1 CYPRUS ACADEMY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION (CAPA) DISPA meeting – Directors of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration 19 – 20 May 2011 CHALLENGES FACED BY PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONS: TOWARDS A MORE STRATEGIG APPROACH TO LEARNING Eleni Gereoudakis Head, Cyprus Academy of Public Administration May 2011

2 CHALLENGES FACED BY PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONS Background: Financial recession and austerity: strain on public finances. Shift from an industrial-based economy and society to a knowledge-based, digital economy and society. Reform has been in the agenda of many public administrations for years but much remains to be achieved.

3 CHALLENGES FACED BY PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONS (continued) Background: Citizens´ expectations from public administration are high (more educated and better informed citizens). Trade unions and staff are still are resistant to transformational change. Complex environment requiring new methods of working Many governments do not have the political will for long-term, transformational strategic change.

4 THE PUBLIC SECTOR IS AT A TURNING POINT: In order to overcome the financial crisis most governments have undertaken reforms which are short- term and short-sighted, concentrating on reducing costs and staff. However, these reforms are not enough: what is needed is systematic change to bring about strategic transformation of public administration with long-term impact to make it more performance-oriented and responsive to citizens` needs. The financial crisis should therefore, be looked upon as an opportunity.

5 SOME EXPERIENCES FROM PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REFORM EFFORTS A study of the relevant literature shows that: Previous reforms were too narrow in their focus and did not address the underlying incentives and dynamics of the systems they were trying to change. Changing rules, practices and processes does not necessarily lead to change in behaviour and culture. The new complex, changing environment demands high-quality leadership and management to drive the reform efforts. Learning and training have a pivotal role to play.

6 Implications for training and development Learning and development should be further incorporated in organisational strategies and planning processes to become more strategic. Leadership and management development should always be high on the agenda.

7 ROLE OF EUROPEAN TRAINING INSTITUTES: THE CASE OF THE CYPRUS ACADEMY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION (CAPA) 1. Background: Cyprus has been affected by the financial crisis. Absence of a “holistic” strategic approach to public administration reform efforts, which nowadays concentrate mainly on controlling costs. Absence of performance-oriented culture. Public administration employees possess high academic qualifications. They are excellent technocrats, but are promoted through the career system, on the basis of relevant schemes of service, which do not demand any management qualifications.

8 Weaknesses of the Cyprus civil service Non-structural informal Weakness Absence of strategic direction and vision Day-to-day routine constitutes main activity of civil service managers and professional staff Strategic management and planning constitutes secondary duty Existing culture, values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviours do not favour improvement. Strong resistance to change Structural, Formal Weaknesses Bureaucratic Organisational structures Inflexible legal procedures Inflexibility in the use of staff (Schemes of Service) Existing Recruitment and Remuneration System Existing Performance Evaluation System. Can be divided into non-structural, informal weaknesses and structural, formal weaknesses (based on the findings of applied research and workshops´ conclusions).

9 ROLE OF THE CYPRUS ACADEMY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION CAPA`S MISSION To contribute, through life-long learning and development, to the continuous improvement of the efficiency and effectiveness of the Cyprus civil service, and its modernisation, so as to render it capable to offer high-quality, citizen- centred public administration.

10 ROLE OF THE CYPRUS ACADEMY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION One of the main change agents of the Cyprus civil service. In the absence of a comprehensive strategic non for the transformation of public administration, CAPA plays an important role and initiates efforts which address mainly the non-structural, informal weaknesses, contributing to overall organisational development and performance.

11 MAIN STRATEGIES FOR THE ACHIEVEMENT OF OUR MISSION A.Establishment and support of a System for the Decentralised Management of Learning in civil service organisations. B.Development and implementation of Horizontal, civil service-wide strategic, learning initiatives. C.Learning initiatives for Local Administration organisations. D.International/Regional Activities.

12 A. DECENTRALISED MANAGEMENT OF LEARNING Objective: Strengthen the capacity of civil service organisations (Ministries, Departments, Services) to manage their learning in a systematic and decentralised way.

13 How: Through the establishment, training and continous support of a mechanism for the systematic, decentralised management of learning in each organisation. A LEARNING UNIT IN EACH CIVIL SERVICE ORGANISATION (Which is appointed by and supports civil service managers in the management of the learning function)

14 MANAGEMENT OF LEARNING IN EACH CIVIL SERVICE ORGANISATION Each Learning Unit, on an annual basis: -Carries out Learning Needs Analysis (LNA) -Prepares a Learning Action Plan. -Secures a Learning Budget. -Implements learning activities. -Evaluates the learning activities and the Action Plan as a whole.

15 VISION Learning Policy and Implementation Mechanism (Empowered Learning Unit) Learning Needs Analysis (LNA) Evaluation of Learning Activities and Learning Action Plan Implementation of Learning Action Plan Preparation of a Learning Action Plan

16 CAPA, in close cooperation with learning units, organises activities to satisfy learning units included in organisational learning action plans. Presently CAPA is in the process of formulating a policy for the budget allocated to training per staff member in each organisation.

17 B.CAPAS´ STRATEGIC, HORIZONTAL INITIATIVES 1.Newcomers 2.CAF 3.Project on the “Strategic, Leadership and Management Development of the Cyprus civil service”. 4.E-learning and electronic networking of Learning Units. 5.Preparation of the civil service in view of Cyprus's Presidency of the Council of theEU. 6.Other initiatives on European Union issues.

18 PROJECT: STRATEGIC, LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT OF THE CYPRUS CIVIL SERVICE (Co-funded by the ESF. Implementation until 2015). Objective: To strengthen the strategic, leadership and management capacity of civil service managers. More specifically the Project includes on the one hand, the diagnosis of the existing weaknesses in the strategic, leadership and management fields, and on the other the design implementation and evaluation of a programme for the development of the skills of managers in these fields.

19 The Project has two main aspects: Training Programme Development of strategic, leadership and management skills through in-class training. (Provision of management). Work-based Projects Practical application of the skills developed, in work-based projects, with the use of methodologies such as coaching and action learning (To ensure the transfer of Learning to the workplace)

20 Common Assessment Framework (CAF) –In order to maximize the coherence of and overall benefit from the work-based projects undertaken in each organization, CAPA will offer the opportunity and encourage organizations to conduct a comprehensive self- evaluation according to the EU Common Assessment Framework model (based on EFQM).

21 Three levels of Project participants Main Emphasis About 400 top managers (all top managers) 21 About 500 middle managers (all middle managers) About 1600 junior managers (about 50% of junior managers) Total number of participants: 2500