日本財団 図書館


Sheet 93

 

GUIDE TO THE CASE "GOOD SERVICE BY A UNIT CHIEF"

 

1 The Attitude of the Employee behind the Counter

 

People frequently request government employees to reconsider decisions that have been previously made. Depending on the situation, requests like this may or may not be able to be met. Public trust, however, depends more on the attitude of employees handling the case concerned than actual outcome itself.

In this case, it has not been made clear why the maximum capacity of participants is fixed. Physically, a few participants over the limit might be possible. Once having admitted a few participants over the limit, however, is it fair to refuse another similar request ? The fact that the employee refused a late application when the limit had already been reached is quite reasonable.

The problem here is the attitude of the employee himself. Refusing the late application in such a cold, officious and patronizing manner was simply offensive and served only to arouse a sense of ill-feeling and distrust against the government service. This employee should have explained quite sincerely why a few participants over the limit could not be accepted(for example, there is a limited number of seats). He could have suggested that if other applicants withdrew from the lecture, she would inform their circle immediately. He made no effort at all to explain the reason why he was unable to accept this late application.

In regard to the replacement procedure for participants, he could have been a little more flexible. There is no apparent reason as to why he insisted that the other group submit a notice of absence first. If the purpose was merely to confirm that someone from the group would be absent, he could have telephoned the group representative there and then. Either that or he could have approved their attendance on the condition that the members of the other group who were supposed to be absent didn't show up.

 

2 The Attitude of the Unit Chief

 

That she accepted the application is understandable. The fact that the decision of the employee directly involved was so readily overruled, however, could have a negative impact on the consistency of government action. The applicant may bring the next problem at hand to a higher ranking official in the expectation that a favorable decision will be reached, even if the original request has been refused.

She should have planned in advance how to handle late applications and discussed this decision with the rest of the staff. A general policy on how to deal with requests such as these should have been established from the start. In this way, there is consistency irrespective of who handles the case. If she believes that reversing the decisions of junior staff in favor of the public is the role of senior rank officials, she is entirely wrong.

 

 

 

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