Activities of the Human Resources Working Group Stefan Ritter stefan.ritter@bka.gv.at

Agenda Cross-Border Mobility of Public Sector Workers Information on the Structure of the Civil and Public Services of the EU Member and Accession States Decentralisation and Accountability as Focus of Public Administration Modernisation

Cross-Border Mobility of Public Sector Workers Initiative of Austrian Presidency to update and complete mobility-related information (including Accession States) Based on Report on different issues specific for mobility (2000) „Mobility between the Public Sectors in the European Union – a collection of information and guidelines“ (done by the Danish Presidency 2002) National contributions and analysis to be published on www.eupan.org Mobility put on the agenda of Social Dialogue

Cross-Border Mobility of Public Sector Workers Main areas of interest: Nationality Condition Recognition of Diplomas Recognition of Professional Experience and Seniority other legal specificities of cross-border mobility of public sector workers (language requirements,…) other aspects of cross-border mobility of public sector workers (best practices)

Information on the Structure of the Civil and Public Services of the EU Member and Accession States Document elaborated during Irish Presidency, updated during Luxembourg Presidency Information on Structure of public service Number of public servants Number of Ministries Structure within each Ministry Department with responsibility for HR policy Current HR reforms Management Summary “Civil and Public Services in the European Union: Facts and Figures”

Decentralisation and Accountability Mid Term Programme: Public Administration Modernisation Study by Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration and EIPA In close cooperation with IPSG Workshops at 1st HRWG Meeting 2 Focuses: Accountability and Consequences for HRM Case Studies: EC, Spain; Finland, Austria Decentralisation and Accountability as Focus of Public Administration Modernisation: Challenges and Consequences for HRM Questionnaire divided into 5 sectors: Public Administration Modernisation (key factors, most important topics,…) Decentralising and Centralising Public Administration (typical decision making situations, asked which levels are typically involved) Strengthening accountability (forms of accountability, political, legal, control measures in HRM) Perspectives for HRM (how does decentralisation affect HRM) Additional Information (organisation of a typical ministry (of finance), staff number…) Workshops: GUARANTEEING ACCOUNTABILITY IN A DECENTRALISED ENVIRONMENT – CHALLENGES AND CONSEQUENCES FOR LEADERSHIP (Hammerschmid) DECENTRALISATION: CHALLENGES AND CONSEQUENCES FOR HUMAN RESSOURCE MANAGEMENT (Demmke)

Decentralisation and Accountability Survey with participation of all EU Member States, EC and the Accession States First comparative study in this area Draft report available beginning of May Feedback possible until mid May

Public Administration Modernisation E-government consistently the most important topic Accountability high on the agenda in most countries NPM topics superseded by good governance topics Size relevant regarding accountability and decentralisation Main focus on head count reductions (eg. Austria, Cyprus, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Malta, Slovenia, Sweden) Tendency of strongly centralized approaches

Decentralisation Administrative/managerial decentralisation eg. Austria, Estonia, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Sweden, UK Political (multi-level) decentralisation eg. Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Slovakia, Spain Budgetary decentralisation eg. Austria, France, EC HR decentralisation Horizontal: from central-HR unit to single ministries/agencies eg. Austria, Hungary, Ireland, Malta, Poland, Spain, Sweden, UK, EC Vertical: increasing amount of discretion given to line managers eg. Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Sweden Regional  eg. Greece, Sweden HR-decentralisation less relevant than political, administrative and budgetary decentralisation

Outcome of Decentralisation Performance/productivity improvements Increased citizen satisfaction due to increased service speed and quality more flexible HRM functions better suited to local needs More compatible pay levels Increased focus on tasks and performance accountability Increased motivation Empowerment of management Regional benefits Need for increased coordination and accountability Duplications and resource/competence deficits Danger of wage bill inflation Lack of transparency Increasing politicisation

Accountability Performance accountability gaining relevance Broad spectrum of tools and instruments to ensure accountability: regulation (laws, guidelines)  dominating form supervision (hierarchical control, audits)  high relevance managerial/performance instruments  high relevance personnel contacts / informal control / networks  high relevance information dissemination Codes of Ethics, good governance, values External (transparency, Ombudsman etc.)

Consequences for HRM Considerable changes for central HR units: reduction of direct control along with increasing controlling tasks Shift of focus from administrative to strategic / policy tasks proactive leadership functions Decentralisation results in the need for further training and development of managerial skills Most countries with government-wide management training programmes (voluntary or compulsory) and specific institutes Strong focus on strategic management, policy making, leadership skills, ethics Increasing relevance for institutionalising possibilities to share information and good practices

Thank you for your attention!