized goals of HR management remain unproven at best and unfulfilled at worst.

The success in HR management is achieved not with a model or a system but with the capacity to foresee change, adapt change on time and remain relevant. The Best fit HR management model is that which is learning and evolving at all time, keeps employees’ aspirations active and are motivated towards achieving the goal of the organization. A model that is best fit to a country should be people-orientated with respect for the individuals at all levels, genuine consultation and involvement, with well-integrated policies, transparent processes and practices, (Guest 1987).

The strength of PCS is in classifying and grouping the jobs that are sufficiently alike with respect to duties and responsibilities so they can be treated the same way for the purpose of HR actions (OPM 2009, Cheever 2011). It requires defining the duties, responsibilities and qualification requirement of each position.

Impartiality and neutrality in making HR decisions are fundamentals of merit based system in Civil Service. The PCS, as a merit-principle, commits to ensure assigning right people to right jobs and making full use of their potentials and skills (Isaacs H. 2002).

However, merit alone is insufficient condition particularly for appointing senior executives. In a democracy, every elected government tends to secure the services of trusted senior executives in which case trust becomes an overriding factor.

In Civil Service, efficiency neither emanates under physical and financial pressure nor with superfluous comfort and remuneration (Alan Price 2007). There has to be means and measures to ensure efficiency both at organizational and individual levels.

Efficiency is essentially construed by three factors; the people, the processes and the technology. Of the three, the first two are critical and of the two, the process factor can potentially make the system inefficient, and it is from the process factor there emanates corruption.

For greater accountability and efficiency, the RGoB used the instrument of program agreement, as a public sector management tool, in the 9^th FYP, for accomplishing the set targets of farm road construction. In the 10^th FYP, the RGoB applied performance agreement across agencies to realize efficiency at the system level and it is being pursued with increased impetus in 11^th FYP. It has the cognition that as much autonomy and authority as practicable is necessary for managers nearest to where result is produced. Also it is expected to be more pragmatic when physical and financial target achievements are correlated to reduction in poverty and employment generation.

Among Civil Servants, the motivation and morale are determined by the reciprocal relationship between opportunity for career progression, performance and reward. The recognition of this fact and efforts made to strengthening this reciprocal relationship determines the success of having merit based HR management (Chew Janet C.L.-2004).

Maslow (1943) believed that human beings aspire to actualize their human potential which is vastly underestimated. The extent of actualizing the potential is determined by the environment to which one it exposed. The implication of this theory provides fruitful insight for having a transparent merit based Hr management.

Victor Vroom (1964) outlined the expectancy theory which says the strength of the tendency to act in a certain way depends on the strength of the expectation. Employees will be motivated to accept a higher level of pressure when they believe that an incremental effort will lead to reward which would satisfy their personal goals.

Besides optimization and modernization of work process and procedures, the primary determinant of Civil Service performance is the overall competence of the Civil Servants. There exist positive relation between training and performance. Building competence of Civil Servants through planned training linked to career progression is a continuous process.

The rationale for Civil Service training is to create condition for organization’s effectiveness and competence (Dauphin and Starbird 1996). Investment on Civil Service training is an investment for improving public administration (Chlivickas 2003). It reflects policy making at the highest level and performance of skilled workers at the lowest level.

When there is transparent career progression and succession plan, the Civil Servants are convinced of the opportunity to progress their career and they work enthusiastically hard to realize their aspiration for higher positions and better life.

The performance-reward relation is important for motivating employees particularly in Supervisory and Support, and Operational Position Categories. The same is not always true for the employees in other Position Categories particularly those in specialist positions; who tend to have greater loyalty towards their profession.

Productivity of Civil Servants of Professional and Management, and Specialist Position Categories is enhanced when there is provision for innovation and they are listened to, and let do things in their ways. They are motivated with provisions that let them remain at the cutting edge of their profession by way of rewarding them with opportunities to do so.

In 2000, the Merit System Protection Board (MSPB) of US assessed 15 sources of motivation. The respondents had the choice to select three motivating factors and assign marks in percentage (Table 2). The 80 percent of the respondents reported job satisfaction and 54% reported the personal desire to contribute as the major sources of motivation and morale.

The MSPB US conducts such survey to assess the Federal Public Service. The views and perceptions, knowledge and skills, awareness, attitudes, and behavior, are the subject of assessment. The results of such survey provide the basis for strategic reform and management of the Federal Public Service.

Table 2 The MSPB 2000 survey result

Sl No	Sources of motivation	Ranking (%)
1.	Personal pride or satisfaction in my work	80%
2.	Personal desire to make contribution	54%
3.	Monitory award	27%
4.	My duty as public employee	23%
5.	Desire to help my work unit meets its goal	21%
6.	Increasing my chance for promotion	19%
7.	Good working environment overall	14%
8.	Availability of flexible working conditions	14%
9.	Desire to get good performance rating	10%
Note: Six motivators selected by less that 10% are not listed.

The growing size of the Civil Service is not always and necessarily linked to increasing amount of output or impact, or to the increasing diversity of services but often obliquely for no reasons or increase in rules and regulations and disharmony among them that govern the actions of the Civil Servants. Often the growing size of the Civil Service itself is seen as the root cause of inefficiency. On this reality Parkinson (1958) noted that bureaucracy tends to grow at a predictable rate, almost without regard to what the organization is doing. Increasing size of the civil Service is a universal concern.

There is no proven universal scale to decide as how big the Civil Service of a country should be. It is a subject of political and economic decision. As a thumb rule the expenditure on salary and benefits, including administrative costs, is within the range of 40 to 45% of the current budget, and the ratio of the number of civil servants to total population of the country, is more than 1:30.

5. Observations

5.1.. Structure

Cadre System (CS) was introduced to classify Civil Service jobs, provide parity in the entry grade, delineate the scope of career progression for each profession, and allow fair and just promotions.

In CS, a civil servant with entry qualification could avail career progression up to a specified Grade (Figure 1).

Recruitment in Grade 1 to 3 positions of Administrative Cadre (AC) were done from within the system, as in-service recruitment, based on observed competence and seniority, practicing the patronage system.

Figure-1. Structure of Cadre System prior to 2006

AC=Administrative Cadre, TC=Teaching Cadre, JC=Judiciary Cadre, SC=Scientific and Technical Cadre, SSC=Scientific and Technical Support Cadre, ASC=Administrative Support Cadre, and TOC=Technical and Operators Cadre.

