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1 INTRODUCTION Rationale The dissertation topic is selected for the following reasons: Firstly, it comes from the position and role of administrative civil servants in the development of the nation in general and the state administrative apparatus in particular The effectiveness and efficiency of each state organization in particular and the state administrative apparatus in general are largely determined by the virtues, capacity and work efficiency of this team The qualifications and virtues of administrative civil servants determine the success or failure of the policy, guidelines and political duties of the Party and State of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic at the macro level and of Vientiane City in the context of specific tasks Secondly, it comes from the role and importance of remuneration policies for administrative civil servants Administrative civil servants are those who directly serve the regimes, represent the Party and the State in formulating and implementing guidelines and policies Therefore, the remuneration policies for administrative civil servants are one of the decisive factors for the development of the country Remuneration policies for administrative civil servants are the driving force to promote and ensure feasibility and efficiency of other policies Thirdly, it comes from inadequacies and limitations in remuneration policies for civil servants in Lao PDR in general and in Vientiane city in particular The quality of administrative civil servants in Lao PDR has made certain improvements for recent years However, the quality actually assessed by the work performance of existing administrative civil servants is still an inadequacy Labor productivity and work efficiency are not high, partly due to inadequate remuneration policies, leading to “brain drain” in the public sector, the increasingly high percentage of civil servants leaving the state sector Fourthly, it comes from the research gaps on remuneration policies for administrative civil servants in Lao PDR in general and Vientiane City in particular Up to now, there has not been any studies in comprehensively proving the theoretical and practical basis; objectively assessing the actual status of remuneration for administrative civil servants in general and administrative civil servants in Vientiane city in particular From the above-mentioned reasons, “A study in remuneration policies for administrative civil servants in Vientiane city” is selected as the dissertation topic Objectives and duties 2.1 Objectives The research project is conducted in order to improve the current remuneration policies for administrative civil servants in Vientiane city 2.2 Duties - Give an overview and systematize common issues on remuneration and remuneration policies for administrative civil servants - Evaluate the actual status of remuneration policies for administrative civil servants in Vientiane city today - Propose directions and solutions to improve the remuneration policies for administrative civil servants in Vientiane City Subjects and scope of study 3.1 Subjects The subjects of the study are the remuneration policies for administrative civil servants in Vientiane City Its focus is to research and evaluate the contents of remuneration policies but not the formation and enforcement process of the policies 3.2 Scope of study - Scope of time: The dissertation conducts a study in remuneration policies for administrative civil servants of Lao PDR in general and Vientiane City in particular from 2010 to the present - Spatial scope: The dissertation conducts investigations, surveys and collects data at all secondary administrative units of Vientiane city governmental apparatus, including urban units and rural units In particular, urban areas or inner cities including districts of Vientiane city are identified as Vientiane capital of Lao PDR New findings of the dissertation The dissertation has built a remuneration model for administrative civil servants in Vientiane City with two major branches: (1) Financial remuneration policies, including five basic elements: salary and bonus, allowances, subsidies and welfare; (2) Non-financial remuneration policies, including five basic elements: recognition, promotion opportunities, training and retraining opportunities, work relationship and working environment The results of the actual situation analysis show some limitations in remuneration policies for administrative civil servant as follows: (1) Through the overall evaluation, the satisfaction of the research subjects including management civil servants and non- management civil servants for remuneration policies is only average (2) The satisfaction with the financial remuneration policies is 2.66 points for management civil servants; 2.81 points for non- management civil servants In particular, bonuses and allowances are evaluated at the lowest level (3) The satisfaction with non-financial remuneration policies is 2.91 points for management civil servants; 3.02 points for non- management civil servants In particular, the recognition and training and retraining opportunities are evaluated at the lowest level (4) The correlation in the evaluation of research subjects shows that management civil servants always have the lower evaluation and the satisfaction level than non- management civil servants Therefore, six solutions are proposed to improve the remuneration policies for administrative civil servants in Vientiane City Structure of the dissertation Part Introduction Part Study contents and findings (Including chapters) - Chapter 1: Literature review - Chapter 2: Theoretical and practical bases for remuneration policies for administrative civil servants - Chapter 3: Research methods - Chapter 4: Actual status of remuneration policies for administrative civil servants in Vientiane City - Chapter 5: Directions and solutions to improve remuneration policies for administrative civil servants in Vientiane City Part Conclusion Part List of published research works of the author Part References Part Appendices Chapter LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Research works on remuneration policies in general 1.1.1 Research works in the world Along with the development trend of organization and management theory, remuneration policy theories and models were born and applied quite widely in the world Depending on the organization’s design features, the remuneration policy models will be