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37th Meeting of European Director-Generalsresponsible for public service

37ième réunion des Directeurs généraux européensde la Fonction publique

26 & 27 November / novembre 2001 Bruges

Federal Ministry of the Civil Service page 1Ministère Fédéral de la Fonction PubliqueRue de la Loi 51 b. 3 1040 Brussels/Bruxelles doc. number/numéro de doc. B 2001 DG.5

Belgium Presidency Of the European Union

SURVEY FOR THE 37th MEETING OF THE DIRECTORS-GENERAL OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE OF THE MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (Bruges, 26 and 27

November 2001):“New Approaches in the Field of Human Resources

Management in the Public Administrations of the Member States of the European Union”

European Institute of Public Administration (NL)

Summer/Autumn 2001

Responsible for this study: Dr Christoph Demmke

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Preliminary remarks

The Belgium Presidency has commissioned the European Institute of Public Administration to provide a comparative study on New Approaches in the Field of Human Resources Management in the Public Administrations of the Member States of the European Union. This report is based on the answers provided by all the Member States of the EU and the European Commission to the questionnaire (questionnaire as attached at the end of this study) which was distributed to the Member States and the European Commission during the summer of 2001.

The questionnaire addresses a number of issues/topics, categorised according to the following topics:

The attractiveness of the public service and the development of competence The recruitment and competence development of senior officials Decentralisation/deconcentration in the field of HRM – reconciling flexibility

with control Knowledge Management

The study focuses on point 1: “The attractiveness of the public service and the development of competence”. As regards this issue, further literature and existing studies have been carefully examined in order to better evaluate (and put into context) the answers given by the Directors-General.The answers received from the Member States and the European Commission naturally concentrate on some issues and questions more than on others. In addition, the reports received by EIPA vary considerably as regards their length. The study takes this into account while at the same time considering all answers in a balanced way. On the other hand, our aim was to keep the study as short and precise as possible. As a result, some national replies may be quoted or referred to more briefly or more explicitly and in greater depth than others. The author apologises in advance if some Member States and/or the European Commission consider that their answers have not been sufficiently taken into consideration. Finally, since all the replies given by the Member States can be found on the Circa homepage at http://www.forum.europa.eu.int, the author has chosen a more analytical rather than descriptive approach. The author hopes that the study, which contains constructive proposals for the future work of the Directors-General of Public Service, will serve to generate fruitful debate.

I would like to thank the Belgian Presidency for the excellent co-operation during the past few months. I would also like to thank the Directors-General and the

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http://www.forum.europa.eu.int/





various national experts within the Member States and the European Commission for helping me to carry out this study.

Christoph Demmke

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Preliminary remarks........................................................................................................................ 2Executive summary........................................................................................................................ 51. The attractiveness of the public service and the development of competence Question: What are the incentives/measures that are being/will be introduced in your country in order to respond to these challenges?..................................................................................................................... 12

1.1. Is there an attractiveness problem? Unity and Diversity in the Member States of the EU..121.2. What motivates people to work in the public service?........................................................151.3. Evidence from (empirical) studies on recruitment and retention.........................................161.4. General advantages and disadvantages of public service employment.............................181.5. Member States with comprehensive strategies to improve the image of the public service– the Dutch and the Danish cases...............................................................................................191.6. Measures initiated/implemented by the Member States in order to improve the attractiveness of the public service............................................................................................211.7. Conclusions of this chapter................................................................................................29

2. Recruitment and development of competence of senior officials..............................................322.1. Towards a new senior officials profile.................................................................................352.2. Question: How are these new requirements for managerial skills taken into account in the promotion procedures for senior civil servants in your country?................................................382.3. Question: What role does training for senior officials play in this context?.........................402.4. Conclusions to the questions.............................................................................................432.5. Question: In the initial recruitment process of senior officials, do you plan to introduce new recruitment methods/procedures? Is it possible to recruit senior officials from the private sector?...................................................................................................................................... 442.6. Conclusions to the questions.............................................................................................47

3. Decentralisation/deconcentration in the field of HRM – reconciling flexibility with control/accountability....................................................................................................................49

3.1. Question: Please also describe how HRM is organised in your country (please only mention measures taken at the central/federal level). In cases where decentralised personnel management measures have been introduced in your country, what forms of control/accountability are used to make managers responsible for their decisions?.................493.2. Conclusions of this chapter................................................................................................52

4. Knowledge Management..........................................................................................................544.1. Question: Could you please either answer the various questions or comment on them on the basis of your own experience?............................................................................................544.2. Knowledge Management, mobility and retirement..............................................................584.3. Knowledge by organisational reform..................................................................................584.4. Creating information networks and information systems....................................................594.5. Creating an “e-Culture”.......................................................................................................604.6. Changing of power structures through exchange and dissemination of information...........614.7. Open communication with the public..................................................................................624.8. Conclusions of this chapter................................................................................................63

Annex:........................................................................................................................................... 68

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Executive summary

Interpretation of results of the study and proposals for further work

1. How to increase the attractiveness of the public sector?

With the objective of improving the attractiveness of the public service, generally, the Member States and the European Commission may choose the following strategies: to introduce measures which aim at compensating for the disadvantages

of public service employment in comparison with the private sector (for example in the field of pay for senior officials),

to implement instruments that will make the advantages of public service employment (such as – generally – more contractual security, working for the general interest etc.) more visible to the public,

to decide on policies that will build on the advantages of public service employment and may limit/reduce its disadvantages at the same time.

The study reveals that the public sector currently does not have “an

attractiveness problem” in some Member States whereas in others the problem is greatly accentuated. Moreover, some Member States face shortages of personnel in some sectors whereas other Member States do not. In its reply to the questionnaire, France made the suggestion that the Directors-General of the Public Service could engage in a discussion as to whether the shortage of qualified persons in some countries may not in fact also exist in other countries, meaning that a “common employment market” might be envisaged.

Because of demographic trends, the ageing structure of the public service and changes in values etc. the public service will face an attractiveness problem in the coming years, although the nature of this problem will differ among Member States.

The public service seems to suffer from a negative image although – with the exception of Denmark – no national report clearly defines what this negative image exactly is and where it comes from.

Generally, the Member States and the European Commission have introduced a number of measures that aim at improving the attractiveness of the public service. Here, it might be useful to distinguish between:

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“recruitment policies” designed to attract a sufficient number of candidates (for example by organising marketing campaigns for the public sector, adopting measures to attract more women, improving the image of the public service, changing recruitment procedures etc.) and

“retention policies” for the existing employees (offering more training, making the content of work more attractive, giving individuals more discretion in decision-making, offering additional incentives to employees etc.) which aim at making it more attractive for existing employees to stay in the public service.

Other measures such as flexible working time, measures to prolong working life, instruments to better combine professional and private life, “flatter” careers and the general reform of the public sector relate both to “recruitment” and “retention” policies.

There is a paradox underlying public sector employment. On the one hand, the image of the public sector seems to be negative whereas on the other hand, the vast majority of employees in the public service are satisfied with their jobs.

The consequence of this is that the public service “suffers” more from a “recruitment” and less from a “retention” problem. Hence, in the future, it would be of interest to concentrate on, evaluate the effectiveness of and exchange best-practices in the area of “recruitment policies”.

Concerning the measures taken, the Member States are focusing on introducing measures to a) offer better possibilities to combine professional with private life (including the flexibilisation of working time) and to b) reform their remuneration systems.

The study reveals, however, that there is little evidence that governments can substantially increase recruitment with higher pay. Pay is without doubt important but it is far less so than the actual content of the work. In particular, people who are attracted by the public service often do not expect higher salaries but interesting jobs, good social arrangements and – still – work which has a public purpose. Higher pay will make people take a second look at the public service but it will never be enough to make them commit themselves to it. Besides, analysis shows that the salaries paid in the public service are not generally lower than elsewhere. It is true, however, that some comparable functions or positions are (sometimes) much better paid in the private sector and that salaries increase more quickly in the private than in the public sector. However, it seems unrealistic to expect the public service to ever be able to outbid the private sector.

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In this report, a number of empirical studies show that the content of the work is the most important motivational criterion. Therefore, it is important for the Member States to make more of an effort to prove that the content of the work in the public sector is challenging – even more challenging than in the private sector.

A number of Member States (Belgium, Greece, Germany, France) draw

attention to the fact that specific characteristics of public employment (such as employment for life, special pension schemes and the ethical issue (working for the general interest) still constitute important incentives to attract qualified people to work in the public sector. Especially in these Member States, the option of aligning the public sector more with private sector mechanisms would involve clear risks: the more similar the public sector becomes to the private sector and the more civil servants lose privileges in terms of job security, working conditions, pay and status, the more these Member States may face recruitment problems.

It might therefore be of interest for the Directors-General to study whether the general development towards the introduction of New Public Management instruments (such as decentralisation of responsibilities, management by objectives), as well as working conditions and practices that are applied in the private sector (for example: flexible and performance-related pay, the alignment of specific pension schemes to the private sector, more limited and flexible working contracts, the move towards private law status etc.) might rather diminish the advantages of public sector employment in the future.

Another interesting question would be what kind of difficulties do the Member States with traditional career systems and Member States with traditional position or other systems face as regards the issue of attractiveness because of their different civil service characteristics.

2. Developments in recruitment and the development of competence of senior officials

Traditionally, senior civil servants in a number of Member States had a legal educational background. This picture is changing. The educational background of tomorrow’s senior civil servants will probably be much more diverse. In the future, the importance of specific educational qualifications is expected to change with the demand for senior civil servants with competences in the areas of change management, networking, team-working, communicating, and who are able to constantly learn. Almost all national

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reports agree that there is a general trend in which the required skill and competency profiles for senior officials are moving away from… specialists towards “generalists”; a predominance of lawyers towards more generalists, particularly those

with “managerial skills”. In addition, other educational profiles are becoming more important;

a focus on required educational profiles or university degrees in the recruitment processes towards the fulfilment of competency profiles and competency development.

In addition, senior officials are required to have sound IT skills; develop from being “bosses” towards being “activators”; have skills in networking, negotiation, change management and

communication, to be multi-lingual and able to motivate staff.

Without doubt, the abovementioned developments are nothing new and have been mentioned in Public Management literature for years. For the Directors-General, it would of interest to get more evidence as to whether these new requirements are not only “theoretical” but are also being met in practice by senior officials. Two national reports (Denmark, Netherlands) give reason to believe that this is not the case.

Something that would be interesting for a future agenda of the Directors-General would also be to “benchmark” the development of competency profiles (what kind of competences are required for comparable functions in different Member States?) in the public service and to analyse how they are applied in recruitment/promotion procedures.

The study clearly shows that training for civil servants is still important. It is interesting that all Member States and the European Commission take additional measures to offer training programmes for senior officials. Within this, training for senior officials is still a “national issue” and predominantly organised at the national level (generally in the national training schools and academies) and not in international programmes.

Another tendency is to offer more training according to organisational needs and less according to the individual preferences of civil servants (see in particular Belgium’s answer to the questionnaire).

The national answers do, however, say very little about the effectiveness and the impact of training courses for senior officials. Do senior management

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training programmes lead to better results (for example: better performance, improved skills etc.)? What kind of results are there? What is the impact of new training instruments (like coaching)? Do senior officials change because of the training?

A number of Member States have introduced new recruitment mechanisms. Whereas some Member States are focusing on introducing faster recruitment procedures (Ireland), others have introduced new assessment procedures for senior officials (Belgium, Greece, Portugal) or a new “concours” for applicants from outside the public sector (France)

As regards mobility between the public and private sector, there are still considerable differences between the Member States. However, everywhere – in the Member States and the European Commission – additional efforts are being made to facilitate and increase mobility between the two sectors.

The question is nowadays less that of whether it is possible to recruit from the private sector, but why is it so difficult?

Generally, the greatest difficulties to attract managers from the private sector seem to be due to: - a cultural misfit between the two sectors,- difficulties in finding experts who fit into the job,- too high salary expectations,- possible ethical problems (lobbying).

Increasingly, the national administrations and the European Commission seem to be engaging in a process of facilitating mobility between the public and private sector and of gradually abolishing the existing legal and political obstacles. The following step would ideally be to analyse the financial, ethical and cultural dimensions of the issue (as the United Kingdom’s answer to the questionnaire does). Here, the Directors-General could engage in a fruitful debate.

For the future agenda of the Directors-General it would be interesting to undertake research to identify the leadership attributes that the Civil Service needs in its most senior positions (see the answer of the United Kingdom to the questionnaire). The outcome of the study would then inform the recruitment, assessment and development processes of the Civil Service. The study could also compare the leadership attributes for the Senior Civil Service with those of other posts in the public and private sectors to see if there are significant differences

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3. Decentralisation/deconcentration – reconciling flexibility and control

As regards the field of the decentralisation of HRM, the answers of the DGs reveal the existing decentralised – though very different – administrative and organisational structures in the field of HRM in the Member States.

Recently, a number of Member States and the European Commission have adopted a more decentralised/deconcentrated approach to personnel management (especially in the fields of recruitment, remuneration, evaluation, training policies and social dialogue). Other Member States have moved towards a devolved system with special agencies taking on new roles and responsibilities in personnel management. The basic assumption underlying this movement is that empowering and motivating managers by giving them more responsibility and discretion in decision making is essential when it comes to improving performance.

Generally, these measures to decentralise personnel management have brought new challenges in coordination and in communication.

The measures taken are often combined with the introduction of controls or the creation of accountability systems/mechanisms (regular reporting, guidelines, regular monitoring, the setting of certain limits, etc.). However, the national answers to the questionnaire did not demonstrate a trend towards a specific form of accountability and control of senior officials (for example as regards the use of budgetary powers).

4. Knowledge Management

The national replies on the introduction of measures in the field of Knowledge Management (KM) differ greatly. This is not surprising since there is no common definition and understanding of “Knowledge Management”. Another problem seems to be that although there is general agreement about the need for improved knowledge management, there is no universal method to achieve this. Moreover, for many, the concept of KM seems to be too abstract

Still, there are more questions and difficulties rather than answers when it comes to knowledge management: it is difficult to imagine how organisations can learn; there is a general lack of knowledge of how to evaluate the real use of KM what are the expected and unexpected consequences of the introduction

of KM and what are the objectives? how do organisations change because of the implementation of KM? and

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how can individual learning be combined with organisational learning?

For a future agenda of the DGs it might be useful to explore:

1. how ministries, agencies etc. evaluate what their “organisations know” – and how they exploit the knowledge;

2. how public organisations ensure that the existing knowledge is used;3. what kind of experience is there Europe-wide when it comes to process of

filtering (masses of) data into information? How does someone determine which items to accept and retain, and which to ignore and to reject?

4. how do Member States and the European Commission decide what kind of data/information is important (filter and distribute the right information)?

5. how can we prevent hierarchical structures, decision-making processes, hierarchies etc. from being circumvented by direct contacts between officials and citizens (see French reply)?

Since Member States are introducing measures to facilitate functional and geographical mobility between the public and private sector, the issue of how to manage the “loss” of knowledge when people leave their jobs is of increasing importance. In addition, it would be interesting to know the experiences there have been with “knowledge officers” or “knowledge management offices” (as in Luxembourg). In the future, it would also be of interest to collect “best practices” in the field of knowledge management

It seems that all Member States agree that knowledge and the management of knowledge is becoming increasingly important. However, in the replies to the questionnaires, KM is mostly seen as a technocratic concept (by the way of introducing new IT, data management systems).