The PCS was introduced to do away with the CS practicing patronage system. The primary purpose of introducing PCS was to ensure the bureaucracy of the country remains apolitical in the democratic system of governance.

The PCS re-classified the Civil Service jobs into 19 Major Occupation Groups (MOG) and 94 Sub-Groups (SG). A new Civil Service structure was put in place (Figure-2).

The PCS introduced two new features: (1) specialist career track and (2) in-service recruitment through open competition.

Figure-2. Career progression Structure introduced by PCS

The PCS brought about a major structural change but the new PCS structure was not reflected in the BCSR-2006. The heart of PCS was Position Directory which was not published or posted in the RCSC web site. The Position Directory not only details out the career structure but also the qualification requirement for each position of 94 SG of 19 MOG. As a result the Civil Servants were largely unaware of the change. This was pointed out by the PCS internal review 2009.

When information is not made available, the clarity misses out and confusion crops up. To execute reform of such nature in future, the communication with stakeholder should be established and the information must be made available. To win the confidence of the stakeholders, a complete transparency must be established and let the stakeholders to exercise the ownership of the change.

The job mapping was a major task carried out by PCS. In the process, the Civil Servants by virtue of occupying higher positions were mapped to that position with sub-levels applying the vested right principle and fast track promotions were given to realize the policy of equal pay for equal value of work. While Servants who had same qualification and numbers of years in service, but occupying actual positions, they were mapped at those actual positions and were not eligible for fast track promotion. This was a matter of lack of understanding and communication.

The overlap of positions of Supervisory and Support Position and that of Professional and Management Position Categories continues to be of concern. Civil Servants with Diplomas entering at S2 and S1 progresses into P5, P4 and P3 Position Levels of Professional and Management Position Category. The Position Category and Position Title of such Civil Servants belongs Supervisory and Support Position Category while Position Level belongs to Professional and Management Position Category. This is neither reflected in the structure nor stated in the BCSR as to which Position Category such Civil Servants belong. In the absence of clarity, the confusion continues.

Civil Servants entering at certain Position Category and Position Level had broad band with less Position Levels which means relatively less career promotions with entry qualification. It compromises the application of uniform rule across all categories of Civil Servants. Such a provision of PCS created stagnation at an early stage of career particularly at middle and lower levels constituting about 60% of the Civil Servants.

The PCS stacked its four Position Categories in hierarchical order as against the CS which had horizontally placed the Cadres in a discrete manner. Stacking Position Categories created two major concerns: (1) Stagnation of career progression of certain category of Civil Servants at middle and lower levels, and (2). Civil Servants of one Position Category progressing into another Position Category sharing the same Position Code and thereby creating confusion.

In the Civil Service the middle level Civil Servants in Supervisory and Support Position Category as Nurses, Overseer Engineers, Forest Rangers, Agriculture Extension Agents, Surveyors, Mines Inspectors, Bench Clerks, Laboratory Assistants, etc. are of great importance. The RGoB is investing to produce them and subsequently training them to enhance their skill.

For Civil Servants at middle level do not have enough career opportunity and they reach a position where they stagnate. Foreseeing stagnation at certain time of their career the Civil Servants opt for qualification up-gradation for which they get study leave with salaries and stipend. It means, the RGoB is investing to produced the middle level Civil Servants, training them to enhance their skill to work as middle level Civil Servants, and finally RGoB is investing again to take them out from where they are needed.

The Civil Service Act of Bhutan 2010 (Section 28 f. iv.) empowers RCSC to carry out organizational development (OD) reviews. With this mandate the RCSC is expected to regularly assess the relevance of its structure and human resource strength necessary to deliver public services effectively. The OD exercise is expected to affirm right structure and right size of every agency.

The OD exercise has been limited to receiving the FYP staffing proposals from the agencies, and according approval based on RCSC’s decision.

Many of the regulatory bodies mandated to regulate the functions of the agencies are operating under the administration of the same agencies which they are required to regulate. Such structural arrangements have made the regulatory bodies weak defeating the purpose.

There are agencies which are revenue generating by nature of their mandates yet operating as departmental agency. Such inappropriate institutional arrangement is responsible for inefficiency and burden RGoB to support with huge amount of budgetary allocation, which ends up paying the cost of inefficiency. Such an arrangement needs to be looked more critically.

The exercise of ‘agencification’ was initiated by the Government in 10^th FYP which however did not reach to any conclusion.

Way Foreword

The prevailing structural problem particularly for middle and lower level Civil Servants has to be resolved and it can only be resolved with discretely placing the four Position Categories horizontally providing adequate career progression opportunity to Civil Servants of every Position Category from their entry Position Levels.

The appropriate Civil Service structure that will ensure application of uniform rules and high motivation and morale among Civil Servants is presented in Figure -3.

Technically the right structure as presented is justified by a number of logics and rationales:

1. Application of uniform rule. Provides adequate career progression opportunity from entry position, irrespective of Position Category and entry Position Level. The differential career progression among Civil Servants of different Position Categories and the issue of stagnation will be eliminated.

2. Clarity. The crisscross happening between Supervisory and Support and Professional and Management Position Categories in cases of Civil Servants entering in S2 and S1 Position Levels will eliminated. Also the BCSE non-select graduates enter at S1 Position Level of Supervisory and Support Position Category and then switch over to Professional and Management Position Category at P5 Position Level. This issue too will be eliminated.

3. Recognition to skills: The Civil Servants in Supervisory and Support, and Operational Position Categories are skilled workers. They are in the forefront of service delivery. Their skill when recognized by providing adequate and respectable career progression opportunity, the efficiency and quality of services is better.

4. Efficiency and economy: When there is adequate career opportunity, the Civil Servant of Supervisory and Support Position Category may not opt at middle of their career to upgrade the qualification to change the Position Category simply for the purpose career progression from their stagnated position.

A Civil Servant of Supervisory and Support Position Category when upgrades qualification and pass BCSE and takes up job in Professional and Management Position Category there will be loss of skills gained through training and experience as the job is different at Professional and Management Position Category.

The RGoB do not need to invest for unwisely moving out skilled Civil Servants from where they are needed such as Nurses, Overseer Engineers, Mining Inspectors and similar others.

