Aptitude refers to the inherent ability to learn and grasp, whereas attitude refers to one's learned tendency or predisposition towards an object, person or action. Aptitude is a natural ability or innate potential to learn or acquire a skill whereas attitude tells about a person’s desire to perform or learn. Both the attributes are very much essential for enhancing the efficiency of bureaucracy in many folds.

 

Significance of Aptitude and Attitude in Public Administration

• For a civil servant both these qualities, i.e., aptitude and attitude are of equal importance as they go hand in hand in developing a personality which inculcates a sense of service.
• A civil servant must have an aptitude/ability to do his job as well as an attitude to do his duty, i.e., to serve the people. For instance, in a feudal and patriarchal society, in order to promote female literacy, an officer must himself have a favorable attitude towards women empowerment along with the effective persuasive skills to change people’s attitude.
• The dynamic field of new public administration with increasing use of technology for efficient delivery of services requires not only an attitude to adapt oneself to the changing environment and demands of the job, but also an aptitude to learn quickly to perform one’s job in the most efficient way.
• In the field of public service, a civil servant needs to deal with a variety of stakeholders with different temperaments like seniors, subordinates, politicians, community leaders as well as common people.
• Here, attitudinal attributes like flexibility, patience, and perseverance are as much important as aptitude related qualities like focus, team building, and prudence and negotiation ability for efficient discharge of one’s duty.
• In a diverse country like India, where social and religious tensions and conflicts can be of frequent occurrence, a civil servant would require not only an attitude of tolerance, but also skills of leadership and persuasion to establish peace and order.

              

Thus good attitude and aptitude will foster the efficiency and effective functioning of bureaucrats, apart from this, the twin attributes will also makes the process of administration more responsive and people centric.