1. What are Public Services Good at? Successes and Failures of Public Services in the field of Human Resource Management Study commissioned by the Slovenian Presidency of the EU Prof. Dr. Christoph Demmke/Thomas Henökl, Researcher EIPA, Timo Moilanen, Researcher, University of Helsinki 50 th Meeting of DGs responsible for Public Administration, Brdo 28/29 May 2008 Learning to build Europe

2. 50th DG meeting 28 May - What are Public Services Good at? 2 Shift the view from negative approaches and reform needs to a more realistic view: shortcomings, achievements and successes What do we know about effects of different HR- reforms during the last years? Explore the attitudes of employees and managers as to public service and HR-reforms Identify critical and positive developments and good practices as well as success factors Enhance the attractiveness of public employment 1. Assignment and interest of the study 1. Assignment

3. 50th DG meeting 28 May - What are Public Services Good at? 3 2. Methodology Online questionnaire at www.eupan.eu Target groups: EUPAN HRWG members plus Top managers Middle managers Employees from central public administrations in the EU Member States Analysis of existing studies and literature 2. Methodology

4. 50th DG meeting 28 May - What are Public Services Good at? 4 3. Response rate and classification In total 363 public employees responded to the survey –198 employees (54%) –122 middle managers (34%) –43 top mangers (12%) –49 of these were members of EUPAN network Variation among countries –participation levels from 2 (BE, LT, RO) to 101 (SK) responses Regional variation –156 responses from Eastern European countries (43%) –99 responses from Scandinavian countries (27%) –53 responses from Continental Europe (15%) –32 responses from Mediterranean countries (9%) –14 responses from Anglo-Saxon countries (4%) –9 responses from New Member states (2%) 3. Response rate and classification

5. 50th DG meeting 28 May - What are Public Services Good at? 5 General picture is optimistic: more than 65% of respondents consider that HR policies have generally improved (8% say that HR policies have failed)  see Figure 4.1 a-e However, the success of particular HR policies varies Success in the field of HRM + 60% of respondents think that public services have become more customer-oriented and citizen-friendly (11% disagree) + 45% replied that HR reforms have been successful in reducing administrative costs and burdens (24% disagree) + 60% answered that equality between sexes has improved (however, 10% of men and 21% of women disagree) + civil servants have become better qualified (53% vs. 13%) + improvements in public service ethics: ethical standards are better known (46% vs. 20%) and ethical attitudes have improved (37% vs. 26%)  see Figures 4.2 and 4.3 4. Findings and preliminary results of the study: general observations 4. Findings and preliminary results: general observations

6. 50th DG meeting 28 May - What are Public Services Good at? 6 Figure 4.1a: Overall picture of the HR-policy improvements within the last 15 years 4. Findings: general observations

7. 50th DG meeting 28 May - What are Public Services Good at? 7 Figure 4.1b: Overall picture of the HR-policy improvements by respondent‘s position 4. Findings: general observations

8. 50th DG meeting 28 May - What are Public Services Good at? 8 Figure 4.1c: Overall picture of the HR-policy improvements within the last 15 years by HRPA 4. Findings: positive developments

9. 50th DG meeting 28 May - What are Public Services Good at? 9 Figure 4.2: Successful and less successful HR developments 4. Findings: general observations

10. 50th DG meeting 28 May - What are Public Services Good at? 10 Figure 4.3: Perceptions of public employees 4. Findings: general observations

11. 50th DG meeting 28 May - What are Public Services Good at? 11 4.4. Challenges and critical developments in the field of HRM  Performance management is not working well: –32% said that staff is not rewarded for good performance (21% consider that there has been progress) –35% think that public sector has been unsuccessful in managing poor performance (18% see improvements) –37% found that performance rewards were not more transparent and quicker (20% were more optimistic) –32% considered that performance assessment systems are too subjective (19% were positive) –Respondents also indicated that there are some problems with mobility policies between public and private sectors (decreased 32% vs. increased 26%) and between EU Member States (29% vs. 24%), as well as with promotion procedures (unfair 30% vs. fairer 19%) and HR rules (increased 32% vs. decreased 23%)  see Figures 4.2 and 4.3 4. Findings: general observations

12. 50th DG meeting 28 May - What are Public Services Good at? 12 44% of the respondents considered work in the public sector as attractive (25% not), and 62% would recommend it to friends or family (18% not)  see Figures 4.4 a-b and 4.5 Comparison to private sector shows that public sector is thought to be quite competitive with regard to working time and pensions, but less competitive with salaries and various HR policies (with the exception of involvement of staff in management decisions)  see Figures 4.6 a-b and 4.7 However, even people who are not satisfied with their salary still would recommend working in the public sector for their friends or family – why? In order to understand this we need to analyse the developments in respondents’ organisations and in their own jobs 4.5. State’s competitiveness as an employer: public-private comparisons

13. 50th DG meeting 28 May - What are Public Services Good at? 13 Figure 4.5 a : How competitive is the public service compared to the private sector? 4. Findings: state’s competitiveness as an employer

14. 50th DG meeting 28 May - What are Public Services Good at? 14 Figure 4.5 b : Salaries for top positions by HRPA 4. Findings: state’s competitiveness as an employer

15. 50th DG meeting 28 May - What are Public Services Good at? 15 Figure 4.6: Do you think that HR-policies in comparable private services are performing better or worse 4. Findings: state’s competitiveness as an employer

16. 50th DG meeting 28 May - What are Public Services Good at? 16 Mostly respondents find the development with regard to their own organisation and job more positive than the general development Respondents are very positive about their work content (77% vs. 4%), working atmosphere (74% vs. 7%), working conditions (71% vs. 8%), responsibility (70% vs. 10%), feedback and communication from colleagues (62% vs. 13%) and autonomy (59% vs. 15%)  see Figure 4.8 They also saw the development of the working conditions in their own organisation in a positive light: most issues, including leadeship (41% vs. 20%) and payment issues (e.g., better pay 43% vs. 18%) were rather favourable. Only two issues were considered more negative: stress and time pressure (27% vs. 42%) and motivational pay such as incentives and bonuses (28% vs. 32%) were considered more unfavourable  see Figure 4.9 4.7. Developments in one’s own organisation and job 4. Findings: micro-level development

17. 50th DG meeting 28 May - What are Public Services Good at? 17 Figure 4.8: How do you perceive your own work in the following categories? 4. Findings: micro-level development

18. 50th DG meeting 28 May - What are Public Services Good at? 18 Figure 4.9: How would you judge the development of the working conditions in your organisation? 4. Findings: micro-level development

19. 50th DG meeting 28 May - What are Public Services Good at? 19 Figure 4.10: Value Changes: Attitudes Towards Leaders/Leadership Styles 4. Findings: Value Changes

20. 50th DG meeting 28 May - What are Public Services Good at? 20 5. Critical success factors

21. 50th DG meeting 28 May - What are Public Services Good at? 21 6. Conclusions Common trends: Europe-wide progress on a number of issues such as the general evolution of HRM, equality, ethics, customer-orientation, working conditions and work contents Common challenges: performance management, mobility policies, competitiveness as an employer Persisting differences between systems and traditions: Eastern European countries seem to be more cautious about improvements Accentuated divergences according to response groups such as position, sex and age The preliminary findings are promising and it is advisable to continue cross-country HR comparisons in future. To ensure that a large sample size is collected, co-operation with organisations such as TUNED-network should be considered 7. Conclusions

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