Here is an essay on the nine major problems faced in the recruitment of personnel for public service. The problems are: 1. Location of the Appointing Power 2. Methods of Recruitment 3. Qualification of Employees 4. Methods of Determining Qualifications 5. Administrative Machinery for Determining Qualifications 6. Certification 7. Appointment and Probation 8. Placement 9. Orientation.
Essay # 1. Location of the Appointing Power:
The first question to be decided in respect to the selection of personnel is to which authority the selection of public officials shall be vested, i.e., whether the people will directly elect the public officers or they will be appointed by some officer or organ of the government proper.
The first method called the democratic method is supported on the basis that democracy can have full effect and meaning only when all public officers are directly elected by the people.
To provide for effective public control over the public employees this method is necessary. Such method is made use of when the service to which appointment is to be made, is purely of a policy-making nature, e.g., Chief Executive or when the service is of a local or restricted nature, e.g., Village Panchayats in India.
If we study this method critically, we would find that it can be made use of only when the service, to which appointment is made, is purely of a policy-making nature or when the service is purely of a local and restricted nature. It is quite proper that the officers whose functions are of a political character, that is having to do with the formation of policies, should be selected by the people by ballot.
But they should not be given the right to select the officers whose duties are purely of an administrative, technical or special character, calling for experience and previous training.
The reason is that sentiments and catchwords play an important part in elections. Technical competence can be secured only by appointment and not by election. The democratic principle, therefore, under which voters elect directly by ballot their officers, is far more applicable to directing than to administrative personnel.
The second method of locating the appointing authority is vesting the power of appointment formally in the Chief Executive but actually in a semi-judicial autonomous body—termed Civil Service Commission. The latter functions as a general personnel agency of the government.
In the United States, however, the appointment of the more important executive or administrative officers by the chief executive does not become effective until approved by the Senate. It would be out of place to attempt any consideration here of the way in which the Senate has used or misused this power.
As a matter of fact, the Senate has so stretched its powers as practically it has usurped the appointment of officers. Such a system does not prevail in India.
Essay # 2. Methods of Recruitment:
The next problem no less important than the preceding one is that of Recruitment from within and Recruitment from without.
As Lewis Mayers has said, “Methods of selection are basically two in number-selection from without the service, or recruitment, and selection from within the service, embracing reassignment and promotion. The problem goes, however, much deeper than the mere technical choice between detailed methods. It goes to the nature of the whole personnel system. Upon its answer, as much as upon any other factor, and perhaps more depends the attractiveness of the service, ultimate calibre of the personnel recruited and trained and its moral. If compensation standards be regarded as the foundation of the personnel system, the lines of promotion and the levels of recruitment constitute its framework.”
Before we proceed further to examine the relative merits and demerits of the two systems, it may be pointed out that the problem really arises in case of the higher middle positions only.
It is obvious that the lowest posts must be recruited from without for there is no lower class of personnel from which to promote, and it is also equally obvious that recruitment of fresh and inexperienced men from outside to the highest positions like those of heads of departments will not do.
Merits of Recruitment from Within (Promotions):
(a) It provides ample opportunities for advancement to the employees. As such, it serves as a great incentive to the hard-working and conscientious employees. This indirectly helps in effecting efficiency.
(b) The very expectation of promotion as a reward for honest and intelligent workers heightens their morale.
(c) The experience gained by the employees in the lower jobs helps them in undertaking jobs entailing higher responsibilities. The Government can safely entrust to them jobs of higher responsibilities.
(d) The Examination system is not a real test of one’s abilities. As such, the defect of the examination system is removed through recruitment from within or promotion. The employee’s work is the best criterion to judge his worth.
(e) Procuring of efficient employees through this system is easier than that of direct recruitment.
(f) It is economical as cost of training is saved. The employees get practical training while serving in an office.
(g) The burden of Public Service Commissions is lessened a great deal, as promotion to higher posts avoids the undergoing of process of advertisement, examination and interviews through it.
(h) It is essential element of career service. According to a “Report, “…a career cannot be said to exist if top positions are generally recruited from outside, from men who do not understand the work in such a way as to create an effective bar to advancement from the bottom to the top of the service itself.”
