Model of effective leadership in public administration

A large number of factors have an impact on leadership effectiveness. One of the most commonly cited is the leadership potential of the leaders themselves. Leaders as individuals are defined in this manner by their inherited qualities and the personality-trait development they have either received or actually achieved themselves. Furthermore leadership (the conduct of leaders) is closely connected to leaders’ motivation, values and work ethic, and the power and authority that leaders acquire or build. To determine the extent to which leadership effectiveness is related to personality-trait based leadership potential, the paper presents a proposed model of effective leadership in the public sector, which covers the formation of personal leadership potential and identifying leadership effectiveness. The paper presents a trial application of the model in Slovenia, which offers a realistic representation of leadership potential and leadership effectiveness, which are at a relatively low level due to past neglect of this field in Slovenian central government units

Unapređivanje rada javne uprave ulaganjem u ljudske resurse

The paper emphasizes that investments in human resources are one of the important factors for improving public sector performance. In strategic papers of Slovenian government and during the reform process of public administration, government stressed out that human resources are one of the most important factors for improving performance. This is originating point of research. The main hypothesis of presented research is that investments in human resources improve efficiency and effectiveness of public sector. For several reasons explained in the paper, tax administration was chosen to test the hypothesis. We used a number of training participations per employee as an indicator of investments in human resources. For determination of effi ciency and effectiveness, we used selected performance indicators and survey among taxpayers about their satisfaction. The main obstacle of the research is that not long-time series are used for better test of hypothesis since surveys among taxpayers are not regular. The results indicate a positive correlation between training and performance indicators and training and taxpayers’ satisfaction.U članku se istražuje da su investicije u ljudske resurse jedan od važnih činitelja unapređivanja djelovanja javnog sektora. U strateškim dokumentima slovenske vlade i tijekom reforme javne uprave, ljudski resursi ističu se kao jedan od glavnih činitelja poboljšanja djelovanja javne uprave. To je i temelj istraživanja. Glavna hipoteza istraživanja je, da ulaganje u ljudske resurse poboljšava efi kasnost i uspješnost javnog sektora. Pokazatelj ulaganja u ljudske resurse oblikovan je na temelju podataka o ukupnom broju obrazovanja uz rad po zaposlenom. Za determinaciju efikasnosti i uspješnosti odabrani su pokazatelji i ankete zadovoljstva poreznih obveznika, kao korisnika usluga porezne uprave, s radom te javne institucije. Glavnu prepreku u istraživanju predstavlja kratko vremensko razdoblje provjeravanja zadovoljstva korisnika poreznih usluga porezne uprave. Zbog toga, rezultate je moguće prezentirati s visokim statističkim rizikom. Ali rezultati nagovještavaju pozitivnu korelaciju između obrazovanja uz rad zaposlenih i pokazatelja djelovanja te zadovoljstva korisnika usluga porezne uprave s radom iste. To znači, da se rad javne uprave poboljšava s obrazovanjem uz rad zaposlenih i da poboljšano djelovanje javne uprave utječe na zadovoljstvo stranaka

Some Characteristics of Employees as Risk Factors for Presenteeism

Presenteeism, or the act of attending work while sick or despite feeling unwell, is a relatively new concept in the sphere of work. It is a phenomenon that has begun to be monitored more intensively around the world in the last decade. Presenteeism can affect an employee’s work in various ways and its consequences mean that it is already a problem in itself. Employers devote too little attention to it or are frequently not even aware of it. The majority of employers are in fact too often focused on the growing problem of absence from work because of sickness (absenteeism) and on eliminating the negative consequences of absenteeism, and do not (yet) see presenteeism as a problem. The research presented in this article deals with the question of the impact of employee characteristics on the phenomenon of presenteeism. The characteristics considered included ambition, financial worries, job security, sick leave and the physical and mental health of employees

Self-Concept of Leaders in Administrative Units

Within the leadership process, the positive self-concept of a leader can have an impact on quality reciprocal relations with subordinates and on the conduct of the leader and the subordinates. The results of the research into the selfconcept of administrative unit leaders indicate that the most poorly expressed areas of self-concept were the social and physical self-concept, while the highest was the general self-concept. Since it is important for leaders to have well developed skills, especially social skills and skills for working with people, the result of the research into the social self-concept of leaders in central government bodies (administrative units) is an important indicator of leaders’ concepts of their own social image. The paper focuses on the self-concept of administrative unit leaders and presents results of research carried out in that field

