I’m fed up with being bombarded by trivial requests for authorisation that are continually thrust uphill to me. So much of my work is just signing off on miniscule decisions that really could, and should, have been authorised by one of my staff. Lots of my time and effort – which ultimately means the public’s money – gets chewed up approving small-scale requests that should never have made their way to me. No matter how many times I explain that staff should exercise their delegated authority for routine decisions, I find myself in the same position over and over again.
Case in point: today I was handed an approval form to sign for – wait for it … a purchase of stationery for the office, totalling $4.85. When the form came to me, I was in the middle of preparing for an important meeting with regional executives, angry contractors, and expensive consultants about proposed sites for new public facilities. It’s simply ridiculous.
I understand staff are risk averse, and are being careful not to waste public money, but in a roundabout way, that’s exactly what’s happening.
So now I have to put my foot down, again. I’ve decided to run a short series of meetings to explain to staff the cost of escalating routine matters and demonstrate that they’re just chewing up public resources by pushing minor requests upstream. Maybe if I can explain it clearly enough, I’ll give them a good enough reason to think seriously before they push everything up for my signature.
I don’t think you really understand the work environment below you to argue this. I’m not senior, like you appear to be, but I do understand that you’re really busy with other matters and I agree you shouldn’t have to sign off the purchase of every box of pens in a big organisation.
However, there’s a reason for these behaviours in your staff – and not just in your organisation, but others too, I’m sure.
The public sector is fraught with danger; we are confronted by risk on a daily basis in every action or decision we make. I don’t know how many rules there are for buying pens in your organisation, but in my organisation it’s a lot, and getting even one of them wrong is a serious breach. I understand why. The public’s money is at stake, and this shouldn’t be taken lightly. We don’t take it lightly. But the level of transparency and accountability is just unreasonably high. Too many people are afraid of making a small mistake, and making more work for their bosses, and everyone else, in trying to clean up after an honest mistake, or just too overwhelmed by how many rules there are and how hard they are to follow. I know buying pens is a silly example, but it’s much worse when the judgement required is more nuanced and the stakes are higher, and more public.
Naturally, junior staff lean on senior level people such as yourself because of your greater knowledge and experience of the rules, to make sure that public money is being spent properly. Doing anything more is above our pay grade.