(i) It re-establishes the human factor in public administration which is lost if recruitment is made through external agencies like Civil Service Commissions. Personal contacts between the officers and the subordinates are apt to be established if on the report of the officers the promotion of the subordinates is to be effected.
Lewis Mayers has well summed up advantages of recruitment from within in these words:
“The obvious reason why the restriction of selection to those in the service may be urged as a matter of principle is that it increases the opportunity for advancement within service, and Still more, that it gives those in the service a definite assurance that under given conditions advancement will come. The anticipated results in terms of a better class of personnel recruited and retained in the lower rank, and a better morale, are obvious. Great as is the desirability, in any personnel system, of multiplying and widening the avenues for advancement to the greatest extent possible, it is especially necessary in the personnel system of governments where at best the opportunities for advancement are not apt to be as great as in private undertakings.”
Defects:
The obvious objection to consistent restriction of selection to those already in the service is firstly that it so severely narrows the area of selection. Unquestionably where the restriction of selection for the highest posts to those already in the service is in force, it not infrequently results in the selection of a less capable or less brilliant officer than could have been found outside the service.
But against the resulting loss of individual efficiency is to be set the increased efficiency due to better morale and greater incentive, displayed by the rank and file of the service, and the intermediate officers.
The knowledge that the highest posts may be the reward of faithful an
d zealous service is a force, making for a day-to-day productiveness, often far more valuable than any results that may be achieved by the chief executives, however able, with a force but mildly interested in its work.
Secondly, it is arguable that, regardless of the relative efficiency of the personnel which may be recruited from without the service as against that which may be promoted from within, adherence to selection solely from within the service leads to stagnation and conservation; that frequent or at any rate, occasional, injection of new blood into a system, particularly at or near the top, is highly desirable.
Thirdly, it undermines the principle of equality of opportunity as recruitment is confined to those who are already in service. It puts premium on experience and as such ignores brilliant, university trained youth. The mediocrities may go on getting higher position simply because of seniority i.e. of being in service. As such, this is condemned as an undemocratic system.
Without depreciating the force of the above contention, it should always be borne in mind that the occasional injection of directing personnel from without represents a merely sporadic attempt to cure a condition which is capable of prevention.
Where a proper incentive to efficiency and to progress, exists throughout a service, and central control and supervision as will expose, by periodic survey and appraisal, as well as by current contact, un-progressiveness or incapacity of the directing personnel as soon as it appears, it is perfectly possible to prevent stagnation at the top from developing; and only occasionally will conditions get to a point where there is imperative need of regeneration by one unfettered by any previous familiarity with the organization.
In this view, to the extent that stagnation exists at the top in the federal service it is chargeable to an improper system of administration in the large, and should be corrected by a revision of that system rather than by attempting, at irregular and accidental intervals, to galvanize the sluggish organism into action.
Nor should the fact be lost sight of that stagnation of the subordinate personnel, which results from the lack of opportunity for advancement, is no less hurtful to efficiency than is stagnation in higher quarters.
Merits of Direct Recruitment:
Direct recruitment system which India has adopted from the British has some striking advantages as follows:
First, it is claimed that it is in consonance with the principle of democracy in as much as all qualified persons get an equal opportunity for public office.
Second, it widens the area of selection, and, therefore, the best talent in the country may be found.
Third, it brings in new blood into the service. By giving the young men and women an opportunity to enter the services, it keeps them continuously adapted to new ideas and outlook of society and prevents services from becoming the exclusive preserve of the experienced and conservative people.
Fourth, in the absence of direct recruitment the persons who are promoted to higher positions are promoted at an age when they have lost all initiative, quickness and vigour. After serving for a number of years in one of the lower positions, a person comes to develop a somewhat cramped outlook which vitiates his thinking when he holds a higher position.
Hence it is argued that experience of a lower position may, far from being an asset in the higher position, prove to be actually a liability.
Fifth, in technical and professional fields, development of new techniques requires new entrants to provide leadership in the adoption of those techniques.
Last, recruitment from without impels the employees already in service to keep abreast of new developments in their several fields lest they might prove inferior in competition for higher posts when pitched against the young men abreast of new techniques and new methodology.
Demerits of Direct Recruitment:
Direct Recruitment has also been denounced by the critics on the grounds stated below:
First, the system entails huge expenditure as lot of money is to be spent on the training of the raw young men joining service for the first time.
