ADS656: Tutorial 4

Malaysia’s Personnel Management system has changed the culture and behaviors of civil
servants substantially. Debate.

Public administration has existed since the birth of civilization, but as an academic

field, it is still in its infancy. The government is responsible for enacting policies that are

based on public preferences and needs. Government success is thus largely determined by

how effectively and efficiently public administration responds to changing societal needs.

Malaysian civil service reforms are frequently implemented as part of broader economic

reform efforts. Public administrators are the backbone of government service delivery, and

their ability to assist the changing national socioeconomic agenda influences the public policy

to a considerable extent. Malaysian civil servants, like most civil servants across the world,

make decisions that have a substantial effect on the broader public. In Malaysia, the civil

service is committed to offering a variety of services to the general public as well as guiding

the country toward development and industrialization. Therefore, Malaysia’s personnel

management should be strengthen in the context of government’s changing nature and

functions in society.

In the traditional administrative model, personnel management was influenced by

Max Weber's bureaucratic theories. The traditional administrative personnel management was

defined as an administration under the formal control of the political leadership, based on a

strictly hierarchical model of bureaucracy, staffed by permanent, neutral, and anonymous

officials, motivated solely by the public interest, serving and governing party equally, and not

contributing to policy but merely administering those policies decided by the politicians.

Although the traditional administrative model has been used for many decades, however, this

approach has been criticized for its cumbersome to the public servants and the administration

in the public sector.

 Malaysia’s public sector must adapt and transform at the same time, especially in

terms of personnel management, because the world is continuously changing. By focusing on

Human Resource Management (HRM) practices, the public agency demonstrates that it

values and prioritizes its employee’s growth, and as a result, employees will be committed to

contributing to the organization’s long-term success. Furthermore, HRM techniques such as

recruitment and selection, placement, training and development, career planning, and salary

are important tools because they have a direct impact on human capital behavior and attitudes

through customer service, level of competence, and work relationship. HRM policies and

procedures can be strategically developed and implemented to achieve desired employee

outcomes, such as the enhancement of employee’s in role and extra role behaviors.

The establishment of the Performance Appraisal System (PAS) is viewed as a

strategic move in Malaysia’s public sector to develop a performance-based work culture. The

new assessment method, which was initially adopted in 1992 and is embedded in the pay-for-

performance system, establishes a link between compensation, performance, and competency

development. Recent public sector changes that emphasize ethical and morally sound

management practices have raised demand for integrity-based management over the years. In

Malaysia, the execution of the National Integrity Plan (NIP), which calls for the adaptation of

integrity in the Malaysian public sector, has progressively increased support for ethical

management in Malaysia. The NIP outlines six integrity objectives, one of which is to

cultivate integrity in Malaysia's public sector.

Integrity in the public sector is focused on a few key areas such as reducing

corruption and ensuring effective human resource management. In this context, human

resource management is concerned with enhancing employee performance through a

performance management agenda. Furthermore, in order to achieve a competent, honest, and

trustworthy individuals in the public sector, cultivating a performance-based culture and

maintaining integrity are intrinsically linked. The establishment of a Performance Appraisal

System (PAS) is used to manage employee performance. This merit-based evaluation marked

a fundamental shift from traditional evaluation to performance-based evaluation, and it

continues to be an important tool in managerial decision-making. PAS is implemented for

various reasons including it helps in improving employees in their professional advancement

and it provides greater opportunities for growth, as well as it develops a fair system that

recognizes employees by awarding them. Hence, the Malaysian public servant’s behavior and

discipline can be shaped which promote good values while also boosting productivity.

Besides that, human performance in the aspect of employees' psychological

perspectives (characteristics and value of work), nature of work or job design, and workplace

environment must all be included in HRM methods. Remarkably, the majority of human

resource managers discussed their retention strategies, which emphasized encouraging

employee creativity. This may be seen in the Generation Y workforce, which is known for its

ability to come up with innovative ideas. While providing career development opportunities

and organizing relevant and meaningful training are critical aspects of human resource

development, due to the different generation workforce, having a caring top management is

essential in the public sector.

The scope of reforms in public personnel management is extensive. Malaysian civil

service reform aims to improve the efficacy and efficiency of public service delivery. The

ideas of New Public Management (NPM) have successfully converted Malaysia’s public

sector into a goal-oriented organization. The introduction of Personnel Management System

(PMS) has accelerated the performance management agenda by establishing performance

objectives at the organizational and individual levels. Transforming individual performance

to a higher level has actually become a priority. As a result, a strategic reform in the public

sector is continuing, with the goal of enhancing merit, therefore combining performance with

competency development, and so these two are tightly linked. Performance expectations are

set at the beginning of the process, which is followed by performance coaching, review, and

appraisal. This gives employees clear direction in terms of effort, responsibilities, and the

quality of work to be delivered. Eventually, employee performance improves toward the

organization's pre-determined goals.