Creating working motivation for civil servants at Thanh Hoa tax department

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CREATING WORKING MOTIVATION FOR CIVIL SERVANTS AT 
THANH HOA TAX DEPARTMENT 
Le Thi Nuong, Le Quang Hieu, Nguyen Thi Loan
1
Received: 28 July 2020/ Accepted: 1 September 2020/ Published: September 2020 
Abstract: Creating motivation and long-term commitment of civil servants will increase 
operational efficiency of the organization, while saving time and costs due to the need to hire 
new staff. Creating work motivation is an issue that every agency, organization or business 
needs to pay attention. In this study, the authors assess the working motivation of Thanh Hoa 
Tax Department by collecting secondary and preliminary data from the Department. The 
study used questionnaire to survey 335 civil servants at Thanh Hoa Tax Department and used 
descriptive statistical methods to analyze the primary data. Survey results show that there is 
still a small part (about 15%) of civil servants not satisfied with the motivational methods 
applied at the Department. Based on the reality, the authors offer solutions and 
recommendations to increase working motivation for civil servants of Thanh Hoa Tax 
Department in the near future. 
Keywords: Civil servants, working motivation, Thanh Hoa Tax Department. 
1. Introduction 
Human resources are always considered as an important factor, which plays a decisive 
role in the success of any organization. In order to achieve the goals set out by each agency, 
the organizarion need to know how to use and maximize the current human resources. 
Working motivation plays an extremely important role in improving productivity and 
working efficiency of individuals and organizations. The most important purpose of 
motivation is the rational use of labor resources, the effective exploitation of human resources 
in order to continuously improve the operational efficiency of organizations. Increasing 
working motivation will encourage individuals to work hard and improving working 
efficiency. Thus, it can be said that using labor resources effectively and motivating 
employees is extremely necessary and brings practical meaning to agencies and units. 
 Being aware of the influence of creating motivation for the stability and sustainable 
development of the organization, Thanh Hoa Tax Department has paid more and more 
attention to activities to motivate civil servants and create conditions for civil servants to take 
the initiative in creativity and promote their forte. However, through practical work and 
evaluation of civil servants working in the Tax Department of Thanh Hoa province, it is 
realized that the motivational work still has certain shortcomings and limitations from which 
employees have not really tried with all their efforts for work, some civil servants also tend to 
be bored and frustrated with difficulties. Stemming from the above requirements, the authors 
Le Thi Nuong, Le Quang Hieu, Nguyen Thi Loan 
Faculty of Economics, Business Administration, Hong Duc University 
Email: lethinuong@hdu.edu.vn ( ) 
Hong Duc University Journal of Science, ... 
grading according to 4 levels: (1) Successfully fulfilling the tasks- rated A; (2) Complete the task 
well - Rank B; (3) Complete the tasks - rank C and (4) Do not complete the tasks of category D. 
However, when conducting the evaluation of the results of year-end civil servants classification, 
the Decree No. 56/2015/ ND-CP dated June 9, 2015 of the Government, which is divided into 4 
levels: (1) Successfully completing the task; (2) Completing the task well; (3) Completing the task 
with limited capacity and (4) Not completing the task. Therefore, it is difficult to distinguish 
between task completion and task completion which is still limited in capacity causing 
inadequacies in determining the evaluation level. 
According to the quarterly scorecard of the Tax Department, the organization used the 
same form to evaluate working efficiency for all civil servants (including both leaders and 
staff); the evaluation criterias remain so common and have not been classified for each target 
group, so the scoring is sometimes not close to reality. 
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3.2.5. Motivation through emulation movements 
Recognizing the importance of the emulation movement to successfully accomplish the 
assigned tasks, this is also the motivation to motivate enthusiastic civil servant to strive to 
complete professional tasks. Right from the beginning of the year, the Tax Department has 
organized divisions, District-level Tax Departments to sign emulation covenants and register 
emulation contracts with the Provincial Tax Department. Based on the content of the annual 
emulation, the actual situation of each quarter, the Tax Department shall organize an 
emulation score for individual, on the basis of which is the result to consider the remainder of 
the salary increase. The launch of emulation and competition grading create a competitive 
atmosphere in the unit regularly and continuously in order to strive to fulfill the tasks every 
quarter, 6 months and every year. 
