The role of today’s public administration personnel in our country is no longer confined to the old administration concerned with collection of revenue and maintenance of law and order existed in pre-independent India. After independence, we have moved from this type of passive administration to more dynamic and people-centred administration, even to Development Administration, charged with the responsibility of promoting socio-economic development of the people, by playing different roles such as provider, motivator, catalyst or facilitator, custodian, co-ordinator, developer, counselor, expert and so on.
After independence, our country has witnessed tremendous planned change in economic, social and political life of the people, although much is to be achieved in eradicating evils of poverty, disease and illiteracy. The waves of modern science and technology and their application, our national policy of promoting economic growth with equitable distribution and promotion of democratic values such as freedom of expression and people’s participation in development activities have created complex socio-economic and political systems.
Correspondingly, the Public Administrators of today face a more complex, challenging and dynamic administrative environments having economic, social, political, legal, technological, psychological and cultural interfaces, which their predecessors would not have even dreamt off. Thus, they have to share much heavier responsibilities in improving the conditions of majority of our people, who live below the poverty line.
Administrators of today cannot rest contented with laurels of their rank, status and authority and cannot expect to earn respect from the people by virtue of these. They should on the other hand, work through people and mobilize their strength and personal resources for the people and common good.
They should display such personal qualities as dynamism as opposed to bureaucratic apathy; efficiency consciousness, goal orientation as opposed to rigid activity orientation, result- orientation rather than orientation towards using rules to impede action; flexibility, time sense, innovativeness rather than being routine; planning rather than being ad-hoc, being accountable for results; moderate risk-taking as opposed to following the path of least resistance; integrity or tendency to follow certain norms and act in good faith and welfare-orientation or the love to work for the well-being of the masses, particularly those who are under-privileged.
The stability of the popularly elected Government stands on the pillars of efficiency of public administration system. That is the reason why a newly elected Government shows eagerness to provide a clean and efficient administrative system. Cheenuru Anjaneya Reddy in his interesting article states that in a plural political culture with political authority shifting between contending groups, the importance of a neutral professional civil service was forseen by the country’s first statesmen and two premier All India Services-I.A.S. and I.P.S.-were organized immediately after independence. Their place was later secured in the constitution, which also provided for the creation of more such services.
The civil service is expected to tender impartial advice in the context of declared policy of the political party in power, but keeping public interest always at heart. After a decision is made by the political executive, the civil service is required to put it into practice without subjecting to its own prejudices, as long as it does not contravene the basic law of the land or offend the public interest”.
Training of Civil Servants
Public Administration is not an abstract entity. It is the collective action of the public personnel or the so called civil servants and thus, its quality can be augmented by imparting systematic education, training and development of its personnel and to make them capable and responsible officers.
This necessitates to plan different phases of training such as defining clearly the goals/objectives, the outcomes expected to accrue from training, designing course contents, choosing appropriate pedagogical methods, selection of faculty, arranging infra-structural facilities and attending to other logistics, preparing background Reading materials or Hand-outs and evaluating training effectiveness during and after training, including follow up of the trainee performance on the job. An annual conference of Trainers in Public Administration held in Delhi brought out several expected outcomes from administrative training. The following are some of the most important objectives identified.
1. Training must create in participants a liking or interest in work. Only when one has interest in work, one would do his work better. The zest for work should be created.
Training should keep away civil servants from cynicism, bureaucratic apathy and a tendency to maintain status-quo and follow path of least resistance. It should enable the trainees to develop right work ethics and culture. Work ethics is not mercenary and work culture is not treating the work casually and taking things easy, on the other hand, it is taking work seriously and with sustaining interest
2. Apart from equipping trainees to do regular routine work in the field, training should develop and encourage them to develop in themselves and others problem solving-orientation and innovative capacity. The public personnel should develop and encourage their subordinates to develop an inquiring mind, receptivity to new ideas, openness to change and a restless spirit which constantly urge them to find ways of doing their tasks better and more efficiently (zest for the pursuit of excellence)
They should discover and correct defects, not to ignore or avoid them and not to be defensive. They should learn how to give and receive feedback for improving performance. They should show willingness and encourage others, in trying out (or experimenting with) new ideas and to learn from past successes and failures and perhaps, the most important is the recognition of common stake of the entire community in better administration.
3. Should bring out attitudes of precision and exactness in work.
4. Should enable the participants to develop in themselves and others planning orientation instead of conforming to other’s plan; self direction, minimizing dependence on others; shift from discipline-orientation to life experience-orientation, from narrow activity-orientation to view overall success of the project or functions at the group/department levels and a sense of interdependence, highest standards of integrity-intellectual, moral and financial and a attitude of service, sensitivity and concern for the public (understanding beneficiaries, perception of administrative needs) etc., instead of regulation and control.
