Can the characteristics of a successful organization find a
happy home in a large government bureaucracy?
Probably not. Can those
characteristics be found in a large American federal government bureaucracy? No, not a chance.
Why is that so?
There are two big reasons; many lesser specific reasons. What are the two big reasons?
1.
The
leader or boss of every large American federal government bureaucracy is a
political choice and decision. That
person must be approved by politicians not for his/her knowledge of the
bureaucracy’s strengths and weaknesses but for her/his ability to get confirmed
first and then avoid problems second.
2.
The employees of every large American federal
government bureaucracy are now unionized and that condition exists solely for
the advancement of union rules, protections and purposes which are at odds with
the bureaucracy’s purposes if they exist at all.
The two reasons stated so clearly above are connected by
this characteristic of politics which will ultimately destroy any organization
if the politics of choosing a leader and protecting the employees from
consequences of incompetence and ineffectiveness prevail over the mission, if
known, of the organization.
Can you provide any backup source or knowledgeable reference
to support the reasons described above?
Sure, please read the following:
“All Government employees should realize that the process of collective
bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public
service. It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations when applied to
public personnel management. The very nature and purposes of Government make it
impossible for administrative officials to represent fully or to bind the
employer in mutual discussions with Government employee organizations. The
employer is the whole people, who speak by means of laws enacted by their
representatives in Congress. Accordingly, administrative officials and
employees alike are governed and guided, and in many instances restricted, by
laws which establish policies, procedures, or rules in personnel matters.”
Okay, but who is the author of that statement?
Franklin D. Roosevelt, president of the United States, 1933-1945.
Here is one other commentary that some may find pertinent to
the topic at hand – structure and success of large American federal government
bureaucracies:
“Certain business leaders may consider
"big government" or socialism more of an immediate threat to their
interests than communism. Are they allowing themselves to be deluded by their
own propaganda to the effect that organized labor in this country is in favor
of big government or the nationalization of industry?
Nothing could be further from the truth. The
main function of American trade unions is collective bargaining. It is
impossible to bargain collectively with the government. Unions, as well as
employers, would vastly prefer to have even Government regulation of
labor-management relations reduced to a minimum consistent with the protection
of the public welfare...”
The source of this statement, please? George Meany, president of the AFL-CIO, the
largest federation of unions in the United States, from 1955-1979.
Here is one more statement:
Shinseki Says Pact Shows “Commitment to
Collaboration”
March 18, 2011
“This new
agreement reflects VA’s commitment to collaborate with an important labor
partner,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “The outcome
will be a more highly motivated, more effective workforce serving our Nation’s
Veterans.”
About 204,000 of
VA’s 315,000 employees are eligible for AFGE membership, with another 23,000
employees eligible for membership in four other unions.
Secretary Shinseki
approved the contract on March 15. The complete labor agreement will
be signed soon by Shinseki, AFGE leadership and the VA and AFGE members of the
bargaining teams at an internal event that will be broadcast at VA facilities
around the country.
Among the
provisions of the contract are:
· Enhanced
collaboration with union officials on work-related issues;
· Expansion of
teleworking among employees, including clarification of rules governing
telework; and
· Increased reliance upon e-mails and new
technology in labor-management communications and processes.
Comment: please note the content of
Shinseki’s comments on the contract. Not
a word about the mission of the VA – just nonsense about union issues
Source: http://www.va.gov/
A closing comment on this topic: almost every difficult situation facing
America today can be sourced to a combination of compromises and politics
designed to accommodate some group or voting bloc or special interest of some
form or another. Leadership usually can
find a way to say “no” without destroying the entity in which the conflict
occurs. By “no” we simply mean solving
the issue at hand without abandoning basic time tested principles – what we
call “fundamentals.” Not so in
government – the accommodations are now so one-sided as to render the surviving
entities unmanageable which simply means any corrective remedy involves doing away
with what exists; starting over and following the very fundamentals which were
previously discarded. But, as with any
solution to any problem, the first step is realization of the problem.
We used to solve problems in America – now we just create them and live with
them.