A meritocratic, motivated and committed civil service is essential for the delivery of public goods and services

Giving voice to nearly 27,000 Chilean public servants

Between June and August 2023, Chile, in collaboration with the National Civil Service, the IDB, Oxford University and the University College London, conducted the most comprehensive national survey of civil servants in the country’s history. With the participation of 26,677 people from 125 public services, the survey represents another milestone in an ongoing effort since 2016 to establish repeated national surveys of people in the country.

The survey collected data on work attitudes and people management practices, as well as the demographic characteristics of respondents, allowing for disaggregated analysis. It also offers the possibility of international comparisons through data from the Global Survey of Public Servants and the 2019 National Survey of Public Servants in Chile, although these should be interpreted with caution for methodological reasons.

Most civil servants in Chile are satisfied, motivated and engaged

At least three out of four respondents are satisfied motivated and engaged with their jobs. Approximately seven out of ten respondents are committed to their organisation, six would like to remain in their service in the short and long term, and eight are committed to public service and citizenship.

These results are similar to comparable international averages and, with some variation, are close to the results of the 2019 National Survey of Public Servants in Chile.
However, younger employees with a university degree, without a permanent contract and located in the metropolitan area represent a challenge in terms of retention, as their intention to stay in their organisation is significantly lower.

Chile continues to strengthen its merit-based system

The Recruitment and Selection Index (measured on a scale of 0 to 100) shows a gradual improvement in the quality of recruitment and selection in the state over the last ten years, with an increase from 63 to 68 points when comparing responses from public servants who entered the public administration 10 years ago with those of public servants who entered less than a year ago. This progress stems primarily from more frequent public advertisements of jobs and a greater attraction of applicants with a vocation for public service.

Similarly, the majority of respondents feel that promotions are based on merit. For example, 84% believe that their job performance is important for promotion to a better position in the state, a figure higher than the international average for a sample of countries. On the other hand, a minority (39%) states that there are good opportunities for career development in their organisation.

The survey also revealed the need to strengthen trust

Interpersonal trust in the civil service is a challenge, particularly towards senior management. While 67% of respondents consider colleagues in their team to be trustworthy and 69% trust their direct manager, less than half (44%) say that senior management in their organisation is trustworthy. Trust in colleagues (67%) is lower than the international average (74%). The low level of trust in colleagues in Chile may be due in part to Chileans’ overall lower level of trust in other citizens compared to other countries. In general, Latin America is the most distrustful region in the world.

Diversity and inclusion is another area that needs strengthening, ongoing efforts notwithstanding

Respondents highlight the need for greater emphasis on inclusion and non-discrimination in the workplace. Nearly 20% have experienced discrimination or harassment at work, with these experiences more common among women, indigenous people, non-binary or gender non-conforming people, and people with disabilities.

These groups also report lower levels of job satisfaction and trust in their colleagues.
A minority feel that their department promotes diversity and inclusion, as well as inclusive promotion, recruitment and selection practices. In addition, an even smaller proportion of respondents feels that their organisation effectively manages incidents of discrimination and harassment. On the other hand, two out of three report leadership practices by their managers that promote diversity and inclusion.

Improving organisations one-by-one

Another advantage of surveying public servants is the possibility of obtaining disaggregated data for each of the organisations. Survey results underscore marked heterogeneity among the 125 organisations that participated in the survey: employee attitudes and management practices differ significantly between organisations inside Chile’s government.

This variability suggests that management practices inside each organisation are central, highlighting the importance of generating improvements at the level of each organisation and not just at the country-level, especially in those organisations with relatively lower indices. It also represents an opportunity for Chile’s National Civil Service Directorate.

After all, the results also indicate that within the same institutional framework for civil service management, some public sector organisations obtain excellent results, and could thus be serve as models to be emulated by other public sector organisations in Chile.

From survey results to management improvements

Based on these and other findings, the results report from the 2023 National Survey of Public Servants establishes key recommendations for strengthening human resources management in Chile. In addition, each of the 125 participating organisations received an internal report with their specific results and an aggregated database to explore the data according to their own needs, allowing them to develop improvement plans tailored to the areas of development their survey results point to.

The IDB and the universities are excited about this initiative, which not only promotes transparency and accountability, but also fosters an organisational culture focused on the well-being and development of human talent in government, which will contribute significantly to strengthening Chile’s public sector. Find out more about the results of Chile’s National Survey of Public Servants here (available in Spanish).

Note: OECD countries such as Australia, Canada, Colombia, the United States and the United Kingdom regularly conduct this type of survey.

This article first appeared in the blog of the IDB's Division for Innovation in Citizen Services and was written by Javier with Christian Schuster, Sandra Naranjo, Jan Meyer-Sahling, Kim Sass Milkelsen and Magdalena Rojas.