1. HRWG Work Report
Ljubljana, 28 May 2008

2. HRWG Priorities in MTP for 2008/2009
Two working areas in MTP
Public administration values and
Strategic management
Work in both areas during the Slovenian Presidency

3. Working area: PA Values
Item: Promotion of trust and quality
Activities:
Identification of factors and practices that contribute to promote trust and transparency in PA
Goals:
Promote transparency, ethics, integrity and confidence-building in the public service and in relationship between PA and general public
Identify positive developments, success factors and practices, which may enhance trust in PA

4. Conditions for better knowledge management (MOBILITY!)
Working area: Strategic Management
Item: Management for change
Activities:
Identification of leadership skills of senior staff, development of competencies/leadership
Conditions for better knowledge management (MOBILITY!)
Goals:
Identify leadership competencies for managing changes.
Facilitate cross-border mobility

5. HRWG - 2 meetings
28-29 January 2008, Brdo
23 April 2008, Brussels

6. HRWG 3 main topics
Study 1: What are Public Service good at? Success of Public Services in the Field of Human Resource Management (Study by EIPA) 363 responses all levels (incl. 43 top-managers)
Study 2: Leadership Competencies for Change Management (Study by FOS) 284 completed responds of Top and Middle management
Survey: Proposals and solutions in the field of Mobility (employment, secondment, exchange programs)

7. Success of Public Services in the Field of Human Resource Management
Study 1
What are Public Service good at?
Success of Public Services in the Field of Human Resource Management
(Christoph Demmke, Thomas Henökl, EIPA)

8. Findings and preliminary results of the study
4. Findings and preliminary results: general observations
Findings and preliminary results of the study
General picture optimistic: HR policies generally improved
Successes
public services more customer-oriented and citizen-friendly
HR reforms successful in reducing administrative costs and burdens
equality between sexes improved
civil servants better qualified
ethical standards better known and ethical attitudes improved

9. 4. Findings and preliminary results: general observations
Example: Overall picture of the HR-policy improvements within the last 15 years

10. Critical developments in the field of HR
In some areas no (clear) improvements:
staff is not rewarded for good performance
public sector unsuccessful in managing poor performance
performance rewards not more transparent and quicker
performance assessment systems too subjective
some other problems
with mobility policies between public and private sectors and between EU Member States,
with (unfair) promotion procedures and (increased) HR rules

11. State’s competitiveness as an employer: public-private comparisons
respondents considered work in the public sector as attractive and would recommend it to friends or family
however, generally, private sector is considered to be more competitive
public sector is thought to be
quite competitive as to working time and pensions (differences in EU-countries),
less competitive with salaries and various HR policies (differences in EU-countries)

12. Respondents are very positive as regards
Developments in one’s own organisation and job
Respondents are very positive as regards
their work content,
working atmosphere
working conditions
job responsibility
feedback and communication from colleagues and
job autonomy

13. Conclusions and suggestions
The preliminary findings are promising - advisable to continue cross-country HR comparisons in future.
!Larger (representative) sample size to be collected
Public Services must become better in marketing and perception management

14. Studies performed in HRWG were very interesting - a lot of useful information
BUT
As they are based on detailed questionnaires, they are also very demanding:
for performers and also for SC who have to prepare answers to the questionnaires
The studies can hardly be completed during one presidency, not enough time for discussion of interesting results, difficulty to draw lessons from studies in the given (shortage of) time

15. It should be considered how to do carry out high-quality studies (and getting the necessary number of responses) without causing to much administrative burdens:
Extend studies over 2-3 presidencies (realistic?)
Translate the questionnaires in more member states languages (costs?)
Distribute the questionnaires more widely and reach more persons (availability of ICT, how?)
Availability of a central secretariat which would manage the study (like in OECD), manage it through longer periods, irrespective of current Presidency

16. Leadership Competencies for Change Management
Study 2
Leadership Competencies for Change Management
(Milan Pagon, FOS)

17. ! Leadership - critical component for successful policy implementation and change management
CAF- Criterion 1: Leadership ! WHAT THEY HAVE TO DO
? Which are the right leadership competencies – in order to face a changing environment effectively? Are they inherent or can they be trained?

