Within organizations most of company rules revolve around conduct and results; everything else is basically left up to employees. Public administrators face fewer restrictions than almost anyone else within governmental and non-governmental agencies, but they can’t afford to become lax in their freedom. Personal codes are needed to help pick up the slack, and that’s not because it’s impossible to do the job without them; it’s because people with vision need to discipline themselves if they want their vision to come true.
The Rules
The five rules public administrators should adhere to are:
- Efficiency and humanity go hand in hand
- Structures that don’t suit people should be changed
- The underprivileged should be the foremost concern
- The individual is as important as the group
- No one should be expected to do what the administrator won’t do
Rule 1: Efficiency and Humanity Go Hand in Hand
The centerpiece of many public administration theories is efficiency standards that mimic the private sector. This is a positive development on the whole because people perform best when they are rewarded or punished based on merit. However, this can be taken too far, and it’s important to balance the need for efficiency with the needs of employees.
Rule 2: Structures That Don’t Suit People Should be Changed
Human nature is impossible to alter, and when an organizational structure proves to be stifling for too many employees it’s time to reexamine it. The clockwork machinations of the industrial era don’t suit modern people, and creating structures that cater to people as they are instead of trying to force conformity are ultimately better for productivity and job satisfaction.
Rule 3: The Underprivileged Should be the Foremost Concern
Public administrators have a lot of things to consider when developing new policies, and even though the field came into existence as part of an attempt to address poverty, the poor still fall through the cracks. It’s easy to plan legislation that centers around local businesses and other projects, but if there’s no quantifiable and demonstrable gain for the underprivileged then it should be taken back to the drawing board.
Rule 4: The Individual is as Important as the Group
Every society and organization is comprised of numerous individuals working toward a common goal, and even though public administrators should strive to act in the name of the greater good, their efforts can fail when they’re willing to force too many sacrifices on certain groups for the sake of others. It’s impossible to avoid damaging everyone 100 percent of the time, but no one should ask others to make sacrifices except when there is truly no other way.
Rule 5: No One Should be Expected to Do What the Administrator Won’t Do
Leaders who don’t lead by example are not respected, and their employees grow to resent every demand that’s made by someone they view as lazy and duplicitous. There’s a lot of pressure on public administrators to perform as it is, but only those who are willing to step up to the plate and make themselves beacons of what they want their organizations to embody are fit to take on the role.
Connie Lyons is an avid blogger. If you’re in the public admin field or interested in learning more on your own, you may consider a degree such as those offered by University of Southern California or San Francisco State University.
Following the impact of Super Storm Sandy on the East Coast of the United States, which lead to massive power outages and widespread gas shortages lasting for several weeks in the New York and New Jersey areas, some government officials are considering legislation that would mandate the requirement of backup power generators at all gas stations.
Mandating the installation of backup generators at gas stations might just be a costly overreaction on the part of government bureaucrats who seem to have no empathy for the average gas station owner or businessperson. Purchasing backup generators are often prohibitively costly not only for the limited amount of use they will get but also take up valuable selling space and can even be a danger to the owner and his customers.
Initial Costs
No matter the application, backup generators will constitute a significant investment for the purchaser. This fact is doubly significant for a gas station owner who will, most probably, have to observe a wide range of regulations and obtain numerous permits. In addition to the actual purchase, monies will be spent on initial plans, yearly inspections and fines for any non-compliant issues. Many of these costs will be carried by the private gas station owner and not the gas supplying companies.
Space Constraints
Due to the traffic at the intersections of major streets and highways, these corners are very valuable real estate. Any gas station, located on one of these corners, either through rent or by servicing a mortgage is paying a very real price for every square inch of his property. As such, the station owner must plan to make every square inch pay and the installation of a backup generator likely was not accounted for in their existing plans.
Safety Considerations
All backup generators run on fossil fuel. As such, they can emit noxious and toxic gases if not properly situated. In addition, the permanent backup generators will most likely be housed in a confined area for better security. All these factors, however, add up to a safety hazard for the owner, his employees and their customers. There is simply no reason to subject people to these dangers when a perfectly good alternative exists.
A Better Solution
In the interests of not just being just negative, here is a far better solution to the problem of backup energy at gas stations: rental generators. They are highly reliable, incredibly powerful and eminently affordable. Simply put, they are the ideal solution for a gas station owner that has an emergency or temporary need for backup power generation.
The generator has been an integral and reliable source of power for well over a century. The intrinsic principles and technology are well understood and have been made readily portable. Portable or temporary generators are simply the best answer to any business, including gas stations that need reliable and affordable power at a moment’s notice due to an emergency situation or a short term power outage.
