JOURNAL LA SOCIALE
VOL. 01, ISSUE 01 (025-028), 2020

Apparatus Professionalism and Public Service Ethics
Nurul Insani
Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Hasanuddin University, Indonesia
Corresponding Author: Nurul Insani
Article Info
Article history:
Received 08 January 2020
Received in revised form 15
January 2020
Accepted 22 January 2020
Keywords:
Professionalism
Apparatus
Ethics
Public Service

Abstract
To make changes in the organization and increase the professionalism of
the apparatus it is important to redefine what the organization wants to
achieve, build a payroll system that promotes the value of fairness and
build organizational structures that allow for rapid decision-making
processes. many factors can affect the professionalism of the apparatus,
including the organizational culture that arises and crystallizes in
bureaucratic traffic, organizational goals, organizational structure, work
procedures in bureaucracy, incentive systems. Public service providers
must study ethical norms that are universal because they can be used as
guidelines for their behavior in providing services to the community.

Background
Efforts to realize the proper administration of the Government and clean-government including
the implementation of public services require fundamental elements including elements of
professionalism, accountability and administration of government and public services (Pope,
1999). Neglect of the professionalism in carrying out the duties and functions of government
organizations will have an impact on the declining quality of government administration and
public services. Professionalism here is more aimed at the ability of the apparatus to provide
good, fair, and inclusive services and not just to match expertise with the assignment (Martin,
2000). So that the apparatus is required to have the ability and expertise to understand and
translate people's aspirations and needs into service activities and programs.
The term professionalism comes from the word professio, in English professio has the
following meanings: A vocation or occupation requiring advanced training in some liberal arts
or science and usually involves mental rather than manual work, as teaching engineering,
writing (Saracho & Spodek, 1993). The word professional gives birth to the meaning of
professional quality, status, which comprehensively has certain meanings occupied by people
who have certain abilities as well (Dijkers, 2005).
After examining and understanding the various opinions and views of experts on the concept
of professionalism, the conclusion is that professionalism not only talks about the match
between one's expertise and abilities but also concerns the ability to anticipate all
environmental changes including the ability to respond to public aspirations and innovating
which ultimately makes work easy and simple.

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Copyright © 2020, Journal La Sociale, Under the license CC BY-SA 4.0

Parameter (size) of Professionalism.
Efforts to find a new paradigm in increasing the professionalism of the apparatus related to the
achievement of organizational goals is not an easy task, the ability of the apparatus to adapt to
the phenomena that occur is the answer to the problem. The importance of the ability of the
apparatus in adapting to changes in the external and internal environment of the organization
is made as a benchmark in seeing the professionalism of the bureaucracy. Measurement of
professionalism as follows; the ability to adapt, the ability to adapt to global phenomena and
national phenomena; Referring to the mission and values, the Bureaucracy positions itself as a
service provider to the public and in realizing the results-oriented organizational goals to be
achieved by the organization (Sulistya, 2008).
Professionalism in the view of Korten & Alfonso, (1981) is measured through the expertise
possessed by someone who is in accordance with the needs of the tasks that the organization
imposes on someone. The reason for the importance of compatibility between scientific
disciplines or expertise possessed by someone is because if the expertise possessed by someone
is not in accordance with the tasks assigned to him will have an impact on organizational
effectiveness.
Factors That Influence Professionalism.
One factor that impedes the smoothness and effectiveness of public bureaucracy is the
unprofessional conduct of the public bureaucracy in carrying out its functions and duties. The
unprofessional conduct of the Indonesian public bureaucracy can be seen from the many
findings of experts and personal experience of the community in the field of public services
organized by the bureaucracy. The slow bureaucracy in responding to public aspirations and
services that are too procedural (red tape) are just a few examples of the many irregularities in
the world of Indonesia's public bureaucracy. Factors that hinder the creation of professional
apparatuses are caused more by the professionalism of the apparatus often collided with the
absence of a conducive climate in the bureaucratic world to respond to the aspirations of the
people and the absence of leaders' willingness to empower subordinates (Marlianti, 2017). This
opinion believes that the work system of the public bureaucracy which is based on operational
and technical guidelines makes the apparatus unresponsive and also because the role of the
leader does not act as a director (catalyst) and is empowering for subordinates.
To realize a professional apparatus that is needed political will from the government to make
major changes in public bureaucratic organizations in order to work professionally and
responsively to the aspirations and needs of the public. These changes include changes in the
philosophy or perspective of the organization in achieving goals that begin with formulating
the vision and mission to be achieved and carried out by the organization, building structures
that are flat and not too hierarchical and work procedures that are not too bound to formal rules.
Professionalism is not only sufficiently shaped and influenced by expertise and knowledge so
that the apparatus can carry out its duties and functions effectively and efficiently, but it is also
influenced by philosophy-bureaucracy, values, structure, and work procedures in bureaucracy
(Lasut et al. , 2016). Professionalism as an effort to respond to public aspirations that are also
part of the changing environment requires action (Slabbert et al., 2009).
A series of actions are needed to be taken by the government to respond to public aspirations
and environmental development with a series of efficiency measures that include saving
organizational structure, simplifying procedures, increasing the professionalism of the
apparatus towards improving public services. To realize this, it is necessary to apply modern
management to institutional arrangement as one of a global trend.

