Abstract
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The purpose of the research is to determine the significance of the autonomous activity and its solutions’ capacity (professional discretion) which is possessed by the public professionals-civil servants who serve the individual citizens-clients by providing public services and in this way implementing public policies or policy programs and plans in a specific area, to which extent state officials’ autonomy is possible to limit by regulatory and managerial measures.
Research Methodology: The study focuses on the comparative analysis using a qualitative research method with the reference to the organizational ethnographic study. The comparative analysis focuses on the differences in the civil servants‘ activities which will reveal the connection between civil servants‘ attitudes, values, professionalism and the citizens‘ as clients‘ satisfaction with public services. The interview will seek to reveal the behavior of street-level bureaucrats, which is not disclosed by the statistics and to formulate guidelines for the improvement of employment policies through surveys of clients and street-level bureaucrats' approaches and behavior.
Problem review. For the empirical research it has been chosen to analyze the interaction of public professionals-civil servants with citizens-clients in the implementation of public policy. One institution of employment policy will be selected to carry out the research: Lithuanian Employment Agency. The specificity of this institution is characterized by the fact that street-level bureaucrats work with citizens-clients whose life stories are different, and the legislation acts do not foresee all exceptions; therefore, civil servants must, while dealings with the clients, seek to meet their needs, flexibly applying the rules within the law. In this case, both ethics of the service and the moral standards of professionals become important considerations, where street-level bureaucrats must keep the balance between knowledge, autonomy, empowerment and the ability to meet the needs of clients in a healthy, clients-friendly manner (Harrits, 2016). It is important to note, that State Employment Agency is undergoing reorganization changes, which aim at reducing administrative apparatus and focusing on more efficient provision of services and collaboration with job-seekers and employers. From the 1 of July, 2016, State Employment Agency started to implement the new client service model, which is orientated to improve the quality of employment and quality of counseling services. The clients of State’s Employment Agency are different: young people, people having disabilities, people belonging to social risk groups (addicted people). The unemployment stories of these people are different, and the reasons of unemployment are usually complex. So legal knowledge of street-level bureaucrats is usually insufficient to solve the unemployment issue. In this case, the professionalism of street-level bureaucrats, which includes not only legal, but also psychological knowledge, becomes a particularly important aspect. A civil servant, who is working in this area must know not only the laws, but also be able to deal with emergencies, cooperate with colleagues, ensuring the quality of service provision and at the same time ensure the well-being of citizens-clients. The employment policy is sensitive area for both the state and citizens. Therefore, it is important to analyze and empirically investigate how the practice works when faced with administrative routines and how decisions are made based on the professionalism in the interaction with clients. Intention to explore different interactions of civil servants with citizens as clients can help to reveal everyday practices that are not visible, but which have a decisive influence on the quality of the public services provided.
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