Second, it reduces incentive to good work as chances of promotion to higher services are bleak when posts of higher rank are filled through direct recruitment.
Third, the system is apt to cause lot of heart-burning and jealousy. The old, experienced people already in service will not tolerate young men, fresh from the colleges or universities to boss over them.
Fourth, even if the people within service are given an opportunity to compete with the young collegians they are likely to lag far behind, as they are not acquainted with the latest knowledge of the university subjects. Otherwise too with the advanced age, their memory is not as sharp and power of comprehension is not as good as that of the young collegians.
Fifth, under this system, recourse is generally taken to examinations or tests or interviews, which are not the sure test of judging individuals’ abilities. They cannot be considered as fool-proof methods for assessing the personal traits of the applicants.
Last, Public Service Commissions or other agencies of recruitment will be over-burdened if for all services; recruitment is to be made from without.
Essay # 3. Qualification of Employees:
The next problem in the recruitment of personnel is that of determining the qualifications of the employees. In every country, some qualifications are laid down for entry into public service. These qualifications are of two types- (i) General, and (ii) Special. In the former are included citizenship, sex, domicile and age, and in the latter personal qualities like education, experience and technical knowledge.
We shall consider each qualification separately:
General Qualifications:
(i) Citizenship:
In every country, only citizens are appointed to public services. Aliens, who do not owe allegiance to the state, are appointed only for a brief period on ad hoc basis. It is but reasonable that all employees of a government should owe allegiance to it. Loyalty and faithfulness to the government are necessary for keeping the secrets of office which has become so vital these days.
(ii) Domicile:
Along with citizenship sometimes domicile qualifications are required for entering into public services. It is specially so for State services. This qualification began in the U.S.A. and has entered in the Indian State services also.
In the U.S.A. domicile qualification plays an important part in the personnel system of the national government too. Though the law may not require, the convention or practice is firmly established that the offices of postmasters, collectors of revenue, etc., shall be filled from persons residing in the state. This is, however, an undesirable practice. It does violence to the merit principle.
The candidates having high qualifications may be passed over in favour of persons having inferior qualifications simply because the former do not live in the state. Besides affecting efficiency and talent adversely, it also creates provincialism and develops narrow outlook in public administration.
According to a Report, “We were greatly concerned to observe that in one State, for instance, domicile rules were applied not only to determine eligibility for appointment to the public services but also to regulate the awards of contracts….such stipulations in our opinion are not only inconsistent with Articles 15, 16 and 19 of the Constitution but go against the very conception of Indian citizenship.”
Presently for IAS and IPS services
a candidate must be either:
(a) A citizen of India
(b) A subject of Nepal
(c) A subject of Bhutan
(d) A Tibetan refugee who came to India before 1st January 1962 and having within time of setting in India
(e) A person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma Sri Lanka, East African countries having intention to settle in India.
(iii) Age:
The age qualifications of entrants is a matter of great importance, since the policy adopted in respect to it affects vitally the whole character of the personnel system.
The British and the Indian systems preferred to recruit candidates who are between the ages of 20 and 24. In case of India the maximum age limit was 24 till 1972 and was raised to 28 years in 1979. Again in 1986, it was reduced to 26 years. For the year 1992 only, the maximum age for IAS and allied services was raised to 33 years.
An ‘add’ in the Employment News issued on 29th December, 2007 states age limit as under (A) a candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and not have attained the age of 30 years on 1st August, 2008 i.e. he must have been born not earlier than 2nd August, 1978 and not later than 1st anguish 1987 (i) The upper age is relax able up to a maximum of 5 years if a candidate belongs to a scheduled caste or a scheduled tribe (ii) up to maximum of 3 years in case of candidates belonging to other backward classes who are eligible to avail of reservation; (iii) up to a maximum of 5 years if a candidate had ordinarily been domiciled in the state of Jammu and Kashmir during the period – 1st January 1980 to December 3, 1989; (iv) up to a minimum of 3 years in case of Defence services personnel disabled in operation during hostilities with any foreign country or in a disturbed area and released as a consequence; (v) up to a maximum of 5 years in case of Ex-servicemen who have rendered at least 5 years service in Military as on August 1st, 2008 and have been released of; (vi) up to in a maximum of 5 years in case of ECOS/SSCOS who have completed 5 years of service as on 1st August 2008 and whose assignment has been extended beyond 5 years; (vii) up to a maximum of 10 years in case of blind, deaf and orthopedically handicapped person.
