1

Organisational changes and the evolution of working

quality lifeA comparison between the private sector and the state

civil service (France)Maëlezig Bigi,

Nathalie Greenan, Sylvie Hamon-Cholet,Joseph Lanfranchi,

Sofia, Bulgaria / 18 & 19 October 2012, International Conference Adressing Quality of Work in

Europe

Mutual benefits vs. Critical perspectives 2

Private sector « High Performance Work

Organisation » (HPWO) Goal: improve

productivity through employee involvement

Several managerial tools ICT tools

« New Public Management » (NPM) Goal: decrease public

spending and improve the quality of public services

Set of managerial tools borrowed from the private sector

ICT tools

The proximity of the tools that are spread across the two sectors in order to "modernize" is the foundation on which we build our comparison

Do the same tools relate to the same effect in both sectors ? It is difficult to construct performance indicators comparable in the

two sectors, it is easy to use a common grid to assess the impact perceived by employees

Public sector

Our analytical approach Two families of tools

management of productive activity ICT

Three dimensions of work experience intensification enrichment involvement at work

A dynamic approach to the relationship between managerial strategies and work experience

A comparative analysis between the private sector the State Civil Service

3

4

A survey developed first in the competitive sector in 1997, reedited in 2006

Extended to the State Civil Service in 2006, central government departments

Common principles for measuring changes

Same questionnaires architecture

Same method of survey But questionnaires adapted

to each sector A steering committee

composed of experts from each sector

Identified respondents in each sector

for employers A survey also developed in

first place in the competitive sector in 1997, reedited in 2006 on the broad scope of employers

A single questionnaire for all employees of all the sectors surveyed

Factual and objectives questions on the conditions of work activity

Retrospective questions for measuring changes

COI surveys

for employees

Studied populations 5

Banking and insurance

Business Services and medias

6

Measuring changes(1)

Tools used by the organisation= models of organized action

Adoption or droping of tools= employers’ intentions of change

Extension of the COI survey to the State Civil Service = Changes in the public sector are partly instrumented by tools also adopted and implemented in the competitive sector

7

Measuring changes(2) From COI survey, two synthetic indicators

Management tools ICT tools

===>>>> This distinction allows identifying interactions between the two types of change.

Comparable indicators overtime and between the private sector and the State Civil Service

8The tools retained

ManagementICT1. Quality certification2. Environnemental and ethical

certification3. Methods of problems solving4. Tools for labelling goods and

services5. Satisfaction surveys of

customers6. Management of production

just in time7. Tools for tracing goods and

services8. Contractual commitment to

provide a product or a service or customer service within a limited time

9. Requirement for suppliers to meet tight deadlines

10.Long term relationships with suppliers

11.Call and contact Centres 12.Teams or autonomous work

groups13.IT management integrated to

the customer relationship

1. Web site2. Local area network3. Intranet 4. Extranet 5. Electronic data interchange

system6. Database(s) on the

management of human resources

7. Database(s) for research8. Tools for data analysis9. Tools for interfacing

databases10.Tools for automated data

archiving11.ERP12.Software or firmware for

the management of human resources

13.Software or firmware for research

14.Groupware15.Workflow software

9

10

11More changes …

… in the public sector than in the private ICT changes Management changes

Private sector

Restricted private Public

Private sector

Restricted private Public

distribution sector sector sector sector

mean 0,12 0,15 0,33 0,07 0,07 0,33

mode 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00

variance 0,50 0,48 0,86 0,35 0,25 0,94

99% 0,97 1,02 1,88 0,88 0,72 1,21

95% 0,59 0,70 0,82 0,49 0,49 0,90

90% 0,42 0,50 0,68 0,30 0,32 0,86

75% 0,17 0,20 0,50 0,00 0,00 0,55

50% (médian) 0,00 0,00 0,30 0,00 0,00 0,31

25% 0,00 0,00 0,12 0,00 0,00 0,00

10% 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00

5% 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00

1% -0,14 -0,16 0,00 -0,18 -0,18 0,00

Dimensions of Working life Quality 12

Work Work IntensificatioIntensificatio

nnEnrichmentEnrichment Commitment Commitment

to workto work

Constraints on pace of work

(increasing, stable,

decreasing)

Use of skills (increasing,

similar, decreasing)

Being involved at work

(more, similarly, less)

Activity peaks (more, no peak,

fewer)

Learning new things at work

(yes or no)

Work recognized at

fair value

13

A work intensification

frequently reported by employees

... A reduction of activity peaks less often reported by civil servants

14

Civil servants declared more often learning new things in their work ...

... and having increased their skills.

15

Civil servants declare more often a a stable level of involvement ...

... Employees of the restricted private sector and the public sector are comparable in terms of the level of fair work recognition.