3.2.6. Creating motivation through cultural activities, arts and sports 
To take care of the spiritual life of civil servants better, Thanh Hoa Provincial Tax 
Department in collaboration with Union regularly pay attention to cultural activities, arts and 
sports to improve health and spirit for civil servants. At the Tax Department Office and 
District Tax Office, there are gymnasiums, volleyball courts, badminton, volleyball, table ball 
for civil servants to play after working hours, etc. Department of Taxation usually organizes 
sports tournaments, art festivals on holidays such as 30-4, 22-12, 20-10, 8-3. 
Thus, we can see that Thanh Hoa Tax Department has been carrying out practical 
activities (both material and non-material) to motivate civil servants of the Tax industry. The 
following table summarizes the author's assessment of the satisfaction of civil servants with 
the motivational tools being applied at Thanh Hoa Tax Department. The author surveyed 335 
out of 1063 officials of the Thanh Hoa Tax Department (based on a sample based on Slovin's 
formula) about their satisfaction with the motivational methods at Thanh Hoa Tax 
Department. The results are shown in the following table: 
Table 5. Survey results of public servants' satisfaction with the motivational methods 
at Thanh Hoa Tax Departmen 
Creating motivation by material factors 
No. MEAN 
1 Motivation through payroll tools 3.61 
2 Motivation through bonus tools 3.55 
3 Motivation to work through allowance tools 3.63 
Creating motivation through the spirit factors 
4 Creating work motivation through the environment and working conditions 3.754 
5 Motivation through training and development 3.8 
6 Motivation through career advancement opportunities 3.83 
7 Motivation through work performance evaluation 3.794 
8 Motivation through emulation movement 4.125 
 Source: Compiled from author's survey results 
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From the survey results in Table 5, we can see that the level of satisfaction of civil 
servants at Thanh Hoa Tax Department is quite good, ranging from 3.5 to 3.8 (the maximum 
is 5.0). This may explain that the majority of Thanh Hoa Tax Department officials feel 
satisfied with the agency's motivation tools. And officials at the Thanh Hoa Tax Department 
feel more satisfied with non-material motivational factors than physical motivators, but the 
results also show that in most criteria, there are individuals (about 15%) who are not really 
satisfied with the motivation tools that the agency is applying. Thus, the Department of 
Taxation needs to have solutions to improve the satisfaction of civil servants, thereby 
increasing officers‟ motivation. 
4. Solutions to create work motivation for officials at Thanh Hoa Tax Department 
4.1. Solutions group about financial instruments 
In order for salary policy to become a working motivation for tax officials, it is 
necessary to focus on implementing the following measures: 
Associated with the salary and the nature of the work, the degree of completion of the 
work, in order to get the results of the quarterly emulation score after each month of work, it 
should be evaluated and graded as a basis for the end of the review quarter, to avoid 
equalized statues of increased wages. 
The work of evaluating and classifying officials must be conducted in an objective and 
fair manner, on the basis of monthly evaluation and rating so that at the end of the quarter, 
payment of additional salaries and bonuses to tax officials will be fair. 
Studying and promptly implementing the regulations on irregular rewards for 
collectives and individuals with achievements in the working fields. 
For welfare expenses: Right from the beginning of the year when setting up the 
expenditure estimates, it is recommended to build at the maximum expense level to 
proactively fund the welfare expenses for the Holidays and New Year to motivate civil 
servants in practice. 
Implement administrative savings (such as Electricity, Water, Telephone, Stationery, etc.) 
to create a budget to pay for periodic medical examinations for civil servants as prescribed by 
the General Department Tax. 
4.2. Solutions group for non-financial instruments 
To motivate better working for civil servants in the Department of Taxation of Thanh 
Hoa province, the author offers some solutions on non-financial tools: 
4.2.1. Attention to working environment and working conditions 
Carry out a review and physical inspection of facilities, working equipment of each 
Division, Sub-Department of Taxation, Tax Team. From there, perform renovation, 
repair, purchase additional computers and other physical equipment, etc. timely for the 
affiliated units. 
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Department of Taxation needs to research and deploy for self-assessment officials, re-
statistics of the volume and frequency of work performed by civil servants every year. On 
that basis, in order to have a plan for assigning, re-arranging suitable human resources, 
ensuring the well-performing tasks. 