However, in general category four attempts are allowed to appear but in case of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes no restriction at all; in case of OBC seven attempts are allowed.
The physically handicapped will get as many attempts as are available to other non-physically handicapped candidates. However, physically handicapped person of general category will be eligible for 7 attempts for taking the examination.
An ‘add’ on December 6, 2008 in a daily clearly confirms age limit 21 to 30 years for general category as on August 1, 2009 and is relax able for scheduled castes and tribes and OBCs and other categories as specified above.
The candidates at this age have received only liberal education and general knowledge and are not experienced and trained. The examinations are of a character to determine general educational attainments. America does not follow the British practice.
There is no attempt to turn the government services into a career. The examinations determine technical qualifications. Hence the age scale in USA ranges from 18 years to 45 years.
The advantages of the American practice are larger freedom of selection, hence better talent, and less expenditure to be incurred in training the new entrants. Riper Paul point out “in American recruitment system, one may enter the American public service at almost any level and at almost any age.”
(iv) Sex:
It is not many years ago when public service was the sole monopoly of man. No women were employed in the government departments especially in the higher services. It is within the memory of the authors when no woman in India for instance was allowed to appear in the competitive examination held for IAS and other Central services.
Women, as a rule, were considered unfit for administrative jobs. But due to the spread of the doctrine of equality and the aspiration of women to economic independence, the sex qualification has been removed from recruitment to public services in most countries.
A sizable number of women are at present employed in the Central Government, most of them holding lower positions. In previous few years, in the IAS and IPS exams, they have been topping.
W.F. Willoughby is of the opinion that “As a general rule, women do not have the experience or other qualifications fitting them for the most responsible positions and particularly those coming within the class of directing personnel.” Every man must be suited to his work.
There are certain offices, e.g., in the armed forces for which women may not be suited at all and reversely there are certain offices for which women alone are better suited, e.g., for nurses, kindergarten teachers, telephone operators, etc.
Thus it implies that natural capacities of men make men better suited to certain posts for which women are not well suited. Under the over-enthusiasm and sentiment for equality all the posts are being thrown open equally for men and women.
Recently for ground jobs (class I) both in the Air Force and Navy women have been recruited (1992). Their performance in the written tests and interview has been much better than the men folk. Besides their merit career wise has also been very high.
The nature of the work required however for the post should be the practical consideration. It is felt women are not well suited for certain arduous jobs. Hence they should be kept out of such services.
Special Qualifications:
(i) Educational Qualifications:
By educational qualifications is meant both the ordinary education that is acquired by the students in general educational institutions and the special education imparted in professional colleges.
The British and the Indian system lay down definite educational qualifications for entrants—Higher Secondary School certificate for clerical jobs; graduate degree for executive jobs. In India there is no discrimination between liberal and scientific education.
According to the latest publication on the educational qualification required for IAS and Allied Service the candidate must hold a degree of any of the universities incorporated by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an Act of Parliament or declared to be a deemed university under section 3 of the UGC Act 1956 or possess an equivalent qualification.
The subjects of the competitive examination are so broad based as to include every subject. Engineering graduate or Medical graduates were previously handicapped as they had to prepare two optional subjects they had not read at all. Now both from Engineering and Medical (MBBS) optional subjects have been included.
This wide coverage of subjects has enabled brilliant doctors and engineers also to take the IAS and Allied examination. In America, the requirement of formal education for entry into government jobs of a non-technical character is opposed. In 1944 the American Congress forbade any educational requirement except for scientific, technical and professional positions.
The advantage of the system of formal educational qualifications is that only those who have a chance to compete with success may take the examination. If no formal educational qualifications are required of the candidates, everyone can compete, and it will result in great waste of public funds and the task of Public Service Commission also shall become stupendous to the degree of unmanageableness.
(ii) Experience:
By experience is meant the training that a person receives in the actual performance of the work, for example, a person who after obtaining a degree serves as a teacher in some educational institution for four years, has the teac
hing experience of four years. In U.S.A. experience is usually required for technical services. In other countries for all public services experience is regarded an additional qualification.
