Irrational compensation

An example of this is salary reform. An official says that instead of studying compensation packages for civil servants, various presidents typically gave “across the board” increases – for example, one thousand pesos to every government employee: “So if you're earning 3,000 pesos, and your boss is earning 20,000, you’d get a 33 % increase while your boss only gets five percent.” In his words, “salaries aren't just low, they're irrational”. The result is “clerks who are well-paid, and janitors and guards and gardeners who stay on and on because they cannot get a better deal elsewhere". 



Today, public employees at the lowest level receive 20 % more than their counterparts in mid-sized private companies. By contrast, government professionals and managers are paid 30 to 70 % less than their counterparts outside the public sector. 



Reforms tend to follow an old routine – trim, reduce, restructure – based on the conviction that the bureaucracy is “full”. But despite years of rip-and-remove attacks, the civil service has expanded ruthlessly. According to the SEPO, from 1960 to 1997 the bureaucracy grew faster than the population – 282 % against 160 %. In 1970, there was one civil servant for every 90 Filipinos. By 2001, the ratio was one to 50. That year, one out of five employed Filipinos worked for government. David says that politicians’ constant talk of re-organising and streamlining shows they don't understand bureaucracy. It is really a very complex organisation. As the Congressional Planning and Budget Department points out, “the bureaucracy... is not a monolithic entity. 




It is composed of dozens of organisations tackling a huge variety of societal concerns, including health, education, housing, currency, security, law and order, environment and assistance to or regulation of industry and other production sectors”. The Department acknowledges that the people manning – and managing – these organisations have “various levels of efficiency, moral standards and work ethic”.  It is still important to value these as these makes an organization better. Corruption does not only make an organization have a bad reputation, but also lose its people’s trust.


Sources:
www.Inwent.org