CURRENT PRIORITIES OF THE REFORM OF THE INCENTIVE SCHEME FOR RUSSIAN OFFICIALS: FOCUS ON THE RESULT

Abstract

An important factor in improving the quality of public administration is to create an effective system of material incentives for civil servants focused on the achievement of the ultimate socially significant results. Despite having considerable experience in the use of payment instruments on the results, the impact of the introduction of this instrument on the effectiveness of executive authorities’ activityhas been estimated as insignificant so far. The article examines the practice of using different methods of material incentives in the federal bodies of executive authority and the reasons for the limited impact of this practice on the quality of public administration in general. The results of the study show that, although formally in 85.7% of authorities payment by work resultsis used, the quality of appliedsystems of measurement of professional performance and the status of their account when making decisions on bonuses remain insufficient. In fact, the system of material incentives in the civil service keeps subjective character, andmany used in practice, the performance indicators orient servants’ activities not on achievement of results, and on the formal implementation of certain regulated processes. The main factors that determine the amount of rewarding are the evaluation of a manager and executive discipline. The mechanisms of the external evaluation, despite the considerable efforts to implement them influenceless the assessment and the encouragement of civil servants according to the results of their activities.