18. SUCCESSFUL CHANGE MANAGEMENT
ANTECEDENTS
SUCCESSFUL CHANGE MANAGEMENT
LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES FOR SUCCESSFUL CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Productivity
Relationship Quality
Number of Conflicts
Cooperation
Organizational Culture and Climate
Organizational Learning Curve
Goal Attainment
Change Implementation
Employee Satisfaction
Motivation
Adaptability
Customer
Satisfaction
Superior Agency’s Satisfaction
Etc.
COGNITIVE
Divergent Thinking
Critical Thinking
Creativity
Problem Solving
Analytical Skills
Strategic Thinking
Numerical Abilities
Etc.
FUNCTIONAL
Language and
Communication
Skills
Technological
Skills (IT, media...)
Intercultural Competencies
Learning Abilities
Personal Development and Career Planning Skills
Managerial Skills
Decision Making Skills
Etc.
PERSONAL /
SOCIAL
Self-Direction
Interpersonal Skills
Teamwork
Skills
Compassion
Integrity
Mobilizing People
Stress Management
Ethical
Dimensions
Etc.
Personality
Values
Attitudes
Education
Training
Mentoring
Coaching
Consulting
On-the-Job Training
Characteristics of the Environment
Work Experience
Etc. 18

19. Hierarchies of control Conformity Impersonality of work
Traditional Values
Instruments of Reform
New Cultural Values
Hierarchies of control
Conformity
Impersonality of work
Authority through position
Command-control paradigm
TRANSORMATION
Citizens empowerment
End of lifelong career
Policy dialogue
Normalisation of employment conditions
Delegation of authority
Performance-oriented focus
Subtle leadership
Accountability
Openness
Transparency
Efficiency
Effectiveness
Authority through leadership
Managerial culture

20. Main result and conclusion
Selecting managers for public administration doesn't require the search for "supermen".
All that is necessary is to find people with the right mindset
(who believe they can influence what is happening in their organisations without attributing too much importance to chance and to powerful others – locus of control)
and to provide them with enough and good training!

21. Training - in the areas of
Multicultural skills
Understanding, innovating and changing the organization
Emotional intelligence and self-control
People skills.

22. By training people with the right mindset new cultural values in public administration will be encouraged and fears and resistance to change will be reduced;
furthermore - training has positive effects on competencies !

23. The basic issue in the HRWG focused on employment in other PA.
MOBILITY
The basic issue in the HRWG focused on employment in other PA.
Questions were
legislation according employment of non state residents (recognition of professional qualifications, social security, taxation)
an overview of legislation was prepared
Glossary
NCP - network

24. We realized that other forms of mobility are in practice in MS:
During the Portuguese EU-Presidency it was realised, that there is not much interest in this kind of mobility and that NCPs are not very busy
We realized that other forms of mobility are in practice in MS:
Secondment
Exchange schemes…

25. The purpose of stimulating mobility is not only to exchange skills and to find solutions on a specific issue, but also to improve:
intercultural communication
understanding each other
to become familiar with organizational cultures
to improve the experts networks and
other possibilities which can help the EU MS to become more connected, transparent and understandable

26. Cross-border mobility of civil servants
– 3 main issues
- promotion of bilateral agreements and exchange programs in all EU Member States;
starting point for the promotion of cross-border mobility is better use of Your Europe website (
NCP Network as HRWG subgroup merges with HRWG.

27. Proposals for resolution related to
Your Europe website:
It should be completed and updated by all EU MS;
Updating will be done in cooperation with editorial board of the website;
EU MS are encouraged to provide the name and/or contact address/functional mailbox of the person in charge of informing about mobility issues;
DG will be informed on regular basis about the current state of play in the field of mobility;
The task of informing DG shall be included in the EUPAN handbook.

28. Merging of NCP Network with HRWG
does not mean the extinction of NCP functions;
NCP functions will be assumed by HRWG;
Civil servants having performed NCP functions may keep performing them in the future for HRWG;
Each EU MS decides how it will organize the work for HRWG.