a) Leave ‘a mark on the earth’
CB: Why did you decide to work in public services? And/or why did you stay?
Participants’ experiences of public services are likely to be influenced by their perception of what it is to be public servant, a building block of their understanding of public service citizenship. This early abstraction emerges gradually from past experiences and knowledge
and is then supplemented by new information which develops into a schema or mental model (Rousseau, 2001); and is a fundamental part of the more established psychological contract (Nicholson & Johns, 1985; Rousseau & Tijoriwala, 1998) as discussed in Chapter Two. As a result, an exploration of this underpinning definition lays the foundation on which later experiences and interpretations are built.
Cal and Liza both cite pragmatic reasons for joining public services, and refer to similar reasons for staying.
Cal: it was the only opportunity around at that time
Liza: it wasn’t a conscious decision to move to the public sector .. it was a job
Both: ((reason for staying)) lots of opportunities
Glenn and Humphrey are equally pragmatic but then move to discuss their developing public service citizenship schema; and the focus on helping the community, in stating:
Glenn: the induction and so on and the ethos that was instilled around that, you know, that you are the face of this organisation every interaction you have with a member of the public was about making things better for them
Humphrey: I developed a public sector ethos as well once you’ve been in the public sector for a long time in terms of you know remembering why you’re here
Angela, Dorothy and Malcolm are explicit in their desire to help others.
Angela: It was about the kind of injustice around the lack of information that people have and the lack of choice and opportunity, !simply because they don’t know what they are entitled to.
Dorothy: well this is going to sound very corny @ but I actually do feel um a responsibility to use my skills for the benefit of the population in general
and in particular to improve the services which are provided for citizens CB: so, what was it about public service that you thought, apart from wanting to help people, what did you think it would be ?
D: oh I just thought, I just
thought it um .. that I had the right skills or um= enthusiasm to really make a difference
Malcolm: the reason I came into this job is to actually work with people
Nicola, again, is driven to work with people but also identifies a payback in terms of intrinsic rewards.
Nicola: to do a job whereby people would remember me
CB: m=
N: so in other words
you’d done something, you’d done something good, you’d helped them with the situation and obviously you were health ((within the health service)) and that therefore I suppose, number one you would have made a difference to people lives in a positive way and number two hopefully they would
remember that difference.
CB: so why is it important that people remember you?
N: I think you know it it just it just !matters that you are on the earth for a very short period and its !matters that you do something that sort of .. left a mark on the earth otherwise what was the point of you ever being here..
Neither Bernard, Ollie nor Robyn started their careers with a strong drive for public service.
Bernard: the only jobs going were in the public sector really
Ollie: well ..um .. being completely um .. no plan at all.. I came out of university, needed a job.. and saw this job advertised .. I had no idea what it meant @
Robyn: as I think anyone coming out of college in the 1980s, just wanted to make money
In response to why they stayed in public service both Ollie and Robyn were moved to seemingly qualify or propose the progression of these early individualistic reasons, wanting to add the development of a more altruistic, value-driven approach. Ollie demonstrates how he ‘understands’ public service with his familial experiences, a theme also identified by Malcolm.
Robyn: maybe in public service your your drivers are different, or they become different .. I think that maybe at the start they are the same I think the drivers are money um…
CB: the drivers are money at the beginning, m=/
R: and I think that somewhere along the line they change
CB: how do you think
they change?
R: because I think in life, money becomes less important .. these are very .. generalisms oh I don’t know I think it becomes less important, and when it becomes less important it becomes more important that you’re doing something you believe in
Ollie : and um I suppose .. my family, who sort of .. all worked in public sector, teachers or worked for local authority that sort of thing so its something I understand
Malcolm: um I don’t know I just come from er a long line of public servants
Sam cited her perception of a private sector career as financially orientated and expressed her dislike for this ethos.
Sam: I mean money is one thing but the job satisfaction is another
Terri also initially stated her pragmatic need for employment but then moved to relay a tale of family pride and socialist ideals.
CB: I understand you sort of fell into it ((public services))
T: ye=s I suppose
CB: but then why have you stayed?
T: I just love civil service work..
CB: why?
T: I enjoy ... working for Wales I
love working for Wales
…
T: when I was a kid my grandpa used to work for the tax office or the DSS or whatever it used to be called and it was like ((whispering)) grandpa’s a civil servant and it was .. there was always that kudos around the job then
…
T: .. when you start thinking about it @ cos mum used to say ((whispering)) you get a job in the civil service now ((accentuated nodding to side)) and you’ll be . it’ll be great. We’re (H) we’re also quite a political family in the uh you know um its always for the best for the um .. we’re all socialists .. yeah socialist ideals in life and I suppose when you really analyse it @ it
probably wasn’t as much of a happy accident as um I think it was really..
Emma concurs on this final point, referring to her own perception of public services as akin to community camaraderie.
Emma: because we come from a very um close working class family in the valleys where people look out for each other I suppose
…
E: it’s a good thing to do, to be involved in things that are helping other people
Several themes emerged in relation to the stimulus to join and stay in public service; these often extended beyond the underpinning practicalities of gaining paid employment, a
pragmatic stimulus for all participants. The supplementary stimulus was reported as a desire to make a difference within the community, as identified in prior research (Ahmad &
Broussine, 1993). There was also a strong socialist theme of helping each other which is consistent with the collectivist nature of value driven groups. This perception of collectivism was compounded and broadened by a number of participants who made reference to familial traditions; and aligns to Hood’s (1991) ‘keep it honest and fair’ traditional public service core value set discussed in Chapter Two. This exchange was not wholly driven by
altruism, it was reciprocated by a reified public service where it provided a career which bestows Terri with ‘kudos’, gives an environment in which Nicola would be ‘remembered’
and in Angela’s case provides a setting where she is able to be a powerful advocate for those who ‘don’t know’.
The general perception of public service citizenship is interpreted as one of helping ‘them’,
‘the population’, the amorphous ‘citizen’ or more broadly ‘working for Wales’; and has, in line with the familial theme, a suggestion of being a parent. The anticipation of reciprocal
rewards from public service is high, offering a context and opportunity, where Nicola can
‘leave a mark on the earth’. Cal and Liza’s public service value set links with ‘keep it lean and purposeful’ (Hood, 1991) being focused on opportunities for change, with both latterly referring to the merits of improved performance management. Of those who reported they
‘fell’ into public services, specifically Bernard, Humphrey, Glenn, Robyn, Sam and Terri, they came to be ‘passionate’, to extol a situational belief, and develop a ‘love’ for their public service identity. This suggests a transition from the notion of public service as a job to that of a near vocation. The majority of participants perceive a career built on principled, and value-laden agency which brings with it high expectations.