Another problem is illustrated by the French reply and – partly – by the Spanish reply: access to information and the sharing of it is becoming easier. However, this might also bring disadvantages in the sense that traditional communication channels and established hierarchies are being circumvented (especially if it is made possible for senior officials to communicate directly with citizens, clients etc.).

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1. The attractiveness of the public service and the development of competence Question: What are the incentives/measures that are being/will be introduced in your country in order to respond to these challenges?

1.1. Is there an attractiveness problem? Unity and Diversity in the Member States of the EU

The attractiveness of public sector employment depends on many factors. Employment within the public sector is very varied, ranging from employment in the armed forces and in government to employment in education and in the social sector. In addition, the question of whether jobs are attractive depends very much on individual choices, preferences, qualifications, values and perceptions. Changes in societal values, norms and educational profiles therefore determine the level of interest in specific types of employment. It goes without saying that, bearing all this in mind, the image of the public sector as an employer is important.

The public services in the Member States rely on differing traditions and have different employment, pay, recruitment, pension and promotion structures and other varying characteristics (time worked, duties, status etc.)1. Finally, whereas some Member States face recruitment problems with regard to specific more highly-qualified experts (such as Germany and Portugal), other Member States also lack semi-skilled personnel (The Netherlands). Some Member States face a shortage of teachers (The Netherlands) whereas Portugal, for example has no problem in attracting skilled staff in the health and education sectors but has a greater demand for IT specialists. All in all, this means that every Member State applies different recruitment and retention policies in the public services.

Using the selection criteria of suitability, performance and qualification, Germany is not currently facing difficulties in recruitment! One reason for this is the status enjoyed by the “Beamter” (civil servant), which guarantees greater employment security than in other private or public employment relationships. In view of anticipated demographic developments and the expected difficulties in recruiting skilled staff (mainly Information Technology specialists because the competing private sector offers higher pay), Germany has taken a number of initiatives within the framework of the reform of civil service legislation in 1997 and the programme “Modern State – Modern Administration” (as of 1 December 1999) and in the light of the concept of the “Aktivierender Staat” (the activating state).

Despite the ageing of the Spanish population, the public service in Spain is currently similar to that in Germany – it is still attractive to new applicants.

1 Bossaert, D./Demmke, C./Nomden, K./Polet, R., Civil Services in the Europe of Fifteen, Trends and Developments, Maastricht 2001.

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However, like a number of other countries, Spain is confronted by a fall in the number of applicants, especially for the A category and to a lesser extent the B and C level.

Suggestion made by France on the exchange of information at Director-General level regarding shortages of personnel

In its reply to the questionnaire, France made the suggestion that the responsible persons within the different public services (for example the Directors-General of the Public Service) could engage in a discussion as to whether the shortage of qualified persons in some countries may not in fact exist in other countries, meaning that a “common employment market” might be envisaged.

Human Resources Management in Sweden is more deconcentrated than in any other country of the EU. The right to recruit employees is delegated (with some exceptions) to the different agencies. Consequently, the heads of the different agencies are responsible for HRM. Concerning the issue of attractiveness, measures that are considered include the recruitment and training of staff, adaptation of pay and other working conditions as well as “good-will-creating activities”.

Sweden faces a rather special situation. On the one hand – due to the demographic situation –, the challenge for the agencies will be to fill vacancies through recruitment in a labour market where competition for qualified personnel is increasingly fierce and to hand down the enormous store of accumulated competence from one generation to the next.

On the other hand, the differences in Sweden between the public and private sectors have become considerably less in recent years. In this context, the question of the attractiveness of the public service has less to do with differences between the two sectors than with competition between the two sectors in general.

Despite the different situations in the individual Member States, all of them are facing similar challenges and comparable – or at least partly comparable – challenges in attracting a sufficient number of public employees. In general, the public sector in nearly all Member States is beginning to have trouble matching supply to demand. In addition, a number of Member States have in the past reduced the level of public employment but now foresee reaching a point – in some sectors – when recruiting will again be necessary in significant numbers.

Public employment problems have begun to arise in large areas of the public sector in many EU Member States. In most of them, this problem involves both highly-skilled staff (especially IT specialists) and semi-skilled (nurses, social workers) and unskilled staff. This increased demand for staff is arising at a time when demographic trends suggest that the supply of workers will not keep pace

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with demand and large numbers of public employees will retire (often early). Although many new workers are expected to enter the job market, demand will still be greater than supply. All this depends, of course, on the economic situation in the various Member States.

Within the next few decades, demographic changes mean that the population of the European Union will consist of an increasing number of elderly people. The ageing of the population will increase the demand for the social services (in particular) provided by the public sector. On the other hand, the ageing of society will mean that a growing number of employees will leave the public sector. This demographic problem affects all Member States of the EU, but to differing extents: For example, demographic projections indicate that the dependency ratio in Ireland (the ratio of the population over the age of 65 to the population aged 15 - 64) will not reach the level currently obtaining in many European countries for another ten to fifteen years. The public sector in Ireland – although it has been affected by the increasingly competitive job market – is therefore in a favourable demographic situation. Because of this, there is no evidence that pressures in the public sector are any more acute than in other sectors.

Like the problems of ageing and demographics, the structural situation varies from Member State to Member State. In The Netherlands, for example, “economic growth has been a major cause of the labour shortage”. In addition, the impact of long-term trends – such as the increasing number of “baby-boomers” taking retirement and the shortage of young people entering the market – is exacerbating the current situation. Shorter working hours, early retirement and a high take-up of unemployment and incapacity benefits are reducing labour market participation. The amount of work done is further reduced by increasing demand for leisure and longer periods of training. Absence due to sickness is also on the way up again after a dip lasting for several years. The greater numbers of women entering the labour market will only go a little way towards filling the gap. In addition, budgetary policy has led to the civil service ageing more quickly than the workforce as a whole. Because the civil service has recruited few new staff in recent years, it has had a lower profile as an employer for a long time and has failed to adopt modern recruitment strategies.

The situation in The Netherlands is currently in striking contrast to that in Germany and Spain, countries which face few problems in attracting talented people to apply to join the public service. However, these countries also anticipate greater problems resulting from the general demographic situation.

1.2. What motivates people to work in the public service?

Traditionally, civil servants were attracted to jobs in the public service because of more and better security and advantageous social provisions. Moreover, working

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in the public service was (and still is) an honour since it was (and is) associated with a certain ethic, i.e. serving the interests of one’s country, working in the public interest (contributing to “le sens du service public” as the French reply puts it), not serving a private interest but working for society etc.…Within this context, the professional and ethical link between a civil servant and the state is of a totally different nature to that between an employee and his or her company.

By contrast, in those Member States where the civil services have been aligned with structures and processes applied in the private sector, the individuals are recruited in the public service for jobs and positions (or as the Belgium reply puts it so nicely: “l’individu fait profession de fonctionnaire”) instead for a service dedicated to and for the state, including a number of (ethical) duties, principles and obligations.

However, nearly all Governments are confronted with a similar set of misunderstandings and even contradictions as regards the way public employment is perceived: In general, the image and the reality of a career in the public service are still

very different. Whereas the public perception about public sector employment is relatively mixed, those who are working for the Government generally enjoy their work.

Surprisingly, one stable element has for decades been the fact that the public perception of the public sector and of the performance of public employees has been rather negative. On the other hand, a number of non-profit actors and NGOs continue to attract public support even though a number of them are becoming ever more deeply involved in carrying out work once done by the government2.

Growing numbers of the EU population seem to agree that “less government” is necessary, while still requiring the government to solve virtually all their problems. People consequently demand that the public service do the impossible3.

In some countries, such as Germany, Belgium, Greece and France, life-time tenure and stable careers provide incentives for employees to apply for a job in the public service. As the French reply puts it: “The employment guarantee, i.e. the fact that a civil servant can remain in the public service for a whole career is a very positive fact that France wants to exploit in a dynamic way”.

In other countries, however, attitudes and values – especially among younger employees – towards work and the workplace are different. Because of this, life-time employment seems to be less important for people looking for jobs, given that an increasing number of people want to change jobs, sectors and

2 Light, P.C., The New Public Service, Washington, 1999, p.73 Light, loc. cit. p.21.

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employers more frequently and do not feel attracted by a career lasting thirty or forty years. According to the Danish reply, changes in values mean that the government is facing a demand for better knowledge of how to create attractive workplaces that meet the preferences of both the institutions and the employees.

1.3. Evidence from (empirical) studies on recruitment and retention

When we look at existing empirical material on the subject, all the surveys examined reveal surprising results since they all conclude with very similar suggestions and outcomes4.

In general, all studies reveal that the public service is attractive to those already working in the public service5. Another survey (undertaken in Belgium in the framework of the Copernicus Programme) confirms this picture: in Belgium 60% of all employees are satisfied with their work for the federal government. 71% are satisfied or very satisfied with their job6.

However, the attractiveness of jobs seems to vary from job to job and from sector to sector and depends on the (professional) origin of the employees concerned.

In addition, a Dutch study and a German study show that employment within central government is more attractive than at local level7. Because of the limited scope and data of these studies, these findings cannot, however, be

4 In order to evaluate the present situation in the Member States (and to better analyse the answers given by the Directors-General), we have examined five empirical studies which all analyse the question of public service employment and the attractiveness of the public sector. The most detailed is that by Niklas Luhmann and Renate Mayntz, Personal im öffentlichen Dienst, Eintritt und Karrieren, Baden-Baden 1973. This volume (approx. 400 pages) looks at why people choose jobs in the German Civil Service. The second study (Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koningrijkrelaties, The labour market in the public sector. Investing in people and quality, The Hague 2001) looks at recruitment and retention in the Dutch Public Service. The third study was undertaken in 2000/2001 by the Danish Ministry of Finance: Motivation in the Danish Central Government, Copenhagen 2000. This survey looks at motivational aspects of Danish employees and reflects on retention problems in the Danish Public Sector. Another study (Hoe sexy is de overheid?) was carried out by the University of Groningen’s Centre for Work and Management in 2001 at the request of the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. This study analysed the attitude of 134 young and highly-qualified civil servants working for sub-national authorities. The final study was by Paul C. Light, The New Public Service (Washington 1999), and looks empirically at recruitment problems and the attractiveness of the US public service.

The five studies have been chosen because they concern different countries at different times, thus allowing a (restricted) comparative analysis based on long-term figures. The second Dutch study has been selected in order to acquire more evidence of the attitudes of civil servants working at regional and local level.5 “The public service ethic remains as engaging today as it was twenty-five years ago” Light, p.28?; It is amazing that the number of disappointed people is very low, p. Mayntz, 303; see also Danish Ministry of Finance, p. 16, Van Rijn Report, p. 226 See under http:copernicus.be7 See the studies from Mayntz/Luhmann and the University of Groningen, loc.cit.

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generalised. For example, in The Netherlands, the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Justice, the Interior and Finance are particularly attractive public employers, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs still only comes 33 rd8 in a ranking of the top 50 employers in the Netherlands. In addition, younger employees are more satisfied than older ones. The Dutch study by the Centre for Work and Management notes that 85% of the civil servants interviewed were satisfied with their job. Another finding of the same study is that regional and local administrations have greater difficulty in finding higher qualified personnel than central authorities. However, there is a general tendency that the more qualified people are, the less they are interested in a job in the public service9. This gives rise to a number of serious questions, since the number of qualified people in our societies is increasing. Where the “older” generation were concerned, the study by Luhmann/Mayntz found that civil servants aged 58 and over are most likely to be dissatisfied with their work.

Another reason to be concerned is that people who start outside government service tend to stay outside it10 whereas those who start in the civil service may leave the public sector to enter the private sector. In The Netherlands, mobility between the public sector and the private sector is still not very significant. What gives reason to be concerned, however, is the fact that those leaving school/university are less interested in jobs in the public sector, particularly if they are more highly qualified (the number of university graduates that apply for positions in the public sector is 70% lower than was expected)11. These (rather surprising) results seem to indicate that the public service does not have a general retention problem but rather a recruitment problem (not only because of demographic changes but also because of the fact that a growing number of potential candidates for a career in the public service do not actually apply for a public service post).

One option to attract more people is to attract those who do not work but would like to work (generally women). In The Netherlands, empirical evidence shows that of those people who do not work but who would like to, 60% indicate that they do not work because they are taking care of their children12. Eighty percent of this group would like to work in the public sector. All in all, this means that there is a need for better facilities to combine work and childcare13.

1.4. General advantages and disadvantages of public service employment

8 See: Elsevier, Speciale Uitgave, June 2001, p.25. 9 Mayntz, loc. cit., p. 87/88, Van Rijn-Report, loc. cit., p.17.10 Light, loc. cit. p.13211 Van Rijn, loc. cit. p.1712 Van Rijn, loc. cit. p.1913 ibid.

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The advantages of the private sector are often considered to be better career opportunities, independent decision-making, better image of the relevant company or organisation, more opportunities for additional pay, bonuses or additional material aspects (free car). The weaknesses of a private employment relationship are considered to be less security, generally more stress, inferior social arrangements etc.

The public service seems to be unattractive for those who wish to earn a high salary. Instead, it is people whose priority is to have an interesting job, who want to contribute to the public interest, who are seeking employment stability and better opportunities to reconcile professional and private interests who are interested in public service employment. In general, one of the most important criteria for applying for a job in the public service is contract security and favourable social arrangements (for example pension arrangements14). Asked what was the most important factor motivating them to work for the Belgium federal administration, respondents said that this would be job security15. Consequently, the Copernicus reforms at federal level in Belgium will not change the status of civil servants, the pension system or the seniority principle of civil servants.

The French, Greek and German reports also mentioned life-time tenure as a very important criteria for public sector employment.

The weaknesses of a public employment relationship are considered to be the bad image of the public service, restricted career opportunities, slow advancement in the hierarchies with (sometimes) seniority rather than merit being taken into account, low pay, restricted possibilities for independent decision-making and the perception of big, non-transparent hierarchical organisations.

1.5. Member States with comprehensive strategies to improve the image of the public service– the Dutch and the Danish cases

Two Member States, Denmark and The Netherlands, report that they have recently undertaken comprehensive studies in order to analyse the “attractiveness” of the public service. As a consequence of the results of the surveys, both countries have decided to implement a number of measures in order to improve the image of the public service. In 2000, the “Van Rijn Commission” published a comprehensive survey on the attractiveness of the Dutch Public Sector (“Investing in the public sector is investing in people”). The

14 Luhmann/Mayntz, loc. cit. p.7515 See homepage of the Copernicus programme, loc. cit.

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report concludes: If we do not take measures, the shortages of personnel will affect the functioning of the public service (“Als wij niet ingrijpen, leidt het personeelstekort zonder twijfel tot een aantasting van de publieke dienstverlening”). Interestingly, the report reaches the same conclusions as the report published by the Danish Ministry of Finance on a number of aspects.

a) The Danish Report

Like many other countries, Denmark faces numerous challenges when it comes to attracting and retaining qualified employees. In addition, the Danish public service faces the problem that the work force in the public sector is older than in the private sector (the same problem is mentioned in the Dutch report). In 2000, the Ministry of Finance carried out a comprehensive survey on motivation in the private and public sectors (central government)16. The survey analysed nine motivational factors: Job content Development and training Salary Specific payments and conditions Work scheduling Work environment Leadership Company culture Image

The results of the survey reveal that job content is considered to be by far the most important motivational factor. The second and third factors are work scheduling and salary followed by work environment, development and training, and company culture and leadership. Although image seems to be at the lowest priority level, the survey revealed that “when employees have to say what they mean by a good image, 69% of respondents state first of all that the workplace should have a reputation for high quality and professionalism.”