5. Appreciation of the value of time dimension in work and keeping time spent on tasks under control (proper management of time). Time is money. It needs to be saved and efficiently utilized. Delays not only add to the cost of execution of any work, but, they also have snowballing effect on the work of others, with the result that delays at one place produce a chain reaction, and ill-effects are multiplied many times over. Understanding the beneficiaries’ perception of administrative needs and action with social sensitivity demands objectivity, responsiveness and time-bound performance.
6. Improving competence through imparting knowledge, management and other specialized skills.
7. Developing appropriate leadership styles and behaviours among the trainees to work as superiors, subordinates and colleagues (peers).
The leadership behaviour to be displayed by the superiors are :
1. Increased willingness to develop subordinates
2. Allowing their participation in work management.
3. Motivating subordinates for (a) self learning, taking initiative and assuming responsibility for work (including planning work, setting performance targets and review), rather than passively carrying out orders from above coupled with close supervision, (b) turning out quality work, (c) Collaborating as members of teams.
4. Encouraging and appreciating merit.
5. Showing integrity and fairness in personnel and public dealings.
6. Developing positive self-image towards the organization and the public.
From the above discussions, it is clear that in addition to imparting knowledge regarding system of work, rules and procedures and techniques of project management, the development of several behavioural skills has been emphasized by all training experts unanimously.
Training Objectives
Keeping the above training outcomes in view, the following objectives may be set for courses in State Administrative Training :
1. To develop in participants the skill in the art of public administration by exposing them to the basic principles and practices and latest theoretical developments in the field of administrative sciences and allied areas.
2. To help them appreciate the various roles of an administrator functioning in a democratic set up such as, the information role, planner and decision making role, entrepreneurial role, human relations role, catalyst’s role etc., both within the administrative organization, where one works and with the public interface.
3. To give the trainees who are undergoing in-service training an opportunity to share the experiences of eminent administrators and share the experiences among themselves to enable them to reflect on their achievements and weakness and to promote self-discovery and learning in a relaxed and supportive (or non-threatening) inter-personal environment. Such an opportunity for spontaneous and relaxed reflection is not available, while people are at work due to hierarchical and other job pressures and bureaucratic controls.
4. To provide information and knowledge relevant to the implementation of projects in a particular economic or social sector, regarding administrative responsibilities associated with different positions, rules and regulations, official procedures, personnel policies and practices, employee welfare, public administration set-up and functions at different levels in the State etc.
5. To familiarize the participants with the socio-cultural environments of the state and the country as a whole and the administrative systems and functions at the secretarial and field levels.
6. To develop behavioural skills in such administrative processes as :
- planning (action goal –orientation)
- effective, decision making (participative decision making or decision making by consensus and use of data and information and Computerised management of information,
- management of motivation in initiating, directing, monitoring, and reviewing work with the help of appropriate leadership skills.
- Managing team work (process of collaboration, the skills to work through people as boss, subordinate and colleagues and ability to work together)
- Facilitating creative group problem-solving or encouraging innovative behaviors and capacities at subordinate levels
- Organizational and inter-personal communication; dealing with people effectively and gaining their support or also called Extension Motivation or Public Relations Skills
- Ethical – moral dimension of human behaviour as related to administration.
Knowledge and Understanding should be developed in trainees in new fields as History, Culture, Language, Socio-Economic, Political and Geographical conditions (agro – climate, forests, minerals and other natural resources), growth of industries, special development schemes, organization and functioning of planning machinery, constitutional and legislative frame work, state Administrative functions at different levels etc. both within the frame work of the state and the country.
Training Methodology
The instructions on these aspects covered under the objectives I to 5 may be largely imparted by using the technique of ‘concept learning’ or through ‘lecture methods’. The oral presentations should be supplemented by the use of audio-visual presentations (in the form of slides, charts, movie projections, writing on the black board etc) to derive added effects of learning. Learning by seeing is three times more effective than learning by hearing and that is the very reason for supplementing lectures with the use of audio-visual aids.
To facilitate the development of behavioural skills that contribute to administrative efficiency ‘Lecture-cum-experiential’ or group-teaching-learning techniques may be used. Various experiential techniques that can be used, along with the lecture methods to reinforce learning are Case studies, practical exercises, inventories, seminars, Book Reviews and so on. Some of the behavioural skills that can be developed through experiential methods are :
- ability to think innovatively and to do penetrating analysis of the problems,
- development of a goal or sense of purpose, and working towards the goal (or planning-orientaion),
- ability to participate in group discussions,
- self-responsibility for seeking information and knowledge and for learning,
- openness :- mutual trust and support,
- ability for reading comprehension,
- ability to give feed-back without being offensive and receive it without being defensive and ability for self-correction and growth.
