1. Benchlearning among Western Balkan PES offices
14 November 2018
This project is funded by the EU

2. About the Regional Cooperation Council
The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) is an all-inclusive, regionally owned and led cooperation framework in South East Europe, officially launched at the meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) in Sofia, on 27 February 2008.
The Employment and Social Affairs Regional Platform, funded by EU, aims to strengthen regional cooperation and institutional capacities of national administrations, employers’ and workers’ organizations, enabling them to develop and effectively implement labour market and social policy reforms in their EU enlargement process.

3. Main regional initiative under RCC auspices
SEE 2020 Strategy – Jobs and prosperity in a European Perspective
Inclusive growth is one of the main pillars of the strategy and employment and health, key dimensions of it.
By 2020, the region has committed to achieve 11 ambitious headline targets, including the creation of 1 million new jobs

4. SEE 2020 Target – Employment rate, age group 20-64

5. BENCH-LEARNING
‘bench-learning’ - the process of creating a systematic and integrated link between the benchmarking and mutual learning activities
Bench-learning
Benchmarking
Data collection
Data validation
Data assessment
Mutual learning
Identification of good practices
Evidence based mutual learning activities

6. The fundament of Benchlearning
Organisational development and performance increase
Evidence-based mutual learning
Qualitative Benchmarking
Commitment and openness

7. PES Benchlearning Cycle
PES-Report
Mutual Learning
National Action Plan
Improved Outcome
Quantitative and Qualitative Assessment
Areas of Improvement
Good Practices
Implementation of Change

8. Assessment Process Quantitative Assessment Qualitative Assessment
Data collection and analysis
Qualitative Assessment
Identify unquantifiable strengths and good practices
Database
with data of each national PES
PES-Self Assessment
External PES Assessment
Overall PES-Benchmarking comparative statistics
Valid Performance Outcomes
True Performance Enabler
Evidence-based Good Practices
Mutual Learning Process

9. Quantitative assessment
Data collection and analysis and comparative statistics on:
Transition from unemployment into employment indicator
Number of people leaving the PES unemployment records indicator
Transition into employment within 6 and 12 months of unemployment indicator
Composition of the unemployment register (by individual characteristics and geographical distribution)
Inflow and outflow
Participants to active labour market programmes

10. Key trends
Transition from unemployment into employment Western Balkans 6
2013
2014
2015
2016
Albania
9.3
14.6
16.4
21.0
BiH
18.8
20.6
25.3
Kosovo*
1.8
1.7
5.5
6.6
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
28.3
41.5
44.4
47.7
Montenegro
44.8
41.0
34.2
Serbia
27.7
30.3
33.2
37.2

11. Assessment Framework on Benchlearning
Labour market conditions
Institutional conditions
Strategic
PES management A
Design of operational processes and use of information B
Sustainable activation and management of transition C
Relations to employers D
Evidence-based design and implementation of PES services E
Effective management of partnerships and stakeholders F
Allocation of PES resources G
Output and outcome of PES
Learning
Context
Variables/
Background
Qualitative Assessment of Performance Enablers/
Self-Assessment
Bench-marking indicators
Mutual Learning
Activities
Integrated Benchlearning Concept based on EFQM-Excellence Model
Performance drivers/ enablers
Results
Iden-tify & implement reform H

12. assessment template

13. A concept for qualitative benchmarking for WB PES
Define manipulable drivers of performance: This comprises organisational solutions (in a wider sense) which can be influenced by the PES itself, like
General strategic decisions (performance management, employer strategy, strategy for building partnerships etc.)
Overarching management issues (human resource management, IT-support etc.)
Process designs (profiling, jobseeker segmentation, matching of vacancies and jobseekers etc.)
Translate the performance enablers into a measurement framework
Implement the framework into practice, i.e. assess the performance enablers in all PES in a comparable manner

14. Qualitative assessment: 29 performance enablers
Section A: Strategic performance management
A1 – Establishing the fundamentals of performance management by target-setting
A2 – Translation of targets into (key) performance indicators and measurement
A3 - Following up performance measurement
A4 – Making use of the results of performance management.

15. Qualitative assessment: 29 performance enablers (cont.)
Section B: Design of operational processes
B1 – Process definition and standardisation
B2 – Implementation of support structure
B3 – Quality management
B4 – Channel management and blended services (optional)

16. Qualitative assessment: 29 performance enablers (cont.)
Section C: Sustainable activation and management of transitions
C1 – Holistic profiling
C2 – Segmentation
C3 – Individual action plan and ALMP measures
C4 – Early intervention to avoid unemployment, and implementation of Youth Guarantee (optional)
C5 – Early engagment to reduce the duration of unemployment
C6 – Implementation of service and activation strategy (optional)

17. Qualitative assessment: 29 performance enablers (cont.)
Section D: Relations with employers
D1 – Employer strategy and management
D2 – Specialised unit for employer services (optional)
D3 – Matching vacancies and jobseekers.

18. Qualitative assessment: 29 performance enablers (cont.)
Section E: Evidence-based design and implementation of PES services
E1 – Ex-ante and ex-post evaluation
E2 – Pilot projects (optional)
E3 – Communication of evaluation results (optional)
E4 – Management of change and innovation (optional).