As a follow-up to the survey, five areas have been identified within which the government has started to launch a number of initiatives: Recruitment and retention of personnel Improving the image of the public sector Competence development Leadership development Development of job content, methods of working and organisation

16 The study is also available in English. 19





Interestingly, the report shows that people are – in general – satisfied with their work. However, those outside the public service perceive government jobs to be dull, dusty and poorly paid (Danish report). Consequently, one important measure to be taken will be to draw attention to the positive, interesting aspects of jobs in the public service, the good training opportunities and the opportunities for combining private and professional life.

b) The Dutch Report

The Dutch report analyses trends in work in the public service, demographic factors, trends in jobs in various sectors (government, education, health, research, police and security), mobility between the public and private sectors and salary trends in the public and private sectors. Finally, the study examines various criteria that relate to the attractiveness of the Dutch public sector (such as the Content of the work, Image, Salary, Career Development, Combination of work and private life etc.) and ends by drawing conclusions as to how the attractiveness of the public sector can be increased . The most important results are: Shortcomings in recruitment concern not only more highly qualified but also

less qualified personnel; It is increasingly difficult to attract personnel to the health sector (e.g. nurses)

and to research (lecturers, researchers); In some sectors, pay is better in the private sector than in the public sector

whereas in other sectors differences between the sectors are not significant; As regards child care, parental leave, sickness arrangements etc., the public

sector scores better than the private sector; Employees rate the content of the work as the most important motivational

criterion; Mobility to and from the private sector is still limited. However, people leaving

school or university are not very much attracted to accepting a job in the public sector;

The public sector should take more steps to attract (currently) inactive personnel (mostly women);

Those who are leaving the public service indicate that that they (1) lack career development opportunities, (2) do not like the content of the work and (3) are dissatisfied with the management. The most frequently mentioned reasons for accepting another job are (1) the content of the work), (2) the working atmosphere and the (3) image of the organisation.

As a consequence of the findings of the “Van Rijn” study, the Dutch Government has decided to engage a private marketing firm to conduct a promotion campaign for government employers.

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The above studies reveal that the content of the work is the most important motivational factor, followed by career opportunities and work scheduling (working time arrangements, balance between private and professional life). Salary does not normally take first place. In The Netherlands, only 2-3% of employees indicate that salary is the primary factor when they are looking for and/or accepting a new job17. The studies show, however, that salary is important when applying in the public sector (recruitment decisions) and for motivation. The Danish study notes that those working for the government have different expectations and attitudes to salaries18.

1.6. Measures initiated/implemented by the Member States in order to improve the attractiveness of the public service

All Member States and the European Commission have taken measures – or are about to take them – to improve the image of the public sector. For obvious reasons, not all of these measures will be mentioned here. Instead, the answers of the Directors-General will be classified according to the following categories:

General measures to improve the image of the public sector; Introduction of performance-related pay and reform of salary systems; Improvement of recruitment policies and enhancement of mobility and

flexibility; Measures to attract those who do not work but are willing to work; Gender issues and measures to make it easier to combine professional duties

with private life; Introduction of management by objectives and enhancement of individual

responsibility in implementing policies; Reform of the public sector.

General measures to improve the image of the public sector

The decision to apply for a job in the public service depends on the availability of information. Nevertheless, it is often up to talented employees to find the government and not vice versa. Some Member States (such as The Netherlands, Finland, France and the United Kingdom) have therefore started to invest in information or marketing strategies aimed at improving the image of the public sector. As regards information, France is attempting to provide better information about the variety of jobs in the public service, to improve presentation

17 Van Rijn, loc. cit. p.2318 “The Public Service attracts people who do not have high expectations as regards the salary”, Luhmann/Mayntz, loc. cit. p. 302.

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and access to information about the dates of “concours” etc. on the website of the public service ministry (http://www.fonction-publique.fr).

In the United Kingdom, the “Better Deal initiative” aims to ensure that the full value of the “employment package”, including the pay and non-pay reward elements, is recognised and understood by existing staff and potential recruits. The core elements in this initiative contain new incentives, performance management and a new reward system. In addition, a marketing strategy has been set up in order to improve the image of the Civil Service. This marketing strategy has four main elements: attraction, awareness building, candidate care and evaluation.

The attraction strategy consists of advertising online and in a range of publications. The awareness building strategy consists of an interactive “Learning Zone” – an educational resource for schools and colleges designed to increase awareness of the Civil Service. The Candidate Care strategy guides students who embark on the recruitment process. For the Fast Stream, this will be supported by a section of the website to guide “fast streamers” through the selection process.

In an approach similar to that of the UK, the Dutch Government organised a “Jobs fair for employment in the Government” in March 2001 which attracted 14,300 registered visitors. Finland, too, has set up an information campaign to attract young people.

Austria is attempting to enhance the attractiveness of the public sector mainly by reforming the public sector and by introducing a “Leitbild für den Bundesbeamten”. This code for Civil Servants was developed in order to increase the degree to which Austrian officials identified with their Civil Service. A similar model to that in Austria was introduced in Italy.

Despite these measures, it seems that in some cases, the state of information on careers and jobs in the public service is in need of a great deal of improvement in a number of Member States. As a result of this situation, the public knows very little about the actual content of work in the public sector. Public campaigns on campuses to promote the image and promote opportunities afforded by a career in government are still extremely rare. One reason for this might be the fact that a number of Member States have reduced employment in recent years or have frozen public employment and have not therefore invested in developing attractive advertising campaigns (for example on campuses).

Introducing performance-related pay and reforming the salary systems

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Most governments (Germany, Austria, Greece, Belgium, Portugal, Finland, Spain, United Kingdom) are attempting to improve the attractiveness of the public sector by altering the relevant salary systems and/or by introducing flexible and performance-related pay mechanisms. Finland, for example, has carried out studies comparing public-sector pay with that in the private sector and has consequently increased the salaries of civil servants and state employees. In addition, Finland has introduced a new flexible salary system in which salaries are linked to individual performance and productivity.

In Belgium, salaries will be aligned with market levels while taking into account a number of quantitative and qualitative criteria (pensions, insurance, holiday allowances, end of year bonus, job security etc). In Germany, Ireland and Austria, measures have been taken to increase the initial salaries of those entering the public sector.

However, there is still insufficient evidence to prove that public sector pay is generally lower than pay in the private sector. For example, the Austrian Yearbook of Personnel reveals that public sector pay is not generally lower than private sector pay19. The “Van Rijn” report mentioned above reaches the same conclusions but recommends higher salaries, especially in the social and educational sectors.

Another recent comparative study of the national public services show that top positions in particular are better paid in the private sector but that general conclusions cannot be drawn (for example that public sector pay is lower than private sector pay) since the general indicators required to make comparisons (comparing qualification, working time etc.) are difficult to establish20. Moreover, remuneration systems are very different in the public services of the various Member States.

In some Member States, low-skilled and semi-skilled staff earn more in the public than the private sector, while the opposite is true of highly-skilled personnel. Where secondary benefits are concerned, the public sector has better facilities for combining work and care, while the private sector is better at rewarding quality with profit-sharing, annual and occasional bonuses, and performance-related incentives.

Improving recruitment policies and enhancing mobility and flexibility

Measures have been introduced in a number of Member States to alter traditional recruitment and career development policies. One reason for this is that the classical career civil service is increasingly unattractive to younger applicants who wish to change careers, positions and sectors more frequently. In addition,

19 Bundesministerium für öffentliche Leistung und Sport (editor), Personaljahrbuch 1999, Vienna 2000.20 Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (editor), Öffentliche Dienste in Europa, Berlin 2001.

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managers are increasingly prepared to switch jobs or more reluctant to stay in one job for lengthy periods. In The Netherlands, the average number of years spent in one position by Senior Civil Servants fell to 3.6 years in the year 2000 (in 1999 it was still 4 years). On the other hand, it seems that the days are gone when talented employees would easily accept slow but steady advancement through large hierarchies21.

However, mobility between the public and private sectors is in many respects still difficult: the path into government service at mid-career is often difficult at best and middle and top-level positions are rarely advertised broadly. Moreover, top-positions are often not attractive for candidates from the private sector because public-sector salaries are often lower.

Recruitment and career development policies may therefore aim at making entry positions more attractive (through higher initial pay), and may shorten and facilitate the recruitment procedure and introduce measures to increase mobility between the public and private sectors at middle and top level etc.

Where recruitment policies are concerned, Ireland – like the United Kingdom – has altered selection methodologies with a view to achieving faster and more efficient throughput in competitions (for example the introduction of a “fast-track” recruitment system). In addition, Ireland has implemented an accelerated competition programme for mainstream recruitment and promotion grades and is running more frequent competitions.

In France, as of 3 January 2001, a “3èmes ‘concours’” was introduced which allows for persons coming from the private sector, NGOs, local politicians etc. to apply to take part in the “concours.”

Austria has offered federal officials the opportunity of spending between four weeks and six months undertaking training in a private company. Within this period, all costs are met by the public employer.

The European Commission, France, Luxembourg and Portugal mention that they have taken a number of steps to increase mobility between the various different services (including mandatory mobility for top officials after seven years in a single post within the European Commission).

In addition, a number of Member States are introducing measures to facilitate greater mobility, to reform and “flatten” the various career tracks (and to facilitate mobility between the public and private sectors).

With a view to making the public service more attractive, Portugal has introduced a number of measures in the HRM field, among them a restructuring of the Portuguese career system with the objective of making it more flexible. With the latest revision of the career system in 1998, careers in public 21 Light, loc. cit. p.1

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administration have become more attractive as it is easier to reach the top of the career scale. The main measures were: the elimination and fusion of careers; the simplification of careers opportunities for faster promotion,

In this context of the introduction of greater flexibility between and within careers, one additional objective is to increase mobility between the public and private sectors and with International Organisations.

In addition, Luxembourg has implemented measures aimed at improving mobility between the public and private sectors. One important objective of the measures is to attract – for a number of determined posts – persons coming from the private sector and holding specific qualifications which are needed in the public sector.

However, it seems that despite all the efforts being made in a number of Member States it is very difficult to attract top managers from the private sector into positions in the public service. Other Member States face legal and political burdens in opening up the different career paths in the civil services.

Attracting those who do not work but are willing to work

The Dutch Van Rijn report reveals that a large number of people (mostly women) would be willing to work if they were offered better opportunities to combine family with professional requirements (especially through better child care and flexible working arrangements). A number of Member States are starting to introduce measures in this field but considerable work still needs to be done.

Gender issues and measures to make it easier to combine professional duties with private life

A number of Member States are making it easier to combine work and child care. For example, a number of actions are envisaged in the field of parental leave and childcare (available after school and round the clock). Luxembourg, for example, – since the adoption of a declaration in 1999 – has introduced a number of measures for the period 1999-2004. These include reform of working time, rearrangements in the field of unpaid leave and the introduction of new technologies in the workplace.

Portugal considers equality issues as fundamental and has adopted a series of measures in this field.

In Spain, one important step towards increasing the attractiveness of the public service has been the adoption of Law 13/99, which provides for a better balance between private and professional life through family leave (and

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contributes to the fact that more men are making use of these opportunities). The success of this law is evident from the increased number of women in top positions.

However, the Dutch answer to the questionnaire highlights the problem that women often quit their posts before reaching top positions. “Women, more than men, change jobs on account of the corporate culture (the working environment and the leadership) whereas men, to a greater extent than women, change jobs as part of their career development. Women, more than men, focus on the job content and the working environment and less on career development”

The European Commission is currently in the process of totally reforming its staff policy. Recruitment, training, appraisal, promotion and mobility are all part of the new staff policy. The new staff policy together with the White Paper on “European Governance” (COM (2001) 428 of 25 July 2001) is the major instrument aimed at improving staff performance and will contribute to a better understanding of the European Commission. One important initiative is in the area of equal opportunities policy, where the European Commission is attempting to increase the number of women working in management positions, in particular, and to help both men and women to reconcile their professional and private lives. Within this strategy, for example, it is proposed that maternity leave should be increased from 16 to 20 weeks. Paternity leave will be increased from 2 to 10 days and there will be six months of parental leave per child during the first eight years after birth or adoption (including a monthly allowance). Family leave will be introduced as well as the right to part-time work and social welfare facilities (for example high-quality childcare).

Another measure taken by a number of Member States (for example Austria and Germany) is the reduction and flexibilisation of the weekly working time (up to 50%) in order to enable personnel to more easily meet both private and professional requirements.

In Ireland, policies have been implemented in order to provide family-friendly working arrangements (for example through flexible working hours, Job Sharing, Paternity Leave, Career Breaks, Worksharing and better Child Care at crèches), the opening up of promotion opportunities (including better opportunities for merit-based promotions), better possibilities to directly recruit to provincial civil service offices, the introduction of a competence approach in HRM and a greater emphasis on training.

Introducing management by objectives and enhancing individual responsibility in implementing policies

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The desire to assume greater personal freedom and discretion in exercising one’s individual function seems to rank very high on the list of motivational criteria for civil servants. Consequently, new motivational incentives for top officials have been introduced in a number of Member States. For example, top officials may be given greater (budgetary) powers and autonomy (for example in Belgium). In addition, they are in some cases assigned to a certain position for a limited amount of time (for example by receiving a mandate for 4 years). Within this period they are given the responsibility of achieving certain targets and objectives. Another important reform measure concerns the reform of the top management level (including the dissolution of the ministerial cabinets). In Belgium, top managers will now be given greater freedom in their individual decisions but at the same time greater responsibility for fulfilling their objectives. Top managers will be evaluated according to their results. As of April 2001, the recruitment procedure for top officials has also changed. In future senior officials will be recruited internally and externally and selected by an assessment centre (Sélor).

Reforming the public sector

Some Member States mention the reform of the public sector as an instrument that will in itself contribute to the attractiveness of employment in the public service. Public employers hope that the “modernisation process” will increase efficiency, improve customer service, enhance the image of the public service and consequently attract talented people and experts.

In Germany for example, the package of measures taken involves the introduction of a more flexible salary system (Besoldungsstrukturgesetz) for civil servants (an initiative was adopted by the federal Cabinet on 17 January 2001), improvements as regards the modernisation of the workplace (high standards for technical equipment, open communication, teleworking etc.), a more flexible career structure and a number of measures taken in the field of Personnel Development (Gender Policies and Promotion of Women, Targeted Training, improved Personal Evaluation Systems and the introduction of Coaching Programmes).