Vloga posameznika pri spreminjanju javne uprave

Sodobni čas je čas hitrih sprememb, ki se kažejo na vseh ravneh družbenega in zasebnega življenja. Pomemben člen spreminjanja je javna uprava, ki s svojo (ne)aktivnostjo močno vpliva na delovanje in razvoj družbe. V zvezi s proučevanjem vloge javnega uslužbenca in njegovega vpliva na spodbujanje učinkovitosti javne uprave se pojavlja vprašanje, ali je mogoče opredeliti dejavnike, ki bi bili z vidika spodbujanja učinkovitosti javne uprave načeloma primerni za vse ravni javnih uslužbencev. Gre za primer, ko v središče proučevanj postavimo javnega uslužbenca kot posameznika (ne glede na njegov položaj v sistemu delovanja javne uprave), ki s svojo držo in odnosom prispeva k procesu spreminjanja javne uprave. Posameznikov prispevek je v veliki meri začrtan tudi na osnovi organizacijske kulture upravne organizacije

Upravljanje pritožb v slovenski javni upravi

The Slovene public administration is part of the broader social system, therefore it must be responsive and proactive. The instrument of complaint in the administrative procedure, and wider in the context of the entire administrative management, is very helpful to public administration for tracking social changes and should therefore be seen as a form of constructive criticism. On the basis of user complaints regarding its services or the parties to the administrative procedure, the public administration must learn permanently and, as learning organisation, must incorporate its findings into future practice. The starting point of this contribution is the problems of the complaint in the narrow sense – customer dissatisfaction with the functioning of the public administration or arising from the fact that one of the characteristics of the administrative procedure or other services is the direct contact between the customer and the provider of the service. With this approach, the public administration will develop part of an integral system of quality and excellence that underlines the meaning of satisfaction of (all) the users of public services.Slovenska javna uprava je del širšega družbenega sistema. Zato mora delovati odzivno in celo proaktivno. Instrument pritož- be v upravnem postopku in širše v okviru celotnega upravnega poslovanja je javni upravi pri sledenju družbenim spremembam v pomoč in bi ga tako morala jemati kot obliko konstruktivne kritike. Javna uprava se mora na podlagi pritožb uporabnikov njenih storitev oz. strank v upravnih postopkih učiti in kot učeča organizacija nauke vgraditi v bodočo prakso. V prispevku izhajamo iz tistih problemov pritožbe v ožjem smislu kot nezadovoljstva stranke, ki se nanašajo na delovanje javne uprave oz. izhajajo iz dejstva, da je ena izmed značilnosti upravnega postopka oz. druge storitve prav neposreden stik med stranko in izvajalcem storitve. S tovrstnim pristopom bo javna uprava razvila del celovitega sistema kakovosti oz. odličnosti, ki poudarja pomen zadovoljstva (vseh) uporabnikov javnih storitev

Povezanost zdravstvenega absentizma in temperamenta zaposlenih v javni upravi [Correlation between Sickness Absenteeism and Temperament of Employees in the Public Administration]