The RCSC should be conducting OD exercise together with the agencies concerned letting them to justify their case relating to the tasks required to be executed. The OD exercise should be the primary tool to ensure small, compact and efficient Civil Service.

Because the nature and size of the jobs to be done varies from one FYP to another, the OD exercise should ensure that every agency is rightly organized, spatially and vertically, at the beginning of every FYP to execute the planned activities effectively and efficiently.

The RCSC should also consider a strategy of having a rational balance of regular and contract appointees whose tenures aligned to the job to be executed such that the size of the regular Civil Servants remains small.

As the public services to be provided are growing in size and complexity, the quality of services has become prime concern. This necessitates that regulatory bodies should not be under the administration of the agencies being regulated. Likewise, the revenue generating agencies should be operating in corporate mode to reduce the burden of inefficiency on the RGoB.

Figure -3. Proposed alternative Civil Service Structure

Existing PCS Structure		Proposed Bhutan Civil Service (BCS) Structure				Corresponding Grade of Cadre System (CS)
Position Categories	Position Levels	Proposed Bhutan Civil Service (BCS) Structure
Position Categories	Position Levels	Executive and Specialist	Professional and Managerial	Supervisory and Support	Operational
Executive and Specialist	EX1/ES1	EX1/ES1				Grade-1
	EX2/ES2	EX2/ES2				Grade-2
	EX3/ES3	EX3/ES3				Grade-3
Professional and Management	P1		P1			Grade-4
	P2		P2	S1		Grade-5
	P3		P3	S2		Grade-6
	P4		P4	S3		Grade-7
	P5		P5	S4		Grade-8
Supervisory and Support	S1		P6	S5		Grade-9
	S2			S6		Grade-10
	S3			S7	O1	Grade-11
	S4			S8	O2	Grade-12
	S5			S9	O3	Grade-13
Operational	O1				O4	Grade-14
	O2				O5	Grade-15
	O3				O6	Grade-16
	O4				O7	Grade-17

5.2.. Recruitment

5.2.1.. Mode of Recruitment

His Majesty the King, exercising the constitutional prerogative, appoints to the highest executive positions specified in the Constitution, for which the process is specified in the Constitution itself. In making appointment to such positions specified in the Constitution, trust and confidence levels of the candidates are weighed alongside the merit. For rests of the positions, the recruitment is done through open competition based on merit.

There are two categories of recruitment: fresh recruitment and in-service recruitment. Recruitment at the Executive and Specialist Position Category is exclusively in-service. In other Position Categories, fresh recruitment is done at the entry Position Levels, while in-service recruitment through open competition is done to fill up the vacant positions at the non-entry Position Levels.

Fresh recruitment at the entry positions in the Professional and Management Position Category is done by RCSC through Bhutan Civil Service Examination (BCSE). The technical graduates enter at P4 Position Level, while non-technical graduates enter at P5, after undergoing one year PG Diploma training.

The non-technical graduates who are not selected for PG Diploma but have scored 50% or more in BCSE are eligible for recruitment, as BCSE non-select, against the vacant positions by the agencies at S1 Position Level of the Supervisory and Support Position Category through open competition.

The recruitments in the Supervisory and Support, and Operational Position Categories, both at entry level as well as at vacant positions within the broad banded positions, are decentralized to the agencies. Recruitment in those professions having Parent Agency, the fresh recruitment at the entry Position Levels (primarily at S1 and S2) is done by the respective Parent Agencies.

In view of the above there exist both patronage and merit systems of recruitment. Patronage system prevails for recruitment at the highest executive positions, while merit alone prevails for rests of the positions.

5.2.2.. The BCSE

In 1983, the RCSC instituted Civil Service Examination (CSE) for non-technical general graduates to recruit them as Civil Service Officers. In 1989 the CSE was applied to teaching Cadre and in 1996 for finance. In 2005, the RCSC centralized all CSEs previously conducted by the agencies concerned and renamed it as Civil Service Common Examination (CSCE). A minimum average qualifying cut off mark of 50% was set for appointment in the Civil Service. From 2006, technical graduates were subjected to CSE and to Dzongkha graduates from 2008.

The PCS did not touch CSCE and the imperfections in the CSCE remained to be set right.

In 2010, the CSCE was reviewed and re-designated as Bhutan Civil Service Examination (BCSE). The BCSE was categorized into five categories: (1) Dzongkha, (2) Public Administration, (3) Finance, (4) Education, and (5) Technical, including law. The new feature of conducting Preliminary Examination (PE) was added as part of overall BCSE.

With the introduction of PE, the BCSE became a two stage examination with PE, and Main Examination (ME).

The PE was introduced to test the language skill and talent. All graduates irrespective of the field of studies are required to sit for one common PE. The PE questions are on Dzongkha and English communication skills, analytical and problem solving, and data interpretation. The candidates who obtain cutoff percentage determined by RCSC from year to year are eligible for ME. The marks obtained in PE are not accounted for ME.

The PE is an Aptitude Test, which in broader term a psychometric test. It does not test the knowledge per se of any particular field of studies. It specifically tests the cognitive ability of a candidate to comprehend, the power of reasoning, the ability to analyze a case, to solve problems, and think rationally and positively.

The cut off percentage for PE, which is at least 50% or above, is determined by RCSC based on number of candidates to be allowed to sit for ME. Roughly an average of three candidates to compete for each vacant position is taken as the basis for deciding the cut off percentage. This practice of changing cut off percentage from year to year leaves room to imagine that the adjustment is made either to let someone or stop someone from sitting in ME.

The PE has been bringing down the number of candidates for ME. However the PE has been failing technical graduates without testing their professional knowledge and skills.

The Aptitude Test is universal but applying the same scale, the same PE questions, for recruitment in different professions need to be validated. The Dzongkha graduates are failing in the PE due to not having enough weightage for Dzongkha. Similarly the technical graduates failing in the PE is due to over weightage in Dzongkha and English communication skill, which are not their core subjects of study.

The ME has two components: (1) Written Examination (WE), and (2) Interview. The 70% mark is allocated to WE, 20% to interview and 10% for academic achievement. The credit for extra-curricular activities and academic excellence are accommodated in the 20% allocated to interview.

The interview is meant to test personality and leadership traits of the candidates. It assesses the candidates’ ability to articulate and present balance of judgments, and their awareness and perspectives on cultural, political and social issues. The interview is expected to affirm the suitability of the candidates for career Civil Service.

