The State Services Commission has conducted a wide-ranging survey of the aspirations and work-attitudes of public servants, and discovered (among other things) that substantial numbers of them do not wish to apply for higher positions because they simply prefer to stay in their current jobs. This is reported by the Dominion-Post as public servants lacking ambition - as if there is something wrong with it. The subtext is that it is wrong to be content, wrong to be satisfied, wrong to be happy with the state of your life. Which is simply fucked up. Unless you're some sort of Scottish Presbyterian who thinks misery is the natural state of existence (which it was in Scotland when Presbyterianism was invented) and that fun and happiness are therefore somehow unnatural and sinful, I'd have thought that contentment and happiness were what people were aiming for. But clearly, I lack ambition...
More interesting is the fact that 18% of public servants are not interested in a high-level management position because of the political nature of the position - i.e. the fact that you become a political target for the opposition. This is part and parcel of the job, and essential for there to be proper accountability to Parliament, but it is worrying that it is putting people off (both because it may suggest that the level of scrutiny is unfair, and because there are people unhappy with being scrutinised). And on the plus side, 80% of the public service seem happy enough with that level of scrutiny, which suggests that its not entirely bad...
3 comments:
I agree with you that there seems to be a worryingly prevalent attitude, reflected in the Dom article, that the only worthy kind of happiness is that which is "earned" somehow through realising challenging goals. The short term dopamine rush of an ambition met is valued over abiding contentment (which is seen as complacent). Ah well, I suppose we're never going to achieve all that extra productivity required of us if we're all mooching around with shit-eating grins on our faces are we?
The Dom headline doesn't quite fit with the research findings that "Public servants were more ambitious than in 2000 (especially Maori and Pacific peoples), but they were less likely to aspire to a CE position." though does it.
Posted by Jarvis Pink : 5/03/2006 01:58:00 PM
Not wanting a high level management position is not the same as lacking ambition. Management is primarily a specialised form of administration. Not everyone is interested in that and the abilities and skill set that make someone a good (for example) engineer will not necessarily transalate into them being a good manager. They may still aspire to be an excellent engineer however.
As for the political target point I have quite a lot of sympathy for people who feel this. Accountability is one thing and scape goating another. I don't however think the distinction between the two is always clear in this country.
Posted by Amanda : 5/03/2006 07:53:00 PM
Small poppyism with a WHIFF OF Calvanism.
Posted by Unknown : 5/04/2006 08:48:00 AM
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