flexibly applied in different organizations According to research by Lain Jone and Kuczaj (2012), compensation is basically the core element of each company, including salaries, benefits and other working conditions Career development and working environment include all programs that support employees at work and help them learn and make progress in their careers Le Gioi (2007) in the “Essentials of Management” research work has studied the schools of management theory The theories mentioned in this research work are also one of the preferential treatment for employees Some typical management theories mentioned in the book include: Alderfer’s ERG doctrine; Two-element theory of Fridetick Herzberg (1957); J.Stacy Adams’s theory of justice; Victor Vroom’s theory of expectations; L Porter and E Lawler’s expectation model 1.1.2 Research works in Lao PDR World Bank (2010) researched on remuneration policies in Lao PDR through “Civil service pay and compensation review: attracting and motivating civil servants”, confirming that: an effective and efficient civil service with a personnel management and personnel remuneration system to attract and motivate qualified staffs will be essential for Laos’ development efforts Khamphandea Sayxaphut (2010) with “Policies to attract high-quality human resources in the United States of America and some lessons for the Lao PDR” analyzed the theoretical issues, emphasizing the remuneration factors for high-quality human resources, the actual status of the policies to attract highquality human resources in the United States of America and analysis of favorable premises for Lao PDR in developing policies to attract high-quality human resources 1.2 Research works on remuneration policies for administrative civil servants 1.2.1 Research works in the world 1.2.1.1 Research works on financial remuneration policies Alfred M Wu (2014) in “Governing Civil Service Pay in China” asserts that civil servants play a central role in state management and socio-economic development In developing countries, an effective financial remuneration system with the effective salary payment for civil servants can provide a strong driving force for better public service and curb corruption meanwhile low remuneration can cause corruption and discontent among civil servants Mukherjee, Ranjana and Omer Gokcekus (2001) in “Living with Political Patronage: Civil Service Reform Options when Patronage cannot be eliminated” through the study in the comparison between the salary of civil servants in different countries as well as between the salary of civil servants and the private sector, the author asserts that the salary in general and incentives in particular for civil servants will contribute to promoting labor productivity and reforming their administration as well as improving the quality of public services Chew, David CE (1993) in “Civil Service Pay in the Asian-Pacific Region” said that the paid salary would affect the ability to recruit and retain employees, financial remuneration regime was obviously important for employee motivation and their work performance Nguyen Minh Tuan (2012) in “Some thoughts of remuneration policies for officials and civil servants today” article gave an overview of the remuneration policies for officials and civil servants, including: material and mental incentives: wages and bonuses; position and region allowances, overtime pay and difficulty allowances; welfare, social insurance, health insurance, public service houses and partially or wholly subsidized social services; pensions, sick leave, maternity leave, annual leave, tours; honor through titles of agencies, branches and the State At the same time, the author of the article asserted that: “In the above remuneration policy system, the policy of material benefits is the most basic, essential and most important However, in many cases, the material and mental benefits are interwoven; in the material reward, there is the spiritual reward, even the salary also contains social appreciation for personal devotement There are also special cases where the spiritual benefits are more important than the material benefits 1.2.1.2 Research works on non-financial remuneration policies a Research works on remuneration policies through psychological encouragement Benjamin Balbuena Aguenza and Ahmad Puad Mat Som (2001) in“Motivational factors of Employee Retention and Engagement in Organization” analyzed and demonstrated the factors affecting remuneration for talents and cohesion between talents and the organization These factors include not only material factors such as finance, job characteristics, career development opportunities, recognition of merit, life-work balance, management modalities but also mental factors Tran Thanh Huong (2010) in “Psychological measures to improve the labor ardor of officials and civil servants in state administrative agencies nowadays” research work has shown that, to contribute to improving the administrative officials and civil servants in effectively dealing with public duties, making an important contribution to Vietnam’s economic, political and social development, it is necessary to pay attention to applying psychological measures to stimulate their labor ardor At the same time, the author also pointed out that the factors affecting the working capacity of officials and civil servants in state administrative agencies are not only material factors: salaries and bonuses but also by other factors such as collective tradition, collective opinion and atmosphere of group psychology; psychology, culture; office culture b, Research works on remuneration policies through attracting, appreciating talents and promotion opportunities The study of Muhamad Irshad (2009) analyzed and synthesized the factors affecting employee retention including the relationship between remuneration policies and employee retention in an organization In particular, the factors affecting employee retention such as salary, bonuses, the suitability of personal values to work, training development and promotion opportunities, working environment, management and leadership styles, cultural factors in the organization, etc Nguyen Van Nam (2010) in the “Talent Management in the Public Sector” article mentioned the talent- attracting experience in some developed countries such as Russia, China, France and Singapore in “Seeking talents”, attracting, training and maintaining talents; remuneration regime that can retain and promote capacities of talents, etc