A Look into the Human Resource Management Initiatives
of the Civil Service Commission as Reflected by the
Commission on Human Rights
INTRODUCTION
The Civil Service Commission: Its Beginnings and Evolution
Civil service is not something that is new to the Philippine government. The Philippine
Civil Service was formally established way back on March 16, 1900, through the
leadership of William Howard Taft. The law establishing the civil service system aimed to
ensure efficient and effective public service in the Philippines. As such, a Civil Service
Board was created. Composed of a Chairman, a Secretary and a Chief Examiner, the
Board administered civil service examinations and set standards for appointment in
government service. In 1905, the Board was reorganized into a Bureau.
From that time until the 1930s, the Philippine Civil Service focused mainly on recruitment
and selection of people who are fit to work for public service. This included the initiative
to firmly establish a merit system through the 1935 Philippine Constitution, which served
as the basis for employment in the government. Later, the Bureaus jurisdiction widened,
as it became concerned with the national government, the local government and even
government corporations. Republic Act 2260 or the Civil Service Law of 1959 converted
the Bureau into the Civil Service Commission (CSC), giving it a department status. The
law also superseded all administrative orders related to government personnel
administration.
The CSC’s roles were redefined in 1975 through the Civil Service Decree of the
Philippines. It was then recognized as the central personnel agency of the Philippine
government, and it is still recognized as such by the 1987 Philippine Constitution
(Historical Highlights, [Link], 2018).
Functions and Goals of the CSC
Aside from recognizing the Commission as the government’s central personnel agency,
the 1987 Philippine Constitution mandates the Civil Service Commission to “establish a
career service and adopt measures to promote morale, efficiency, integrity,
responsiveness, progressiveness, and courtesy in the civil service (Article IX-B, 1987
Phil. Const.).” Furthermore, the CSC is also mandated to “strengthen the merit and
rewards system, integrate all human resources development programs for all levels and
ranks, and institutionalize a management climate conducive to public accountability
(Article IX-B, 1987 Phil. Const.).” The role of the CSC was no longer focused on
recruitment of employees in the civil service, but it has evolved into a much wider range
of functions including, but not limited to formulating, administering and evaluating
programs on the development of a qualified and competent public work force, hearing
and deciding administrative cases instituted by or brought before it directly or on appeal,
advise the President on all matters involving personnel management in the government
service (Mandate, [Link], n.d.). More importantly, the CSC is also responsible for
ensuring that all employees in the civil service are to follow ethical standards while
performing their official duties.
Today, the CSC’s vision is to be Asia’s leading Center of Excellence for strategic human
resource and organization development by the year 2030. Having the core purpose
“Gawing lingkod bayani ang bawat kawani,” the CSC aims to mobilize and cultivate
partnerships, financial resources and work force competence to attain high performing,
competent and credible public servants. This strategy also includes instilling the three
core values—love of God and country, excellence and integrity. Below is the illustration
of CSC’s long-term strategic map:
Image from CSC Official Website. Retrieved April 19, 2019 from [Link]
02-20-02-22-48/2014-02-20-02-26-15/progress-of-pgs/[Link]
One initiative that greatly supports this vision is the Program to Institutionalize Meritocracy
and Excellence in Human Resource Management (PRIME-HRM). This program, as its
name suggests, aims to achieve excellence in the public sector HRM through evaluation,
assistance and awarding processes with the use of HRM maturity level indicators, which
are based on international HRM standards (PRIME-HRM Guidebook, 2016). How this
has affected government agencies, particularly the Commission on Human Rights, shall
be discusses further later in this paper.
