Dynamics of the civil service and homeostasis of public organizations

Abstract

Abstract:

This article analyses the dynamics of the civil service based on the notions of professional reference frameworks and organizational homeostasis. Based on a systemic approach and mobilizing Christophe Dejours' contributions relating to the centrality of work, he conceives of public organizations as systems sensitive to institutional transformations, the effects of which are reflected on public servants in Morocco. He points out that statutory reforms, carried out without in-depth impact assessments, could influence employee engagement as well as the effectiveness of organizations. After having highlighted several paradoxes in the civil service in Morocco, we formulate hypotheses on the influence of the disorganization of professional references, linked to statutory reforms, on professional identities and the homeostasis of organizations.

To this end, this article adopts a theoretical and qualitative methodology based on a systematic review of the literature in organizational theory, occupational psychology and human resources management, reinforced by an analysis of Moroccan statutory and regulatory texts governing the civil service. The analytical scope focuses on two emblematic cases: the body of administrators, some of whose strategic functions have been weakened by differentiated mechanisms for the allocation of benefits, and the civil servants of the Ministry of National Education, faced with a profound redefinition of their professional reference frameworks following the legislative reform of 2024. This study leads to the conclusion that the absence of rigorous impact assessments and coherent professional frameworks can generate a cumulative process of organizational destabilization. By weakening recognition mechanisms, disrupting the implicit contractual balance between the State and its agents and reducing the dynamics of cooperation, these reforms promote the emergence of psychosocial risks and alter organizational homeostasis. These results, which are the result of a theoretical approach, open the door to future empirical research aimed at deepening and testing the hypotheses formulated.

Keys words: Public sector,