From the experience of the above countries, the lessons for Vietnam on remuneration, attraction, management and retention of talents in the public sector were drawn c, Research works on remuneration policies through commendation and reward Janry Haposan UPSimanugkalit (2010) in “Civil Servant Compensation System Reform in Indonesia” research work analyzed the welfare and reward system for civil servants to attract the attention of many parties, describe and evaluate other issues related to the welfare system and provided alternative solutions of the welfare and reward system in the public service management framework Nguyen Thi Quynh Giang (2017) in “Commendation and motivation for duty performance - The reward framework to enhance the effectiveness of the Republic of Ireland” article set out the issue that: In public agencies, the managers’ success is largely due to the performance and efficiency of public duties by each successful official and civil servant Emulation and commendation are one of the forms of remuneration that directly affect the working motivation of leaders and executives in civil service On that basis, the author of the article described the experience of the Republic of Ireland in reward policy for individuals and collectives in the public sector d, Research works on remuneration policies through training and retraining opportunities Andrew Podger and John Wanna (2016) in “Sharpening the sword of state: building executive capacities in the public services of the Asia-Pacific” research work highlighted the role of the executive capacity of the leadership in the provision of public services and mentioned the development of a policy regime to encourage leaders and civil servants, particularly education and training policies as well as opportunities for civil servants to learn and improve enforcement capacity Ngo Thanh Can (2017) in “Reforming the process of training and retraining officials and civil servants in order to improve their enforcement capacity of official duties” article has said that in the performance of public duties, there should be remuneration policies for officials and civil servants through training and retraining opportunities, mechanisms to attract and motivate officials and civil servants 1.2.2 Research works in Lao PDR Hongseng Saisamone (2010) in “Policies to attract talents in Lao PDR” research work found out the factors affecting the completion of policies to attract talents in economic sectors Kham Phan Phom Ma That (2005) in “The training and retraining of key managers under the management of the Central Government in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic during the renovation period” research work analyzed the theoretical and practical bases of the training and retraining of key management leaders, especially for officers under the management of the Central Government, during the renovation period, especially adaption to the situation in the country and the world today 1.3 Research works on remuneration policies for administrative civil servants in Vientiane capital Sengsathit Vichitlasy (2014) with “Capacity of state administrative civil servants at the provincial level – A study in Vientiane Capital” research work formulated a system of indicators and assessment of the actual status of the capacity of provincial administrative civil servants and made recommendations and solutions to contribute to improving the capacity of the provincial administrative civil servants in line with the practical situation of the Lao PDR in general, Vientiane Capital in particular Phit Sa May Bunvilay (2014) with a study in “Developing high-quality human resources in Vientiane city - Lao PDR” pointed out the inadequacies and limitations such as Vientiane city’s lack of major training and retraining policies and policies to attract high quality human resources, including officials and civil servants 1.4 General evaluation of the research works on remuneration policies for administrative civil servants 1.4.1 Studied issues Firstly, the researches in the world have studied the theoretical models of remuneration policy in general, including the following aspects: Financial aspects (salary, allowances, bonuses, etc.); non-financial aspects (organizational atmosphere, organizational culture, employee psychology, promotion opportunities, etc.) Secondly, the researches in the world have studied each specific aspect of remuneration policies for administrative civil servants but have not studied the issues of remuneration policies for civil servants in the overall view, including financial and non-financial remuneration policies, especially remuneration policies for administrative civil servants in Vientiane city, in which so far no research works have been published Thirdly, in the above-mentioned research works, the criteria for remuneration policies for administrative civil servants have not been mentioned and developed Fourthly, the methods used in the research works are mainly qualitative, there are not many works using the quantitative methods 1.4.2 Further studies Unification of the concepts of “remuneration”, “administrative civil servants”, “remuneration policies for administrative civil servants” A study in the doctrines of remuneration A study in the factors affecting the remuneration policies for administrative civil servants Determination of the specific contents of remuneration policies for administrative civil servants A study in experiences in remuneration policies for administrative civil servants of a number of countries in the world Evaluation of the actual status of remuneration policies for administrative civil servant in Vientiane capital Proposed solutions to improve the efficiency of both financial and nonfinancial remuneration policies for administrative civil servants in Lao PDR in general and Vientiane City in particular Chapter THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL BASES FOR REMUNERATION POLICIES FOR ADMINISTRATIVE CIVIL SERVANTS 2.1 Theoretical bases for remuneration 2.1.1 Concept of remuneration “The remuneration is a combination of ways and measures that can be used by each organization to attract, retain and motivate its employees in a mode commensurate with the contribution in order to improve labor productivity and work efficiency, towards the realization of the organization’s common goals and sustainable development” 2.1.2 Remuneration- related theories 2.1.2.1 Abraham Maslow’s theory of demand 2.1.2.2 Clayton Alderfer’s theory