Service in the Field: The World of Front-Line Public Servants

Joseph Garcea is a professor of political Studies at the University of
Saskatchewan.

Service in the Field is based on interviews the authors and their
research assistants conducted with federal officials outside the capital
region. The officials were asked a broad range of general questions. How
did they spend most of their workday? What were the best and worst parts
of their job? What was their relationship with the public? with head
office? What did they think of the recent spate of administrative
reform? How much discretion did they have in carrying out their duties?
In what ways did their work life spill over into their personal life?

The book concludes with recommendations for improving the role of field
officials and their organizational relationships with their counterparts
who work at headquarters within the capital region. Among the most
interesting recommendations are the following: consider co-location and
one-stop shopping; radically reduce the size of head offices; rotate
staff between field and head offices; and improve the system of human
resource management through improved training, performance appraisal,
and career development.

This useful, insightful, and very readable book should be read not only
by public servants and students of public administration, but also by
politicians and the public. Those who are unrestrainedly cynical about
public servants will find a persuasively argued counterpoint in these
pages.