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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 9, No. 8
Publication Date: August 25, 2022
DOI:10.14738/assrj.98.12904. Chang, J., & Ou, C. (2022). A Study on the Middle Manager Managerial Core Competencies and Training Requirements in Local
Government. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 9(8). 315-328.
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
A Study on the Middle Manager Managerial Core Competencies
and Training Requirements in Local Government
Jen-Chia Chang
Professor, Graduate Institute of Technological and
Vocational Education, National Taipei University of Technology
Ching-Yu Ou
Master student, Graduate Institute of Technological and
Vocational Education, National Taipei University of Technology
ABSTRACT
The “Chief” of local government is a middle manager within the organization. This
role is responsible for the communications and implementation of various policies
of the county and city governments externally. Internally, the role is responsible for
team building and giving work directions. If it is possible to cultivate the person to
become a “knowledge worker” through trainings, this can strengthen one’s job
competency and effectively enhance the agency’s administration performance.
Public service with better quality can be provided. This study adopts the “survey
techniques.” The survey is based on the “managerial core competency items of the
mid and high-level management positions in the agencies under the Executive
Yuan.” There are 6 items of core competency aspects (problem analysis, project
management, performance management, information management,
communications and coordination, and team building) established and there are 16
items as basic competencies. Testing is applied to the middle manager, the director
and deputy director and chief of staff of the service units of the K City government
based on the survey highlights. It is hoped to discuss the managerial core
competencies and their training requirements for the middle manager of the local
government. The purpose is to enhance the competency at the job in order to
strengthen the managerial core competency of the middle manager of the City
government. Thank you to K City government for authorizing the use of the original
data of the above survey. Based on the research results, it has been confirmed that
the Junior rank civil service middle manager established by the Executive Yuan, its
managerial core competency items are applicable to local government. Under
training resource constraints for the agencies, the trainings for the middle
managers of the local government shall be prioritized and strengthened based on
the needs: They are competencies in “performance expression and
communications” and “job motivation” and continue to maintain the 7 core
competency items in “problem identification,” “program planning,”
“communication expression,” “conflict management,” “job instruction,” “team
management” and “knowledge management.”
INTRODUCTION
The local government is the first line of public service sought after by the members of the public;
As people often say “local father-mother officials” (literal translation from Mandarin “fu-mu-
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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 9, Issue 8, August-2022
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
guan”), which means a local government official is like a parent who shall perceive the people
like their children providing care and assistance to the local residents; as for the various policies
and laws formed by the central government, without the execution and promotion by every
local government, the government will not be able to provide proper public service to the
people in an effective and instant manner. It can be said “the local government is also a pillar of
public service.” Hence, the effectiveness of the local government will determine the level of
satisfactory public service obtained by members of the public[1].
Peter Drucker, the management academic, once said that “people” is the most important asset
within an organization. In other words, human resource is the largest influential factor on good
organization effectiveness. Therefore, if a local government wants to enhance the effectiveness
of local governance, strengthening the human resource capacity shall become an important
indicator task[2]. However, there is a gap between the local government in Taiwan and the
Central government and municipal government in terms of organization structure and number
of staff allocated or grading of positions and configurations. Such a situation has already cast a
huge impact to the local governance service capacity or staff retention.
In view of this, the Examination Yuan has in May 2018 passed the “Proposal by Executive Yuan
suggesting to adjust the important position ranks of civil servants of County (City) governments
and their first level agencies, and the corresponding ranks of police officers.” The meeting has
considered the County (City) governments and their first level agencies’ Deputy Minister,
Deputy Director and the Chief as important positions in driving local governance businesses,
the burden of their jobs is not any lesser than relevant positions of municipal government.
Hence, it is important, necessary and urgent to make adjustments to such job grading. Since July
16th of the same year, the Deputy Director position for county (city) governments has been
adjusted from “Junior Rank (Grade 9)” to “Junior Rank (Grade 9) to Senior Rank (Grade 10).”
The job ranking for Chief has been adjusted from “Junior Rank Grade 8” to “Junior Rank Grade
8 to 9” [3]. The “Chief” position of local government and every unit of its agencies is a middle
manager within the organization. Externally, this role is responsible for the communications
and implementation of various policies of the county and city governments. Internally, this
person plays an important role responsible for team building and giving job instructions. Hence,
aside from adjusting the position to a higher level in formality, the person’s job competency is
also strengthened through trainings to cultivate him/her to become a “knowledge worker.”
This can enhance the agency’s administration efficiency. It can be expected to provide public
service of better quality satisfying the expectations of the public for good governance. The best
is demonstrated through triple wins for the local government, middle manager and the
public[4]. Therefore, this study discusses the managerial core competency of the middle
manager of the local government and training requirements to enhance the job competency.
The discussion is based on strengthening the managerial core competency of the middle
manager of the City government with the purpose to enhance the local governance
effectiveness.
PURPOSE OF RESEARCH
This research first confirms the suitability for local government of the managerial core
competency items established by the Executive Yuan for the junior rank middle managers.
Followed by exploring the gaps between the core competency items that the junior rank middle
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Chang, J., & Ou, C. (2022). A Study on the Middle Manager Managerial Core Competencies and Training Requirements in Local Government.
Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 9(8). 315-328.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.98.12904
managers of the local governments should possess and have already possessed. Finally, it
confirms the personnel training gaps and find out the priorities for the educational trainings.
Confirms the completeness of the application of the managerial core competency items
for middle managers established by the Executive Yuan on the local governments
Aside from the differences on the organization responsibilities and authorities, and the function
positioning between the central and local government agencies in Taiwan, there exists
significant differences in the nature of the businesses in control. The differences in the scale of
the business or level will impact the method and level of business performance exhibited.
Therefore, there will also be clear differences on the core competency needs for different
performance behaviors[5].
The current “Managerial core competency Items for Middle Managers in Agencies of the
Executive Yuan” and “Managerial core competency Items for Junior Rank Officials in Agencies
of the Executive Yuan and Local Agencies” in Taiwan are formulated by the Directorate-General
of Personnel Administration (DGPA), authorized by the Executive Yuan. Except that the DGPA
is also a central agency, the question of whether the core competency generated by
performance behaviors can be applied to the local government completely remains to be
confirmed.
Exploring the gaps between the job competencies that the personnel should possess and
have already possessed; Conforming the training gaps and identifying the priorities of
the educational trainings
As analyzed and confirmed by the research results, the “Managerial core competency items of
middle managers in agencies of Executive Yuan and local government agencies” and
“Managerial core competency items of junior rank management positions in agencies of
Executive Yuan and local government agencies” are applicable to the local governments as a
whole. The survey questionnaire is prepared further based on the connotations of the core
competency items to explore the gaps between the job competencies that the middle manager
of local government should possess and already possessed. Finally, confirms the training gaps,
and identifies the priorities in educational trainings.
Current Training System for the Middle Managers in the Public Sector in Taiwan -
Discussions Based on the “Core Competencies” Perspectives
Definition of Core Competencies
The “competency” perspective proposed by Spencer & Spencer[6] refers to “the characteristics
possess by an individual that is deep and enduring. These characteristics and the high
performance established for certain work or scenarios, possess correlations with causal
predictions.” The “iceberg model” is also constructed which includes 5 competency types. There
are 2 types, namely, knowledge and skill which belong to explicit capabilities (can be seen).
There are 3 types of capability belong to implicit ability (cannot be seen), namely, motive, trait
and self-concept. Darrell & Ellen[7] further divide competencies into 4 types, namely, core
competency, functional competency, role competency, and work competency. Among which the
core competency refers to the competency that members of the organization should have and
it is often related to organization culture.