The Commission on Human Rights
The 1987 Philippine Constitution understands the need to respect the primacy of human
rights; thus, an independent National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) was created
through the said constitution, called the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) (Article XIII,
1987 Phil. Const.). The CHR envisions the Philippines as a just and humane society, with
people having equal opportunities, dignified living, and vigilance against abuses and
oppression (CHR, n.d.). The CHR, therefore, does not only promote awareness of human
rights, but also pushes the Philippine government to take necessary action towards
respecting and protecting the rights of all, especially the disadvantaged, the marginalized
and the vulnerable (CHR, n.d.). The CHR’s powers and functions also include, among
many others, investigation of all forms of human rights violations involving civil and
political rights, provision of legal action for the protection of human rights of Filipinos in
the country and abroad, recommendation of effective measures for the promotion of
human rights and for the compensation to victims of the violation thereof, as well as the
monitoring of the compliance of the Philippine Government with international treaty
obligations on human rights (Article XIII, 1987 Phil. Const.).
Given the crucial role of the CHR on the welfare of all Filipinos, it is then important to look
at how CHR employees are mobilized to achieve their vision, and accomplish their
functions. This paper shall then explore the human resource management practices of
the CHR, and shall be compared to that of the CSC, the central personnel agency of the
Philippine government. More than comparison, the paper will also try to analyze the
effects of CSC initiatives on CHR, as well as the implication of CHR’s reactions towards
these initiatives.
DISCUSSION
CSC and CHR: A Comparison of HRM Practices
The Civil Service Commission recognizes itself as the “laboratory” of the human resource
practices that it wants to initiate. In an interview on April 8, 2019 with Mr. Fernando M.
Porio, director of the CSC’s Office for Human Resource Management and Development,
he said that proposed programs of the CSC must go through all regions, and periodic
consultation with unions are held to ensure readiness of government employees in
accepting such programs. The recruitment process of the CSC is very competency-
based. After the call for applications, a written exam is administered to candidates to
measure how much of the core and functional competencies they already possess. The
CSC then conducts a behavioral interview, also known as a targeted event interview to
know more about the candidates’ work behaviors and attitudes. This, along with the
background investigation, does not explore a candidate’s behavior in hypothetical
situations, rather it is highly based on a candidate’s past performances and experiences.
This will help the CSC confirm the competency of the candidate relative to the results of
the written exam. Meanwhile, the Commission on Human Rights applies the minimum
standards set by the CSC. All appointments by the CHR must be approved by the CSC.
Just like the latter, a written exam is also administered to applicants and an interview is
conducted, as a basis for qualification. Recruitment is one of the main HR concerns of
CHR at the moment, as they aim to fill up all vacant positions to prevent burning out
current employees (J. Reyes, personal communication, April 10, 2019).
To make sure that employees are assigned to the job that best fit them, the CSC has
what they call the “motivation fit,” which considers three things: person-fit, job-fit and
organization-fit. This allows the CSC to place employees to their appropriate jobs based
on personality, skills and personal goals. With this comprehensive concept in assigning
jobs, effectiveness is likely to increase, because it may avoid inefficiencies in work due to
lack of personal skills and motivation. A simpler method is done in the CHR, for it mainly
considers the position that the candidate specifically applied for. The interview during
selection process also determines the applicant’s personal goals. However, if the CHR
deems the applicant qualified for another position, the applicant shall also be offered that
position.
It can be said that both the CSC and CHR give great importance to the development of
their employees. Training and development (also called learning and development (L&D))
in the CSC is based on the needs and trends inside and outside the agency. Primarily for
this purpose, the CSC conducts an online competency assessment so as to be aware of
the specific areas an employee must improve on. The results of the said assessment are
the basis for the Individual Development Plan (IDP), a written tool that states the target
skill of an employee for the year. Three types of training are provided to employees: the
on-the-job learning, in which the department manager gives employees additional tasks
related to the targeted skills, direct mentoring and coaching from managers/supervisors,
and formal or structured learning, where employees are made to attend workshops,
conferences or seminars inside or outside the CSC. Mr. Porio mentioned a “70-20-10
rule,” meaning 70% of training focuses on on-the-job learning, 20% on mentoring and
coaching, and 10% on formal or structured learning. This is truly beneficial not only to
employees, but also to the CSC as a whole, because while enhancing employee
competency, a job is accomplished at the same time; therefore, this kind of training not
only makes CSC productive, but also cost-efficient, because about 90% of training plans
do not involve paying for a training.
