Under the state-administrative activity is meant a kind of socially useful work. In fact, this is the professional work of persons involved in the apparatus of state power on an ongoing basis. Any management process implies a set of requirements for management objects, so everyone who is engaged in the civil service sector must be highly qualified and have special human qualities. So, what is the personnel composition, what is its structure and classification? Answers to these questions will be given below.
The purpose of public service
The role of high-quality personnel is difficult to overestimate. Speaking of personnel, they mean public servants. Their qualifications, knowledge, experience, managerial skills and the ability to make wise, far-sighted decisions are a guarantee of the prosperity and authority of the state in the domestic and international arena. The implementation of a political, economic and social strategy is possible only if the state is represented by people who are distinguished by special professional qualities.
Managerial work in power structures has a number of features from both a theoretical and a practical point of view. First of all, the need for it is determined by the purpose of the civil service. The staff of the power apparatus is called upon to determine the main directions of social development, organize and regulate social relations, regulate and evaluate the activities of not individual social groups, but the total mass of the population.
Thus, the management of the personnel of the state civil service is one of the forms of practical embodiment of state power and the application of the powers of its representatives.
The importance of personnel in the public administration system
Civil servants belong to a special social group, in which there are tens of thousands of specialists with different official status, educational profile and qualifications. Under the personnel composition of public administration are also understood politicians and statesmen who are in constant official relations with the authorities. Some of them work in state bodies, and some in municipalities.
Civil service personnel are elected by the people (president, governors, deputies) or appointed by senior managers in accordance with the law. All managers in varying degrees are endowed with authority, so their professional and personal qualities must meet stringent requirements. In addition, the very process of forming the cadre of public servants should be streamlined and thought out to the smallest detail so that the country is led by the most worthy and decent people, real professionals.
Today, the personnel policy of the Russian state can hardly be considered thoughtful, highly effective and justified. Applied personnel technologies lack regularity, consistency, stability and balance. To a greater extent, it is limited by various kinds of political ideology, temporary reforms, and insufficient professionalism of the managerial link.
Unified personnel management information system
This is an electronic database, which is assigned an official legal status. The unified personnel management system uses electronic document management, created on the basis of the infrastructure of the Federal Portal of the Civil Service and Management Personnel, which has been operating since 2009. This register provides citizens with access to information about the state civil service in the Russian Federation.
Enter the Unified personnel management information system through the website gossluzhba.gov.ru. The specified service is recognized as a basic resource containing versatile information about personnel in government bodies. In addition, the Unified Information System staffing allows you to receive certificates of income, property, obligations of a public servant in a simplified manner.
The service consists of an open part, where user access is not limited, and personal. The resource contains information about the state and stage of implementation of the concept for the development of personnel in the field of public service of the Russian Federation. The system also provides a database of current vacancies for civil servants throughout the Russian Federation and a reserve of potential managers.
The implementation of the Unified Personnel Management System pursues the goal of a smooth transition of the work of government agencies to electronic document management in order to optimize the costs of developing duplicate personnel policy instruments.
Shortcomings and gaps in modern civil service
In Soviet times, it was believed that building a developed communist society could solve all the existing problems of personnel policy, because only those people who had a “correct” political and business opinion, had the necessary moral qualities, adhered to the ideas of democratic centralism and Marxism could enter the civil service. Then the personnel management process could be considered ideal only if it was based on scientific and theoretical justifications.
In practice, everything turned out differently. Soviet politicians have not been able to solve the problem of staff formation in the field of civil service. The reason for the failure was coercion and brutal suppression of the initiative.
Even minor reforms and changes are doomed to failure without restructuring the staff of the state apparatus. Part of the civil service is still pursued by the model of the party-Soviet personnel system, which has proved to be ineffective. Local government is concentrated in the hands of unprofessional and irresponsible workers, so Russia still needs high-class managers.
The formation of the civil service personnel should be under strict control. Otherwise, the inability to analyze the true state of affairs, organize and monitor the implementation of the planned measures and programs will lead to the degradation of the country's managerial potential.
Today, among civil servants, there are many amateurs who have superficial knowledge in the political and managerial sphere, have suspicious business experience and a volatile civic position. Thus, state building must begin with increasing the legal and moral component, mastering effective methods of selection, and educating civil servants. Only in this case will it be possible to choose the right vector of socio-economic development.
Personnel structure of the state civil service
Management at the federal and regional levels is carried out by different groups of civil servants. They can be classified according to several criteria, based on the structure of the civil service.
By position
First of all, the staff of the state civil service can conditionally be divided into five job categories:
- senior executives (president, ministers, governors), leaders of political parties and other persons who belong to the ruling political and administrative elite;
- civil servants holding positions in the military and law enforcement public service;
- cadres of local governments, which include heads of municipalities, district administrations, deputies elected by popular vote, etc .;
- municipal employees - employees who carry out professional activities in the positions of the municipal service;
- employees of the organizational and technical plan - personnel ensuring the uninterrupted operation of state bodies and self-government structures.
By socio-legal status
According to this criterion, the staff includes officials (officials) and service employees. The first group is the main, the second category of civil servants performs auxiliary functions.
Officials are politicians and managers in the structure of state bodies and the system of local self-government. In the course of their professional activities, they exercise the scope of power, represent in their person the relevant political associations, authorities, subordinate organizations.