In Finland it is hoped that – as a consequence of the ongoing reform processes of the Finnish Public Service – the state can be a competitive employer offering attractive and well-paid jobs, challenging tasks, career opportunities, investments in training, and good personnel management. The image of the state is regularly evaluated by the Ministry of Finance.

Italy, for example, is attempting to increase the attractiveness of the public sector mainly by reforming it (by increasing cost-efficiency, and introducing a

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managerial approach in the organisation of work) and the civil service (giving the civil service a status similar to that of the private sector, introducing greater flexibility for employees, giving more responsibility to public managers, reforming the salary system, providing more and better training) and introducing new technologies in order to better share knowledge and change the organisational culture. It is hoped that these measures will improve the image of the public sector.

In Belgium, for example, the Copernicus plan represents a departure from the classic image of a traditional career in the civil service. Within the reform process, a number of structural reforms have been implemented at federal level (including reform of the traditional seniority system). In order to make a job in the public service more attractive, job policies have been introduced with the objective of making public employment more interesting for those already working in the public sector and those who are interested in public service employment.

In order to face the challenge of improving the attractiveness and the image of the public sector, Greece has introduced a number of measures which are (mostly) laid down in “Politeia: A Programme for Public Administration Reform (Law 2880/2001)”. Within the context of this programme, Greece has taken a number of measures to reform the Public Administration and is attempting to attract more civil servants with a degree and is modernising its training programme. Furthermore, measures have been introduced in order to grant officials paid leave to take part in PhD or MBA programmes, to change their career paths, or to advance within their careers more easily. In addition, a reform of the Greek salary system is planned (including a new salary system for top officials and the introduction of productivity incentives). Where other working conditions are concerned, Greece offers various ways of combining work and family life, of switching between the private and public sectors and flexible working time arrangements.

Measures taken in the Member States and the European Commission in order to increase the attractiveness of the Public Service (only those

mentioned as described in the replies to the questionnaires)

WP S C WT P/P M T R IBDKDGREFIRLI

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LNLAPFINS**UKCOM** In Sweden, the differences between the public service and private sector have considerably diminished in recent years. Because of this, there are no specific public sector measures but competition between the two sectors in general. WP = Workplace (new technologies, relations with colleagues/superior), S = Increases in

Salary (or other measures), C = Flexibility in Careers (Development), WT = Flexible Working Time, P/P = Better conciliation of private and professional life (crèches), M = Mobility (between private and public sector), T = More and Better Training, R = Changes in Recruitment Policy, I = Improvement of Image

1.7. Conclusions of this chapter

The answers to the questionnaire reveal a variety of different situations in the Member States as regards the demographic situation, salary and recruitment systems and the attractiveness of the public sector. Moreover, our analysis has shown that it would be false to talk of a general “attractiveness problem in the public sector”. The public sector is too heterogeneous and some posts and careers may be more attractive than others. Finally, some countries already face difficulties in finding talented employees whereas others may only be confronted with these problems in the years to come. In addition, recruitment problems may be due to the lack of information about jobs in the public sector but not to a general lack of interest.

However, the answers given by the Directors-General show that recruiting and retaining employees will become more and more difficult because of:

the ageing of our societies and increasing competition for talented applicants with NGOs and the private sector;

changes in values (higher demands as regards career development and the content of work, more flexibility on the part of employees, more women in top positions etc.);

the ongoing reform processes in the Member States (focus on efficiency, performance, flatter hierarchies, competence and knowledge Management, teamwork, impact of IT etc.).

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Apart from these changes, one element has barely changed over the past few decades. “To many people, a job in the government sector seems dull, dusty and poorly paid and this image has to be changed to a more realistic image” (Danish answer).

Interestingly, the negative perception of the public service does not match the reality. Empirical studies show that most employees in the public service like their jobs (and have no intention of leaving them). The conclusion could be drawn from this that the public service has less of a “retention” problem than a “recruitment” problem.

The negative image of the public service (anonymous atmosphere, large hierarchies, no personal freedom, long decision-making procedures, huge bureaucracies) is a cliché that has endured for decades. Whereas Max Weber analysed the advantage of the bureaucratic model in “Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft”, Franz Kafka’s novel “The Trial” portrayed the negative sides of it and made the negative image popular at the same time. It would seem that changing that image takes time…

When dealing with the question of who is actually attracted by a job in the public sector, one has to make a distinction between the perception (the image) and the reality. Attraction to a job in the public service results from an evaluation of a number of personal criteria for a given job against the background of subjective preferences, for example the social background. Empirical studies show that for those who are not attracted to a job in the public service, criteria such as salary, career planning, bureaucracy, too little freedom and formalism are important factors.

In the light of the developments mentioned above, it seems clear that the public sector has yet to articulate a clear vision of how to compete for talent against the private sector and NGOs. In general, the measures taken in the Member States of the EU and the European Commission focus on the following instruments: Providing performance-based salaries; Emphasising the benefits of public employment; Improving the image by initiating marketing campaigns, web pages and

advertisements; Improving mobility between the different careers and between the public and

private sectors; Improving mobility between the public and private sectors.

Most measures taken in the Member States tackle the remuneration systems. This focus on salaries and performance incentives will produce effects. However, our study reveals that there is little evidence that governments can increase recruitment with higher pay.

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Pay is without doubt important but it is far less so than the actual content of the job22. In particular, people who are attracted by the public sector do not expect higher salaries but interesting jobs, good social arrangements and – still – work with a public purpose. Higher pay will make people take a second look but it will never be enough to make them commit23. Besides, analysis show that the salaries paid in the public service are not generally lower than elsewhere. It is true, however, that some comparable functions or positions are (sometimes) much better paid in the private sector and that salaries increase more quickly in the private than in the public sector. Finally, performance-related pay, bonuses, a “free car” etc. create the image of a private sector that pays better24. However, it seems unrealistic to expect that the public service will ever be able to outbid the private sector.

What is the best strategy to improve the attractiveness of the public sector? Should the public sector introduce measures to compensate for its disadvantages (for example in the field of pay) or should one concentrate on its advantage (generally more contractual security and better social provisions than in the private sector (for example pensions), often a higher degree of (ethical) commitment than in the case of the private sector, more flexibility in working time, and greater possibilities for combining private with professional interests).

Another option would be to align the public sector more with private sector mechanisms. Although this view is appealing, it involves risks as well: the more the public sector becomes similar to the private sector and the more civil servants lose privileges in terms of job security, working conditions, pay and status, the more the Member States may face recruitment problems25.

2. Recruitment and development of competence of senior officials

Question: What will the educational profile of tomorrow’s senior civil servants be like?

The public service is a target of change. It is, however, itself a source of change, whether in the form of workplace reforms such as flexible working time and parental leave, or in other internal demographic, gender (the number of women in top positions is growing steadily), technological and economic changes, including the internationalisation process and adaptation to the ageing of the work force. In addition, the public service is becoming more diverse and decentralised. One

22 All the above-mentioned empirical analyses go along with this observation. 23 Light, loc. cit. p.129.24 Van Rijn report, loc. cit., p.3325 See also: OECD (Deok-Seob Shim), Recent Developments of Human Resources Management in OECD Member Countries, May 2001, p. 13.

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important question is therefore to analyse how senior officials “cope” with these changes and adapt and develop individual competence, behaviour, skills etc.

The question presupposes first of all a common understanding of the notion of “senior civil servant”. The French reply notes that the notion “senior civil servant” is very difficult to define (especially in a European context). Depending on the definition, between 2500 and 25,000 civil servants in France would be classed as such, whereas the UK Senior Civil Service (SCS) would consist of 3000 and the Dutch Senior Public Service (SPS) of a few hundred top officials. Moreover, it would be difficult to define a single educational profile, given the great diversity of the public service and the fact that job profiles are too different.

The issue of what educational and/or competence profile will develop in the nearer future is addressed by almost all respondents to the questionnaire.

Although the Swedish report notes that there are no radical changes (“As is the case today mostly lawyers, economists and social scientists will be employed in the central government administration in the future”), this naturally does not imply that programmes of study in law, economics and political science will change. In this respect, the Spanish report highlights the fact that the content of university programmes is constantly changing. It should be noted in this context that although the German report notes the overall need for generalists in the public service, this does not contradict the well-known dominance of lawyers in the German administration, since lawyers (according to the German educational system) can (also) be considered as generalists.

Most of the answers given by the Directors-General indicate that the skill profile of senior managers is moving away from narrowly based specialists or qualifications acquired in the form of a university degree or through a “concours”. The German report notes that the educational profile for senior officials has clearly changed. Within the ministries it is changing from a technically competent superior (“the boss”) towards a communicative manager (“mitarbeiterführender Vorgesetzter”).

The answers given by the Directors-General reveal that in future more emphasis will be placed on competence development and skills such as the ability to manage change, the capacity to lead, the ability to communicate (in several foreign languages), to motivate employees, to manage networks etc. As the Danish answer to the questionnaire puts it: “Traditionally the senior civil service had an educational background as lawyers and economists. This picture has changed during the last decades and especially the number of political scientists is increasing. The educational background of tomorrow’s senior civil servants will

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probably be even more diversified. In the future the importance of specific educational qualifications is expected to change whereas there will be a demand for senior civil servants with competences in order to be able to manage change, to be capable of networking, team-working, communicating and constantly learn”. In addition, the Italian and Luxembourg answers point out that the traditional profile of mainly specialists (lawyer) is no longer sufficient. New recruits particularly need language and IT competence and a background in social, economic and political sciences. This is in accordance with the German and Austrian reports (mentioned above), that agree that there is a clear tendency towards generalists instead of specialists, even though in certain sectors (such as the IT sector) there will always be a need for specialists . In Belgium, a new “accent” will be put on managerial capacities. As a result, the dominance of lawyers and political scientists will decrease as greater emphasis is placed on managerial capacities.

One important tendency seems to be for the Member States to cautiously move away from a knowledge and qualification-based recruitment approach to one (at least for senior officials) which is based much more on individual competence profiles (for example in The Netherlands and the United Kingdom). In the Dutch Civil Service, for example, 38 different competencies are listed in the “Gedragsaspecten van alle ABD Competenties” and apply to the various different positions in the senior civil service.

In the United Kingdom, a new competence framework was agreed on in 2000 for the SCS. This framework requires civil servants to have a wide range of managerial and other skills (as mentioned in the questionnaire). The competence profile is behavioural in content, but the behaviours reflect the importance of key skills (such as project management, leadership, risk management and financial management).

Also in the United Kingdom, the report notes that a distinction must be made (within the Fast Stream programme) between one “generalist” scheme and a number of specialist schemes for economists, statisticians etc. However, the generalist scheme and two of the non-technical schemes (which account for more than 65% of annual recruitment) encourage applications from graduates in any discipline. In the year 2000, for example, just over half of the recruits had an arts-related degree; the remainder had degrees in the sciences or social sciences. This educational profile reflects the – already traditional – differences between the United Kingdom and a number of other countries whose civil servants often have a legal background (for example Germany).

The Spanish report mentions that this trend towards competence management is affecting national HRM policies. As a result, the recruitment of top officials aims at selecting individuals on the basis of their capacities and competences,

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rather than on their (too specialised) knowledge. Consequently, university programmes need to be adapted to these different needs and more diversified professional profiles. In Spain, this move towards competence management will entail certain difficulties because of the fact that one has to participate in a “concours” to enter the public sector.

The Greek report notes that in future senior civil servants will be recruited from the private sector: they should have managerial experience, should be highly qualified (with a postgraduate degree), have a knowledge of foreign languages, be well acquainted with the use of IT and have generalist educational qualifications. In addition, those who are graduates of the national school of public administration will be given additional credits in the selection procedure.

In Finland, the traditional emphasis on rules and the legal aspects of administration has created a dominance of lawyers within the central administration. However, new tasks and modes of functioning have created a growing need for new and different skills and competencies, including in terms of formal qualification criteria for public managers. It can be assumed that in the near future a greater number of people will be recruited with a background such as administrative science, economics and social and behavioural science. In 1991, the Government made a policy decision on reforming formal requirements for civil servants. As a result, a number of detailed requirements were abolished and changed into more general requirements.

In its answer to the questionnaire, Portugal emphasises the fact that there is also an increased demand for the type of advance qualifications which are fundamental in a “knowledge society” (and bearing in mind the computerisation of services and the recourse to new information and communication technologies, training in data processing has gradually come to be demanded from civil servants).

2.1. Towards a new senior officials profile

The changing character of both the internal and international environment of administrations, as well as new tasks and functions, new complexities and the growing demand expressed by the public for high-quality public services are all factors which have a direct impact on the process of promoting/appointing senior civil servants. There is a growing tendency in the Member States to try to reconcile technical know-how with the need for managerial know-how in the management of public administration. In addition, one can observe a switch in

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the field of HRM from Performance Management to Competence Management26. Nowadays, the focus seems to be less on qualifications, short-term individual performance and exclusively result and income creation and more on the development of skills, the capacity to think strategically, motivational capacities, the ability to learn and the efficient delivery of services. The focus on performance management is more and more considered to be a rather short-term, individual-based and income approach, whereas the competence vision is a long-term and organisational approach.

More and more, senior civil servants are required to have skills/capacities in areas such as the following:

Leadership skills (decision-making, steering, flexibility, result-oriented approach, etc.)

Team-working (motivating, finding compromises, listening, etc.) Communication (languages, convincing, etc.) Strategic vision (anticipation, planning, vision) Negotiation on an international platform (language and negotiation skills) Networking (organisation, communication) Capacities with which to initiate and manage change (determination, strategic

vision, understanding obstacles, etc.)

This implies that recruitment must switch from a knowledge, merit and seniority-based approach to a competence and performance-based approach (including the introduction of new appraisal systems). With this in mind, more and more ministries have identified “core” competences required for senior civil servants and are constructing profiles of the personal qualities and skills required for each level of the senior civil service.

Competence Management and Individual Competence Profiles

Knowledge

Qualification

Motivation Values, Principles

Behaviour

Knowing Wanting Achieving Technical competencies Behavioural competences 26 A study of the management literature reveals many different definitions of the terms competence and competence management. Competencies can relate to jobs, roles, people and organisations but also to knowledge, skills and attitudes. Competence management can therefore focus on performance or behaviours. Competencies for top-civil servants might be, for example, the capacity to give direction, exercise influence, think strategically, motivate people, learn and improve and be efficient in delivering services. See Horton, S., “Competence management: where has it come from and where is it going? A case study of the British civil service”, Paper presented at a seminar New challenges in HRM: personnel development and competence management in the public sector, Maastricht 21-22 May 2001.

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Individual COMPETENCE

Difficulties still exist, however, in identifying competencies and in evaluating the new frameworks (and relating them to the former ones)27.

Three reports (the Danish, Dutch and British answers) discuss the idea that the educational profile should not exclusively refer to specific education or competence requirements but should also include a (changing) “leadership” concept (from the perspective of the employees).

