NOVEMBER 2017 GOVERNANCE NOTES No.4 DECEMBER 2018 No.10 CIVIL SERVANT SURVEYS HELP ASSESS GOVERNMENT CAPABILITY IN A PROGRAM-FOR-RESULTS Prepared by Lida Bteddini, Zahid Hasnain, Kerenssa Kay, and Daniel Rogger, Governance Global Practice To focus on strengthening the institutional capacity of part of the preparation phase for PforRs, task teams are national systems by linking financing to defined results, the required to assess the government’s organizational ability World Bank’s Program-for-Results (PforR) requires a deep to plan, design, implement, and monitor program execution. understanding of behavioral and institutional bottlenecks This analysis aims to feed into project design through that may affect the success of a government program. Key identifying improvements and measures to mitigate major to achievements under any public program is the ability, implementation risks. A thorough analysis of implementation motivation, and productivity of civil servants. They largely capacity at the program level depends on granular and determine policy formulation and implementation as well as actionable data that can help shed light on the inner the government’s ability to effectively deliver on programs workings of a government organization or implementing and services. A rigorous assessment of bureaucratic agency. Actionable data would include information on staff capability is a priority during the preparation and capacity and skills profiles, management practices, soft implementation phases under a PforR. and hard resources, and motivational factors that influence Assessing the personnel dimensions of government performance at the individual and organizational levels. performance has, until now, been elusive because of the lack Despite its importance, data on the characteristics of of good data. Diagnostic tools developed by the World Bank’s civil servants and the organizations in which they work are Bureaucracy Lab1 are helping generate new, frontier data extremely limited both within and across countries, particularly for a more granular analysis of bureaucratic capability that those in the developing world. There is almost no systematic is measurable and action oriented. This type of data can be collection of data on the civil service, so little data exist on useful for task teams working on PforRs. It provides a useful its numbers, characteristics, and governing norms. Most methodology to better assess whether adequate institutional cross-national sources of information are limited to expert arrangements are in place to support successful program perception-based approaches, such as the Bertelsmann implementation. This issue of Governance Notes describes the Transformation Index or the Worldwide Governance Indicators. limitations of data collection methods today and how surveys They often measure structures specified in regulations rather of public officials can help inform the design of a PforR by than realities on the ground. Furthermore, while national- generating first-hand data on government capability. level, average performance data are useful, they are often insufficient in their ability to provide actionable data for reform IMPACT OF BUREAUCRATIC CAPABILITY ON PUBLIC at the agency or organizational level that would improve SECTOR PERFORMANCE organizational capability. Academic and policy consensus is growing on the importance of civil servants when it comes to public sector performance. GENERATING ACTION-ORIENTED DATA TO GUIDE REFORM In the Russian Federation, if the worst-performing 20 percent EFFORTS of procurement officials could be made as effective as the An empirically granular approach to measuring the core median officer, the government would save 10 percent of its components of bureaucratic capability through a survey procurement costs (Best et al. 2017). The main elements of of public officials is one methodological tool that can help government capability—organizational and human resource generate more action-oriented data. During the past three management practices and the attitudes and behaviors years, the World Bank’s Bureaucracy Lab has focused on of civil servants—vary considerably across ministries and compiling the Worldwide Bureaucracy Indicators, a cross- departments within countries and underline the need for national dataset of 115 economies on objective indicators granular data to better target reform strategies (World Bank of public employment and wages. It develops civil servant 2017). surveys that aim to capture information on human resource Measuring and improving government capability is a key management practices, attitudes, and behaviors of public focus of the World Bank’s PforR financing instrument. As officials and key performance disincentives at the individual 1 The Bureaucracy Lab aims to develop the evidence base for public sector reform by understanding the characteristics of public officials and the systems and organizations in which they work. 1 GOVERNANCE NOTES DECEMBER 2018 No.10 level. This work has covered about 20,000 civil servants in can measure whether the implementing agency has adequate seven countries, namely Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, Liberia, resources to carry out a government program, if a clear Nigeria, Pakistan, and the Philippines. decision-making process exists in an agency, or how rules, Civil servant surveys have proved useful in providing systems, and incentives shape the behavior of civil servants. more information on incentive environments that lead to Information gathered can also factor into the monitoring different types of behavior and, in turn, the determinants of and verification of PforR disbursement-linked indicators (DLIs). public service delivery. What distinguishes