of demand for survival, relationship, and development (ERG) 2.1.2.3 Frederick Herzberg’s two-factor theory 2.1.2.4 John Stacey Adams’s theory of justice 2.1.2.5 L Porter and E Lawler’s model of expectations 2.1.2.6 Michael Armstrong’s remuneration system theory In summary, the aforementioned theories contribute an important part to creating the foundation and basis for determining the levels of demand for civil servants working in the state administrative agencies, thereby developing strategies and remuneration policies accordingly based on the needs of each different target groups These theories are also the theoretical basis for the author to build a remuneration model for administrative civil servants of Vientiane City 2.2 Theoretical bases for administrative civil servants 2.2.1 Concept of administrative civil servants Administrative public servants are those who are appointed to a defined position in the state administrative agency, entitled to salaries and allowances from the State budget and perform state management duties 2.2.2 Characteristics of administrative civil servants - Administrative civil servants are those who perform official duties in order to perform the state management task; - Administrative civil servants are assured of the necessary conditions to carry out their official duties, entitled to legitimate rights and interests in the course of public-service activities; - Administrative civil servants are a labor force with high professionalism and specialization 10 - Activities of administrative civil servants take place regularly, continuously with complexity and a wide scope - Activities of administrative civil servants are professional activities with relative stability, inheritance, constantly improving in both quality and quantity, meeting the continuous development requirements of the society 2.2.3 Classification of administrative civil servants a) Classification by qualifications b) Classification by working organization c) Classification by the hierarchy of organizational structure of the state apparatus: d) Classification by major (specialty), scale (rank) and grade (position): d) Classification by the position In Lao PDR, the Lao Law on Officers and Officials (2015) provides general regulations on scale and rank of officials and civil servants in Articles 14 and 15: Senior officials are ranked at the 6th scale, including grades; Administrative civil servants are classified from to 5, each scale has 15 grades The determination of ranks and grades of officials and civil servants must be based on qualifications, administrative position or professional position In Lao PDR, the classification of civil servants is made under Decree No 203/CP dated July 4, 2017 by the Government of the Lao PDR stipulating administrative positions of officials and civil servants 2.2.4 Role of administrative civil servants Administrative civil servants have the role of well performing the function of State management and decision in improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the state administrative apparatus at all levels Therefore, the effectiveness, efficiency, quality and reputation of the State apparatus depend on administrative civil servants 2.3 Theoretical bases for remuneration policies for administrative civil servants 2.3.1 Concept of remuneration policies for administrative civil servants “The remuneration policy for administrative civil servants is a system of tools used by the State to attract, retain and motivate employees in the state administrative agencies; ensure compliance with the applicable laws and the regime’s commensurateness with the contribution; be aimed at improving labor productivity and work efficiency towards the sustainable development of the state administrative apparatus” 2.3.2 Role of remuneration policies for administrative civil servants - Attract high-quality human resources - Retain talents in the public sector 13 examine and evaluate civil servants according to specific standards in order to detect talented people for promotion, appreciation and reward Ninthly, it is required to create favorable conditions in terms of working facilities and equipment Tenthly, it is also essential to promote the construction of a cultural and civilized working environment, thereby creating a comfortable and sociable mentality and connection among civil servants, contributing to improving labor productivity and operational efficiency of the state administrative agencies 14 Chapter RESEARCH METHODS 3.1 Design of the study 3.1.1 Methodology - Dialectical materialism - Historical materialism 3.1.2 Information collection method 3.1.2.1 Secondary information collection Secondary information was collected by the author through Desk review Resources are divided into three basic groups: + Legal documents related to research issues (Legal documents, strategies, policies, overall plans of the Government and Vientiane city, etc.) + Scientific works published in the world and in Lao PDR + Research issue- related reports, statistics of agencies, organizations and individuals 3.1.2.2 Primary information collection Primary information was collected through sociological research methods, including qualitative research (in-depth interviews) and quantitative research (interview with questionnaires) for the assessment of the actual status of remuneration policies for civil servants in Vientiane City - Qualitative research - Quantitative research Overview of theory Official research Quantitative research N = 371 Qualitative research N = 15 Preliminary questionnaire Official questionnaire Preliminary research Correction SPSS 22 Diagram 3.1 Research process of the Author 3.2 Quantitative research 3.2.1 Questionnaire design 3.2.2 Sample selection and data collection 3.2.2.1 Sample size 15 - Survey and investigation subjects: Public servants in state administrative agencies of Vientiane city - Sample size: 500 samples (out of 22,754 administrative civil servants) - Regional sampling methods (Cluster): Convenient sampling - Survey area: The dissertation selects a survey area based on the administrative and territorial units of Vientiane City Accordingly, the city has an inner area (4 districts) and suburban area (5 districts) - Form of survey and investigation: Questionnaire - Quantity: 371 votes (In which: 60 votes for management civil servants; 311 votes for non-management civil servants) - Data processing method: Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Version 22 3.2.2.2 Data collection