The Aptitude Test, Written Examination and Personality Test are standard tests. But the modality of tests differs from country to country.

In WE there is no specific written papers on finance and accounting for B.Com, BBA or BBM graduated competing for position in finance and audit services. The validity of having common written papers for candidates competing for jobs in public administration, financial management and teaching needs to be affirmed.

Under PGDE category of BCSE, the graduates competing for teaching job does not have written papers on their subjects which they would eventually teach.

The B.Ed graduates do not yet sit for PE and have no written paper on teaching on which they are graduated. It needs to be looked at from the technical point of view as well as from the perspective of applying uniform rules.

5.2.3.. Entry at P4 Position Level

The BCSR 2012 says; “The technical graduates selected in the BCSE shall be appointed in Position Level P4/P5 (Section 7.12.12).” There has been a glitch for not having clarity as who enter at P4 and who in P5.

The graduates with three years Bachelor degree in Computer Application (BCA) have been entering at P5. But three years B.Sc. degree holders in basic sciences such as B.Sc. microbiology, B.Sc. Environment, and B.Sc. statistics are entering in P4. This seems irrational when medical doctors who spends six full years, Lawyers spends five years to get the degree and one more year to get PGDNL before being eligible for recruitment or for practicing law, Architects spends five years, and all other technical degrees requires at least four years. Allowing three years basic science B.Sc. degree holders along with professional technical degree holders to enter at P4 needs to be rationalized. Clearly there is a need to define technical degrees.

Universally a technical degree in professional fields requires at least four years which develops the degree holders with skills and practical analytical ability, along with theory and research knowledge. On this rationale the three years basic science B.Sc. degree holders do not justify for entry at P4 together with professional technical degree holders.

5.2.4.. Decentralized Recruitment

The recruitment in the Supervisory and Support, and Operational Position Categories were decentralized to the agencies concerned in successive phases:

PHASE	POSITION		DELIGATED TO	EFFECTIVE DATE
PHASE	Category	Level	DELIGATED TO	EFFECTIVE DATE
I	Operation	O4 to O1	Ministry/Agencies/Dzongkhags	January 2007
II	Supervisory and Support	S5 to S1	Ministry/Agencies	January 2008

The BCSR 2012, Section 4.4.5 specified the authorities for fresh recruitment at the entry Position Levels as:

POSITION CATEGORY	AUTHORITY
Professional & Management	RCSC
Supervisory & Support	Legislative, Judiciary, Ministry, Constitutional Office, and Autonomous Agency. The Parent Agency does the recruitment at S1 and S2 Position Levels. Thromde for non-professional positions.
Operational	Legislative, Judiciary, Ministry, Constitutional Office, Autonomous Agency, Dzongkhag and Thromde.

For in-service recruitment, the BCSR 2012, Section 13.4.1 specified the delegation of authority to agencies concerned to promote a civil servant to fill in a vacant position as:

Position Category	Promotion to Position Level	Authority for Promotion
Position Category	Promotion to Position Level	Promotion through open competition*	Promotion within Broad Band	Promotion of Specialist	Meritorious Promotion	Fast track Promotion
Executive	EX1	RCSC	NA	NA	RCSC	RCSC
Executive	EX2–EX3	RCSC/C	NA	NA	RCSC	RCSC
Specialist	ES1	NA	NA	RCSC	NA	NA
Specialist	ES2-ES3	NA	NA	RCSC/C	NA	RCSC
Professional & Management	P1	M/A/C	NA	M/A/C	RCSC	RCSC
Professional & Management	P5 - P2	M/A/C	M/A/C/D	NA	RCSC	RCSC
Supervisory & Support	S5 – S1	M/A/C/D	M/A/C/D	NA	RCSC	RCSC
Operational	O4 – O1	M/A/C/D	M/A/C/D	NA	RCSC	RCSC

*..= Specific to in-service recruitment

Note: C = Constitutional Office, M = Ministry, A = Autonomous Agency, D = Dzongkhag,

NA = Not applicable.

Exercising merit, the PCS dismissed giving credit to seniority for in-service recruitment, training and other HR actions. It was after more than six years of PCS the credit to seniority was installed by the BCSR 2012 for in-service recruitment and for training.

Also the credit for relevance of professional background and work experience was not given. The PCS allowed Civil Servants to move across professions. It caused serious concern on the credibility of PCS itself. This defect too was rectified by BCSR 2012 which has given significant credit to relevance of qualification, training and experience, and it is applied in doing in-service recruitment through open competition.

The PCS remained neutral to the growing size of the Civil Service. During 10^th FYP, the growth in Civil Service as on 30^th June 2013 was 27.74%. The size of the Civil Service had grown in spite of delinking of Mechanical Division of MOWHS in 2009 with 245 Civil Servants, NHDC in 2011 with 51 Civil Servants, and RUB in 2011 with 722 Civil Servants.

A significant increase had been contributed by the creation of new departments, divisions or new programs, but still a large increase has occurred due to naturally increasing size of the existing programs.

Currently the percentage of Civil Servants to the total population stands at 3.39% and the ratio at 1:30; while 43% of the recurrent current budget equivalent to 36% of domestic revenue is spent on salary (RGoB 2013).

Way Foreword

Screening candidates by PE in its current form is right only for graduates registered for PGDPA, PGDFM, PGDNL and PGDE categories of BCSE. It is not fair for Dzongkha and all others of technical category of BCSE.

Currently the marks allocation in PE is 50% to language skills (25% each to Dzongkha and English) and 50% (25% each) to problem solving and data interpretation.

For Dzongkha graduates the weightage on Dzongkha language skill needs to be increased with decrease in the other components. For technical graduates the weightage for Language skill should be reduced with an increase in problem solving and data interpretation. It means there should be three sets of PE.

The current practice of having three common ME papers: (1) Dzongkha, (2) English and general knowledge, and (3) Socio-political institutions and Socio-economic development since 1961, of equal weightage should continue for the PGDPA category of BCSE only.

For graduates registered for PGDFM category of BCSE seeking job in financial management and audit services, there must be a paper on commerce, accounting, economics and financial management in place of third paper on socio-political institutions and Socio-economic development since 1961.