(iii) Technical Knowledge:
It means the possession of technical skill required for the proper performance of duties of that particular position, for example, to become a Civil Engineer it is necessary to have a Degree in Civil Engineering. This qualification is essential to fill up technical posts such as those of legal experts, doctors, mechanics, etc.
(iv) Personal Qualifications:
They are at once the most important and most difficult to determine. They range from good moral character to energy, resourcefulness, tact, reliability, punctuality, executive ability, and even personal appearance and manner.
It hardly needs an emphasis that the value of officers is in many cases, at least, as dependent upon the possession of these personal qualities as those of an educational or technical character. The tasks of modern administration require of its employees highly administrative skills.
These skills have been summarized by Pfiffner as follows:
(a) A flexible, but essentially scientific, mode of thought, characterised by a recognition of the need for coordination.
(b) Familiarity with the subject-matter of organisation and management.
(c) Facility at problem solving.
(d) A highly developed reading and writing ability.
(e) Ability to settle vexing situations through impersonal contact.
It is very difficult to judge these personal skills accurately at the time of recruitment because no accurate method has been so far devised for the purpose. The use of methods like sample survey through questionnaires, psychological tests or aptitude tests does not enable us to make any accurate judgment of the candidate’s personal skills.
Essay # 4. Methods of Determining Qualifications:
Above we have specified various qualifications required of the entrants for public services. The purpose of laying down these qualifications is to get the best qualified and most competent men for government service. The question now arises—how to determine these qualifications?
Upon the proper solution of the question will depend the efficiency of the whole administrative system.
Examination of this problem reveals that generally the following methods have been adopted to determine the qualifications:
(i) Personal judgment of the appointing officer,
(ii) Certificates of ability, character and education,
(iii) Record of previous experience—educational and professional,
(iv) Examinations—competitive and non-competitive.
We shall examine each method separately.
(i) Personal Judgment of the Appointing Officer:
This is the simplest and the oldest method of recruitment. Under it the appointing officer himself determines the qualifications of the candidates. He makes his own personal judgment in making selections. This system can procure good results under certain conditions, for example, when the number of appointments to be made is small and it is possible for the officer to give to the matter the time and attention that are required, and he is not under political pressure and is free from personal considerations. This system is followed in the appointment of topmost positions in the official hierarchy in India as well as in other countries.
But in actual practice these conditions are rarely met. Many services are of such vast size that the head of the department making appointments cannot give that much time and attention which is required for the purpose. Moreover, the task of ascertaining the qualifications of the candidates is so technical and hard that it cannot be performed single-handedly and, therefore, requires the assistance of a body of experts.
Finally, the officer making appointment is subject to political and personal pressure very often which is exceedingly difficult for him sometimes to resist. In view of these considerations it is imperative that other devices for determining qualifications should be employed.
The factor of personal judgment may have controlling weight in the appointment of private secretaries and other officers having a especially confidential character. In respect to other positions this factor may be given weight by asking the appointing officer to make a selection from among three or four candidates recommended for appointment by the Public Service Commission, thus giving him an opportunity to determine, through the use of his own judgment, the suitability of the candidates for his department.
(ii) Certificate of Character, Ability and Previous Experience:
The value of certificates of character and ability from responsible persons and of experience from the previous employer is evident. These certificates are usually secured in all cases. They help to make a preliminary estimate of the candidates’ capacities and qualities on the basis of which they may be called for interview.
It may be pointed out that these certificates cannot be made the sole criterion for judging the qualifications of the candidates. But it may, however, be emphasised that the certificates, if they are to give useful results, should be issued uninfluenced by any extraneous considerations and should describe the candidate’s achievements truly.
(iii) Examinations:
The above devices, valuable as they are in determining the fitness of the candidates, have their definite limitations. The method of personal judgment, as shown above, is open to arbitrary judgment and personal considerations. The method of securing certificates of ability and experience can help only to make a preliminary selection and cannot be made the sole criterion of judging the suitability of the candidates. Therefore provision is made to subject the candidates to examination of various types.
