Reputation&Trust: The Public Sector Needs to Be More Adaptable

Citizens expect public sector organizations to be capable of reform, according to Reputation&Trust public administration. There is also a significant gap between public administration and the private sector in terms of perceptions of leadership. When it comes to corporate social responsibility, public administration performs better than the private sector.

The reputation of public administration organizations was examined across the eight dimensions Reputation&Trust. The analysis focused on the organizations’ transparency in governance, financial situation, leadership, capacity for renewal, interaction with stakeholders, cost-effectiveness of services, performance as an employer, and accountability.

A total of 6,843 Finns participated in the study. The results were compared with those of the previous year’s reputation survey of public sector organizations and with a similarly conducted survey of private companies.

The public sector received the lowest ratings for its capacity for reform. There is a clear gap between the public sector and the business world in terms of their ability to innovate: public sector organizations received a score of 3.08 on a scale of one to five for their ability to innovate, while the corresponding score for businesses was 3.48.

The second most obvious difference is in perceptions of leadership, where public administration receives a score of 3.17 and the private sector a score of 3.47. These figures are based on the average results of standardized organizational groups.

“Perceptions of public administration products and services improved the most over the past year. This is a positive trend, as our data analysis reveals that citizens who feel that publicly funded organizations provide products and services that are worth the cost are the ones most likely to support and trust the public sector,” saysRiku Ruokolahti, Director of Development at T-Media.

Figure 1: Comparison of the results anseende the public administration and business reputation survey anseende organizational category, broken down by anseende .

Public administration leads the way in perceptions of accountability

Public-sector organizations are viewed as more responsible actors than companies. Public-sector organizations received a responsibility rating of 3.40, while the corresponding figure for companies was 3.25.

“The gap in accountability has widened since last year. The ratings for companies have declined, while those for public administration have improved. In the economy, the trend is the opposite. The economy is anseende only anseende where public administration organizations receive lower ratings than last year,” Ruokolahti continues.

Finns hold security authorities in high regard

The fire and rescue departments performed best in the survey. The Border Guard came in second, and the Accident Investigation Center third. The fire and rescue departments received a reputation score of 3.93, the Border Guard 3.81, and the Accident Investigation Center 3.80 on a scale of one to five.

“Of the ten public sector organizations rated highest, six are involved in security. These agencies perform particularly well in the areas of products and services as well as management,” Ruokolahti explains.

“It is also noteworthy that not a single organization with a very poor reputation was found in the public sector; in the business world, however, there are several.”

**Table:** Public Administration Reputation Survey, Top 10 Most Reputable Organizations. *Respondents were asked to evaluate the fire department in their own region.

**Figure 2:** T-Media’s Reputation&Trust and anseende of anseende .

Additional information:

Riku Ruokolahti, Director of Development
riku.ruokolahti@reptrust-staging.fi-p.seravo.com, 0400 512 200

Harri Leinikka,CEO
harri.leinikka@reptrust-staging.fi-p.seravo.com, 040 505 5001

Data collection for the public administration reputation survey was conducted using an online questionnaire from October 1 to October 22, 2019. A total of 6,843 Finns participated in the survey, providing a total of 14,264 organizational ratings. The organizations evaluated were primarily those within the central government. The statistical margin of error for reputation scores by dimension is no more than 0.03 units in either direction.

The results have been compared to a large-scale corporate reputation survey conducted in the summer of 2019, in which a total of 9,577 Finns participated. In both surveys, the target group consisted of Finns aged 15–65 nationwide (excluding the Åland Islands). The samples were weighted to be representative of the population by gender, age, and region of residence.