A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed to administrative civil servants over a period of 30 days from February 1, 2018 to March 1, 2018 The number of received votes was 405, accounting for 81% After checking and cleaning the data, there were 371 valid votes, accounting for 91.6% of the collected votes, which were put into data processing 3.2.3 Development of scale 3.2.3.1 Financial remuneration scale To evaluate the financial remuneration policy for administrative civil servants, the author uses a scale with components: Salary (TL), Bonus (TH), Allowances (PC), Subsidies (TC) and Welfare (PL) with 29 questions All questions using Likert’s 5-step scale with option -“Strongly disagree” on the statement and option - “Strongly agree” on the statement For non-management civil servants, the difference is that there is no measurement for PL1, PL2, PL3 and PL4 3.2.3.2 Non-financial remuneration scale To evaluate non-financial remuneration policy for administrative civil servants, the author uses a scale with components: Recognition (GN), Promotion opportunities (TT), Training and retraining opportunities (DT), Work relationship (MQH) and Working environment (MT) with 22 questions 3.2.3.3 General evaluation scale For general evaluation of remuneration policies for administrative civil servants, the author uses a scale of respondents’ satisfaction with financial remuneration, non-financial remuneration and general satisfaction 3.3 Qualitative research 3.3.1 Objectives of in-depth interview - Further assess the views of the interviewees on remuneration policies for administrative civil servants in Vientiane City; - Explain the obtained data through quantitative research 16 3.3.2 In-depth interview subjects - Non-management civil servants in the state administrative agencies (6 people); - Management civil servants in the state administrative agencies (7 people); - Public policy and human resources experts (2 people) In-depth interview subjects were selected according to the purposive stratified sampling method 3.3.3 Sample size Total number of in-depth interview samples conducted in the dissertation is 15 people 3.3.4 Information collection and processing The interviews are conducted at the workplace of the interviewees Each interview takes about 30 to 40 minutes, focusing on the questions mentioned in the in-depth interview questionnaire The contents of the interview are recorded and stored in computers The information gathered from in-depth interviews will be coded and analyzed for each topic developed during the research design and field interviews 3.4 Characteristics of survey subjects and how to give evaluation points 3.4.1 Characteristics of survey subjects The dissertation was conducted to survey 02 groups of subjects: (i) Management civil servants (hereinafter referred to as management civil servants, abbreviated as MCS); (ii) Non- management civil servants (hereinafter referred to as civil service employees, abbreviated to CSE) 3.4.2 How to give points and evaluation standards - Strongly disagree: Average point from 1.0 to 1.80; - Disagree: Average point from 1.81 to 2.60; - Neutral: Average point from 2.61 to 3.40; - Agree: Average point from 3.41 to 4.20; - Strongly agree: Average point from 4.21 to 5.0 17 Chapter ACTUAL STATUS OF REMUNERATION POLICIES FOR ADMINISTRATIVE CIVIL SERVANTS IN VIENTIANE CITY 4.1 Natural and socio-economic characteristics of Vientiane city 4.1.1 Natural characteristics 4.1.2 Socio-economic characteristics 4.1.3 Political - social characteristics Vientiane City is the capital and the political, economic, cultural, educational and human resources center of Lao PDR These are the basic characteristics that determine the difference in the remuneration policy for administrative civil servants of Vientiane City from other localities in the country 4.2 Some legal documents on remuneration policies for administrative civil servants of Lao PDR Currently, in Lao PDR, there are basically regulations on regimes and policies for administrative civil servants, typically: Law on officers and civil servants No 74/QH dated December 18, 2015; Regulations on management and payment of salaries, subsidies and policy in 2017 issued together with Decision No 55/TT by the Prime Minister of Lao PDR dated December 30, 2016; Decree No 203/CP dated July 4, 2017 on administrative positions of officials and civil servants; Decree No 294/CP by Lao Government dated September 4, 2017 on training and developing officers and civil servants; Instruction No 07/BNV by the Ministry of Home Affairs of Lao PDR dated May 2, 2018 guiding the implementation of the Government’s Decree on training and retraining; Law No 34/QH dated July 26, 2013 on Social Insurance; Decree No 121/CP by the Prime Minister dated February 24, 2010 on strengthening the emulation and commendation in the new term 4.3 Actual status of remuneration policies for administrative civil servants in Vientiane city 4.3.1 Salary Survey and in-depth interview results show that the remuneration regime through the salary of the Lao government for civil servants in Vientiane city is still relatively low although the salary of city civil servants may be higher than that in other areas inside or outside the state With the current wage policy, civil servants cannot be assured of working and devoting to the public service effectively and efficiently 4.3.2 Bonus Survey and in-depth interview results show that most people said that the current reward was still based on the year-end performance evaluation, the position -based evaluation and actual contributions At the same time, the 18 application of bonuses is sometimes rigid; the bonus is still quite low compared with the achievements of civil servants 4.3.3 Allowances Survey and in-depth interview results show that the current allowance regime did not meet the expectations of the city civil servants; most civil servants were not satisfied with the remuneration policy through allowances, especially for management civil servants, civil servants working in disadvantaged areas (remote areas) or occupational fields directly affecting the health of civil servants, for example toxicity allowances; job fluctuation allowance 4.3.4 Subsidies Survey results show that most civil servants feel satisfied and think it reasonable and humane to apply the remuneration policy through allowances However, through in-depth interviews of some civil service employees and management civil servants in specific cases of receiving