Late last week Gallup launched their Worldwide Corruption Index, a poll ranking 101 countries according to perceptions of corruption in business and government. New Zealand ranks equal second with Denmark, behind the squeaky-clean Finns.
This comes on the heels of Transparency International’s assessment of NZ as equal first in their annual Corruption Perceptions Index, this time we shared the top spot on the podium with Iceland and — once again — those damn Finns.
What is important to note, apart from how gratifying it is to work as a public servant in a jurisdiction where there is genuine transparency and sound practice, is that both these polls look at perceived levels of transparency and corruption. That is, they are effectively measuring our reputation.
Not the reputations that we manage day-to-day, ie., our agencies, but the reputation of the public sector. The all-of-government reputation. Small ball to drop, eh?
This is not to suggest that we should just be focussed on maintaining our reputation. In the Public Life Values (2005), New Zealanders were asked how much confidence they had in their public institutions. Around 56% that responded reported “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in the Public Service. Just over half suggests we still have quite some room for improvement.
How do we improve? We start managing the collective reputation as assiduously as we manage our agency reputations. We use organisations like the Network to:
- exchange ideas, lessons and people
- develop our skills across a broader range of disciplines
- collaborate with our peers, and
- champion the values of the Code of Conduct
We also need to be much smarter in the way we approach the management of our collective reputation. As I have noted, social media like blogs, podcasts and the like, present opportunities and challenges for our organisations. We need to be aware of the nature of the conversations that New Zealanders are having, and how they touch on their relationships with government. We need to start participating in those conversations and engaging more directly with the public we serve.
If we want to build trust, we have to engage. People trust what they know.