19. Qualitative assessment: 29 performance enablers (cont.)
Section F: Management of partnerships and stakeholders F1 – Identification and structuring of relevant stakeholders F2 – Partnership building F3 – Management of partnerships with supervising authorities (optional) F4 – Management of partnerships with social partners F5 – Management of partnerships with service providers (optional) F6 – Management of partnerships with institutions involved in the Youth Guarantee (optional)

20. Qualitative assessment: 29 performance enablers (cont.)
Section G: Allocation of PES resources
G1 – Human resource management
G2 – Budget allocation and use

21. A concept for evidence-based mutual learning
Evidence-based good practices should be the subject of mutual learning activities which can be organised in different formats like conferences, workshops, seminars
Results of these events should be translated into toolkits, practitioner guides etc. to be disseminated among PES.

22. Qualitative assessment
Self-assessment (September – November 2017):
Host PES scores itself on a 6-level scale for each enabler;
Scoring is done on the basis of available evidence that a PES has implemented organizational solutions according to the definition of excellence (“ideally”);
The more evidence is available and the more convincing it is, the higher is the score.
External assessment (November – December 2017):
Discussion on results of self-assessment with representatives of host PES;
Assessment of evidence presented by host PES;
Identification of room for improvement together with host PES;
Scoring of presented evidence.

23. Elements of qualitative assessment
Enablers: same set of 29, but /10 rule:
19 filled in by all PES
10 to be decided by PES: at least 3 out of the optional 10
Self-assessment supported by
Guidelines
Local workshops
country expert
Site visits
Self-assessment and evaluators’ report in local language, summary and comparative study in English

24. Key results Overall, the strongest areas include
sustainable activation and managing transitions between unemployment and employment
the design of operational procedures (including process standardization, development of ICT systems, profiling of unemployed)
employer relations and partnerships with key stakeholders in the labour market

25. Key results
Areas of PES work where performance can be enhanced include
evidence based design and implementation of employment measures backed up by strategic performance management
introduction of new and innovative tools
quality management
engaging employment and
resource management

26. Preliminary benchlearning findings
Strengths
Albania
Strategic management and target-setting, use of new service model, integration of PES register with other databases, autonomy of regional offices for partnerships, employer scoring system for ALMP provision, tracer system for VET graduates
BiH
HR, implementation of standardized counselling process, mobile offices, local partnerships for employment
Kosovo*
Management by objectives based on Employment Management Information System, holistic approach to profiling, early intervention, automatic matching
Montenegro
HR, well defined operational processes- new book of procedures for local offices, well-developed ICT system
Serbia
Standardized business processes and quality assurance, performance based agreements, ICT system, development of local employment action plans
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
HR, division of responsibilities, proactive approach towards employers, rich databases, good cooperation with local level actors

27. Preliminary benchlearning findings
Areas for further development
Albania
Development of HR development strategy and staff training plans, introduction of quality management system, development of employers’ strategy, monitoring and evaluation system
BiH
Fragmented operational processes, quality management system, management by objectives and development of performance indicators
Kosovo*
Lack of quality assurance, limited evaluation of measures, distribution of measures, employers’ strategy, development of multi-channel service provision
Montenegro
Stronger performance based management, evaluation of activities and measures, multi-channel services, budget constraints
Serbia
Evidence based analysis, better targeting users of special measures, multi-channel services
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Limited resources for active measures, establishment of a unit for employers, increased motivation for staff

28. Average scores in the external assessment by section and country

29. Good practices by country and enabler section
A strategy, performance management
B processes and ICT
C services and ALMP
D employers and matching
E evaluation
F quality of partners hips
G HR and funding AL A1 B2 D1 F2 BA C6 E2 MK A3 C3 D3 G1
Kosovo*
B2,B4
G1,G3 ME A4
B1,B2 C1 F4 RS
B2,B3
C3,C6
E1,E3

30. Follow up to Benchmarking
As a follow up to the benchlearning assessment, mutual exchange visits based on good practices are under way along with analytical work on establishing systems of management by objectives, developing local employment plans and assessment of IT systems of PES offices.
PES offices are encouraged to develop national action plans based on the results of the benchlearning assessment.
PES could make significant progress in the short and medium run if additional efforts were devoted to:
development of profiling systems
development of matching tools that support automatic matching on competencies
impact evaluations to support the design and implementation of services and ALMP

31. Lessons learned and way forward
The importance of building mutual trust
Comprehensiveness of the exercise demands focused site visit discussions - parallel sessions, while enhancing the peer-learning aspect
The variation in the choice of optional enablers suggests that PES used the flexibility of the guidelines and reflected on what is most relevant for them
Was initially perceived by PES as a burden, however as PES engaged in the exercise they realized that it is not an exam or a comparison, but rather a peer-learning opportunity and inspiration for developing their own PES
A highly valuable experience - opportunity to reflect on their operations and assess the existing strengths and weaknesses, which supported them in identifying their potential for further development
A new cycle to be implemented in 2020
Importance of linking up with the EU PES Network

32. Thank you for your attention!
Nand Shani
Team Leader
Employment and Social Affairs Platform
Regional Cooperation Council