The replies of the Directors-General can be summarised as follows: Senior officials are required to change considerably. The question of whether these requirements are realistic and can be /are being met in practice is addressed by the Dutch and Danish answers to the questionnaire:

The Van Rijn report in The Netherlands reveals that despite all the reform measures, technical changes etc. that are currently taking place, senior officials are not altering their behaviour sufficiently. Instead, they act still in too much of a “top down” (dirigiste) manner, rely far too much on hierarchies, do too little to foster the personal development of their employees/subordinate colleagues and do not sufficiently assume their responsibilities towards younger colleagues. Managers still focus on deciding, delegating and controlling, but they take too few initiatives (and too little time) to lead, motivate and inspire talented employees (often since they consider their duties as fulfilling a public task and not as having an individual management purpose). The study concludes that senior officials are not adapting sufficiently to the new challenges. The Van Rijn report notes that employees are often dissatisfied with the management and are consequently looking for another job. As a result, the report suggests that a totally different personnel policy is needed in which senior officials would assume their tasks as “human” leaders more effectively28.

Another empirical study by the Dutch Centre for Work and Management confirms these findings: “although training and personnel development possibilities do exist (and are rated positive), young civil servants especially miss “good leadership and better coaching by the management”29.

Since management is the object of change, leaders need to change as well. This in fact has consequences for recruitment and promotion procedures, training, educational profile and so on.

The survey by the Danish Ministry of Finance on “Motivation in the Public Sector” gives a further indication of what employees expect from their leaders:

27 See Horton, ibid.28 See also Van Noppen, P., De mensgerichte overheid, in Publiek Management, June 2001, p. 7.29 See: Centre for Work and Management, loc. cit. p. 8.

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according to the study employees in central government regard good leadership primarily as “when a manager shows confidence and accepts other people’s mistakes.” With regard to personal leadership, employees think that the characteristic of a good manager is that he or she is responsive to the opinions and ideas of employees (63% of respondents) and backs up staff (60%).

In the UK, the Cabinet Office is undertaking research to identify the leadership attributes that the Civil Service needs in its most senior positions. The outcome of the study would then inform the recruitment, assessment, development and succession processes for the Senior Civil Service. The study will compare the leadership attributes for the Senior Civil Service with those for other posts in the public and private sectors to see if there are significant differences.

2.2. Question: How are these new requirements for managerial skills taken into account in the promotion procedures for senior civil servants in your country?

Only a few reports provided detailed answers to this question. They did so mainly when important internal reforms were envisaged or have been implemented. This section is therefore a summary of the main answers given to this question:

A very important change in selection, recruitment and promotion procedures has been introduced in Belgium (in the framework of the Copernicus reforms). Instead of internal promotion, all future mandate holders in senior positions have to pass a selection/assessment procedure through an independent assessment centre (at SELOR).

As in the United Kingdom (in the SCS) and The Netherlands (for the SPS), reform of the top official level in Belgium stresses the management and performance orientation of top officials in line with New Public Management ideas. Both the SCS and SPS reforms and the Copernicus reforms have broken with traditional methods of appointment and appraisal of top officials. In those countries, appointments can take place only after individual applications, selection procedures and assessments on the basis of a given competence profile (this is also the case in Sweden). Moreover, in The Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, the United Kingdom and in Sweden (and under different conditions in other Member States too), top management positions are open to internal and external candidates who have gone though an assessment centre or a comparable selection procedure (in Belgium, however, this applies only to the top positions). One important distinction, however, is that Dutch officials have maintained their permanent employment position whereas top Belgian officials are appointed under a mandate and Swedish officials do not have tenure for life.

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The “POLITIA” programme in Greece introduces management and evaluation by objectives. In the promotion procedures for Greek senior officials, various criteria are taken into consideration when they are apparent from the civil servant’s personnel record. These include official work tasks which the official has completed as well as general activities, performance of duties, level of initiative and assumption of responsibility, ability in programming and co-ordination, capacity to motivate subordinates to increase their level of efficiency, promotional training, scientific knowledge and proficiency in one or more European languages. Graduation from the National School for Public Administration is considered to be an additional criterion for promotion.

In the United Kingdom, the new educational requirements mentioned above are taken into account in the promotion procedures in three main ways:

through the development of a common competence framework. All those promoted within the SCS must show that they have or will develop the core competences;

making sure that the initial graduate recruitment scheme for the Civil Service is consistent with the competence required at senior level;

offering training and development in the grades below the Senior Civil Service.

In the United Kingdom, there is no automatic promotion from below the SCS and Fast Stream Programme to the SCS. Fast Stream entrants must compete for promotion against those who have entered the Civil Service via a variety of other recruitment schemes.

In Ireland, changes in promotion procedures at middle and senior levels continue to reflect a shift from traditional selection criteria methods towards a key competence approach, based on job analysis. The competence approach seeks to match job requirements with candidate aptitude.

In Germany, there are no specific procedures for selecting and promoting senior officials. However, a number of ministries and public authorities apply personnel development plans that aim to improve the knowledge and managerial skills of their employees. An important role in this respect is played by the Bundesakademie für öffentliche Verwaltung, which offers special training programmes for future senior officials. One important instrument (which is itself subject to change) is the personal evaluation system. Finally, another instrument to promote (young) officials is to allocate them senior positions in subordinated authorities. In this way, these officials are able to gain managerial experience at an early stage.

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In Portugal, the appointment and promotion of civil servants is carried out via competitive examinations. Since 1997, the heads of division and heads of department are also appointed by competition, so as to render the selection procedures more rigorous and transparent. In the case of Directors-General and deputy Directors-General, or in the case of posts of political confidence, the appointment is made by a politician who supervises the sector concerned.

Even though political confidence is a determining factor in the appointment of top civil servants (deputy directors-general and directors-general), in practice, other capacities also play a role. These capacities include such things as strategic vision in running an organisation, evaluation of opportunities for the introduction of structural changes at the organisational level, the capacity to mobilise employees for change, the capability to communicate and the ability to negotiate at internal, national and international levels.

In the case of performance appraisals of specialised staff, account is taken of the capacities and abilities that are necessary for the new public servant profile. These capacities and abilities such as initiative, creativity, accountability, human relationships in the workplace and team spirit are to be encouraged.

The absence of a career system in Sweden means that there are no promotions in the traditional sense; a higher position has to be applied for in competition with others. In general, there is therefore no central personnel planning office administering the career of each individual in strict terms. Career development is the responsibility of the individual, properly monitored and supported by superiors in terms of performance appraisals and career planning discussions concerning training, positions requiring more advanced qualifications etc.

Managerial skills such as those described are compulsory for positions that involve staff management. Development of leadership skills is therefore often one of the training activities to which priority is given.

2.3. Question: What role does training for senior officials play in this context?

In Belgium, the new policy in the field of training consists of repositioning training between the demand for training and the supply of training. From now on, training will be organised solely at the request of the official and/or the services. Those training activities that do not contribute to the improvement of the services will be abolished. The new policy will allow civil servants to choose the training which they consider best for them. However, the decisive criterion is that the chosen training activity must be useful for the civil servant. This means that civil servants are no longer permitted to choose whatever they like. The use and content of training are thus determined by the objectives of the organisation and

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not by personal preferences. The administration will, however, invest in new training programmes which will benefit civil servants. The new training philosophy will be implemented by the Institut de formation des autorités fédérales (IFA). The policy will be based on a number of projects (some of which have already been implemented):

1. Training requires analysis;2. Evaluation of the work accomplished by the IFA;3. Inventory of current policies and programmes;4. Definition of the new policy;5. Elaboration of a new change strategy;6. Implementation and adaptation.

Other Member States are currently involved in organising, extending and implementing special training programmes for (potential) leaders. In Italy the Scuola Superiore della Pubblica Amministrazione (SSPA) is responsible for managerial courses. In The Netherlands, there are regular special courses for Senior Civil Servants. In addition, individual management development (coaching) has gained considerable prominence since 1998. It has become evident that an increasing number of senior civil servants occasionally need to discuss and share ideas with outsiders. The Senior Public Service (SPS) has engaged a number of external coaches to whom Senior Officials can turn at their own request. Since 1997, some 60 senior officials have consulted a coach.

In Ireland, an MSc degree programme is a valuable and highly innovative component in top management training and development. The Programme for Assistant Secretaries run by the School of Business Studies at Trinity College Dublin on behalf of the Civil Service has been in existence for nine years. This programme is specially designed to enhance the ability of officers at Assistant Secretary level to meet the management and policy challenges confronting the Civil Service.

Graduates of the course are assigned strategic roles in a wide range of Departments/Offices. Thirty-seven Assistant Secretaries have successfully completed the programme to date. Ten Assistant Secretaries are currently taking the 2001-2002 programme. It is generally recognised that participants in the programme have played leading roles in the development and implementation of the strategic process across the Civil Service. Progressively, an increasing number of Assistant Secretaries (of whom there are 107 at present) will have participated in the programme.

The Performance Management and Development System Framework (PMDS), which has recently been initiated to ensure regular monitoring and evaluation of performance at all levels of the Irish civil service, will also provide an assessment of training and development needs for senior managers. As a result many Departments/Offices have signalled their intention to develop Senior

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Management Development Programmes. These programmes are expected to take into account the changing nature of the role senior managers play and will also have an impact on the educational profile of future senior civil servants.

In Finland the Ministry of Finance carried out two development and training programmes for the senior civil service between 1992 and 1998. Almost the whole target group of top civil servants (the National Strategy Development Programme) and senior managers and experts (the Public Management Development Programme) was covered, approximately 800 participants in all.

In 2000, the Ministry of Finance, in collaboration with the Public Management Institute (HAUS), commenced a new management development programme, the Public Management Strategy Programme. This is based on a competence and needs analysis of individual participants. The target group consists of second-level senior civil servants in ministries and heads of government agencies and business units. Approximately 50 participants had passed through the programme by the end of the first half of 2001. The programme is composed of five parts (17-32 days):

New Challenges for Skills and Competencies of Public Managers Governance Modern Management (management of knowledge, resources and services) International Benchmarking (individually organised) Strategic Management of Change Evaluation seminar

In France, the training of top civil servants and training in the field of HRM have become top priorities (since the adoption of an administrative circular in February 1989). The inter-ministerial committee for the reform of the state reaffirmed in October 2000 that managers should receive more and better training in the area of HRM. In addition, the DGAFP has requested the Ecole Nationale d’ Administration (ENA) to organise and offer training activities in the field of HRM, the management of work and the management of change.

In Germany, the Bundesakademie für Öffentliche Verwaltung offers long-term leadership courses for federal employees, while the Deutsche Hochschule für Verwaltungswissenschaften offers a long-term (training on the job) programme for top Länder officials30.

In Portugal, the National Institute of Administration and the Local Authority Study and Training Centre have contributed to the training of top civil servants through

30 The leadership programme in Speyer is provided for top officials from five Länder academies. Other Bundesländer have their own academies.

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training courses intended to make management and control functions horizontal, to create awareness of Community issues, and to hone leadership capacities.

In Spain, the Centre d’études supérieures de la fonction publique at the National Institute of Public Administration plays an important role in training (potential) top officials.

In Luxembourg, the regulation of 27 October 2000 concerning the organisation of the National Institute of Public Service foresees the strengthening of training and development for top officials and introduces a cycle of conferences dealing exclusively with management questions. Civil servants are required to attend at least 30 days of training during their career (which means that if the official works 40 years, he/she has to participate in training every two to three years.

In the European Commission, plans are under way to increase the average number of training days per official from 2.5 to 10 a year in 2005 (with the training budget simultaneously increasing from EUR 5.6m in 2000 to EUR 20m in 2005). In addition, training requirements will be regularly monitored and training passports will be introduced indicating training activities carried out (similar to the plans in Austria).

2.4. Conclusions to the questions

Training for civil servants was always an important component of HRM. However, our survey shows that nowadays the content of training is changing as are the training philosophy and budget allocations for training.

One growing concern in the Member States seems to be to create training programmes that best suit the needs of senior managers. Another development seems to be to improve the design of training programmes according to the needs not just of the individual but also of the organisation (thus eliminating certain training programmes). The third development is to identify new training methodologies (such as coaching in The Netherlands). It would be interesting to compare the impact of “coaching” with that of classical training management courses.

The value of training in itself is not in question. Instead, most Member States (and especially the European Commission) have increased their budgets for training senior officials. Within the context of senior management training, the national training schools/academies remain the most important actors in the field of training (and are even expanding their training programmes in this area). It is interesting to note, however, that the answers to the

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questionnaires do not mention whether and how management training courses are evaluated and whether senior officials actually change their behaviour as a result of training.

2.5. Question: In the initial recruitment process of senior officials, do you plan to introduce new recruitment methods/procedures? Is it possible to recruit senior officials from the private sector?

Whereas some Member States have introduced – or are planning to introduce – new recruitment procedures (for example Belgium, The Netherlands and France (with the so-called “3ème concours”), others are facilitating or changing access to the central administrations for senior civil servants (Ireland, Italy) or plan to create specific recruitment offices (European Commission).

However, the changes taking place should be seen from the point of view of the different public service structures. There is still considerable variation between the Member States in the way recruitment of senior officials is carried out. The most important distinction can be made between Member States with career systems and Member States with position systems and other characteristics. Another distinction can be made between countries which have a centralised recruitment system (often by the way of a concours) and those with a decentralised recruitment system. Finally, some Member States have established separate senior civil service systems like the SPS in The Netherlands and the Senior Civil Service in the United Kingdom or Ireland, where top officials are treated as a distinct group within the public service.

In The Netherlands the main reason for establishing a senior civil service was to improve the co-ordination of government policy, to increase interdepartmental mobility and to establish an esprit de corps. Another rationale behind the creation of the SCS in 1995 was that senior civil servants should not be seen as employees of their ministry but as a homogenous governmental group of top managers.

In The Netherlands, the recruitment process for the top level of the civil service is an essential task of the SCS office. The ministry in which the job vacancy arises creates a job profile, set out in terms of individual competences. These competences are based on a competence profile (list) that has been developed (and is continuously updated). The profile includes competences such as interpersonal skills, problem-solving ability, impact, operational effectiveness etc. While the basic Dutch system of grades also applies to the Senior Civil Service, the functional job criteria have been replaced by competence criteria.

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Some Member States have recently changed their recruitment methods or are in the process of doing so. As we have already seen above, instead of internal promotion, all future mandate holders in senior positions in Belgium will have to undergo a selection/assessment procedure. In Belgium, candidates for each position will be recruited according to a competence profile which not only specifies individual qualifications but also sets out general competences in the field of management. As of April 2001, a new recruitment campaign was started for a number of top positions within the federal government. This campaign foresees recruiting for the two top positions from outside the federal government. For the other positions, internal candidates can apply. Should civil servants be appointed, they will be given a mandate (for 6 years) and will be seconded to the available position, returning to another position when their mandate is over. Candidates who are recruited externally will hold civil service status for the period of their mandate (but will not have the right to enter the civil service automatically). In the past, it was only in exceptional cases that senior civil servants were recruited on the basis of their competences and not purely on their qualifications and knowledge. This is about to change (Belgian reply). Selection will take place via an independent assessment centre (Sélor). The selection procedure will involve recruitment on the basis of criteria including competence and behaviour.

In The Netherlands a change took place through the reorganisation of the SPS (Senior Public Service) as of July 2000. From now, on the Director-General oversees the selection procedure for senior posts. Top officials (Secretaries-General and Directors-General) in the SPS are nowadays employed (by the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations) on a permanent basis, but are supposed to change positions every five years. The other SCS employees are employed by central government.