For candidates registered for PGDE category of BCSE for teaching profession, there must be a paper on the subjects they are going to teach. If a candidate is going to teach mathematics or other science subjects or IT, the third paper should be on the subject the candidate is going to teach. Screening a mathematics teacher or a science teacher by assessing his knowledge in political institutions and socio-economy is not just and right.

The B.Ed. graduates should be subjected to PE without much delay. It is impending to fulfill the constitutional provision of applying uniform rules and regulations, Section 47 of the Civil Service Act of Bhutan 2010, and BCSR.

The B.Ed. graduates have graduated in teaching. They should have written paper on teaching on which they are trained. Logically the third paper of WE for B.Ed. graduates should be on teaching. It is not fair testing a teacher’s knowledge on political institutions and socio-economy and select him to teach science, history, commerce or economics.

Considering the above views there is adequate justification to revisit BCSE, the way it is conducted. The options for consideration could be:

Have different PE for different BCSE categories.

Continue the current form of PE for PGDPA, PGDFM, PGDNL and PGDE, and also for B.Ed. category of BCSE.
Institute separate PE for Dzongkha category of BCSE, with higher percentage of marks allocated to Dzongkha skill,
Institute separate PE for the rests of the technical category of BCSE, with less marks allocated for language skills. High language skills for technical graduates are not necessarily required nor are they trained for.

Just as in ME, the cut off percentage for PE must be constant and rightly fixed at 50%. This will remove the suspicion on the rationale with which RCSC is scaling up and down the PE cut off percentage.
Restrict entry at P4 only to technical graduates with professional degree requiring at least four years full time. Let all the three years basic sciences degree holders to enter at P5, without discrimination. Currently the three years B.Sc. mathematics degree holders enters at P5 while three years B.Sc. statistics, which is easier aspect of pure mathematics enters at P4.
The third paper for PGDFM category of BCSE should be on commerce, accounting and economics.
The third paper for PGDE category of BCSE should be on the subject which they are going to teach. Similarly the third paper for B. Ed. Graduates should be on teaching on which they are graduated.

The practice of issuing eligibility certificate only to general graduate category of BCSE and not to the technical graduate category of BCSE also needs to be looked considering the application of uniform rule.

The current practice of RCSC unilaterally cutting down the staffing proposal of the agencies, considering it as OD exercise is absurd, and it should be replaced with a joint exercise. RCSC should have clear understanding why the agencies are proposing what they are proposing, and what they want to achieve. The desired level of understanding should be established with responsive dialogue. The agencies must achieve their objectives, and that should be the objective of the RCSC.

As per Section 28 (iv) of the CSAB 2010, RCSC should require agencies to carry out OD exercises to arrive at staffing pattern and strength for successive FYP and RCSC should be party to it.

To ensure small, compact and efficient Civil Service there should be a rational balance between regular civil servants and civil servants on time bound contract. The Civil Servants on contract should be deployed to time bound projects with their tenure fixed to the life of the project.

5.3.. Performance Appraisal

Motivation and job satisfaction propel Civil Servants to carry out their duties with commitment and integrity. To assess and ensure this reality the performance appraisal is done.

A good performance appraisal system is determined by the strength of its relation with (1) program objectives, (2) career development and (3) career progression (Figure-4).

Figure 4. Imperatives of performance appraisal

When program objectives are not clear and captured by the appraisal process, the essence of the appraisal is lost in the first place. And when professional development and career progression are not based on merit, the performance appraisal naturally becomes ineffective. When these elements are missing and the relations among the three are not well established, the performance appraisal continues to be a meaningless Civil Service exercise.

The ineffectiveness is also contributed by the disconnection between the responsibility and accountability. The Civil Servants are given responsibility, but not held accountable. Among different occupational groups there is also lack of clarity on what is to be measured; is it the investment and activities or is it the outputs and impacts. When there is weak link between responsibility and accountability, the organizations if not fail continue with high degree of inefficiency.

The performance of an agency is a reflection of a cumulative performance of every Civil Servant of the agency concerned. The performance of the agency and the performance rating of Civil Servants must agree. The performance rating of Civil Servants cannot be excellent while the agency is not been able achieve the plan target. However, the non-achievement of the plan target could be entirely due to external factors for which Civil Servants cannot be squarely held accountable when an agency fails to achieve plan target. Truly there is a need to train Civil Servants regularly on performance management.

Given the complexity of the task, continued investment on e-governance is inevitable to enhance performance management in the Civil Service. The Civil Service Information System (CSIS) needs to be continuously upgraded and enhanced. The re-appropriation and diversion of budget approved for CSIS enhancement in the two consecutive financial years of 2010-11 and 2011-12 in the last five years put CSIS behind by that many years, if not more. It is with strong e-governance like CSIS in place the performance management in the Civil Service can be meaningfully improved.

The CS introduced a simple subjective method of performance appraisal using the scale of 1 to 5, with 1 assigned to unsatisfactory and 5 for excellent. It measured two attributes: the job performance and behavioral attributes. The weighting of 60% and 40% were assigned to job performance and behavioral attributes respectively. The job performance target was jointly set and assessed while the behavioral attributes were rated by the supervisor and immediate administrative head, or the supervisor.

The PCS adopted empirical system of appraisal with much rigor using a scale of 0 to 4 with a bi-annual appraisal cycle. It introduced monitory incentive to performance with up to three performance increment in the salary. However, performance increment in the salary was not accepted by the government. Also the inappropriate six monthly performance cycles was reverted back to annual cycle by the BCSR 2012.

The new element introduced by the PCS was the subordinate feedback. Complying with the Section 61 of the CSAB 2010, the BCSR 2012 requires feedback from peers and subordinated against officials at managerial and executive positions.

The BCSR 2010 introduced an appropriate appraisal forms for Civil Servants in Operational Position Category and BCSR 2012 introduced separate appraisal forms for Civil Servants in Specialist Position Category.

The nature of job for Civil Servants of Professional and Management Position Category and of Supervisory and Support Position Category are different. For the Civil Servants of these two Position Categories, the same performance appraisal forms are being used with same parameters, which needs to be affirmed.

Way Foreword

Performance appraisal is a management issue. The experience provides the evidence that although the PCS introduced empirical appraisal system enforced with rigorous rule, the objective remained far from accomplished.