The activities of employees who hold positions of an organizational and technical nature is of no less importance, since they are responsible for providing material, social, and other areas in the process of performing managerial tasks.
What should be a civil servant: basic aspects
The initial characteristics of the manager, regardless of the level of activity (federal, regional, local government), can be made up of four main points.
Of paramount importance is the general cultural and educational aspect. The formation of personnel with the involvement of people who do not have broad humanitarian and socio-economic educational training will not bring positive results. Applicants for the position of public service should have a sufficient level of knowledge in those areas that are provided for by the standards of higher professional education. Usually they include a list of academic disciplines, including:
- philosophy;
- Theory of State and Law;
- history of Russia and foreign countries;
- political science;
- natural science (in the context of the basic concepts of modern society);
- foreign languages;
- sociology;
- psychology.
In addition, adequate life attitudes and sound ideological orientations are also important here. For both the manager and the lower-ranking civil servant, the decisive qualities are also upbringing, tact, stress tolerance, and corporate culture. Persons in leadership positions should have charisma and a good command of oratory.
In professional terms, public service personnel value competence and the ability to use previously gained experience and knowledge in appropriate situations. Moreover, the ability to apply existing skills is necessary in all sectors of the public service, and not only in macro- and microeconomics, federal and regional budgets, geopolitics and municipal administration. Without professional staff at the central office and in the localities it is impossible to effectively manage social risks, deal with the demographic crisis, introduce computer technologies in the field of ecology, healthcare, transport infrastructure, etc. By the way, knowledge in the field of information resources in most cases is the main , since in the conditions of modern society it is important to be able to comprehensively diagnose and influence the ongoing changes, contribute to the development of positive trends and speed up the regression.
In terms of business characteristics, a civil servant should have an active citizenship, be organized and disciplined, responsible. The aforementioned Unified Information System for Personnel does not present any general requirements for candidates for positions. However, the possession of such qualities as perseverance in the process of fulfilling the tasks set, the desire for professional self-improvement, improving the available qualifications, and the ability to give an objective assessment of the work done is implied by itself.
Speaking about the personal aspect, the civil servant should be honest, independent, purposeful, hardworking, proactive, communicative and reliable. It is also important not to yield to the main professional principles and resist various temptations (not to take bribes, not to abuse one's official position, etc.).
HR policy objectives
The above model of civil servants in the management sector is ideal from a scientific point of view. In fact, this characteristic covers all the requirements that society places on officials. A civil servant who will possess such a set of qualities will indeed be able to carry out his activities in a consistent, constructive manner, apply innovative approaches, objectively forecast and plan, competently manage resources and achieve the desired results.
To date, the main task of the state personnel management system is to form a reserve consisting of educated, psychologically stable and purposeful personnel. The main areas of personnel policy are:
- the study of new forecasting technologies and strategic planning;
- the use of a monitoring regime that would allow to determine the needs for personnel with certain qualities;
- the introduction of search systems that have passed testing to select and determine the suitability of a candidate for a position in the public administration or local government;
- providing conditions for stable career growth of staff due to continuous training;
- the creation of a rational system for the promotion of productive labor;
- the use of an effective reserve for timely updating of the personnel of the state civil service.
Basic principles for the implementation of personnel policy
When forming the current apparatus of civil service, it is important to adhere to the line of pragmatism and stability of personnel processes. The process of education of the personnel of the civil service in the public administration system requires the use of the following principles:
- a concrete historical approach that allows you to take into account the needs of society in the staff at the moment and assess the actual possibilities of meeting them;
- legitimacy, that is, the adoption of personnel decisions in accordance with the law;
- systematic work of the civil service apparatus, which ensures the unity of goals and principles with the methods of conducting personnel work;
- a differentiated approach to the implementation of the planned personnel programs and concepts, taking into account the characteristics of various areas of management activity;
- prudence of personnel decisions;
- an organic combination of scientific forms and methods with innovative projects in personnel policy;
- equality of rights, ensuring general access to the apparatus of state and municipal administration, prohibition of discrimination and restrictions on gender, nationality, language, religion, political bias, place of residence or financial situation;
- observance of generally accepted moral values and humanism;
- protection of the rights, freedoms, dignity of man and citizen.
Methods used in the selection of frames
Diverse are the methods of personnel policy. They mean targeted influence (direct and indirect) on the course of personnel processes. All methods used in the selection of personnel are distinguished by the principle of credibility of state power.
So in a separate category there are administrative methods, which include forecasting, planning and direct organizational and administrative impact on personnel processes. This also includes tools for monitoring, evaluating, motivating, encouraging and holding accountable, applying various coercive measures and sanctions to dishonest employees. Administrative methods involve the careful selection of candidates for the position by examining personal information and official characteristics, conducting testing, certification, qualification exams, requesting expert opinions, etc.
The second group is legal (formal) methods that are related to compliance with legislation in the field of public service. It implies the maintenance of a regulatory framework consisting of documents on the placement, distribution of personnel, certification, dismissal, job descriptions, etc. Such documents are orders, administrative and job regulations, instructions that may be imperatively prescriptive, recommendatory, encouraging approving or punishing.
The third group is methods of psychological and volitional influence on personnel: persuasion, authority, moral encouragement, personal example and education. In practice, methods of coercion are often used, and not always within the framework of the legal field and job descriptions. The use of methods of humiliation, blackmail, threats, etc. is strictly prohibited.