In Denmark the recruitment process is relatively decentralised but the Ministry of Finance has asked all other institutions to improve the image of the public service in the recruitment process.

Because of the career-based structure in Ireland, entry at middle or senior level is rare. Employment in the Irish civil service is “career-based”, meaning that staff enter at relatively junior levels and seek advancement through the hierarchy. It is accepted that a rigid adherence to this system will not be a sustainable option in the future for the reasons mentioned above.

In Spain, the White Paper on the improvement of the public service mentions measures to improve the selection and training of senior officials. The creation of a new senior officials directorate was one of the measures adopted by the Greek parliament. This office will be responsible for officials at the central, regional and

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local levels. In practice, this means that it is difficult for staff to be nominated to certain senior posts from outside without having any relevant civil service experience. Mobility within the public sector, and increasingly between the public sector and other sectors as well, is considered desirable.

In 1997, The Council of State in Finland took a policy decision on the recruitment criteria and selection procedures for senior civil servants. As a result, managerial and leadership skills have become important selection criteria for each vacant post. Special emphasis was placed on personnel management and team-working skills, on the ability to create contacts and to communicate efficiently, including in an international context (including language skills). Other skills that are required more frequently than before are strategic management and management of resources. Mobility within the civil service and between government agencies and private companies, for example, is desired. The state is an employer that appreciates wide experience.

The United Kingdom notes four specific challenges in the recruitment of senior managers from the private sector:

Differences in culture and values; Knowledge of the sector; Complexity of stakeholder interests in the public sector; Power of professional groups.

In addition, recruiting senior managers from the private sector brings with it challenges with regard to salary, salary level and salary progression.

Integrating private senior managers into the public service is easier and more likely where the role concerned is similar to one in the private sector or where the individual has substantial public sector experience. External recruits should therefore have the ability to:

“tune in” to the distinctive culture and stakeholder dynamics of the organisation;

build and sustain credibility with professional groups/top team; exercise sophisticated influencing strategies to deal with conflicts.

In The Netherlands, recruitment from the private sector is possible but only a minority of senior officials are appointed from outside central government (18 out

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of 144 in 200031). However, a target has been set for 20% of employees to be recruited from outside central government and transfers from local government.

In Greece, the “POLITIA” programme will introduce new recruitment methods and procedures for senior civil servants. On the one hand, this will involve the creation of a pool of “managerially skilled” individuals who can also be recruited from the private sector. On the other, it will become possible for existing civil servants to participate in nation-wide examinations to qualify for senior official posts that are available throughout the country. This means that the recruitment of senior officials for each administrative unit will be made from a larger pool of qualified civil servants.

In this context, two of the goals of “POLITIA” are a) to establish a school for administrative executives who will staff local government at the prefectural and municipal levels and b) to upgrade the programmes offered by the National School for Public Administration to make them suitable for training administrative executives.

In Finland, there are no formal procedures for recruitment to the civil service. However, vacancies must be made public to ensure that as many qualified people as possible are aware of them. The Finnish civil service also recognises professional experience outside government agencies. Job-specific experience and civil service experience is required for certain posts. In practice, this means that it is difficult to be appointed to certain senior posts from outside without any relevant civil service experience. Mobility within the public sector, and increasingly between the public sector and other sectors as well, is considered desirable.

In Spain, in certain cases a number of commercially-oriented public authorities have the option of opening up the recruitment process to outside senior candidates (even if this number is limited).

In Sweden there are currently no plans to introduce new recruitment methods and it is already possible to recruit senior officials from the private sector.

2.6. Conclusions to the questions

As the task of the civil service become ever more complex, the skills to deal with all management tasks will sometimes not be available within the civil service. In addition, demographic and employment market factors are likely to diminish the

31 See Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, Annual Report of the Dutch Senior Public Service (SPS), The Hague 2000, p. 17

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pool of high-quality recruits joining the civil service at traditional entry levels. In turn, this development is likely to reduce the pool of suitable candidates from which middle and senior management positions can be filled. This consideration has resulted in a number of changes in the recruitment procedures of some Member States. As with any large organisation, the civil service would benefit from an influx of new personnel with a variety of backgrounds, bringing new ideas into the system. While the legitimate career ambitions of existing staff must be taken into account, it is clear that the civil service of the future will be a more open organisation and that the option of open recruitment to some middle and senior management positions will be available (Irish reply). A number of Member States are therefore trying to improve mobility between the public and private sectors. In practice, however, it is often difficult to appoint candidates from outside to certain senior posts without their having any relevant civil service experience. In some cases (for example in Belgium and Italy) this involves either a clearly defined number of senior official posts that can be assigned to managers from the private sector (in Italy the proportion is 5%) or involves specific posts (in Belgium the two highest positions).

Where possibilities for open recruitment do exist, it still seems to be difficult in many cases to attract a sufficient number of suitable applicants from the private sector. The report by the United Kingdom mentioned above clearly refers to the main obstacles. However, mobility within the public sector, and increasingly between the public sector and other sectors as well, is considered more and more desirable.

Our survey reveals a clear tendency in the Member States, which are attempting to introduce measures to improve mobility between the private and public sectors and thus to facilitate the recruitment managers from the private sector. In Denmark, for example, recruitment of senior officials from the private sector is uncommon. Nevertheless, the intention is to increase mobility and to attract more managers from the private sector.

In Member States with a position system (Sweden, The Netherlands, Finland, United Kingdom) recruitment from the private sector is theoretically not a problem, whereas other Member States with career systems face legal obstacles (Spain). In Germany, recruitment from outside the public sector can only take place under private contract. Exceptions are possible, however. In the case of the European Commission, Member States may second national experts to the Commission for a given mandate. In France, various possibilities do exist to recruit or appoint experts from the private service (although the number of managers recruited from the private sector is relatively limited). However, one should not disguise the fact that this may cause difficulties as regards

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remuneration and it can also raise ethical issues (as mentioned in the study by J.M. Eymeri in the context of the study for the French Presidency in 2000)32.

All in all, most Member States are facing various difficulties in attracting managers from the private sector.

3. Decentralisation/deconcentration in the field of HRM – reconciling flexibility with control/accountability

3.1. Question: Please also describe how HRM is organised in your country (please only mention measures taken at the central/federal level). In cases where decentralised personnel management measures have been introduced in your country, what forms of control/accountability are used to make managers responsible for their decisions?

Accountability can be defined as political accountability, managerial accountability, administrative accountability and professional accountability33. Approaches to management control can apply to results control, action control, personnel control and budget control 34. The rhetoric of “accountability” and “control” is, however, mostly linked to accounting-based controls and is directed to measuring results. The underlying assumption is that accountability for results acts as a control that leads to greater effectiveness in governmental performance35. Within this, it is assumed that private sector management approaches are applicable to the public sector. Moreover, it is assumed that results are measurable. A number of Member States have introduced control mechanisms to achieve greater accountability and to enhance effectiveness. The answers of the DGs reveal that as decentralisation is applied differently to HRM, so is the issue of “accountability”. Particularly as regards the question of what kind of tasks (budgetary powers, powers in the fields of training, evaluation, recruitment, promotion etc.) are delegated and decentralised, the answers vary considerably from Member State to Member State. One common trend, however, is clearly visible. In the field of HRM, in recent years, managers have been given more powers in a number of Member States. In exchange to this, they must assure that resources are obtained and used effectively and efficiently.

32 J-M., Eymeri, L’ èthique dans le secteur public: L’ access des fonctionnaires à des activités privées, Study for the 35th meeting of the Directors-General of Public Service in Strasbourg, 9-10 November 2000. 33 See for the different definitions: Cunningham, G.M./Harris, J.E., A Heuristic Framework For Accountability Of Governmental Subunits, in: Public Management Review, Vol. 3, 2001, pp.145.34 ibid35 ibid.

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The issue of centralisation/decentralisation/deconcentration can be analysed from various angles (for example decentralisation of budgetary powers, training, evaluation, recruitment, promotion etc.).

The most far-reaching form of centralisation exists when the competences in the field of HRM are regulated for the civil service as a whole at the level of central government. A form of deconcentrated HRM exists if, at the central level, competences are allocated within one ministry but different aspects in the field of HRM are delegated to agencies (for example training or recruitment). This is the case in Finland and Denmark, where the overall responsibility lies within the Ministry of Finance but important aspects in the field of personnel policy are delegated to the agencies and/or local authorities. A similar form exists in the United Kingdom, where the Civil Service Management Code enables the central departments to delegate functions to agencies. Another form of deconcentration of HRM exists in France, where certain competences are delegated to territorial authorities of the state.

A form of decentralisation exists if competences in the field of HRM are decentralised to ministries and/or agencies on the horizontal and vertical planes (among the different governmental layers) (as in Germany).

In practice, no Member State has either completely centralised/ decentralised or deconcentrated HRM issues. In Sweden (and in the plans developed by Belgium), the decentralisation process seems to be the most far advanced. During the last 15 years, the agencies have gradually become almost completely autonomous in employer policy-related matters. Government agencies such as the National Council for Quality and Development, the National Government Employee Pensions Board and the Swedish Agency for Government Employers offer help and support concerning HRM and employer issues.

In The Netherlands, the devolution policy of the 1990s has meant that formerly centralised responsibilities for personnel policy have been assigned to the ministries and to the various different sectors (for example Justice). However, the following elements have been retained at central level: The grading system; The salary system; Pensions and Social Security; Conditions of Employment.

Luxembourg (due to the size of the country), Ireland and Greece have relatively centralised structures. Greece, however, has a system in which different personnel policies are deconcentrated and subject to different types of control by the central level. In Greece, every administrative authority has its own HRM

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Office and Service Council responsible for personnel issues (promotions, mobility, leave, etc.). They all, however, are required to comply with legislation/regulations that are set or interpreted by the Ministry of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralisation.

As far as recruitment is concerned, each administrative authority makes the decision on the type and number of personnel necessary for its functioning. The state, however, retains control through a three-member Cabinet committee, which approves local decisions, and the ASEP (Personnel Selection Board), which organises the selection process (examinations etc.).

In the case of France, one has to distinguish between the devolution of competences to subordinate authorities that do not belong to the state and the devolution of a number of specific competences (such as disciplinary powers, social dialogue, organisation of certain “concours” and training) to the territorial administrations of the state.

A mixed model exists in Germany, Austria and Spain (in part), with some aspects in the field of HRM (such as pay, social dialogue) being relatively centralised while other elements (such as personnel development, training etc.) are relatively deconcentrated, having been assigned to the different ministries and to subordinated authorities and being further decentralised in the Bundesländer or Autonomous Communities.

In Belgium, the Copernicus Programme establishes a new organisational structure which aims to replace the former hierarchical system based on a different control mechanism with a new network-like system.

Within this system, the new top managers will decide in full autonomy on the way in which they use their resources (in terms of budget, personnel and infrastructure). At the same time they will be evaluated, regulated and made more directly responsible for the management of resources. The administration has established certain control mechanisms for these new management arrangements.

With the introduction of these measures, the new top managers have much more freedom than before. However, this does not mean that they can do whatever they like. The old system, which was characterised by a lack of flexibility and effectiveness, will be replaced by a new system which will emphasise control ex post (meaning the results accomplished) and no longer the work ex ante (before the work is done). Further emphasis will be placed on internal control and self-control. In addition, within the new structure of the Copernicus Programme, an audit committee and an internal audit service has been established within each public service.

In Greece, the “POLITIA” programme introduces a new style of public administration involving Management by Objectives (MBO). This means that

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every administrative division will operate with specific targets that will be measurable both quantitatively and qualitatively. This will ensure accountability on the part of managers/executives. The introduction of MBO will be combined with time-specific terms (3-5 years) for managers/executives. At the same time, a new Body of External Evaluators will be introduced in order to assess the extent to which objectives have been accomplished.

In Sweden, the government exercises control of the agencies mainly by a) appointing directors-general, b) written instructions, c) budget appropriations and d) establishing objectives. How the latter are fulfilled is up to the agency to decide in whatever way it thinks best.

To further strengthen government control, a so-called central monitoring system was launched in 1997. This requires each agency to submit an annual report to the government on the development of certain key indicators such as staff turnover, pay developments, equal treatment, male/female ratio and age structure, as well as the agency’s long-term strategies and objectives for these indicators.

In Finland, the Management by Results system forms the basic steering system within the government administration. The State Employer’s Office will develop models of how to include “personnel” within the management process, i.e. how to include objectives concerning skills and competences, mobility and work ability of employees into the objectives of agencies. Resource allocation and control takes place within the annual budget process and there is no separate control over personnel costs within the Finnish civil service. However, the Ministry of Finance is developing methods to better establish the optimum number and structure of personnel within each agency. These methods will be used in the budget process while the results targets and resources are being negotiated between relatively independent institutions and ministries and finally at the Ministry of Finance.


Recently, a number of Member States have adopted a more decentralised/deconcentrated approach to personnel management (especially in the fields of recruitment, remuneration, evaluation, training policies and social dialogue). Other Member States have moved towards a devolved system with special agencies taking on new roles and responsibilities in personnel management. The basic assumption underlying this movement is that empowering and motivating managers is essential to improving performance by giving them more responsibility and discretion in decision-making.

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These measures are often combined with the introduction of controls or the creation of accountability systems/mechanisms (regular reporting, guidelines, regular monitoring, the setting of certain limits, etc.).

Although no general trend is observable in decentralising HRM competences, a number of Member States have taken (or are about to take) measures to give senior officials greater responsibility and discretion (especially as regards budgetary questions). The role of senior managers varies in this context: in some countries, senior managers have been given greater (financial) responsibility and discretionary powers in their decisions. In other Member States, senior managers have been given greater powers in decisions on recruitment and/or evaluation and appraisal of staff. However, in return for giving managers more power in the field of HRM, many Member States have made efforts to secure managerial or organisational accountability. This process can also be described as a step away from the classical concept of public administration in which procedures and rules are predominant towards an administration in which individual responsibility is equally important (French reply)

As regards the development of competences in the field of HRM, the replies of the DGs confirm that a high degree of decentralisation already exists in the field of Human Resources Management. In Belgium and Greece and in the European Commission, there is a strong tendency to further decentralise HRM. However, whereas decentralisation in Belgium extends to the decentralisation of budgetary powers, the European Commission has further decentralised important aspects in the field of HRM (for example the duty to carry out personnel evaluations has been further delegated to Unit Heads). On the other hand, Portugal, for example, has decided to re-centralise certain aspects of HRM (especially recruitment policy). The Netherlands has re-centralised Human Resources Management for the top level (SPS). Luxembourg has no plans to further decentralise HRM due to the size of the country. Other countries such as Austria and Ireland are still in the process of initiating a cautious process of decentralisation.

Many Member States are attempting to enhance organisational and individual performance. At the organisational level, they have introduced outcome-focused management or performance management systems which place a strong emphasis on the targets or the objectives of the organisation. At the individual level, personnel appraisal systems are becoming an extremely important aspect of HR management36 (for example within the new staff policy for the European Commission). Within this process it has become clear that this separation of tasks results in a growing need on the part of government to manage this process, to establish various types of control and accountability and to further

36 OECD (Deok-Seob Shim), Recent Developments of Human Resources Management in OECD Member Countries, May 2001, p. 9.

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improve personnel appraisal systems. The cases of Belgium, Sweden, Finland and Greece illustrate that different types of control are being put into effect.