The pre-requisite for a successful performance appraisal is a work culture, a culture of work planning and review. This work culture needs to be cultivated through regular training of managers and supervisors on leadership and management.

It is inevitable to adequately reflect the organizational goal in the work planning and review process and it is essential to have established check and balance mechanism to monitor the progress.

Rightly the setting of the goals begins at the government level. At the agency level, the goal needs to be apportioned to the secretariat, departments, divisions and sections and then to individual Civil Servant. The same should be applied to Dzongkhags, Thromdes and autonomous agencies.

Performance appraisal by itself does not enhance the competence of the Civil Servants. A good appraisal system identifies competent Civil Servants when there exist competency framework and career linked professional development opportunity for continuously enhancing the professional excellence or else the system will identify best of the worst, and not the best of the bests.

A Civil Servant must have the professional knowledge and skills for delivering the outputs. It should be ensured with job related training provided on merit. When the training is provided on merits and promotion is given on the evidence of competence, the objective of performance appraisal is met naturally.

BCSR 2002 had required every agency to institute a performance review committee to ensure that the appraisal is done well. Attention needs to be given to this wisdom which was shadowed by PCS since 2005. The HRC may institute a committee to ensure timely and objectively reviewing the performance appraisal and entering the rating in the CSIS on time.

Definitely, to improve performance appraisal, the importance of e-governance with ever emerging technologies must not be undermined and restrained for adoption. Due investment will have to made for system improvement and its management with more competent personnel.

Since the nature of the jobs of Civil Servants in Professional and Management, and Supervisory and Support Position Categories are different, there should be different sets of forms for Civil Servants of these two Position Categories who have functionally different jobs.

In compliance to the BCSR 2012, the performance appraisal for P1 managerial position and above is supported by feedback from subordinates. The balance between the two: open and confidential appraisal, has started to bring about positive change which should continued, improved and strengthened.

5.4.. Training

When PCS was introduced a large number of Civil Servants were occupying positions without having matching qualification or the qualification required for career progression.

By letting such Civil Servants’ career progress without capacitating them for higher level of responsibility would lead to inefficiency. By not letting their career progress in want of required qualification would also de-motivation them. The PCS being strict on qualification requirement was confronted with this issue in the first place.

The RCSC continues to regulate long term trainings exceeding six months, while the authority to approve and execute the short term trainings has been decentralized to the agencies. Since the short term training has been decentralized, the RCSC has not been able to have complete and correct information on short term training, both on investment and relevance.

There is no policy to apportion investment to long term academic qualification up-gradation trainings, and to job related short term professional and vocational training, and management and leadership training.

In 9^th FYP Nu 2.480 Billions equivalent to 3.2% of the plan outlay was spent for training Civil Servants. In 10^th FYP, Nu 4.304 Billions equivalent to 3.40% of the plan budget was made available. The outlay was however adjusted during Mid-Term Review to Nu 2.167 Billions, while overall adjustment to plan outlay was made.

Of the 10^th FYP outlay 46.33% was spent for Masters Degrees. The total expenditure on long term training was 68.0%, and only 32.0% was spent for job related skill oriented short-term training.

For 11^th FYP only Nu 2.0 Billions, equivalent to 0.09% of the total outlay has been made available for training, while the number of Civil servants has increased from 19,848 to 24,856 during the 10^thFYP.

Most Civil Service systems have competency standards. The training is made available on merit which in turn linked to career progression. For the executive positions in particular the mandatory management and leadership trainings are prescribed.

It is the career-linked professional development training provided on merit makes Civil Servants professionally competent. Designing such career-linked professional development training, a competency framework is needed for each occupational group. The PCS did not consider it and should not be kept at bay too long.

The Constitution, the Civil Service Act of Bhutan 2010, and BCSR require application of uniform rules. Wherever a uniform rule is applied, the impact across professions should also be uniform.

The existing rule entitles a Civil Servant for 36 months of long term training with salary. For every long term training a Civil Servant is entitled for full salary for 12 months and 50% salary for the rest of the period. For the purpose of promotion and Civil Service award, first 18 months, of every long term training is considered as active service.

In practice, most professions require 2 years to do a Master Degree. But medical doctors with MBBS degree require 4 years to do MD or MS degree. They receive 50% salary for three years as compared to 1 year by other professions. They lose 2.5 years active service for promotions and Civil Service Award as compared to 6 months in other professions.

There is a need to reaffirm the essence of uniform rules such that the application of uniform rules also has uniform impact across all professions.

The Management Development Program (MDP) to train senior Civil Servants in strategic management and leadership is now taken up by the esteemed Royal Institute of Governance and Strategic Studies (RIGSS), under Royal Patronage of His Majesty the King.

The proper orientation and induction of newly recruited Civil Servants was an impending issue. The BCSR 2012 has now laid specific provisions for proper orientation and induction for newly recruited Civil Servants.

The BCSR 2012 has made RCSC responsible for orientation program while the agency concerned for proper induction.

Way Foreword

Civil Servants consistently need new skills to innovate, understand risk, and deliver public services, particularly during difficult times. Regular training is necessary to continuously enhance academic qualification, skills, and management and leadership capacity.

At higher Position Levels the training is necessary to have better insight on the challenges being confronted and the most strategic solutions to them. It is the right insight that enables Civil Servants to foresee future challenges and address them without letting their impact felt.

With right insight there will be less resistance to administrative reform, be responsive to the public service, transparent and accountable.

At middle and lower level, it is the skills, the new and innovative way of doing things pay vital role.

As the complexities grow and available resources shrink, a Civil Service training policy is inevitable to ensure as how much of the plan budget or precisely what percentage of the salary budget should be available for training. Such a policy should also outline as what proportion of the resource allocation should be utilized for long term academic training and for job related short-term training.

An investment of up to 10%, but not less than 5%, of the salary budget on training is considered right to ensure competence of the Civil Servants.

If training is provided on merit and it is linked to career progression, the Civil Servants would work harder and remain motivated.

The RCSC coordinating with the agencies should require training institutes to develop competency standards for short term trainings for different Position Levels of respective Occupational Groups.

If the opportunity to avail such competency based career-linked professional development training is provided on merit, only the most competent Civil Servants would make it to the highest Position Levels.

The RCSC should have strategic alliance of with Royal Institute of Management (RIM) and Royal University of Bhutan (RUB) to provide competency based career-linked job related professional training. Such training would foster professionalism in Civil Service.

