Why the World Bank Supports Retrenchment

1
Why the World Bank Supports Retrenchment

• Gary J. Reid
• The World Bank
• May 4, 2004

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Three typical reasons

• Fiscal soundness imperative
• Attract and retain good staff imperative
• The Banks legal mandate Productive investment
• http//www1.worldbank.org/publicsector/civilservic
  e/agency.htm and http//www1.worldbank.org/publics
  ector/civilservice/downsizing.htm

3
Fiscal soundness

• To meet the fiscal soundness imperative,
  retrenchment needs to be accompanied by
  institutional capacity to control employment and
  the wage bill on an ongoing basis.
• Effective establishment control
• Post authorization
• Hiring authorization
• Effective salary-setting control
• Salary structure, including all components of
  remuneration
• Individual remuneration decisions
• http//www1.worldbank.org/publicsector/civilservic
  e/establishment.htm

4
Attract and retain good staff

• Enhance competitiveness of public sector salaries
  (http//www1.worldbank.org/publicsector/civilservi
  ce/agency.htm and http//www1.worldbank.org/publi
  csector/civilservice/downsizing.htm )

5
Attract and retain good staff

• Improve conditions of public service employment
  (http//www1.worldbank.org/publicsector/civilservi
  ce/career.htm )
• Depolitiziced, merit-based personnel management
• Fairness in exercise of personnel management
  discretion
• Reasonable career growth prospects
• Effective redress mechanisms

6
Attract and retain good staff

• Improve intrinsic rewards of public service
  employment
• Complementary inputs sufficient to enable public
  servants to be effective and productive (so that
  a public servant can make a difference)
• Respected reputation of the civil service or
  public administration as a body.
• http//www1.worldbank.org/publicsector/civilservic
  e/individual.htm

7
Productive investment

• To meet the legal mandate, retrenchment needs to
  be part of a reform effort that yields a net
  improvement in productivity, not just of the
  public sector, but also of the resources released
  from the public sector.
• http//www1.worldbank.org/publicsector/civilservic
  e/downsizing.htm