4. Knowledge Management

4.1. Question: Could you please either answer the various questions or comment on them on the basis of your own experience?

Preliminary remarks

Against a background of constant technological and scientific innovation, economic and social change and international co-operation (and competition), the updating and acquisition of new skills and qualifications of employees in the public services are critical to economic development and competitiveness. The notions of life-long learning and life-long training (especially as regards the constant upgrading needed to respond to new technological developments) have gained ground in this respect. It seems that knowledge and skills are becoming ever more powerful instruments in international competition.

The accumulation of knowledge and information is increasingly posing problems as regards its management. Six main challenges can be identified as regards knowledge Management: How should the growth of new information be managed? How should the growing specialisation of knowledge be managed? How should personal knowledge be used (and combined with the

management of organisational knowledge)? How should organisational knowledge be managed (and combined with the

management of individual knowledge)? How should information be managed by means of IT? How should mobility and fluctuation be managed?

The challenge to be taken up by HRM is to create knowledge Management (KM) systems that promote both the development of individual and organisational knowledge and the use that is made of such knowledge and skills.

The following is a brief summary of the answers given in the national reports on the measures taken in the field of Knowledge Management. Naturally, the answers vary enormously and concern different aspects of Knowledge Management. Most answers deal, however, with the technical aspect of Knowledge Management.

The answers of the Directors-General reveal a differing understanding and differing concepts and therefore a different focus on various aspects of

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“Knowledge Management”37. This is because the notion of Knowledge Management is not clearly defined.

Most Member States are concerned with putting in place specific computer and information systems to more effectively generate knowledge for their employees and at the same time to exploit their knowledge. When restricted to these mainly technological changes, “Documentation or Information Management” would certainly be a better description than Knowledge Management, which should be defined much more broadly (see conclusions).

However, the notion of knowledge management is clearly different to that of information management: knowledge appears to be more difficult to separate and quantify than information. People handle, pick up, possess, and pass around information, they put it in a database, they lose, find, write down, accumulate and count information etc. Knowledge, by contrast, is difficult to pick up and hard to transfer38. “Knowledge is something we digest rather than merely hold. It entails the knower’s understanding and some degree of commitment. Thus while one person often has conflicting information, he or she will not usually have conflicting knowledge. And while it seems quite reasonable to say, “I’ve got the information, but I do not understand it”, it seems less reasonable to say, “I know, but I don’t understand”39… “The importance of people as creators and carriers of knowledge is forcing organisations to realise that knowledge lies less in its databases than it its people”40. Information is on its own not enough to produce actionable knowledge.

The difficulties involved in implementing KM measures - which are not entirely based on a technocratic approach - seem to have various causes:

It is difficult to imagine how organisations can learn; It is relatively easy to agree on the need to for improved knowledge

management but it is much more difficult to decide on concrete implementation measures;

It is unclear what the use and outcome of KM should be. What are the consequences? What should the objectives be? How do organisations change as a result?

There are a number of uncertainties as to how to manage knowledge and how to combine individual learning with organisational learning;

37 In one of its latest studies on Human Resources Management, the OECD has therefore offered a useful distinction between different aspects of KM. See: OECD-PUMA, Recent Developments and Future Challenges in Human Resources Management in OECD Member Countries, PUMA/HRM (2000) 6, June 2000. Parts of this study have been incorporated into this chapter.38 Brown, J.S./Duguid, P., The Social Life of Information, Boston, Massachusetts, 2000, p.120 39 ibid.40 Brown/Duguid, loc.cit, p.121

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Often, people do not want to share information and knowledge or are not interested in sharing information and knowledge;

For various reasons (for example, lack of time, of interest etc.), the senior management does not support the concept of KM;

Because of a lack of resources (financial resources, technological and personnel resources) organisations do not invest in KM;

The concept of KM is too abstract (how do we know what our organisation knows – and how can we better exploit it? How do we make sure that our knowledge is used? How do we develop new knowledge? How can data be transformed into information? How can we decide what kind of data/information is important? How can we prevent structures, traditions and hierarchies being circumvented by direct contacts with citizens, lobbyists etc. How does someone determine what kind of information to accept and retain, and what to ignore and reject?

Selecting and filtering information – organisational learning

The concept of knowledge management combines the theory of individual and organisational learning. The underlying assumption is that people and organisations are willing to learn, to communicate and to exchange information. As regards organisational learning, the selection of information in an organisation is a filtering process which can be carried out by a knowledge officer. The filtering process therefore requires human intervention. It cannot be done simply by investing in a powerful technology. “The weakness of many knowledge management approaches is that they revive the myths of the omnipotent management information system. This behavior can be called a learning behavior. Not that the use of work flow software and E-Mail communication is not a powerful support to knowledge management activities, but essentially because they remain a supportive mechanism”41. However, the evaluation of information as to its effectiveness and usefulness can only be carried out by people.

The filtering process itself is not easy since a number of preconditions must be fulfilled. There is firstly a need to: select or filter the data and information (is the information relevant?); assess whether the information is reliable; assess whether the information is up to date; assess whether the information useful; store the information in a knowledge base;

41 See Godbout, A.J., Filtering knowledge, Changing knowledge into knowledge assets, Technical Document 9867, Ireland, unpublished, no year.

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inform the employees about it.

In its reply to the questionnaire, Denmark provides a typology that distinguishes between two types of knowledge. One form is the knowledge acquired by the individual through experience and

education and transferred through dialogue. The other form consists of written material such as media, research, general

data and news, and is codified.

A booklet recently published by the Danish Ministry of Finance, “Knowledge Management and Intellectual Capital Statement within the State” (2000), addresses three basic issues regarding:1. how to develop new knowledge;2. how to exploit existing knowledge; 3. how to ensure that knowledge is actually used.

The answers to these questions are to be found within three domains:1. human resources; 2. systems and processes;3. networks and other external resources.

In its proposal for the implementation of a Knowledge Management concept, Denmark suggests that a number of different steps need to be applied:

Formulation of objectives and strategies for KM: It is important to specify what the organisation wishes to achieve regarding KM, and how these objectives will be achieved.

Implementation of the KM strategy: The organisation needs to consider activities enhancing the development of new knowledge, activities enhancing personal knowledge and codification of knowledge, and activities enhancing the use of existing knowledge.

Selection and measurement of KM indicators: Based on the objectives of the organisation’s KM strategy, indicators for the intellectual capital statement need to be chosen. The intellectual capital statement documents how the organisation manages knowledge, not knowledge per se.

Evaluation of KM: The indicators must be linked to each other through a knowledge narrative explaining and interpreting the results while taking into account the internal and external context of the organisation.

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4.2. Knowledge Management, mobility and retirement

There are many challenges related to the limited ways in which to “store” knowledge once employees leave the public sector, their ministry, their office etc. This is of particular concern in countries with an ageing civil service, countries with a high rate of transfer between the private and public sector and countries which are attempting to enhance interdepartmental mobility. Unfortunately, the reports of the Member States do not mention these problems. We therefore have very little evidence of the measures that have been taken to compensate for the loss of knowledge in cases of increased mobility.

The Spanish report mentions that the challenge is not only one of investing in information (new information technologies) but of better co-ordinating information with those responsible in the personnel offices. The management of knowledge aims at increasing the level of competence of the organisation (and not of the mass of individuals) and encouraging practices to share knowledge. This means a strategy for improved sharing of information. This technique, which is not only about “stockpiling” knowledge, may contribute to reducing the adverse consequences of the departure of personnel. Consequently, this model does not work along formal and hierarchical lines, but on the basis of an informal model.

4.3. Knowledge by organisational reform

The challenge with regard to knowledge stored in written form is mainly one of organisation. However, as the Belgian report mentions, the management of institutional knowledge and of the different organisations is still “embryonnaire”. For example, the Portuguese report mentions that an intranet system has been set up with a view to promoting the sharing of knowledge and the dissemination of information at the internal level of organisations. However, use of this intranet is still not widespread. Traditional written support is more usual, mainly due to lack of experience in the use of this data processing system

The Copernicus reforms in Belgium provide an example of how to incorporate Knowledge Management into day-to-day activities. They include the appointment of a Knowledge Officer within the Federal Administration (similarly to measures envisaged in Luxembourg). The actual content of this position still needs to be defined.

While traditional methods of disseminating information, such as the monthly newsletter, still persist, many new channels have been created by information technology. Many countries have expressed the desire to develop better networks across agencies to share knowledge. In Ireland, an intranet covering the whole of the Civil Service has been in operation for a number of years. This serves as a vehicle for the efficient exchange of information and e-mail between departments and also provides a platform to deliver public information to the

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Internet. Shared databases and electronic discussion forums supporting cross-departmental communities of interest are available on the intranet. The intranet facility is being refined further in the context of the Irish Government’s e-Government strategy, with sectoral intranets serving the Health, Education, Justice and Environment and Local Government sectors being developed.

Several Irish Government departments have implemented case tracking systems, with staff recording information on activities (phone calls, meetings) and information (documents, e-mails/faxes, phone messages) arising under specific projects within a department or during interactions with clients and the general public.

In Luxembourg a “ Knowledge Centre” has been established. In addition, the “Knowledge Management” project for Luxembourg parliamentarians has been started; this should enrich and improve the existing model for storing information. In addition, several projects have started within the Ministry of the Public Service and State Reform, such as the RACE project (Réforme de l’Etat par la Coopération Electronique), a knowledge and documentation management programme.

4.4. Creating information networks and information systems

In addition to generating and sharing information among employees, databases can be a valuable resource for Human Resource Managers. In Italy, the Department of the Public Service promoted projects a few years ago to create and maintain virtual but also physical network connections among groups of civil servants with similar functions in order to share best practices, information and knowledge. These projects have been established as a means of helping implement reforms in three main areas: administrative decentralisation, regulatory reform and management improvement.

In Finland, the Ministry of Finance has established a hierarchy of information systems, from operational and basic systems to the executive information support system (EIS). These information systems are hierarchical:

A personnel strategy information system for the top management of the state (EIS) containing a great deal of information about personnel and pay structures and their development, job satisfaction and turnover.

A human resources accounting system (HRA) for agencies. This also includes models and methods to assess skills and competencies as resources in a strategic management process at the agency level. In addition,

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the HRA is the systematic measurement and analysis system as regards the costs and benefits of alternative personnel policies and the valuation of the human resources represented by the organisation’s employees. Personnel inputs include number and structure, working hours, labour costs, travel costs, demand and supply of labour. The system also contains an ADP solution for conducting job satisfaction enquiries within the agencies. The HRA results are produced every year at central and local levels. They are available to top management and personnel managers.

A labour market and personnel costs planning information system (HELMI-INFO) which is the information and calculation system for personnel managers and financial directors.

A VPL method or State Pay Statistics Classification system which makes it possible to retrieve pay information, regardless of the job evaluation method. VPL also produces some comparison information from other sectors.

Finally, another important staff register system is based at the Ministry of Finance/Personnel Department.

4.5. Creating an “e-Culture”

In general, one of the biggest challenges seems to be that of overcoming the reluctance of people to utilise the new information and/or KM systems. A number of Member States have initiated training or information programmes in order to better adapt their employees to the latest developments in information technology. Austria has started an initiative for its federal employees to receive a European Computer licence. The aim of this initiative is to enable as many employees as possible learn how to deal with Information and Communication Technology. Within this context one should also mention a number of programmes in the field of computer-based training and e-Learning Programmes in the federal administration.

The Irish Government is actively pursuing the opportunities afforded by new information and communications technologies under its Action Plan for the Information Society. The Action Plan covers activities in the areas of e-government, e-commerce, Access and Awareness. The development of an e-Culture within the administration is considered a key to streamlining the administrative process and to the successful delivery of e-government. In turn, an e-enabled administration will act as an important example for business and the general public in the use of the electronic medium.

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A coherent and cohesive approach to e-government, defined under the e-Public Services delivery model (the e-Broker model) approved by government, is being implemented by REACH, a new cross-organisational unit. E-Broker will provide a central access point to government services and will impose specific responsibilities on departments, including:

tailoring and managing public information being made available to citizens and business through the e-Broker;

sharing information with other departments in the context of the delivery of packaged/integrated services relating to specific “life episodes” and “business events”.

4.6. Changing of power structures through exchange and dissemination of information

Information networks prompt a change in traditional power structures by allowing more people to have access to information and circles of influence. In some cases, sharing knowledge with colleagues appears to be a factor of growing significance in performance evaluations.

A number of Member States report that the development of KM entails a change in traditional power structures by allowing more people to have access to information and circles of influence. On the one hand, power shifts towards those who hold the information, particularly in organisations where knowledge is considered to be power –something to be monopolised rather than shared. On the other hand, some organisations understand that Knowledge Management is a vehicle for sharing information, for reaching consensus on objectives and values, and for using a common language. Spain notes that the development of KM results in a change of the traditional power structures, allowing more people access to information and channels of influence. Since Knowledge Management is a vehicle for shared learning, for common understanding of goals and values, it may result in a different culture and a different concept of the Public Service.

The rapid changes bring into question the traditional organisational model, which is based on the concept of the “hierarchy”. This problem is highlighted in the French report: direct access to information enables civil servants to enter into direct contact with citizens. This development reveals a new ethical problem (for example because direct replies are given without the hierarchical order being respected) and may cause deficits in the coherence of government replies to citizens. In other words, the possession of information does not necessarily mean that it is used correctly. Consequently, it seems that collective knowledge is not as effectively managed as individual knowledge.

Like Spain, Germany notes that the exchange of knowledge depends more on the administrative culture than on the existence of information technologies.

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Changes initiated through the introduction of new information technologies make sense only when they are supported by a given communication culture that supports these initiatives. The decision in favour of a specific concept of KM is always simultaneously a decision in favour of a certain culture that supports and enhances the exchange of knowledge and information. It therefore changes personal behaviour. On the other hand, change will be difficult if this culture is not yet in place and if employees are not ready and/or willing to share information. The Portuguese report mentions the persistent tendency among employees to monopolise knowledge, thus trying to use it as means of obtaining power, something that is typical for other countries as well.

The behaviour of Senior Managers is therefore important in the sense that they should act as “catalysts” and assume an important role. One important precondition for a successful KM system is the motivation of the employees and their competence in accumulating knowledge (these criteria might be more important than the relevant Information Technologies). The increase – quantitative and qualitative – in information and knowledge is an enormous challenge for the people who wish to use this knowledge. For example, people need to be taught the proper use of information and also how to make choices in selecting relevant, significant information. In doing this, they need to be able to select, organise, integrate and evaluate information. In this context, the ability and competence to deal with change becomes a key qualification.

4.7. Open communication with the public

A few countries mentioned the importance of increased interaction with the public via new technologies.

In Ireland, electronic consultation forums will increasingly be used to support interaction with the general public. These forums will provide opportunities for the public to: contribute to policy development; respond to draft legislation – an electronic forum was created during the

drafting stage of the Electronic Commerce Act 2000; exploit e-democracy spin-offs from e-government, for example by expressing

views or objecting to planning permits for construction work or reporting problems with public services.