The same kinds of training are also provided to employees of CHR. Unlike in the CSC,
more formal learning is received by CHR employees, many of which are sponsored by
different human rights advocacy groups. Formal trainings are received almost monthly,
says Ms. Jocelyn L. Reyes, the Division Chief of CHR’s Human Resource Development
Division.
Besides skills and competencies, the Civil Service Commission also makes sure that their
employees practice ethics in performing their duties. As such, the Public Service Values
Program is conducted to promote core values such as patriotism, spirituality, excellence
and integrity. The CSC also has the Committee on Decorum and Investigation (CODI),
but mainly for cases on sexual harassment. Mr. Porio stressed that he also wants to add
“citizen centeredness” in the core values, as this shall determine an employee’s passion
for work. For the Commission on Human Rights, an internal code of conduct is
implemented, and values orientation programs are conducted.
In terms of motivation for working, the CSC and CHR mainly gives monetary incentives
to high-performing employees. Other motivations also include sponsorships to
international conferences, as well as scholarships abroad. This implies that both agencies
do not only take into account the material need of its employees, but also considers their
need for learning and development. The CSC and CHR faced the same challenge in the
past regarding the large resignation rate of lawyers or of employees from the legal
department. However, this was resolved by increasing lawyers’ salary grade, giving them
higher entry positions and providing a special representation allowance and
transportation allowance (RATA). “It all boils down to the environmental factor—the
reputation that the office has created,” said Mr. Porio, still pertaining to employee
motivation. According to him, good office reputation builds an employee’s trust towards
the agency and its standards, pushing the employee to work in contribution to that good
reputation.
Just like any other agency, the CSC also occasionally had issues regarding policy
compliance. One notable example would be the resistance towards the Human Resource
Information System (HRIS), which shifted the responsibility of keeping track of attendance
from the management to the employees themselves. One problem that arose with HRIS
was that employees did not fully understand how the HRIS worked, that is why errors in
attendance usually records occurred. As a consequence, some departments went back
to the traditional attendance recording. As it was deemed more efficient and progressive,
the HRIS was still continued, but problems were resolved by providing clear, step-by-step
guides on how to use the HRIS. The importance of constant dialogue with employees is
also emphasized.
In the case of the CHR, uniform or dress code compliance, and attendance compliance
were the usual issues with regard to policy resistance. According to Ms. Reyes, reminders
and memoranda were constantly posted in order to promote compliance to the said
internal policies, but these methods were ineffective. Policy resistance within the CHR is
then attributed to the attitude of the employees (J. Reyes, personal communication, April
10, 2019).
Evaluation in the CSC and CHR happens every semester. For this, both agencies use
the Strategic Performance Management System (SPMS), a “mechanism that links
employee performance with organizational performance to enhance the performance
orientation of the compensation system (CSC, n.d.). While it measures how much an
individual employee achieves organizational goals, it also determines how much the
organization achieved its objectives, as stated in its strategic plan (CHR, n.d.). By using
the SPMS, evaluation shall have no grey areas, and there shall be no discretion, as it
considers quality, efficiency and timeliness of work. For both agencies, low performance
leads to lower rating, thus disqualification from promotion.
Role of CSC in Philippine Development
The Civil Service Commission is the body which sets all HR policies and guidelines to be
followed by respective HR departments of all government agencies. The Commission on
Human Rights is no exception. Thus, all HR policies in the latter are imposed by the CSC.
This does not mean, however, that the CHR and other agencies have no participation on
determining which HR initiatives are to be implemented. A cluster meeting is held
quarterly as a method of policy consultation between the CSC and HR managers of
different government agencies.
