Expectations of Civil Servants and Public From Civil Service Reform in Bhutan

Abstract

Periodic reforms of the civil service ensure dynamism, efficiency and effectiveness of the system to serve changing needs of society. This research assesses the expectations of civil servants and the public from the newly proposed civil service reform. Data were collected both from the civil servants and the public. A quantitative research method was used, and data were analysed using SPSS. Findings show that respondents are excited and they expect that the reform will transform civil service into a dynamic institution. While political support is vital for reform, there are concerns that political interference by elected officials could undermine the long-term development of the bureaucracy. Civil servants reported good leadership capacity in the civil service to manage reform but the public have lower confidence in the leadership capacity of the civil service. While the institutional capacity is rated reasonably high in terms of its readiness to manage and implement the reforms, respondents emphasised on the need to develop effective organisational policies, systems, rules and procedures to introduce and sustain the reform. There are concerns on the complacency of civil servants which requires a change in mind-set across the civil service. Having learnt from some of the past reforms within and outside the country, reform must be contextualised to our unique needs supported by prior research works and consultation processes. Adoption of relevant technologies will facilitate the reform process but has to be done carefully as people fear losing their jobs due to the automation process. Respondents have expressed to implement the reform in a phased-wise manner rather than implementing everything together.