Question

What are virtues? How it can strengthen the moral conviction of civil servants and their commitment to public duty?

Answer 1

Virtue, by definition, is the moral excellence of a person. Morally excellent people have a character made-up of virtues valued as good. They do the right thing, and don’t bend to impulses, urges or desires, but act according to values and principles.

Public service officers have a vital role to implement public policy and should understand the significance of values to all aspects of their work. Poor intelligibility or uncertainty about values can not only lead to ethical and decision-making problems, but also affects organisational coherence by lessening team spirit, creating organisational confusion and weak external communication. Presently, duties of the public servant remain many, complex and often apparently conflicting, but successful public servants recognise their multiple roles and prepare for them. These include maintaining secrecy, acting in the public interest, regulating, providing quality advice, adjudicating, avoiding conflicts of interest, guaranteeing accountability to a range of actors and treating all colleagues equitably. Virtues strengthen the moral conviction of civil servants and their commitment to public duty in several ways:

• Accountability: To act willingly in justifying and explaining one’s actions to relevant stakeholders
• Benevolence: To act in a manner that promotes good and avoids harm for citizens
• Collegiality: To act loyally and show solidarity toward one’s colleagues
• Courage: To confront fear and act rightly in the face of personal risk
• Dedication: To act with diligence, enthusiasm, and perseverance
• Effectiveness: To act in a manner that best achieves the desired results
• Efficiency: To act in a manner that achieves the desired results using minimal resources
• Expertise: To act with competence, skill, and knowledge
• Honesty: To act in a truthful manner and to comply with promises
• Humaneness: To act in a manner that exhibits respect, compassion, and dignity toward others
• Impartiality: To act without prejudice or bias toward particular individuals or groups
• Inclusiveness: To act in a manner that includes citizens, customers, and other relevant stakeholders in the decision-making process
• Incorruptibility: To act without prejudice or bias in favor of one’s own private interests
• Innovativeness: To act with initiative and creativity in introducing new policies or products
• Integrity: To act in accordance with relevant moral values and norms Lawfulness To act in accordance with existing laws and rules
• Obedience: To act in compliance with the instructions of superiors
• Pluralism: To act in a manner that seeks to accommodate the interests of a diverse citizenry
• Profitability: To act in a manner that achieves financial gains for the organization
• Public Interest: To act in a manner that promotes the public interest
• Reliability: To act in a manner that is consistent, predictable, and trustworthy
• Representative: To act in a manner that is consistent with the values of citizens
• Responsiveness: To act in a manner that is in accordance with the preferences of citizens, customers, and other relevant stakeholders
• Self Interest: To act in a manner that promotes the well being and professional development of one’s self
• Serviceability: To act in a manner that is helpful and provides quality service to citizens, customers, and other relevant stakeholders
• Social Justice: To act in a manner that promotes a fair and just society
• Sustainability: To act in a manner that seeks to protect and sustain nature and the environment Transparency To act in a manner that is open and visible to citizens, customers, and other relevant