- Ability to resolve inter-personnel and inter-group conflicts
- Ability to perceive unfamiliar situations and respond to them promptly and appropriately,
- Ability to take initiative and mop up personal drive and enthusiasm,
- Ability to work as members of a team (team spirit),
These experiential techniques stimulate trainees’ interest and participation in learning, promote acceptance of ideas and tendency for their application in real life situations. They also convince the trainees about the value of team work.
These techniques which are helpful in developing certain behavioural skills should be used only by trainers who are well trained in Behavoural sciences. Again these tools should not be selected indiscriminately. A judicious combination of conceptual learning techniques and Experiential learning techniques should be selected depending upon the training situation.
Lecture Method
The conventional lecture methods is considered as ineffective from the point of view of trainee receptivity, because it is very formal, and impersonal. It keeps the trainee as passive spectators rather than making them active participants. However, the lecture methods has certain advantages over others. It makes possible organized and systematic presentation of materials, which helps systematic learning and provides the trainees with a strong theoretical base, which is essential for them to attempt improved behaviour as a result of training. The weakness of the conventional types of lecture sessions (such a lack of trainee motivation and interest in learning) can be minimized by adopting some of the following strategies.
The speaker should use clear and precise language which he trainees can comprehend, and avoid being verbose and using jargons. Language is the vehicle of thought and it is not to be used for ornamental or cosmetic purposes.
He should introduce the topic indicating its general importance and the value of learning to argument the trainee competence, build up the self-esteem of the trainees and morale of the group, by acknowledging their special strengths and capabilities, merits and the confidence that is transposed in them and the correspondingly higher expectations from them in terms of performance. This initial step helps to lay down the foundation of trainee interest and motivation upon which superstructure of continuing motivation, listening with understanding, acceptance and retention and the desire for possible application of learning, should be built up throughout the lecture sessions.
The speaker should prepare the topics thoroughly, develop and present an outline of the talk before the development of individual points. The trainees receive an overall idea of the scope of presentation which in turn develops a sense of purpose or direction and interest in learning.
After the introduction, he should pick up each point and develop it logically and summarise the discussions on each point before moving to the next, thus linking it with the overall framework. The development and analysis of the different points constitute the body of the lecture.
The lecture should conclude with an over all summary of the main points dealt with in the lecture.
Interesting and familiar narrations and anecdotes and practical examples should be provided while developing ideas. Sometimes, the narrations, anecdotes and examples are cited first immediately followed by discussions of the underlying theoretical principles. This approach is called ‘flash back’ approach and it is often very effective. The only caution to be exercised is that the narrations should not consume too much of the speaker’s time, lest the participants lose track of the main purpose of the lecture.
The speaker should keep a free and relaxed classroom atmosphere in which all the trainees feel free to interact and ask questions. No trainee should have the fear of losing his face or looking naïve if he commits mistakes. He should appreciate comments from the floor, if they deserve. The trainer should not cut short or ridicule (deflate ego of) any trainee even if he makes silliest of the silly remarks. On the other hand while he is guided to learn, he should be accepted with understanding and sympathy. All the trainees should be encouraged to practice such behaviours towards each other and to build up on each other’s strengths. No room for the trainees to belittle their colleagues, unwittingly or otherwise, should be given, by setting a positive tone by the speaker.
The Trainer should encourage the trainees to speak and give feed back. He can ask the trainees some questions and seek some information related to the points under discussion or can ask them to summarise a part of his presentation. In either case, the trainees are motivated to follow the lecture closely.
The speaker should also appreciate the trainees if they are able to reproduce faithfully what the trainer has said. The ability of the trainees to echo what the speaker said shows that they are attentive, serious in learning and not immersed in their personal thoughts and fantasies. When the speaker rewards the trainees on giving correct feed back, through public acknowledgement, it motivates and reinforces the trainee learning.
The speaker should try to build up his ideas on the ideas thrown up by the trainees or atleast relate his ideas with those expressed by them, so that, the trainees are able to integrate the new knowledge with their background information and to be motivated and purposeful in their learning. Thus, learning of ideas does not appear to be an isolated process. On the other hand, they fit into a definite pattern (Gestalt).
