The Ministry of Personnel Management, launched last week, kicked off its operations by announcing that it would fill 10 of its top positions with experts from the civilian sector.
The ministry was established to eradicate the type of collusion between the bureaucracy and the private sector blamed for the irregularities and mismanagement that resulted in the Sewol ferry disaster of April that claimed more than 300 lives.
Headed by Lee Geun-myeon, who managed human resources at Samsung Electronics, where he was credited with implementing highly innovative and successful personnel management systems, the new ministry appears to be charting a new path in the management of government personnel, starting with the ministry itself.
By hiring from the private sector, the ministry can adopt businesses’ best practices, potentially boosting competitiveness. The official in charge of discovering and vetting candidates for ministerial, vice-ministerial and other high-ranking posts is expected to play a key role in revamping the Park Geun-hye administration’s personnel management system, which has proven to be extremely dysfunctional.
The official charged with approving the employment of public servants in the private sector following their retirement will review the appropriateness of each case. The post is considered key to rooting out the collusion between the bureaucracy and the private sector, perpetuated by former public servants being hired by organizations that they oversaw in their previous posts.
The Ministry of Personnel Management also said it planned to open 30 percent of all its positions to people from the private sector, signaling even more changes to the way the government currently manages human resources.
The personnel management system of the Park administration reached such a nadir that a sweeping reform of the system was inevitable, Sewol disaster or no Sewol disaster. In fact, the tragic loss of life provided a strong impetus for a large-scale overhaul to the way the administration has handled personnel management.
The bureaucracy is often characterized as being slow to change, preferring the status quo. There is no doubt that the implementation of the new initiatives by the Ministry of Personnel Management will be met with some resistance from public servants.
Some cautiously predict that this “grand experiment” may end up as merely a storm in a teacup unless more fundamental changes in the bureaucracy ― the way it views itself, the way business is conducted ― occur from within.
Experts from the private sector will bring new experience, fresh perspectives and innovative approaches that will breathe new life into the vast organization that is often viewed as static and stale.
The changes envisioned by the Ministry of Personnel Management can serve as an opportunity to fix what has been ailing our bureaucracy for a long time, boost its competitiveness, and thereby improve the country’s overall competitiveness. Indeed, the bureaucracy has a lot of catching up to do vis-a-vis the private sector, which boasts several world-class businesses.
Rather than resisting the wind of change, all concerned should give the changes a chance to make a difference. The bureaucracy simply cannot go on as before ― the costs are too high for the people and the country.
