Conditions of Service for Senior Executives in Lithuanian and Estonian Civil Service and Their Relation to Public Value Creation

Public value management theory treats public institution managers as leaders who create organ-isational value through the engagement of citizens, politicians and stakeholders, and implement public value through co-creation and innovation. As the institutionalisation practice of higher civil service expands, the need to understand how the implementation of reforms, the formation of service conditions and the formation of leadership identities impair their ability to create public value becomes apparent. The aim of this article is to examine these processes in two young democracies – Estonia and Lithuania. The study is based on qualitative data collected from interviews with academic experts and individuals who participated in overseeing and/or implementing civil service reforms in the studied countries, and officials responsible for the implementation of higher civil service policy. The results reveal close links between the reforms being implemented, service conditions and the formation of leaders’ identities, which influence their ability to create public value. However, the study also identifies factors that may limit these opportunities – gaps in the ethos of political neutrality, the involvement of politicians in the selection processes of leaders and informal rotation practices. The findings of the study contribute to broader discussions about the directions of civil service reforms and the creation of conditions to increase the attractiveness of these systems and their ability to generate public value in young democracies.