An optimistic sample of a competency framework for the Occupational Sub-Group of Internal Audit is presented in Figure 5. Such a competency frame needs to be developed for all other Occupational Sub-Groups for which the responsibility should be with agencies concerned. For delivering such structured in-country training, the need for a Civil Service Training Institute with exclusive mandate would be justified.

To ensure application of uniform rules having uniform impact across all professions, the entitlement for salary while on long term training (Section 9.5.12.2, BCSR 2012) may be revised as, “Provide full salary for 50% study period of any single long term training and provide half salary for the remaining period.” Such revision would ensure uniform rule with uniform impact across all profession.

Also the Section of the BCSR on the active service (Section 13.6.10, BCSR 2012) may be revised as, “Account 75% of the study period of any single long term training as active service period for training and Civil Service Award.”

With the above two proposed revision, there will not be differential treatments to Civil Servants of different professions who goes for long term training particularly for doing Master Degree. All those who require more than 2 years doing Master Degree will be uniformly treated. With the proposed revision all profession will be uniformly treated.

The Civil Service training now focused more on long term academic degree training. This needs to be reoriented and balanced with short term job related professional training.

While long term academic training is concerned with maximizing the individual’s potential, the short term professional training will have to be focused on improving the performance of the organization in immediate time frame.

As much as management and leadership is paramount at higher Position Levels, the right skills at middle and lower Position Levels determines efficiency and quality service delivery.

Figure 5. Competency linked training for Internal Audit Services Personnel*

Professional Qualification	Position Levels
	P1	P2	P3	P4	P5	S1
	Academic Qualification
	Master	Master	Bachelor	Bachelor	Bachelor	Bachelor
Leadership	Module-2	Module-1
National Laws and legal procedures		Module-3	Module-2	Module-1
Procurement		Module-3	Module-2	Module-1
Financial Management			Module-3	Module-2	Module-1
Prevention of Corruption				Module-3	Module-2	Module-1
Tendering procedures, contracts and inventory management.					Module-2	Module-1
Principles and practices of Internal Auditing					Module-2	Module-1
Constitution, Civil Service Act & BCSR with emphasis of Ethics and Conflict of Interests						Module-1
Duration	1 Weeks	2 Weeks	2 Weeks	2 Weeks	2 Weeks	2 Weeks

There exists reciprocal relationship between motivation and opportunity for career progression and training. Any effort to enhance efficiency without strengthening this reciprocal relationship undermines progress. It is the opportunities the civil Servants see intrinsically motivates them.

The PCS also did not recognize the importance of proper orientation and induction of new recruits. However, the BCSR 2012 has taken this concern into account which needs to be augmented with time.

6.. Conclusion

To have an appropriate Civil Service system for the democratic Bhutan the Royal Civil Service Commission (RCSC) adopted the Position Classification System (PCS) in 2006.

The PCS brought a major structural change. It instituted merit principle for all HR action. It classified the Civil Service jobs in a more comprehensive manner. It created the specialist career track, which was non-existent earlier.

The PCS linked career with qualification and restricted career progression with entry qualification within the broad band positions of the same Position Category only.

However, the implementation of PCS resulted in stagnation of Civil Servants particularly at middle level. The application of uniform rules was overshadowed by PCS principles. Differential career progression from different entry positions was provided. The Civil Servants of different professions were treated differently while undergoing going long term training. Certain professions were at disadvantaged positions receiving differential treatment.

A large number of stagnated Civil Servants began upgrading their qualification and moving from Supervisory and Support to Professional and Management Position Category because career opportunity in the same Position Category was not there. This movement caused loss of experience and skills needed at middle level.

The PCS was neutral to the growth of the Civil Service and HR development (HRD). A Statutory policy for HRD is still not there. The job related training is not yet linked to career progression. The PCS did bring reform in performance appraisal, which however, was ambiguous and failed to deliver desired impact.

The PCS was seen a top down reform. The experience says RCSC should opt for step by step progressive reform supported by strong research and adaptability tests. The reform must be owned by the stakeholders and endorsement of the Government has to be secured.

The essence of Civil Service systems based merit principle is that it selects competent intellectual, put them on forefront, train them and let them progress their career, all on merit.

The PCS, which is based on merit principle, has educated the RCSC and wisdom has been gained. Its implementation experience has been an important milestone in the Civil Service history of Bhutan.

The problem associated with PCS was in labeling the reform as PCS. Every problem a Civil Servant confronted during the process of reform thought it was due to PCS. In future the labeling or branding a reform should be avoided.

The PCS was multi-dimensional and multiple changes were enforced simultaneously which created a state of confusion and resentment.

For such reform, it is necessary to affirm adaptability and sensitivity prior to its implementation. The stakeholders must fully own the change and the Government clearance must be obtained.

Some of the PCS related issues are still dragging on which would have been already resolved if stakeholder agencies were taken on board exercising lesser degree of rigidity. The reform of this nature must not be top down. It should be receptive to the popular views suited to the time and situation.

By all definitions the present Civil Service system of Bhutan is position based system, and the Position Directory is its soul. Many of the continuing PCS problems can be found in the Position Directory, which is not adequately deliberated and made transparent. Although the term PCS has no references neither in Civil Service Act of Bhutan 2010 nor in BCSR 2012 the essence of the PCS prevails in every HR action.

It is in Position Directory, the entry positions, qualification requirement, broad banded positions, the highest position one can progress are prescribed. Indeed the Position Directory is the main reference document for recruitment, promotion and training.

The Position directory needs immediate attention which should be made transparent in consultation with the agencies concerned and published as an annexure of the BCSR.

The BCSR allows Civil Servants of Supervisory and Support Position Category to progress up to P3 Position Level of Professional and Management Position Category. As they progress from S to P Position Level they have the Position Title of Supervisory and Support Position Category but the Position Level of Professional and Management Position Category.

Because the Civil Servants are in P Position Level of Professional and Management Position Category, their Position Category changes from Supervisory and Support to Professional and Management. This violates the Section 47 of the Civil Service Act of Bhutan 2010.

As proposed, each Position Category should have adequate Position Levels within itself for career progression from every entry Position Level.

The Professional and Management Position Category should be exclusively for those Civil Servants entering into service through BCSE in compliance to Section 47 of the CSAB 2010.