subsidies, some people still said: “At present, the maternity allowance; unemployment benefits; labor accident allowances, etc have not really met the expectations of some civil servants, especially civil service employees 4.3.5 Welfare The survey results show that meanwhile civil service employees show a temporary satisfaction with the welfare regime, management civil servants think this remuneration to be low, not creating working motivation and cohesion with the organization Through in-depth interviews of some managers and experts on the cause of this situation, some people said that the main reason was due to the lack of regulations on this issue The second reason is the limitations in the city financial mechanism for remuneration through welfare The financial resources and budget for fulfilling these expectations of city civil servants are still an issue which needs a more detailed roadmap of calculations and specific solutions in the future 4.3.6 General comments In general, the research subjects who are civil service employees and management civil servants evaluated the financial remuneration policy at the “normal” level In particular, the remuneration policy of management civil servants was 0.44 points lower than that of management civil servants 4.4 Actual status of non-financial remuneration policies for administrative civil servants in Vientiane City 4.4.1 Recognition The survey results show that most civil servants said that the remuneration policy through recognizing the merits and contributions of civil servants to the development of the state administration in general and Vientiane city in 19 particular was at the “normal” level; the main forms of recognition were shown at the stage when civil servants complete their tasks or when their initiatives were used However, the in-depth interview results show that the forms and methods of recognizing the contributions and devotion of civil servants are still rigid and isolated, thus not creating a positive spirit in working for civil servants in Vientiane city 4.4.2 Promotion opportunities The survey and in-depth interview results show that management civil servants has a higher evaluation and satisfaction with the remuneration policies through promotion opportunities than civil service employees The Central Government and Vientiane City government are making efforts to focus on the development of management civil servants, so the current remuneration regimes focus on this group 4.4.3 Training and retraining opportunities The survey and in-depth interview results show that remuneration through training and retraining opportunities is assessed at a “normal” level by civil servants The process of implementing training and retraining plans has not been effective due to the lack of funding or barriers in criteria for participation in training and retraining; especially the training and retraining results have not been considered as a criterion to evaluate the capacity of civil servants and personnel assignment, which is a waste of human resources; civil servants’ participation in overseas long-term training and retraining courses affects the financial expenses and at the same time loses the initiative in arranging the positions of civil servants 4.4.4 Work relationship Through survey, most research subjects are civil service employees and management civil servants “agreed” on this relationship Some people said that the main causes of relationship conflicts in organizations came from personal conflicts of civil servants; conflicts in the coordinated work-handling process; the unfair, undemocratic and non-transparent evaluation of the leaders, etc 4.4.5 Working environment Through survey and in-depth interviews, most civil servants said that they were provided the relatively adequate working equipment by the city government However, some people said that the working conditions needed to be more modern to meet the requirements of the context of international integration and the 4th technological revolution Especially, it was necessary to build a clean and incorruptible workplace culture environment 4.4.6 General comments There is a difference in non-management civil servants and management civil servants’ satisfaction level with non-financial remuneration policies Accordingly, most non-management civil servants have 0.5 points higher 20 satisfaction level than management civil servants This result shows that there should be specific solutions in the development and implementation of nonfinancial remuneration policies for civil servants in general and administrative civil servants in particular 4.5 Overall evaluation of remuneration policies for administrative civil servants in Vientiane city 4.5.1 Findings and causes 4.5.1.1 Findings In general, Vientiane city civil servants have a moderate level of satisfaction with remuneration policies The basic conditions of remuneration have been developed, implemented and achieved initial achievements by the Lao Government in general and the Government of Vientiane City in particular 4.5.1.2 Causes Firstly, institutions Secondly, the capacity of administrative civil servants Thirdly, the executive direction 4.5.2 Some limitations and causes 4.5.2.1 Some limitations Firstly, in the trend of international integration, under the strong impacts of the industrial revolution 4.0; the movement of administrative trends in the direction of new public management and good state governance, if the new remuneration policies are only at the “normal” (average) level, it cannot create the motivation of Lao civil servants in general and Vientiane city civil servants in particular Secondly, according to the common evaluation of Vientiane city’s administrative civil servants, the financial remuneration policy is at the “normal” level In particular, the internal remuneration policies through “bonus”, “welfare”, “allowances” are assessed at the lower level in the evaluation table Thirdly, the research results show that most non-management civil servants and management civil servants evaluated non-financial remuneration policy at the “normal” level Fourthly, in terms of the correlation in the evaluation of non-management civil servants and management civil servants, the results show that: nonmanagement civil servants have always a higher evaluation than management civil servants, which reflects the remuneration policies for management civil servants still have inadequacies and limitations, just achieved the criteria and initial satisfaction In particular, the