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Copyright © 2020, Journal La Sociale, Under the license CC BY-SA 4.0

In the view of Osborne & Plastrik (1997), it is proposed to build and carry out the
transformation of the system of government organizations fundamentally in order to create a
dramatic increase in effectiveness, efficiency, and the ability to innovate then it must be
achieved through: changing objectives, incentive systems, accountability, power structures,
and the culture of government systems and organizations.
Public Service Ethics
In Indonesia, the issue of ethics in public services does not get more attention, despite the fact
that a very fundamental weakness of public service agencies in Indonesia is a matter of morality
or ethics, various agencies often arise problems in the service section such as the attitude or
actions of officials who are not friendly, arrogant, arbitrarily in office, providing convoluted
services, still treating the bribery system, being slow in providing services and various
problems that deviate from the public service code of ethics. Based on the description above,
the study of ethics needs to get more attention, therefore the author raises the theme
"bureaucratic ethics in public service. Public service is defined as a series of activities carried
out by the public bureaucracy to meet the needs of the user user, the intended user is a citizen
who needs public services.
Ethics is one important element that determines the success of a public service, ethics or totality
must always be considered in every phase of public service starting from the preparation of
policies, organizational structure, to service management (Lewis & Gilman, 2005). Ethics
determine the success of a public service agency, because ethics is the first focus of the
community in assessing a service in the agency.
Providers of public services must learn ethical norms that are universal, because it can be used
as a guide for behavior. However, these norms are also bound by the situation so accepting
these norms should not be rigid. Acting like this shows maturity in ethics. Dialogue towards
consensus can help resolve the dilemma. Our weakness lies in the absence or limited code of
ethics. Likewise, the freedom to test and question the norms of morality that are in effect does
not yet exist, often even rigid to the norms of morality that already exist without seeing the
changing times.
Conclusion
Overall, by basing on the existing reality in the bureaucratic world which is strengthened by
the arguments and findings of the experts above, the conclusion is drawn that many factors can
influence the professionalism of the apparatus, including the organizational culture that arises
and crystallizes in the bureaucratic trajectory, organizational goals, organizational structure,
work procedures in the bureaucracy, incentive systems and others. the most dominant factors
in influencing the professionalism of the Civil Registry Office apparatus include
Organizational Vision-Mission, Organizational Structure, Leadership, Awards. Public service
providers must study universal ethical norms because they can be used as guidelines for their
behavior in providing services.
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Copyright © 2020, Journal La Sociale, Under the license CC BY-SA 4.0