The Portuguese strategy in the field of Knowledge Management focuses on open communication with its customers, citizens, and economic and social agents. The following initiatives have been adopted within this framework:

e-mail for all Directorates-General – and services with the same status – has been made compulsory;

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connection to the Internet for the majority of public services; access by Internet to relevant administrative information; “Digital Cities” project to be implemented in the near future with a view to

integrating public services, cultural associations, schools and businesses into a digital network for easy access by the average person, in order to attenuate distances and increase accessibility to information and new services;

a programme of online services designed to deal, in the first phase, with requests for birth, marriage and death certificates; incorporation deeds, and land property certificates;

INFOCID – information to citizens, which disseminates a variety of relevant administrative information via the Internet and also via electronic kiosks.


It is clear from the answers received from the Member States and the European Commission that they are anxious to put in place a type of Knowledge Management programme (KM), but that they often lack the experience or knowledge to do so.

The advantage of the Knowledge Management concept (as a follow-up and further development of the “learning organisation”) is that it has led to the perception that it is not only individuals but also organisations that need to learn continuously. In practice, however, very few conceptual approaches are applied that lead to a learning organisation. Despite all its limitations, the concept of Knowledge Management has created awareness that the organisations need to adapt their structures and processes in order to manage the changes which are taking place. The answers given by the Directors-General confirm this trend.

Knowledge Management applies to individuals (competences, qualifications, intelligence) and simultaneously to organisations (collective intelligence, “collective mind”). The challenge of KM is to transform the mass of individual and organisational data into information and finally into individual and organisational knowledge. This process is supported by the use of information technologies.

a) Filtering and managing information

For every civil servant, the availability of information is increasing. Electronic mail, web pages, Intramail and reports… how does one decide which dossiers are important, which should be retained or accepted and which can be ignored and deleted? In the context of Knowledge Management, this selection can be defined as a filtering process which is carried out by the knowledge official or

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even an IT system42. Both top civil servants and other employees are overwhelmed with information and often confronted by conflicting information (there are, for example, a number of different statistics relating to public employment in the Member States of the European Union – which one should one believe?). This information needs to be evaluated and assessed. It is not the information which is important as such but the capacity to transform it into knowledge and competencies. In this context, it is useful to distinguish between data, information and knowledge43. Knowledge is acquired through a filtering process of data and information. Knowledge Management in this sense is the ability to filter and manage data and information through “relevance screening” and “knowledge appreciation”. Some Member States have therefore set up a filtering process by establishing a “Knowledge Management centre” or by nominating “Knowledge Management officials”.

b) The difference between individual learning and organisational learning

New knowledge always begins with the individual. In each case, an individual’s personal knowledge is transformed into organisational knowledge valuable to the organisation as a whole. Making personal knowledge available to others is the central activity of the knowledge-creating company. This is difficult at best. On the one hand, creating and sharing knowledge are activities that can neither be supervised nor imposed by people. They happen only when people co-operate willingly. However, managers often continue to believe that knowledge is power and that they can retain power only by keeping what they know to themselves44. Knowledge Management has a task here – how can we open up people’s minds?

Public organisations, in particular, carry with them a large number of traditions, symbols and principles. This can be described as implicit (or tacit) knowledge. One difficulty here is to be found in the fact that – in accordance with the various different national traditions – public services, ministries, agencies, corps etc. are different and have their own values and principles.

Where individuals and organisational learning are concerned, we can differentiate between additional factors that limit the path of the Knowledge Management process45:

42 See Godbout, A.J., Filtering knowledge, Changing knowledge into knowledge assets, Technical Document 9867, unpublished, no year.43 Data constitutes one of the primary forms of information but does not carry meaning. Information extends the concept of data into a broader meaningful context. Information becomes knowledge “when it is accepted and retained by an individual as being a proper understanding of what is true and a valid interpretation of reality”. See Godhout, ibid.44 Kim, W.C./Mauborgne, R., “Fair Process: Managing in the Knowledge Economy”, in: Harvard Business Review, July-August 1997, p. 70 and 74.45 Alex, B./Becker, D./Stratmann, J., “Ganzheitliches Wissensmanagement und wertorientierte Unternehmensführung”, in: Götz, loc. cit. p. 51.

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Organisational limitations resulting from traditions, symbols, principles (lack of openness to new information and developments);

Lack of awareness of individuals about sharing knowledge; Lack of communication among individuals and organisations (intra-ministerial

or inter-ministerial); Lack of motivation to share knowledge; Lack of capacities/resources/structures (lack of or use of IT).

The answers of the Directors-General reveal the existence of four levels of knowledge and possibilities to change knowledge46. These levels can be seen as a pyramid. In general, only the tip of the iceberg is visible, with the processes (decision-making processes), national contexts (political context, administrative context) and traditions in which knowledge is created, managed and changed being much less visible.

Data, Information ProcessesContexts

Culture, Tradition

c) Organisational learning

As regards organisational learning, discussions and popular management theories about learning organisations have often been too abstract, utopian and filled with “near mystical terminology”. Peter Senge, who popularised the concept of learning organisations in his book The Fifth Discipline, described them as places “where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning how to learn together”47. Often, the recommendations made are far too abstract, and too many questions remain unanswered. Most discussions are highly philosophical and critical issues remain unsolved48.

46 See also: Willke, H., “Nagelprobe des Wissensmanagements: Zum Zusammenspiel von personalem und organisatorischem Wissen”, in: Götz, K. (Editor), Wissensmanagement, Munich und Mering, 3rd edition 2000, p.29.47 Garvin, D.A., “Building a learning organisation”, in: Harvard Business Review, July-August 1993, p. 7848 Garvin, D.A., loc.cit, p. 78/79.

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Knowledge, Intelligence and Learning are ancient topics. It is unclear, however, how public organisations such as ministries and agencies and their staff can create intelligence and knowledge and then manage knowledge.

d) The role of technologies in Knowledge Management

In general, the notion of Knowledge Management combines the individual with the organisation. Because of these two aspects, some “Knowledge Management theories” focus on the technical elements (new information technologies, new types of communication networks, data management) while others focus on personnel policies (skills development, competence development, training etc.). Most answers to the questionnaire focused on technical aspects in the field of knowledge Management (for example through the introduction of new information technologies). We believe that the weakness of a purely technocratic approach is that it remains a purely supportive mechanism. … As long as knowledge grows faster than human understanding, the quest for the ultimate system seems a holy grail. To a certain extent and for the foreseeable future, building a useful knowledge base may have to remain a humble operation at a human scale”49.

The focus on the technological aspects in the replies of the DGs may reveal that concepts which focus on the knowledge Management of the staff (through communication) and the simultaneous knowledge Management of processes and structures are barely applied. The question, however, is whether both concepts have to be looked at together (see for example the German answer to the question).

In removing these obstacles, the following instruments are available:

Establishment of a knowledge concept; Creation of a picture of the existing knowledge; Changing knowledge processes; Changing knowledge technology; Evaluating knowledge processes; Improving communication.

Finally, managing knowledge may involve setting objectives and imposing structures (organisational reforms, new types of decision-making etc.), improving communication (motivation, learning together, changing the culture etc.) and technological reform (introducing new networks, improving data management systems, etc.). 49 See Godbout, A.J., loc.cit.

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Annex:

Belgian Presidency of the European Union

May 2001

PREPARATORY SURVEY FOR THE 37th MEETING OF THE DIRECTORS-GENERAL OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE OF THE MEMBER STATES OF THE

EUROPEAN UNION (Bruges, 26 and 27 November 2001):

“New Approaches in the Field of Human Resource Management in the Public Administrations of the Member States of the European Union”

Contents:

1. The attractiveness of the public service and the development of competence2. The recruitment and the development of competence of senior officials3. Decentralisation/deconcentration in the field of HRM – reconciling flexibility

with control4. Knowledge management

1. The attractiveness of the public service and the development of competence

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Generally, people are attracted by posts in the public sector because of the greater job security than in the private sector, as well as the better working conditions and – generally – the wider range of possibilities to combine private with professional life.Public sector employees for the most part enjoy their work and appreciate being in the public sector. However, empirical analysis shows that the higher the education, the more hesitant people are to apply for a job in the public sector. As the level of qualifications of people working in the public sector is rising, it is likely that: people will be more hesitant to accept jobs in the public sector and civil servants will be ready to leave the public sector for the private sector.

Consequently, governments need to make additional efforts to increase the attractiveness of jobs in the public sector. To this end, improving the image of the public sector seems to be important. There are a number of factors which might play an important role in attracting people to a job in the public sector and in whether the public sector can attract highly qualified staff in particular: In general, people give high priority to the content of their work, the possibility to combine private with professional life and to career development opportunities. Though salary does not come first, it is nevertheless generally an important criterion in the decision-making process when looking for a job. It is difficult to compare salaries in the public sector with those in the private sector (working hours are different, as is the work content, and the educational requirements may differ too). However, it seems to be the case that in some countries the salaries for people with lower educational qualifications in the public sector is comparable or higher than for people in the private sector. Often, the higher the education and function, the lower the salary in comparison to the private sector. In some countries, jobs in the education and health sector are particularly badly paid.

Within the next decade, the public sector will have to deal with a number of challenges, such as:

In all the ageing societies within the EU, the competition with the private sector to find highly skilled experts is likely to increase. The recruitment of civil servants may become more difficult as fewer people enter the labour market.

The attractiveness of the public sector must be maintained and enhanced. To this end, a number of factors need to be examined and evaluated (the image of the public sector, career possibilities, training possibilities, the salary level and salary development, combining work with private life (distance, transport possibilities, etc.), job security, working hours, fulfilment of a public task,

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social security (the available pension), working atmosphere (with colleagues, with superiors, etc.), possibilities to combine family life with work, etc.

The public sector may have to face that there is an increasing need among civil servants for mobility between the private and public sector and within the public sector.

In the future, the number of women in senior positions is likely to increase further. At the same time, further measures will be introduced to better combine professional careers with family life.

From now on, the public services will face constant changes (new tasks, new roles, the growing impact of information technologies, changing working relationships, new forms of organisation and communication, etc.) that will have a direct impact on the image of the public services. This image must therefore be constantly adapted to the changes taking place in society.

Question 1.1: What are the incentives/measures that are being/will be introduced in your country in order to respond to these challenges (maximum two pages)?

2. Recruitment and development of competence of senior officials

In the Member States, there is a growing tendency to try to reconcile political objectives with the real and increasingly apparent needs for managerial know-how in the management of public administration. The changing character of both the intra-national and international environment of administrations, as well as new tasks and functions, new complexities and the growing demand from civil society for quality public services, are all factors which have a direct impact on the process of promoting/appointing senior civil servants. Nowadays, senior civil servants are required to have skills/capacities in e.g. the following areas:

Leadership skills (decision-making, steering, flexibility, result-oriented approach, etc.)

Team-working (motivating, finding compromises, listening, etc.) Communication (languages, convincing, etc.) Strategic vision (anticipation, planning, vision) Negotiation on an international platform (language and negotiation skills) Networking (organisation, communication) Capacities with which to initiate and manage change (determination, strategic

vision, understanding of obstacles, etc.)

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Questions:

2.1. How are these new requirements for managerial skills taken into account in the promotion procedures for senior civil servants in your country? What role does training for senior officials play in this context?

2.2. What will the educational profile of tomorrow’s senior civil servants be (predominance of lawyers, political scientists or those with more general educational qualifications)? Do you think that the traditional educational requirements will (have to) change over time?

2.3. In the initial recruitment process of senior officials, do you plan to introduce new recruitment methods/procedures? Is it possible to recruit senior officials from the private sector?

3. Decentralisation/deconcentration in the field of HRM – reconciling flexibility with control/accountability

Recently, a number of Member States have adopted a more decentralised/deconcentrated approach to personnel management (esp. in the fields of recruitment, remuneration, evaluation, training policies and social dialogue). Other Member States have moved to a devolved system where special agencies have taken over new roles and responsibilities in personnel management.Often, these measures are combined with the introduction of some forms of control or the creation of accountability systems/mechanisms (regular reporting, guidelines, regular monitoring, the setting of certain limits, etc.).

Questions:3.1. In cases where decentralised personnel management measures have been introduced in your country, what forms of control/accountability are used to make managers responsible for their decisions?

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3.2. Please also describe how HRM is organised in your country (please only mention measures taken at the central/federal level)?

4. Knowledge management

Against a background of constant technological and scientific innovation, economic and social change and international cooperation (and competition), the updating and acquisition of new skills and qualifications of employees in the public services are critical to economic development and competitiveness. The notions of life-long learning and life-long training (especially as regards the constant upgrading to respond to new technological developments) have gained ground in this respect. It seems that knowledge and skills are becoming ever more powerful instruments in international competition. The accumulation of knowledge and information is increasingly posing problems as regards its management. Three main principles can be identified as regards knowledge management, i.e.: The growth of new information; The use of existing information; The organisation and management of information.

In addition, a distinction can be made between two types of knowledge:One is the knowledge acquired by the individual through his/her experience and training and which is conveyed through the spoken word.The other is written material such as research, data, and the press, and is codified.The challenge to be taken up by HRM is to create knowledge management (KM) systems which promote both the development of knowledge and the use that is made of these two areas.

Knowledge management issues and countries’ strategies in that field: Knowledge conveyed through the spoken word: how do you “store”

knowledge after employees have left the public sector? Knowledge through codification: how do you use information technologies to

manage knowledge stored in writing? Strategic management of knowledge: measures aimed at generating

knowledge and sharing it with the employees, e.g. databases containing competence profiles of staff;

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Creating an e-culture: how to overcome the great reluctance of people to use new KM systems?

Changing power structures: information networks prompt a change in traditional power structures by allowing more people to have access to information and circles of influence. On the one hand, power shifts towards those who hold the information, particularly in organisations where knowledge is considered to be power – a good to be monopolised rather than shared. On the other hand, some organisations understand that knowledge management is a vehicle for sharing information, for reaching consensus on objectives and values, and for using a common language, while it also enables a unified representation of an agency’s mission. In some cases, sharing knowledge with colleagues seems to increasingly be a factor in performance evaluations.

Open communication with the public: the importance of growing interaction with the public through new technologies.

Questions/commentaries:4.1. Could you please either answer the various questions or comment on them on the basis of your own experience?

** *

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Practical information:

Your answers, in English or French only, should be returned by electronic mail only by 25 July 2001 at the latest to: - the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA), for the attention of the person in charge of this study, Dr Christoph DEMMKE, Senior Lecturer ([email protected]), tel: 00.31.43.32.96.225., and for the attention of his colleague Dr Jean-Michel EYMERI, Senior Lecturer ([email protected]), tel: 00.31.43.32.96.286. - The Belgian Federal Ministry of the Public Service, Bureau ABC, for the attention of Mr Jean-Marc DOCHOT, Public Service Adviser, ([email protected] ), tél.00.32.2.790.54.09 ; fax.00.32.2.790.55.99

Distribution of results:

At the end of this survey, a summary report will be distributed to all delegations before the meeting in Bruges, and put on line on the Extranet site of the Belgian Presidency; the full replies of each Member State will also be put on line.

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