The lecture delivery should be appealing not only to the ‘head’ but also to the ‘heart’ of the trainees. The level at which a subject is treated and the logical organization of ideas contribute to the intellectual satisfaction, the trainees derive from the lectures and to the development of their capacities and skills. A lecture may be ‘superb’ from the academic point of view, but it may fall flat in regard to trainees’ reception, unless it is also emotionally appealing. Balancing between ‘Intellectual’ and ‘emotional’ acceptability is a tough act for most trainers. More often trainers resolve this dilemma by being n either extremes, either presenting the picture of a person with academic bulldozer’) or of a person playing in the hands of trainees, catering to their lighter moods, sacrificing the academic sanctity of the subject and throwing one’s professionalism overboard. Both the extremes are far from being desirable.
The lecture can be made ‘spicy’ and entertaining to the trainees by sprinkling wit and humor on appropriate occasions in the course of the talk. When the audience reach the peak of heir mental effort through their acts of concentration and assimilation, the resultant muscular and mental tension that gets built up should be relieved, if they are to be kept alert during subsequent spells. Humour and wit should not be used either to entertain the trainees who in spite of all other attempts lack minimum motivation as a learner or to win the acceptance of disinterested band of trainees. A trainer who does this is said to be giving a ‘sales talk’. Any trainer who indulges in this game is guilty of throwing his professionalism over board.
Training Environment
There are many aspects, which the Training Administrators should be concerned with for the successful achievement of the objectives of administrative training. Among the factors, the aspect of ‘initial trainee motivation and receptivity’, which being one of the elusive aspects of training, may often escape the attention of Training Managers, while being preoccupied with other phases such as, identification of training needs, designing course contents, faculty selection, choice of methodology, physical arrangements and other logistics, evaluation of training by trainees and looking after the comforts of the trainees. Trainee receptivity is often left to the skillful manipulation of the training faculty. This in turn tends to be the main obsessions of atleast some of the training faculty who are wordly wise and try to impress upon the trainees, through ways other than those which contribute to learning such as keeping the audience in good humour, delivering a spicy lecture without much meat and other unprofessional ways.
Trainee receptivity relates to the intentions with which the trainees attend the training or their initial interest and motivation. On the criteria of initial interest and motivation, the trainees may be classified into 3 proto-types. Some of the trainees may consider training period as an unpleasant phase they have to pass through before occupying the chair of power and position, a necessary evil, so to say put up with. These people belong to the first category of ‘Fatalists’. Others may view training as a period of relaxation, recreation and recuperation, after passing through the ordeals of academic life and preparations for examinations of cut-throat competition which almost puts any one in an inescapable rat race. These people belong to the second category of ‘Tired Travelers’ who take rest on the way. There are others who have the right notion of training as an opportunity for self development and professional preparation. They may be called as ‘Knowledge Seekers’.
The attitudes of the trainees towards the training situation depend upon categories to which they belong to. The first category of trainees (or Fatalists) would consider training as a necessary evil. They would want the training to be over soon. They may join the course late, may avail leave in between and during the course period they may attend personal matters. They take their stay in the training center as a convenient time to attend to their personal work, as there is no interference with their job or family duties. What they expect from the training faculty is to be soft with them, appreciate their needs and accommodate them. The trainers can easily win their good will if they can be lenient in their approach. The second group of ‘Tired Travelers’ tend to be pleasure seekers, being obviously tired, they seek rest, relaxation and comforts. They expect the best possible accommodation and excellent service which make their stay comfortable. They also expect them to be entertained during training sessions. They want to leave the class room with a pleasant feeling of entertainment, as experienced after seeing an interesting ‘movie’. When the trainees develop these kinds of expectations, the possibility of their showing initial motivation and interest in learning and for assuming self-responsibility for learning is remote.
The last category of ‘Knowledge Seekers’ are concerned with the benefits they derive from the training programmes for their professional development. They show diligence. They are hard working and realize their responsibility as trainees.
The first two proto-types of trainees should be changed into the third type, atleast to some extent by training institutions before the commencement of the training programmes through a planned programme of initiation and induction. Certain amount of self-discipline on their part and self-induced motivation and receptivity for training should be developed.
The self-induced responsibility for learning can also be encouraged by asking the trainees to indicate what they have learned from each session and by asking them to prepare brief notes of the lectures for submission. These notes should be evaluated to find out the extent to which trainees have applied their minds, have grasped the ideas and retained them. In contrast to this type of course evaluation, when the trainees are asked about their opinions regarding the lectures, usefulness of the information etc., they may express their opinions without assuming personal responsibility or without owning up their comments.
REFERENCES
1. Cheenuru Anjaneya Reddy, Whither Professional Civil servants The Hindu, Sep, 11th 1983 p. 17.
For further Reading
Saxena, A.P.(ed) Training in Government – objectives and opportunities, New Delhi, Indian Institute of Public Administration, 1985.
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