Public sector bosses

Simon Parker tries to defend high pay for public sector bosses against this, and fails badly. He says:

People who call for more efficient government need to recognise that the only [emphasis added - CD] way to get it is to appoint excellent chief executives and senior managers to key jobs - and excellent people don't come cheap.

First, getting excellent chief executives is certainly not the only way to get more efficient government. The reason why the private sector is more efficient than government is not that it has more excellent bosses, but that it has competition. And competition at least weeds out the least efficient performers.
Second, decent bosses can come cheap. The Institute of Directors reports (pdf) that the  average managing director of a firm with turnover below £5m gets a basic salary of just £65,000. One with a turnover of £50-500m gets £141,440. These are decent professional salaries, but not a fortune.
And the survey also finds that public sector bosses are already paid more than private ones, at least outside financial companies (which are managed so much better, of course).

Comments

[jameshigham]

The reason why the private sector is more efficient than government is not that it has more excellent bosses, but that it has competition. And competition at least weeds out the least efficient performers.

... thereby ensuring more excellent bosses.

[Paulie]

I understand that the logic of 'competitive' salaries is that they attract a diverse range of applicants and not just those who are doing the jobs already.

I wonder how many posts are really filled from within the sector?

[Paulie]

I understand that the logic of 'competitive' salaries is that they attract a diverse range of applicants and not just those who are doing the jobs already.

I wonder how many posts are really filled from within the sector?

[Bruce]

Should money really be a strong driver for those running public sector organisations?

It worries me that public sector bosses feel they need to earn as much as those running businesses. Or at least those looking to hire them think that they do.

A tidy pay cheque is compensation for those, like as me, who work in grubby commerce and so are less like to enjoy the "doing my bit for the world" internal rewards that the public sector service potentially provides.

We expect many public sector workers such as teachers and firemen to earn less than they might in the private sector because of this sort of intrinsic reward and I don't think many would say that teacher pay is a prime reason for the poor state of educational standards.