Currently, the main goal of CSC is to build a government workforce that has a level of
excellence. This is precisely in line with one of the core goals of the Philippe Development
Plan (PDP) for 2017-2022. “By 2022, there will be greater trust between the people and
government. At the same time, key reforms in the justice system will be done to reduce
delays and cost to those who seek justice at all levels (community/barangay, police,
fiscal/prosecution, and the courts),” so says the PDP. Since the quality of service provided
by an agency rests on the hands of the people who work in it, it is the CSC’s job to ensure
quality performance among all government employees by adopting international
standards. One HR program that supports this endeavor towards excellence, and which
has greatly affected the Commission on Human Rights is the Program to Institutionalize
Meritocracy and Excellence in Human Resource Management (PRIME-HRM). This
program includes an awards system based on the maturity level of an agency. Below is
the matrix for PRIME-HRM awards system:
Image from Philippines Australia Human Resource and Organisational Development Facility. (2016).
PRIME-HRM Guidebook (p. 33). PAHRODF. Manila, Philippines
PRIME-HRM changed the status of CHR from an accredited agency to a regulated
agency. According to Ms. Reyes, CSC lacked in providing assistance to CHR in terms of
helping the latter to improve, and cope with fast evolving HR standards. Though the CSC
provides the criteria to be accomplished, it does not, says Ms. Reyes, suggest or
recommend methods to achieve such. This is ironic, because the PRIME-HRM does
include initiatives to assist agencies to move to a higher maturity level. The guidebook
states, “In the PRIME-HRM ASSIST STAGE, CSC provides agencies with opportunities
to access customized technical assistance and development interventions according to
the agency’s needs and priorities.” A regulated status means that the agency requires
constant monitoring from the CSC, and does not enjoy privileges given to those with
higher maturity status. Such privileges involve the scope of decision making powers of
the agency in relation to HR functions (PRIME-HRM Guidebook, 2016).
Again, it is not only competence that makes an effective government. The current PDP
also envisions the public perception of the Philippine government to be people-centered,
clean and efficient. In other words, a government that is free of corruption, speedy in its
processes, and is not abusive in the use of its powers. This is an important goal of the
Philippine government, as corruption perceptions in the Philippines for the past years is
high. Rappler charted the previous rankings of the Philippines in the corruption perception
index in the years 2012-2018 as reported by Transparency International:
Image from Bueza, M. (2019). Philippines slightly improves in 2018 global corruption index. In [Link].
Retrieved April 19, 2019 in [Link]
perceptions-index-2018
Although past administrations have already been implementing action to combat
corruption, Philippine rankings in corruption perception have not changed drastically. In
an interview with Rappler, Alejandro Salas, regional director at Transparency
International says that progress of anti-corruption efforts “can only be achieved and
sustained, if there is a combination of building and strengthening of democratic
institutions, fair and non-politicized punishment, and openness to citizen and journalism
participation and engagement (in Bueza, 2019)."
According to R.A. No. 6713, also known as the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards
for Public Officials and Employees, eight norms of ethical conduct must be observed by
everyone in the civil service. These are commitment to public interest, professionalism,
justness and sincerity, political neutrality, responsiveness to the public, nationalism and
patriotism, commitment to democracy and simple living (Sec. 4, R.A. No. 6713). It is the
Civil Service Commission’s role to ensure that all government officials and workers
comply with the said norms. The law states, “The Civil Service Commission shall adopt
positive measures to promote (1) observance of these standards including the
dissemination of information programs and workshops authorizing merit increases
beyond regular progression steps, to a limited number of employees recognized by their
office colleagues to be outstanding in their observance of ethical standards; and (2)
continuing research and experimentation on measures which provide positive motivation
to public officials and employees in raising the general level of observance of these
standards (Sec 4, R.A. No. 6713).”
