Abstract
This study examines the nature of staff quality and the extent to which it can explain variations in service delivery outcomes using two selected District Assemblies in Ghana. Staff quality is measured by the interaction of individual-level competences and public service motivation. Depending on intensity, the interaction of competence and public service motivation produced four types of staff quality with varied implications for service delivery outcomes. It is argued that the relationship between decentralisation and service delivery remains complex, and therefore the role of staff quality remains critical. This is important in the light of calls to implement full devolution in Ghana where all decentralised services will operate directly under the District Assembly. It is imperative for public administration and human resource experts to look more closely at attracting employees with the demonstrable public service motivation and skillsets needed for decentralisation, and to create favourable social conditions that support family life.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 71-90 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | IDS Bulletin |
| Volume | 48 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2017 |
Open Access - Access Right Statement
© 2017 The Author. IDS Bulletin © Institute of Development Studies | DOI: 10.19088/1968-2017.117 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 4.0 International licence, which permits downloading and sharing provided the original authors and source are credited – but the work is not used for commercial purposes. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/legalcodeKeywords
- Ghana
- employee motivation
- family life
- public welfare
- public welfare administration
- social service