them from other Surveys provide a first-hand account of actual implementation types of surveys is not only their scale and scope, but also that can be a useful complement to other verification methods their clear shift from a focus on form to one on function. undertaken through a PforR, such as the use of a ministry’s To ensure the survey questionnaire is capturing the right own internal monitoring system. Verification arrangements elements for an action-oriented set of data, the Bureaucracy should be DLI specific and consider the nature of the indicator Lab works in close collaboration with governments to design and what is being assessed. DLI measures can relate to the questionnaire, both by creating new modules or adapting an organization’s personnel dimensions or an aspect of a existing ones to country-and sector-specific contexts. government’s ”production function,” such as the adequacy of Through the creation of improved modules, surveys can build a performance management systems or to what extent hiring is foundation for the systematic collection of data directly from merit-based. Civil servant surveys can help shed light on how individuals with first-hand experience. systems and processes are applied in practice. Civil servant surveys have been used to diagnose state Embedding surveys in relevant PforR operations would help capability at central, local, and agency levels. In Ethiopia, a civil push the boundaries in public sector research and strengthen service survey was conducted at the request of the govern- the evidence base for reform proposals in client countries. The ment to gain a better understanding of staff incentives for Bureaucracy Lab team is working to make these surveys more entering and leaving the civil service. Focused on measuring accessible for task teams with regard to cost and replicability. staff turnover, the survey targeted a representative set of At the same time, it endeavors to maintain the level of flexibility local government, region, and federal organizations to assess necessary to ensure surveys are tailor-made to a country staffing issues and develop a better understanding of why civil context, which will help measure personnel dimensions of servants enter or leave the service. In Indonesia, the govern- organizational capability in a granular way. ment was keen to understand the impacts of a specific reform initiative. A survey was conducted across 14 primary govern- Moving Forward ment organizations to assess staff perceptions about work Collecting primary data on civil servants and their activities is processes. In Liberia, a survey will be rolled out in the forestry the first step in a new approach to better understanding the agency to assess staffing and broader human resource man- inner workings of the public sector. This strategy is especially agement bottlenecks to performance in the sector. Findings important in the developing world, where data on civil service will help inform the World Bank’s ongoing country engagement is scarce. The Bureaucracy Lab’s surveys of public officials help and identify potential entry points for reform. This survey will gather micro-level data on the perceptions and experiences of also help demonstrate the potential value this diagnostic tool civil servants as well as the key constraints to performance. has in difficult contexts, such as fragile and conflict-afflicted Through a continuous improvement of survey methodology, situations where the generation of new and reliable first-hand these tools can help build a foundation for the systematic data on public sector performance is particularly valuable. collection of data directly from individuals with first-hand experience to help inform World Bank country engagements UTILIZING CIVIL SERVANTS SURVEYS and feed into the design of PforR operations. The involvement Initial experience with civil servant surveys indicates they can of government counterparts in instrument development be a useful diagnostic tool to assess capability at different and other approaches, such as using cost-effective ways for levels of government. This information can be useful for rolling out a survey or integrating its tools and results with identifying entry points for reform or for monitoring purposes government systems, will help enhance a survey’s potential by helping provide a quantifiable baseline on organizational coverage and impact. capability that can be assessed repeatedly over time. For operational teams faced with the task of conducting If you are interested in learning more about the Bureaucracy a technical assessment under a PforR, face-to-face surveys Lab or would like to collaborate, please contact with civil servants can help provide first-hand knowledge about Lida Bteddini, lbteddini@worldbank.org; the inner workings of government. Data can help define a Zahid Hasnain, zhasnain@worldbank.org; project’s implementation arrangements by assessing typical Kerenssa Kay, kkay@worldbank.org; or institutional factors. Different modules of the questionnaire Daniel Rogger, drogger@worldbank.org. 2 GOVERNANCE NOTES DECEMBER 2018 No.10 REFERENCES Davenport, Best, M., J. Hjort, and D. Szakonyi. 2017. “Individuals and Organizations as Sources of State Effectiveness, and Consequences for Policy Design.” Discussion Paper 11968, Center for Economic Policy Research, London, UK. World Bank. 2017. World Development Report 2017: Governance and the Law. Washington, DC: World Bank. GOVERNANCE GLOBAL PRACTICE Guiding Results through Public Institutions Governance Notes captures knowledge derived from World Bank engagements and technical and financial assistance requests. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Bank. For more information, contact: askgov@worldbank.org 3