The implementation of R.A. No. 9458, known as the Anti-Red Tape Act (ARTA) in 2007
is one of the many anti-corruption initiatives of the CSC. This particular law aims to reduce
the bureaucratic red tape, and to prevent corruption coming from inefficient and unclear
frontline service procedures. Part of the implementation of the ARTA is the Report Card
Survey (RCS) which shows the client’s feedback on a government service the client has
received. Another initiative, which is required by law under Article XI Section 17 of the
1987 Constitution and R.A. 6713, is the Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth
(SALN), which aims to prevent public officials and employees from obtaining ill-gotten
wealth.
The very idea of maintaining ethics is that if all government officials and employees focus
only on providing service to the people, pushing aside their own personal interests, then
the government shall do everything in its power to give its people only the best quality of
services, which in turn builds a high level of public trust. This will then lead to greater
cooperation and compliance from the public, a major factor in the country’s development.
CONCLUSION
The Civil Service Commission is indeed driven towards becoming a center of excellence
in terms of Human Resource Management practices. We see its continuous efforts in
learning and applying world-class standards in order to achieve this goal. Training and
development of employees is one of the HR functions that CSC has excelled at, for the
Commission incorporated it even in an employee’s work (on-the-job learning), as well as
building stronger manager-employee relationship (mentoring and coaching).
It can be said that the CSC is strategic in its Human Resource Management, at least as
it is practiced internally. All functions are well performed, and methods to do such are
comprehensively defined. The CSC handles well the issues that arise from their own
policy initiatives, such as in the HRIS, and high resignation rate of lawyers in the Legal
Department, as they make sure that they determine what causes these issues.
In terms of ensuring ethical practices, the CSC can only do so much in implementing
policies such as the ARTA and the Code of Ethics. In the end, it is a joint effort between
the CSC and all government officials and employees to maintain accountability and
transparency in the public sector.
With its very idealistic goals, however, the CSC sets the bar a little bit too high for some
government agencies to achieve, and lacks in providing the necessary assistance to such
agencies. Such was the case for the Commission on Human Rights. While there is no
evil in the optimism exhibited by the CSC, the CSC must still be aware of the weaknesses
of government agencies, and must not simply assume that all their goals can easily be
attained by all. It is therefore recommended that the CSC must strive to have constant
communication with government offices, and guide them towards attaining the targeted
level of maturity that the CSC envisions them to attain. This is possible through step-by-
step and more comprehensive guidelines, and more training initiatives by the Civil Service
Institute (CSI) for all government officials and employees.
REFERENCES
Bueza, M. (2019). Philippines slightly improves in 2018 global corruption index. In
[Link]. Retrieved April 19, 2019 in [Link]
philippines-ranking-corruption-perceptions-index-2018
Civil Service Commission. (2018). Historical Highlights. In CSC Official Website.
Retrieved April 19, 2019 from [Link]
[Link]#
Civil Service Commission. (n.d.). Mandate. In CSC Official Website. Retrieved April 19,
2019 from [Link]
Commission on Human Rights. (n.d.). Vision-Mission. In CHR Official Website. Retrieved
April 20, 2019 from [Link]
National Economic Development Authority (NEDA). (2017). Philippine Development Plan
2017-2022 (Abridged Version). NEDA. Pasig City, Philippines
Philippines. (1989). R.A. No. 6713: An act establishing a code of conduct and ethical
standards for public officials and employees, to uphold time-honored principle of
public office being a public trust, granting incentives and rewards for exemplary
service, enumerating prohibited acts and transactions and providing penalties for
violations thereof and for other purposes
Philippines. (1987). The Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines. In
[Link]. Retrieved April 20, 2019 from
[Link]
Philippines Australia Human Resource and Organisational Development Facility. (2016).
PRIME-HRM Guidebook. PAHRODF. Manila, Philippines
INTERVIEWS
Fernando M. Porio, Director IV—Office for Human Resource Management and
Development, Civil Service Commission. Interviewed on April 8, 2019
Jocelyn L. Reyes, Division Chief—Human resource Development Division, Commission
on Human Rights. Interviewed on April 10, 2019.