Examinations are mainly of two types—competitive and non-competitive. The purpose of a competitive test is to determine which of the candidates satisfy the minimum standards required and then to determine their relative positions in order of merit, i.e., which of them is the best, the next best, the third best and so on. The non-competitive test confines itself to determine merely which of the candidates satisfy the minimum standard required. It is obvious that a true examination system must select those who not only fulfil the maximum requirements, but also the best among them in order of excellence.
Generally speaking, there are four basic types of examinations, namely:
(i) Written Examinations,
(ii) Oral Examinations,
(iii) Performance Demonstration, and
(iv) Evaluation of Education and Experience.
These may be used singly or in combinations according to the nature and grade of the post.
Essay # 5. Administrative Machinery for Determining Qualifications:
What administrative machinery shall be employed to hold the various tests described above? It has been generally recognised that these tests should be held by an independent and impartial body of persons who might not fall a prey to political manoeuvrings.
This body is generally called the Public Civil Service Commission which is made in charge not only of the recruitment and examination of public personnel but is also entrusted with other duties having to do with personnel, viz., exercising a supervision and control over the operating services in respect to the observance by them of laws and regulations governing the promotion, transfer, leave, pay, etc.
Essay # 6. Certification of Employees:
Certification follows recruitment and examination. It means the submission of the eligible names for the consideration of the appointing authority—the head of the operating service.
There are two methods of certification:
(a) The supply agency certifies a list of eligibles in order of merit and the employing authority is required to appoint the requisite number in the same order. In I.A.S. this system is followed,
(b) The supply agency supplies a list: of three names for each appointment and the appointing authority selects any one name from the list. This is followed in I.F.S.
Essay # 7. Appointment and Probation of Employees:
After the appointment is notified to the Civil Service Commission by the appointing authority in response to the former’s recommendation, the employee so appointed is put on probation for a specified period. Despite following a proper recruitment process, there is no certainty whether a proper person has been selected or not.
The real test of the fitness of a man is actual performance of work. Hence appointment is made on the basis of probation or provisional basis. The period of probation varies from six months to a year. During the probationary period, the officer keeps a close watch on the conduct and work of the employee.
If he is satisfied with his work, the employee is confirmed in his position! at the end of the probationary period. A Conference Committee rightly pointed out, “The probation period should be considered as an opportunity for the appointing authority to complete the selection process.
No formal test, however well devised and however carefully conducted, will prove infallible. The final test is actual performance. For this reason, the new appointee should be carefully supervised and critical observation should be made of his work during the period of probation.”
Prof. Willoughby rightly pointed out, “Did it do nothing more, it tends to meet the objection often raised by administrative officers that under a system of recruitment of personnel through a central agency, they have forced upon them employees who do not meet their particular requirements.”
The system has proved better than demotion or dismissal of an employee at a later stage. An employee is given a clear understanding at the time of appointment that his selection is not yet complete. His actual work will secure his appointment. He will not face mental agonies if during probation or after it he is thrown out of the job.
The system is desirable also from tax-payer’s point of view. Why should not the government devise foolproof methods of selecting the employees who are to be paid out of the taxpayer’s money ?
Otherwise too, demotion and dismissals cause bad feelings among the people in general and the employees in particular. Frequent dismissals show that proper choice was not made and people’s money has been wasted. The interest of the tax-payers also demand that the government should employ capable persons and after appointing them accord them proper treatment.
However, it is advisable that the officer at the helm of affairs should maintain service records of employees on the probation and submit report regarding their work to the Public Service Commission. The opinion of the Civil Service Commission must also be given due weight while confirming or removing the probationers.
Essay # 8. Placement of Employees:
However sound may be our system of recruitment and examination and however capable personnel we might have secured, much of their value is lost due to poor assignments. A wrong assignment results in wastage of talent. Placement should therefore be made after properly discerning the aptitudes, and capacities of the employees.
The Public Service Commissions recommend the names of the eligibles in order of merit in general abilities. The operating services may give weight to the general abilities but should give more consideration to other factors, viz., interests, experience, training and personality. This is the only way to utilize the talents and capacities of their employees.
Essay # 9. Orientation of Employees:
Through orientation, the entrants are acquainted with the objectives of the agency in which they have been placed, and also the methods and details of work. According to Mandell, the orientation programme “relieves the employee of the stage fright associated with entering a new job and is a sign to him that the organisation is interested in both his welfare and in helping him adjust to his new surroundings.”