Public service as a value system

Public institutions also create and lose value long before results appear in budgets or statistics. In ÆVRI research, Value Management Theory (VMT) has been applied to employee-centric strategy in organisations. Its main ideas can be tested in the public sector too.

Three value systems

A public service brings together at least three value systems: the people who deliver it, the institution with its mandate and rules, and the citizens it serves. Each has its own priorities. The service works well when these systems fit together. When they do not, value is lost.

Anti-value in public service

Burnout of front-line staff, loss of skills, mistrust between departments and coordination friction are forms of anti-value. They build up slowly and often stay invisible in standard indicators, yet they limit what an institution can deliver.

Why reforms give different results

The same reform can succeed in one agency and fail in another. VMT explains this as a question of fit: a measure creates value only if it matches the value systems of the people involved and the goals of the institution.

Questions for policy makers

• Which value systems does a policy affect, and do they point in the same direction?
• Where do value flows such as training, collaboration and leadership create value, and where do they create anti-value?
• How can anti-value be made visible before it becomes costly?
• How can different programmes be compared on a shared basis instead of in isolation?

ÆVRI invites researchers and practitioners from the public sector to test these ideas and publish their findings.