How we measure … 16

… the effects of organisational changes …

… on the evolution of working life quality

What we want to measure :

aggravation / mitigation of indicators of evolution of

working life quality

Employee control variables : gender, seniority, age,

qualification, marital status, spose’s emplyment, weekly

working hours, part time work, employment status, pay

Employer control

variables : size,

sector/ministry

Indicator of managemen

t changes

Non linear effects

Indicator of ICTchanges

Non linear effects

Possible effects of complementarity

between the two families of change

Results for intensification 17

IntensificationIntensification

Private Private sectorsector

•No significant impact on the evolution of constraints on the pace of work or activity peaks•A small effect of management tools on the evolution of activity peaks

Public Public sectorsector

•No significant impact on the evolution of constraints on the pace of work• Increased activity peaks with a high level of ICTchanges

Evolution of constraints on pace of work Private

sector Restricted

private sector

Public sector

Ch. ICT ns ns ns Ch. ICT² ns ns ns Ch. Management ns ns ns Ch. Management ² ns ns ns Interaction ch. ns ns ns Coefficient > 0 : sign + ; coefficient < 0 : sign - ; non significant : ns Significance levels : 3 signs if p<0.01, 2 signs if p<0.05, 1 sign if p<0.1

Evolution of activity peaks Private

sector Restricted

private sector

Public sector

Ch. ICT ns ns ns Ch. ICT ² - ns + Ch. Management ns ++ ns Ch. Management ² ns ns ns Interaction ch. ns ns ns Coefficient > 0 : sign + ; coefficient < 0 : sign - ; non significant : ns Significance levels : 3 signs if p<0.01, 2 signs if p<0.05, 1 sign if p<0.1

Results for enrichment 18

EnrichmentEnrichment

Private Private sectorsector

•Positive effect of ICT and management changes on the evolution of skills uses, except when the changes in ICT tools are very high•A small positive effect of complementarity on the evolution of skills uses•No effect on learning new things except negative with a high level of change for ICT tools

Public Public sectorsector

•No effect on the evolution of skills •A little positive effect of changes in ICT tools on learning new things

Evolution of skill uses Private

sector Restricted

private sector

Public sector

Ch. ICT ++ ns ns Ch. ICT ² -- ns ns Ch. Management ++ +++ ns Ch. Management ² ns ns ns Interaction ch. + ns ns Coefficient > 0 : sign + ; coefficient < 0 : sign - ; non significant : ns Significance levels : 3 signs if p<0.01, 2 signs if p<0.05, 1 sign if p<0.1

Learning new things at work Private

sector Restricted

private sector

Public sector

Ch. ICT ns ns + Ch. ICT ² -- ns ns Ch. Management ns + ns Ch. Management ² ns ns ns Interaction ch. ns ns ns Coefficient > 0 : sign + ; coefficient < 0 : sign - ; non significant : ns Significance levels : 3 signs if p<0.01, 2 signs if p<0.05, 1 sign if p<0.1

Results for commitment 19

CommitmentCommitment

Private Private sectorsector

•Positive effect of management changes on involvement•Positive effect of management changes (but negative if too high) and little negative effect of ICT changes on the feeling of fair work recognition

Public Public sectorsector

•Negative effect of changes on involvement•Negative effect of changes on the feeling of fair recognition

Evolution in involvement Private

sector Restricted

private sector

Public sector

Ch. ICT ns ns ns Ch. ICT ² ns ns -- Ch. Management +++ +++ -- Ch. Management ² - ns ns Interaction ch. +++ ++ -- Coefficient > 0 : sign + ; coefficient < 0 : sign - ; non significant : ns Significance levels : 3 signs if p<0.01, 2 signs if p<0.05, 1 sign if p<0.1

Fair work recognition Private

sector Restricted

private sector

Public sector

Ch. ICT - ns ns Ch. ICT ² ns ns ns Ch. Management +++ +++ -- Ch. Management ² --- -- +++ Interaction ch. + ns - Coefficient > 0 : sign + ; coefficient < 0 : sign - ; non significant : ns

Significance levels : 3 signs if p<0.01, 2 signs if p<0.05, 1 sign if p<0.1

20

ICT changes more intense than changes in management tools in the competitive sector Major changes in both areas in the public sector and ICT already heavily disseminated at the beginning of the observed period of time

Compared to the competitive sector , changes in average more intense in the public sector

Conclusion

No significantly substantial effect on the work intensification Increasing use of skills in the private sector with no implication in terms of learning new things / No link changes – enrichment in the State civil service An increasing involvement for the employees of private sector with changes, but civil servants show discouragement facing change, and in particular if ICT and management changes are combined A positive significant effect of management changes on the feeling of fair work recognition in the private sector, mitigated if combined with ICT changes / the combination of the two types of changes leads mostly to the perception of effort-reward imbalance in the public sector

Four hypothesis …

The mechanisms of self selection of employees to join one or the other sector could generate differences in attitude face to change

We could also assume that employees in troubles with changes in the private sector leave their firms, thus maintaning an high involvement for those who stay

The process behind the changes is not the same in both sectors : market pressures play a fundamental role in the private sector, while the political pressure is crucial in the State civil service

The preparation of the changes, the communication around their implementation, forms of employee participation, the human resource policies are not the same between the private sector and the public sector

21

… to explain those differences

22

Sofia, Bulgaria / 18 & 19 October 2012, International Conference Adressing Quality of Work in

Europe

Thanks for your attention !

Questions ?