regimes of “bonus”, “allowances”, “welfare” and “training and retraining opportunities have not been highly appreciated by management civil servants 4.5.2.2 Causes 21 a) Institutions and mechanisms; b) Financial factors; c) Awareness of civil servants; d) Capacity of civil servants 22 Chapter DIRECTIONS AND SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE REMUNERATION POLICIES FOR ADMINISTRATIVE CIVIL SERVANTS IN VIENTIANE CITY 5.1 Directions to improve the remuneration policies for administrative civil servants 5.1.1 Directions to improve the remuneration policies for administrative civil servants of Lao PDR 5.1.1.1 Improve the remuneration policies based on the views of Lao People’s Revolutionary Party 5.1.1.2 Improve the remuneration policies towards building a team of professional administrative civil servants 5.1.1.3 Improve the remuneration policies to meet the requirements of international integration and the 4th technological revolution 5.1.2 Directions to improve remuneration policies for administrative civil servants in Vientiane City 5.1.2.1 Socio-economic development goal of Vientiane city to 2020 5.1.2.2 Directions to improve remuneration policies for administrative civil servants in Vientiane City a, Improve the remuneration policies to meet the material needs of civil servants in Vientiane City b, Improve the remuneration policies to improve the spiritual life of civil servants c, Improve the remuneration policies to contribute to building the cultured and civilized city office model 5.2 Solutions to improve the financial remuneration policies for administrative civil servants in Vientiane city 5.2.1 Salary, allowances and subsidies 5.2.1.1 Purpose of the solution The solution is aimed at renovating the policy of salary, allowances and subsidies; thereby ensuring material life and material regimes for civil servants 5.2.1.2 Contents of the solution - Improve the legal documents about salary and allowance policies for administrative civil servants; - Innovate the salary policy based on position and work results; - Gradually raise income to ensure material life for administrative civil servants - Innovate the policy of allowances and subsidies for administrative civil servants 5.2.1.3 How to implement the solution 23 a, Improve legal documents on salary and allowance policies for officials and civil servants b, Innovate salary policies based on the position and job results with appropriate allocation for management civil servants and non- management civil servants c, Gradually raise incomes to ensure the material life for administrative civil servant d, Innovate the policy of allowances, subsidies and welfare for administrative civil servants 5.2.1.4 Solution implementation conditions 5.2.2 Reward policy 5.2.2.1 Purpose of the solution The purpose of the solution is to improve the reward mechanism, create motivation and contribute to improving the labor productivity of civil servants and the operational efficiency of civil service 5.2.2.2 Contents of the solution Firstly, improve and promulgate the legal documents on the reward mechanism for civil servants, thereby creating a legal corridor in assessing the capacity of civil servants Secondly, the form of reward is mainly monetary reward, especially the cash reward and other material conditions 5.2.2.3 How to implement the solution Firstly, improve the regulations on commendation and reward for administrative public servants working in the local state administrative agencies in order to ensure the legal framework to be implemented in practice as well as to create a mechanism to ensure protect civil servants’ legitimate interests in labor Secondly, define the reward criteria based on the individual achievements and capabilities of civil servants or group rewards 5.2.2.4 Solution implementation conditions 5.3 Solutions to improve non-financial remuneration policies for administrative civil servants in Vientiane City 5.3.1 Recognition, promotion opportunity, arrangement and use of talents 5.3.1.1 Purpose of the solution The solution is aimed at promoting the personal values of civil servants; encourage, motivate and acknowledge personal merits through which civil servants promote their capacity to devote to public service activities 5.3.1.2 Content of the solution - Take non-material remuneration measures in the form of enrollment, commendation, recognition of achievements and good deeds of administrative civil servants - Take non-material remuneration measures in the form of promotion opportunity of administrative civil servants 24 - Take non-material remuneration measures in the form of arrangement and use of talented and qualified civil servants in the state administrative apparatus 5.3.1.3 How to implement the solution a) Take non-material remuneration measures in the form of enrollment, commendation of achievements and good deeds of administrative civil servants b, Take non-material remuneration measures in the form of promotion opportunity of administrative civil servants c) Take non-material remuneration measures in the form of arrangement and use of talented and qualified civil servants 5.3.1.4 Solution implementation conditions 5.3.2 Training and retraining opportunities 5.3.2.1 Purpose of the solution This solution is aimed at creating favorable conditions for Vientiane city civil servants to have opportunities to join the training and retraining courses as one of the remuneration policies for civil servants, thereby contributing to improving the capacity, knowledge and professional skills of this team in the performance of public duties 5.3.2.2 Content of the solution Organize and implement the training and retraining plans for civil servants in Vientiane city so that they may have the opportunity to join the training courses and carry out the theoretical and practical researches on state management Training and retraining opportunities for civil servants need to be promoted in an open spirit in the direction of benefiting this team On the one hand, create favorable conditions for civil servants materially and mentally when they join (are assigned) for training and retraining courses, on the other hand, create time conditions for them to be selfsufficient in joining the training and retraining courses 5.3.2.3 How to implement the solution - Plan and determine the criteria for assigning city civil servants to join the training and retraining programs to enhance the public service performance capacity of civil servants - Carefully select