Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

Marta Christina Suciu et al
Apart from <strong>the</strong>se laws a series <strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r more focused laws or <strong>of</strong> procedures formulated by <strong>the</strong> ministry
or by local authorities insure <strong>the</strong> groundwork for any <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> daily activities.
But what is ano<strong>the</strong>r characteristic <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Romanian public sector is <strong>the</strong> fact it is perceived as not being
capable <strong>of</strong> performance, as in many o<strong>the</strong>r countries (Mouritsen et al, 2004). And this perspective, in
<strong>the</strong> context <strong>of</strong> a pr<strong>of</strong>ound and prolonged economic crisis, many times attributed to public sector
deficiencies that hinder recovery, is more and more spread in our country. Within <strong>the</strong>se
circumstances, intellectual capital could prove an effective instrument in evaluating and assessing <strong>the</strong>
public entity, especially if including a intellectual capital statement as a compulsory part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
periodical evaluation process.
5. Results and interpretation
The initial survey, based on <strong>the</strong> three dimensions <strong>of</strong> intellectual capital, was supposed to allow for a
better understanding <strong>of</strong> how <strong>the</strong> system works, where <strong>the</strong> problems are and how <strong>the</strong> individuals cope
with changes. However, once part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> results were in, it became obvious that <strong>the</strong>y will be <strong>of</strong> little
use because <strong>the</strong>y shaped <strong>the</strong> picture <strong>of</strong> an ideal system that was working in perfect synchronization
with everyone involved, individuals and institutions. Also, <strong>the</strong> everyday reality showed that this was far
from <strong>the</strong> truth and as a result a more thorough analysis was required.
5.1 Human capital
Human resources are <strong>the</strong> key to <strong>the</strong> success <strong>of</strong> every organization even more so for an entity that
provides services like <strong>the</strong> ones in <strong>the</strong> public sector. Recruiting <strong>the</strong> best employee for <strong>the</strong> job is critical.
Starting from a formal level, <strong>the</strong> national legal procedure enforce indicates that it does receive <strong>the</strong>
attention it deserves.
The Romanian Civil Servant Law 188/1999 stipulates that a person can be hired only after passing an
exam for <strong>the</strong> position. However, since it first passed through Parliament it has been amended on a
number <strong>of</strong> occasions and at <strong>the</strong> present moment it allows for open positions to be filled not only
thorough advancement, recruitment or short term transfers under special circumstances but also for a
person to be assigned directly. The rationale behind this is to allow more flexibility in order to fill <strong>the</strong>
position temporarily so as not to disrupt <strong>the</strong> organization and permit more time to find <strong>the</strong> right
employee.
Additionally, according to article 51 <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Romanian Civil Servant Law, authorities have to obligation
to provide funding for employee trainings.
These can be short term, less than 90 days, or long term, in <strong>the</strong> country or abroad; for <strong>the</strong> duration <strong>of</strong>
<strong>the</strong>se programs <strong>the</strong>y are entitled to <strong>the</strong> normal salary yet are excused from regular work.
According to our findings from <strong>the</strong> initial survey, most employees found <strong>the</strong> training programs <strong>of</strong>fered
within <strong>the</strong> institution <strong>the</strong>y work for as satisfactory and this was backed up by <strong>the</strong> interviews’ results. In
fact, <strong>the</strong> major complaints were related to <strong>the</strong> short length <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> course and <strong>the</strong> long period’s inbetween.
In terms <strong>of</strong> degree <strong>of</strong> correlation with <strong>the</strong>ir pr<strong>of</strong>essional and development needs things are
less positive: university and doctoral studies are not financed in any way by <strong>the</strong> employer, coupled
with <strong>the</strong> fact that should <strong>the</strong> employee take part in any training program that would last more than 90
days <strong>the</strong>y would have to sign an agreement to keep working as a civil servant for ano<strong>the</strong>r two to five
years, and that up until recently <strong>the</strong> monthly wage received by a civil servant was actually composed
<strong>of</strong> a salary along with benefits that at times represented just as much as <strong>the</strong> salary itself, create
disincentives for following <strong>the</strong>ir wants in terms <strong>of</strong> education and courses to attend.
The performance and reward system within <strong>the</strong> public sector s based on an evaluation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> civil
servant workforce. This is done annually in accordance with article 69 <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Romanian Civil Servant
Law, according to <strong>the</strong> methodology proposed by <strong>the</strong> National Civil Servant Agency and approved by
<strong>the</strong> Romanian Government. It is <strong>of</strong>ficially used in determining <strong>the</strong> salary evolution, promotion or
dismissal. During <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> interviews it was shaped a strong view regarding <strong>the</strong> fact that in reality no one
is truly paying attention to <strong>the</strong> evaluation because salaries tend to follow a fairly rigid grid, benefits are
not linked to <strong>the</strong> annual evaluation, and promotion was ei<strong>the</strong>r after passing an exam or being
nominated for <strong>the</strong> position and dismissal was such a rare occurrence that no employee actually gave
it any thought.
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