Vzroki za nastanek zdravstvenega absentizma so številni in med eno od skupin vzrokov uvrščamo tudi skupino dejavnikov, ki so vezani na posameznika oziroma njegove osebnostne lastnosti. Članek se osredotoča na vidik povezanosti zdravstvenega absentizma s temperamentom in predstavlja rezultate raziskave v slovenski javni upravi. Rezultati raziskave (februar 2015) kažejo, da so bili v povprečju najmanj dni začasno odsotni z dela zaposleni, katerih prevladujoči temperament je kolerik (8,6 dni) in flegmatik (8,7 dni), ki jih je sicer tudi največ med zaposlenimi v javni upravi; nekoliko več dni so bili začasno odsotni zaposleni s temperamentom sangvinika (10,8 dni), največ pa melanholiki (15,8 dni). Na podlagi rezultatov raziskave ugotavljamo, da v skupnem številu dni zdravstvenega absentizma statistično značilnih razlik med posameznimi zaposlenimi glede na njihov temperament ne moremo potrditi. Lahko pa potrdimo statistično značilno povezanost v skupnem povprečnem številu pogostosti zdravstvenega absentizma med zaposlenimi glede na njihov temperament.The causes that lead to sickness absenteeism are numerous. Among the groups of the causes there is a set of factors tied to the individual or his/her personality traits. The article focuses on the aspect of the correlation between sickness absenteeism and temperament and presents the results of the research carried out in the public administration in Slovenia. The results of the research (February 2015) show that on average the employees who were temporarily absent from work for the fewest days were those with dominant temperament choleric (8.6 days) or phlegmatic (8.7 days), who also account for the largest number of employees in the public administration; those with a sanguine temperament were temporarily absent for slightly more days (10.8 days), while melancholics were absent for the largest number of days (15.8 days). On the basis of the results of the research, we find that in the total number of days of sickness absence we are unable to confirm statistically significant differences between individual employees with regard to their temperament. We can, however, confirm a statistically significant correlation in the overall average number of frequencies of sickness absenteeism among employees with regard to their temperament.

Nekatere značilnosti zaposlenih kot dejavniki tveganja za pojav prezentizma

Prezentizem oziroma prisotnost na delovnem mestu kljub bolezni ali slabemu počutju je relativno nov koncept na področju dela. Gre za pojav, ki ga v svetu intenzivneje spremljajo v zadnjem desetletju. Prezentizem, ki delavca (lahko) na različne načine ovira pri delu, je zaradi posledic, ki jih povzroča, že sam po sebi problem. Delodajalci mu namenjajo premalo pozornosti oziroma se ga pogosto sploh ne zavedajo. Večina delodajalcev je namreč prepogosto usmerjena k soočanju s problemom naraščajoče odsotnosti zaposlenih od dela zaradi bolezni (absentizem) in odpravljanju negativnih posledic, v prezentizmu pa (še ne) vidijo problema. V prispevku predstavljena raziskava se ukvarja z vprašanjem vpliva značilnosti zaposlenih na pojav prezentizma. Med značilnostmi so bile obravnavane ambicioznost zaposlenih, finančna preskrbljenost, varnost zaposlitve, bolniška odsotnost, ter fizično in psihično zdravje zaposlenih

Samopodoba vodij v upravnih enotah

V procesu vodenja lahko predvsem pozitivna samopodoba vodje vpliva na kakovosten medosebni odnos z vodenimi oziroma na vedenje vodje in tudi vodenih. Rezultati izvedene raziskave samopodobe vodij v upravnih enotah kažejo, da sta izmed proučevanih področij samopodobe najnižje izraženi predvsem socialna in telesna samopodoba, najvišje pa je izražena splošna samopodoba. Ker je za vodje pomembno, da imajo dobro razvite predvsem socialne spretnosti oziroma spretnosti za delo z ljudmi, je rezultat raziskave o socialni samopodobi vodij v državni upravi (upravnih enotah) pomemben kazalnik podob vodij o njihovih predstavah na socialnem področju. Prispevek se osredotoča na samopodobo vodij upravnih enot in predstavlja rezultate opravljene raziskave s tega področja

Required competencies in public administration study programs

In the evaluation of undergraduate and graduate study programs, there is an important issue about which competencies must be acquired by graduates. This study tested the importance of competencies in public administration study programs in the light of expectations of employers in Slovenian public administration. The aim of the research was to find out how various competencies acquired in higher education (undergraduate and graduate study in public administration) are evaluated by employers in public administration. On the basis of analysis of findings of similar research projects, the competencies contained in programs by renowned universities and competencies defined for the work positions, a set of discipline-specific competencies (61) were designed. Research was conducted in 2015 and involved 343 respondents. A qualitative research method (survey) was used to collect the data which were then analyzed with the SPSS statistical program and Microsoft Excel.The results show that the competencies related to ethics and ethical behavior were evaluated as the most important; generic competencies are better assessed than specific ones and on average the competencies received a higher assessment for graduates (compare to undergraduates) position