the training and retraining programs based on the capacity as well as position for each group of civil servants - Improve knowledge and skills of civil servants to meet the requirements of integration and development - Select reputable training and retraining institutions in the country and in the world - Consider the training and retraining program result as one of the important criteria to evaluate the working capacity of civil servants - Focus on the evaluation and use of civil servants after training and retraining 5.3.2.4 Solution implementation conditions 5.3.3 Building positive work relationships 25 5.3.3.1 Purpose of the solution This solution is aimed at building a friendly, cooperative and shared relationships among members of the organization, thereby encouraging and motivating civil servants to perform official duties effectively and effectively 5.3.3.2 Content of the solution Firstly, build a cooperative and democratic relationship between leaders and employees (superiors and subordinates) Secondly, build an interaction, connection and sharing relationship between civil servants and civil servants (between colleagues and colleagues) Thirdly, build the leadership style and take psychological measures to encourage and motivate civil servants Fourthly, build a friendly, cheerful and sociable working atmosphere 5.3.3.3 How to implement the solution a, Build a cooperative and democratic relationship between leaders and employees (superior and subordinates) b, Build an interaction, connection and sharing relationship between civil servants and civil servants (between colleagues and colleagues) c, Build the leadership style and take psychological measures to encourage and motivate civil servants d, Build a friendly, cheerful and sociable working atmosphere e, Build a safe, democratic and fair working atmosphere 5.3.3.4 Solution implementation conditions 5.3.4 Working environment 5.3.4.1 Purpose of the solution This solution is aimed at building an effective working environment, thereby creating office culture standard values, encouraging and motivating the working spirit of civil servants 5.3.4.2 Content of the solution - Ensure vehicles, equipment, working rooms for civil servants - Ensure the official-duty cultural value standards in the performance of official duties, thereby building an effective and safe working environment 5.3.4.3 How to implement the solution Firstly, modernize offices Secondly, set out the official-duty culture value standards 5.3.4.4 Solution implementation conditions 26 CONCLUSION The remuneration policy for administrative civil servants is a system of tools used by the State to attract, retain and motivate civil servants in state administrative agencies; ensure compliance with the applicable laws and the regime’s commensurateness with the contribution; be aimed at improving labor productivity and work efficiency towards the sustainable development of the state administrative apparatus The dissertation has built a remuneration model for administrative civil servants in Vientiane City with two major branches: (1) Financial remuneration policies, including five basic elements: salary and bonus, allowances, subsidies and welfare; (2) Non-financial remuneration policies, including five basic elements: recognition, promotion opportunities, training and retraining opportunities, work relationship and working environment Through the analysis of the current remuneration policies for administrative civil servants in Vientiane city based on the above remuneration model, the dissertation findings show some limitations in the remuneration polices for civil servants as follows: In terms of financial remuneration policies, bonuses and allowances are evaluated at the lowest level; in terms of non-financial remuneration policies, recognition and training and retraining opportunities are evaluated at the lowest level The correlation in the evaluation of research subjects shows that management civil servants always have the lower evaluation and the satisfaction level than non- management civil servants The dissertation proposes six solutions to improve the remuneration policies for administrative civil servants in Vientiane City, including: (1) Innovating the policy of wages, allowances, subsidies and ensuring the material life of civil servants; (2) Improving the reward mechanism in achievement evaluation, creating work motivation and encouraging innovation and creativity; (3) Promoting the personal values of administrative civil servants through recognition, promotion opportunities and arrangement and use of talents; (4) Creating the opportunities for civil servants to be trained, retrained and improved their capacity, knowledge and professional skills; (5) Building the friendly, cooperative and sharing relationships among members of the organization; (6) Building an effective working environment and creating workplace cultural norms LIST OF PUBLISHED RESEARCH WORKS OF THE AUTHOR Kannika Saignasane and Xayyadeth Vichitlasy (2015), “Actual status and need for statistical training in the direction of research and application in state agencies in Lao PDR, Yearbook of the National Science Conference of research and application –oriented statistics and training innovation, National Economics University Publishing House, Hanoi, p 142-150 Xayyadeth Vichitlasy (2018), ‘Evaluation of remuneration policies for civil servants at administrative agencies in Vientiane city, Lao PDR’, Journal of Economics and Forecasting, No 36, p 26-28 Xayyadeth Vichitlasy (2019a), ‘Improving remuneration policies for Lao civil servants’, Journal of Economics and Forecasting, No 08, p 55-57 Xayyadeth Vichitlasy (2019b), ‘International experience in remuneration policies for administrative civil servants in some countries in the world and lessons for Lao PDR’, Journal of Education and Society, Special Volume, Term 1, p 269-273, 292 ... compensation review: attracting and motivating civil servants”, confirming that: an effective and efficient civil service with a personnel management and personnel remuneration system to attract and motivate... status of the policies to attract highquality human resources in the United States of America and analysis of favorable premises for Lao PDR in developing policies to attract high-quality human... Sector” article mentioned the talent- attracting experience in some developed countries such as Russia, China, France and Singapore in “Seeking talents”, attracting, training and maintaining talents;