Create adequate Position Levels for those with Diploma entering in the S1 and S2 Position Levels of the Supervisory and Support Position Category within the same Position Category such that the Civil Servants do not progress from Supervisory and Support to Professional and Management Position Category.

The proposed structure will immediately resolve the problem of the existing vertically staked structure which has no option but to let Civil Servants of Supervisory and Support to enter into Professional and Management Position Category. It creates confusion when CVs of such Civil Servants are looked at where the Position Level and Position Category are of Professional and Management while Position Title is of Supervisory and Support Position Category.

With each Position Category having enough Position Levels would inspire and motivate Civil Servants to deliver their best. This would also ensure that the experience and skills gained are not lost, and Government does not have to invest twice on the same Civil Servant for doing Diploma and then Bachelor Degree.

The proposed structure will also resolve the issue of having Civil Servants of both Professional and Management and Supervisory and Support Position Categories at P5, P4 and P3 Position Levels and clarity will be established.

The primary reason for stagnation at certain Position Levels is due to not having career ladder for further career progression. It is forcing Civil Servants to upgrade qualification to cross over to another Position Category while they are needed in the same Position Category. When Civil Servants move from one Position Category to another, the experience and skills gained in doing the job is lost while the Civil Servants will not have enough time to gain experience and expertise for doing the job in the next higher Position Category.

The RGoB is investing to produce middle level Civil Servants with one to three years diplomas to work in Supervisory and Support Position Category, and again investing to enable them to move on to Professional and Management Position Category as they are entitled for study leave with pay and receive government scholarship to pursue in-country Bachelor Degree in RUB colleges.

In the 2013 BCSE of technical category, 31% were in-service candidates belonging to Supervisory and Support Position Category. As they move into Professional and Management Position Category, the experience and skills in doing the job at Supervisory and Support Position Category is lost. This movement in large number is not desirable.

Different professions require different duration to do Master Degree. With the current rule a Civil Servant of one profession requiring two years to do Master Degree draws full salary for 50% of the training period while a Civil Servant of another profession requiring four years to do Master Degree (e.g. medical doctors) draws full salary only for 25% of the training period. This is a matter of not applying uniform rule across all professions. It could be resolved if the rule says that full salary shall be paid for 50% of the approved training period for doing Master Degree.

The above discrepancy also applies in accounting active service. A Civil Servant of one profession requiring two years to do Master Degree loses only six months active service, equivalent to 25% of the training period. While a Civil Servant of another profession requiring four years to do Master Degree looses 2.5 years, equivalent to 62.5% of the training period. It delays the due date for promotion and receiving Civil Service Award of Civil Servants of the professions requiring longer duration for doing Master Degree. This issue also could be resolved if the rule says that a Civil Servants irrespective of the profession, the 75% of the training period shall be considered as active service for promotion and Civil Service Award.

In applying uniform rule, it is not only the rule per se, but also the uniform impact of the rule across all professions needs to be considered, and one profession should not be discriminated against the another profession.

The BCSE has been selectively allowing three years basic science degree holders to enter at P4, on case by case basis, along with technical graduates who are required at least 4 years to have professional degree. In this case the principle of applying uniform rules needs to be adhered and only professional technical graduates with degrees requiring at least four years should be allowed to enter at P4.

A host of issues with regards to BCSE needs to be looked at with a good understanding, and high degree of rationalization and professionalism. Every proposal put forward in the way forward warrants due consideration.

A two prong strategy would be the right option to ensure the policy of small, compact and efficient Civil Service. Firstly, RCSC in consultation with agencies should carry out OD at regular interval to jointly affirm the need of human resources and right structure. Trimming down the proposed staff strength unilaterally, using a number scale, cannot be actually called OD.

Secondly, the Civil Servants on contract should be deployed to all time bound projects and programs with their tenure limited to the life of the projects or programs. Regular Civil Servants should be deployed in projects only to the important sensitive positions.

Around 5,000 General Service Personnel (GSP) and Essential Service Personnel (ESP) are there but not accounted in the Civil Service Statistics. They are considered outside the Civil Service yet RCSC require its approval for recruitment and a separate chapter is there in BCSR for GSP and ESP. Also their positions are not reflected in the Position Directory. It is necessary that the status of GSP and ESP which is at limbo needs to be cleared.

Through OD the RCSC should assess the advantage of keeping regulatory bodies under the administration of same agency being regulated. Obviously the effectiveness of the regulatory bodies is compromised when it has to report to the same agency being regulated.

Also the programs which are by nature revenue generating must operate in corporate mode with right policy and adequate government support for social element if it is there.

By applying uniform rules using the scale of academic qualification has marginalized graduates of Zurig Chusum institutes and Vocational Training Institutes (VTI), who are skilled professionals. They enter at much lower Position Levels and stagnate much earlier since they do not meet the academic qualifications prescribed in the Position Directory.

The dignity of labor of highly skilled professionals passed out from Zorig Chusum and VTIs need to be valued afresh. The Bhutan Vocational Qualification Framework (BVFQ) should be rated by Bhutan Qualification Framework (BQF) of Bhutan Accreditation Council (BCC) and enable Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) graduates to progress respectfully in their career up to a Position Levels they would actually deserve.

Further improvement in performance management will not be possible without seriously embracing e-governance. Being competent means being in the cutting edge of using modern technologies by professionally trained professionals. Consistent investment on CSIS and Civil Service training are necessary for improving performance management.

The imperative for Civil Service training is being competent, effective and efficient. There is a need of a clear statutory policy for providing training on merit and linking it to career progression which would require competency standard to make further progress.

In the immediate future, the RCSC should continue to fine tune the systems with greater understanding and innovations. Civil Servants should be happy in doing what they are doing. The pursuance of the merit based system is possible only by fulfilling its constitutional mandate of ensuring application of uniform rule.

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Pirthiman Pradhan

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

My Reflection on Civil Service Management

1. Introduction

2. Objective

3. Study Method

4. Literature Review

5. Observations

5.1.. Structure

Way Foreword

5.2.. Recruitment

5.2.1.. Mode of Recruitment

5.2.2.. The BCSE

5.2.3.. Entry at P4 Position Level

5.2.4.. Decentralized Recruitment

Way Foreword

5.3.. Performance Appraisal

Way Foreword

5.4.. Training

Way Foreword

6.. Conclusion

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