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4
Efficiency of State Employees
Stressed; Improvement Expected
In Public Services
f
B y V irg il G . O ’N eil
by the recent legislative session, pub
lic attention has been directed to the
B E B iehcy of public services rendered
the people by State agencies. There is
a defin ite trend to survey ^ B . j ^ ^ ht:--/,
al ccsts and to clam or for their reduc
tion: the taxpaying public dislike high
taxes and w ant more service at less
cost.
Si^ns of the Times
j A t the State level, m any actions and
expressions give us an idea of what
is in th e wind as affecting State em
ployees. These include, among others,
the follow ing:
general idea that employees in
all classifications are to be paid h an d
some wages starting Ju ly 1, 1949 and
that everyone is to receive a large in -
crease at that tim e.
2. A belief that with an assured
m arke d decre a s e in the cos t of liv in g ,
all of us will
anc^
we w ill all get rich at the taxpayers’
expense. I
3. The widespread idea that a l l ^ ^ O ^
agencies can now readily recruit w ell-
trained and experienced help to re-
place the inefficient or to augm ent
present forces; and that the State is
flooded with qualified people in all
lines, out of work and eager for a
State job.
4. A S W & y £ h e l d W p n t h | M g |
State appointing authorities can now
increased production from
the employees and put on the pressure
lAwhen l^ ^ ^ d fe a n d 'tgat pw spnal qu al
ifications for (f e S fied positions u n -
I der; .a.Giyil Service and jif b k rtm ent
rules can now f e raised w ith an auto
m atic increase in efficiency.
5. The proposed actwaMgof ®e«|S|iE'il
Service Com m ission and appointing
authoritiesBfco reduce the num ber of
employees who w ill rfggive the sm all
sal£tr$ step increases provided under
C iv il Service. These are intended re-
the employee
and as an incentive for the emnloyee
to continue to perform good work and
stay on with the State.
6. The directive of the I M g lative
W ays and M eans Com m ittee to arb i
trarily I reduce budgets 5 %, and the
present moves to do the cutting by I
holding down employees pay. I
It is apparent to an'y t h in k if iJ ) e r -
son that the above ideas and actions
are destined to fa il if their true pu r
pose is to increase the efficien cy of I
State services, to im prove p u b lic S -
v ic e a n d t o s a v e the taxp ayer’s mone^ Q
W ish ful T hinking Is a Tragedy
The above trends of thought and
action boil down to a m ajor error:
lfa m e l-ip i f f l | the w ay to save m oney I
is by squeezing it from the l iv e lih o o d ^
of^ H employees, by scaring them, b ^ p r
confusing them and by treating »them
like cogs in a r | | g H .
The employees are being told, in
effect, “ Y ou employees are getting
plenty, and now you had better speed
up or we w ill get some experts to
ta jH K H n sjm y ).” T d | ^ B c h H H R ^ M
ment, the employee is also being told,
i t
BBBW “ Tf S i know which side
^our
-.w ill
spend your spare tim e studying sub
jects which we think you should
ing on the job) and m aybe you w ill
get a sm all raise in pay every second
or third time you iB b m e
job;
promise .any
raise as we haven’t got any m o n e ^ j i
It is w ishful thinking to expect an
p ro v e m e n tin w o rk from any employeOM)
B n d cr|B8B?h * ^treatment or im plie^w
threat as the above, yet an analy^i|h^
of the present trends and actions point
to j ust such an attitude.
The tragedy of such a situation lies
in the fact that it m isleads the public I
who pay the bills and gives them a
f M ^ ^ ^ ^ h a t present functions of I