The outbreak of this COVID-19 pandemic has impacted over 180 nations. Along with the health consequences and lack of life, the pandemic has strained healthcare systems, interrupted the schooling system, wreaked havoc on companies and savings, caused by job losses, and interrupted social lifestyle with lockdowns, curfews, and other rigorous measures aimed at containing the virus being executed internationally.
Considering each of the above roles public servants have played, we could expect an effective public servant has the following profile: self-sacrificing, dependable, risk-taking, transparent, accountable versatile, adaptive, creative, innovative, educated and proficient, persistent, empathetic, collaborative, and more capable in using technologies. Most importantly they have a higher dose of humanness within their character that makes them work for others in the danger of their very own lives. This profile ought to be a part of this manual in educating public servants to allow them to function in catastrophe.
Governments need to concentrate on developing the abilities of their public support and public servants; be it into their numbers, their competences, values, and the protective equipment they want, the incentives to their productivity, and the facilities and tools in addition to the technologies they need to efficiently perform their jobs. Governments need to invest in having well-functioning public services and effective public servants.
Planning and Preparations
Institutionalize early warning, crisis planning, preparedness and speedy answer in the public support. Governments need to put in place and function efficiently, permanent, public business, well-coordinated institutional frameworks that could encourage public servants to become anticipatory and prepared, to consider signals of emergency, like pandemics, find answers fast and react appropriately in the time to prevent the severe effect.
Execution of Effective Practices
Network, collaborate, discuss, and learn from effective practices and errors to construct better and better public services for potential pandemics and catastrophe. Public servants have to be eased to network, collaborate, and discuss to boost co-learning; something which stands better opportunities for advancement in finding fast solutions not just to pandemics and catastrophe but at the work of public service delivery generally.
Accountability and Responsibility
Sustain growth of accountable, responsive, responsible, and people-focused direction in public sector associations. The COVID-19 pandemic has proven that during fluid and uncertain times, solved people-focused, calm, credible, and reliable leadership is demanded. The evolution of this sort of direction from the public service has to be sustained.
Providing Funds
Provide fiscal funds for the pandemic and catastrophe before they occur. Governments need to always offer budgetary resources to look after emergencies and crises like this pandemic. The often-cited justification that authorities don’t have any capital for issues that haven’t occurred was proven wrong by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many authorities have been required to spend a lot of money abruptly and surprisingly; likely more than they’d have spent if they had previously provided this in their service delivery budgets.