Implement the rotation, mobilization and periodic change of positions for civil servants 
in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Finance and the Government. 
4.2.2. Improve development training 
Right from the beginning of the year when the training plan is formulated, an overall 
review should be conducted, all subjects and fields of work need to be focused on training to 
make a budget plan and report to the General Department of Taxation for approval. 
For basic skills training in 4 main Tax Administration functions: The Tax Department 
proactively develops a self-training plan so that all civil servants can access and timely 
update new knowledge and work-solving methods. 
Periodically every 6 months, check and review training funding sources provided by 
the General Department of Taxation with plans to adjust appropriate training programs. 
Limiting the return of funding while civil servants are not trained in necessary skills. 
Annually organize the review and re-evaluation of the training needs and training 
results of the units, ensuring the completion of the training plan, meeting the needs and 
desires of civil servants. 
4.2.3. Complete the performance evaluation 
Study to complete the personal emulation scorecard with specific criteria, 
distinguishing each target group based on job characteristics to make the assessment closely 
with the results and nature of the job. 
Agree on how to classify according to quarterly emulation points and evaluate the 
classification of civil servants at the end of the year: Completing tasks or completing tasks 
with limited capacity. 
Research to develop job tracking software for each civil servant monthly or quarterly 
about the results and level of completion of the job so that it can be used as a basis for 
assessing the work on a quarterly and yearly basis. 
Research and apply different evaluation methods. For civil servants doing 
administrative work, the office applies the internal evaluation method; For civil servants who 
regularly interact with taxpayers, they may seek comments and assessments of taxpayers' 
comments to give an objective and comprehensive view of such tax officials. 
4.2.4. Create opportunities for career development and promotion for civil servants 
Carry out a general review of the units that are still under-represented (Head of 
Division, Head of Department, Team Leader) and human resources planning to implement, 
implement the process of appointing civil servants to units currently missing. 
For the planned human resources, it is necessary to consider, evaluate and discuss 
carefully to select outstanding personnel, best meet the task requirements. 
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4.2.5. Build a sports, cultural and artistic movement for civil servants 
The Department should organize at least 01 sports tournament or mass festivals every 
year on the anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam's tax industry (10.9) or the 
founding date of Thanh Hoa Tax Department (1.10). Besides, the Board of Directors of the 
Department of Taxation; Heads and Sub-Departments of Taxation should pay attention to 
the life of civil servants, listen to their opinions, grasp their aspirations, and promptly 
encourage officials when well performing tasks or when facing difficulties, create close 
relationships for tax officials to always trust, unite and work together to build the 
increasingly developed Thanh Hoa Tax industry. 
5. Some recommendations and proposals 
5.1. For the General Department of Taxation 
The General Department of Taxation should study and submit to the Ministry of 
Finance to propose to the Government for consideration and creation of conditions for the tax 
industry to enjoy seniority allowances to increase incomes and meet daily-life demands, 
especially is to be fair to other industries. 
Assign autonomy and self-responsibility in recruiting civil servants to Tax 
Departments of provinces and cities under the supervision and management of the General 
Department of Taxation. 
Develop and gradually apply modern human resource management methods through 
the development of standards of tax officials in each field of work and job position; 
5.2. Recommendations to the Provincial People's Committee and relevant departments 
Regularly reward and timely encourage achievements of tax officials and tax branches 
to encourage tax officials to strive to successfully fulfill their assigned tasks. 
People's Councils and Provincial People's Committees, when assigning targets to strive 
for annual State budget collection, should consider and assess objectively and closely with 
the socio-economic development situation in the whole province, creating favorable 
conditions for the tax sector to fulfill its tasks duty and does not put too much pressure on 
civil servants when assigned to perform the task. 
6. Conclusion 
The study has assessed the status of working motivation for civil servants at Thanh 
Hoa Tax Department. Although Thanh Hoa Tax Department has been applied measures to 
increase working motivation, such as creating favourable working environment, increasing 
salary and bonus, providing opportunities for training and development, measure of working 
performance, extra activities, etc.; there were still limitations and a number of civil servants 
have not satisfied with those policies and mearsures. Therefore, the authors offer solutions 
and recommendations to motivate civil servants at Thanh Hoa Tax Department. 
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