Current and planned demographical situation, future tendencies of availability of workforce and necessity for new competences require to build a new, competitive strategy of personnel management of public administration. Public administration will continue becoming more effi cient (fi scal discipline, consolidation and structural reforms, integration of public administrations at EU level, digitalization), at the same time personnel gets older and new competences and skills are necessary to carry out functions of public administration customer service and other functions in line with time. Due to these reasons necessity increases to elaborate and improve such personnel management policy and off er such working conditions that would allow positioning public administration as attractive employer. Competition at labour market on talents and new specialists will grow, and public administration will have to be able to off er new solutions in following spheres:
management of human resources, analysis of labour market and development of strategy for attraction of employees for particular segments of market, planning of human resources, selection, recruitment, training and programmes of development, rotation, and motivation.116
When speaking about the most important problems of personnel management of Latvian public administration, experts highlighted four essential aspects, to what attention should be paid.
Firstly, experts considered that personnel management in Latvian public administration is very fragmented – each institution has its own structural unit with its understanding on its main operational objectives and personnel management opportunities, for example, regarding the planning of development of employees, are not being fully used. Secondly, experts mentioned that structural units of personnel management exercise mainly administrative functions of personnel management, dealing with and organizing documentation and its circulation in connection with execution of employment relations, remunerations of employees, vacation, business trips, etc.
Experts see that in future it is necessary to develop automation of these functions, by reducing the numbers of people involved in performance of the work. Thirdly, currently majority of personnel structural units are weak in human resources planning that involves also planning of trainings, development of competences, improvement of manager skills and their strengthening, establishing of motivation systems for keeping of the capable employees in public administration. Fourthly, the lack of personnel management competences for the managers of structural units: “(..) [essential]
problem of personnel management (..) is work with the managers of structural units exactly as personnel specialists. Within a system that has been established, these are people, who have worked there longest,
115 Valsts kanceleja (2014). Valsts pārvaldes darbinieku apmierinātība ar cilvēkresursu vadību un tās rezultātiem. Aptaujas rezultātu prezentācija.
116 Bundesministerium des Innern. (2013). Demografi esensibles Personalmanagement in der Bundesverwaltung: Empfehlungen zur Gestaltung. Berlin: Bundesministerium des Innern; Huerta Melchor, O. (2013). The Government Workforce of the Future:
Innovation in Strategic Workforce Planning in OECD Countries. Paris: OECD Publishing.
that usually become the managers of structural units, due to their experience. And very often there is a situation forming that they are very good specialists in their sphere, but they absolutely lack personnel management skills.” An opinion was dominating among the experts that the managers must partly undertake personnel management functions. One of the main arguments is that manager not only knows his employees, but is responsible for the common organization of work that involves also effi cient application of the competences of employees.
Personnel policy must consider demographic changes within society, it has to be directed towards common goals, reforms, taking into consideration current employment law regulations and interests and needs of employees. Personnel management of public administration is expected to have greater impact regarding increase of productivity of workforce, creating of new added value.
Thereby increasingly greater role at processes of personnel management of public administration will be played by systematic evaluation of policy and practice of personnel management, applying various indicators that refl ect ratio of personnel cost to added value for organization.117 Policy has to be oriented in long-term, dynamic, oriented towards results, with intense communication.118 Table below summarizes the key challenges and problems of the personnel management, at the same time marking out current processes and activities of personnel management that will be topical in overcoming these challenges.
Table 1.4. The main challenges of personnel management and current personnel management processes
Challenges / problems of personnel management
Current processes and activities of personnel management Decline in availability of
workforce, at simultaneous increase of ageing and work complexity
¡ Long-term planning of personnel
¡ Introduction of fl exible employment forms and working hours
¡ Talent management
¡ Succession planning
¡ Introduction of horizontal solutions for career
¡ Planning of outsourcing Knowledge transfer
(contact networks, knowledge)
¡ Planning and introduction of non-standard learning solutions (for example, simulations, e-learning, individual consulting, interpersonal exchange of experience, etc.)
¡ Integration of lifelong learning at personnel trainings
¡ Succession planning Work safety and development,
applying systematic approach and preventive health promotion activities
¡ Introduction of fl exible employment forms and working hours
¡ Diversity management
¡ Health promotion programmes and activities
117 Dulebohn, J.H., & Johnson, R.D. (2013). Human resource metrics and decision support: A classifi cation framework. Human Resource Management Review, 23(1), 71-83; Lawler, E. E., III, Levenson, A., & Boudreau, J. W. (2004). HR Metrics and Analytics:
Use and Impact. Human Resource Planning, 27(4), 27-35.
118 Bundesministerium des Innern. (2013). Demografi esensibles Personalmanagement in der Bundesverwaltung: Empfehlungen zur Gestaltung. Berlin: Bundesministerium des Innern.
Challenges / problems
¡ Planning and introduction of individualized learning solutions
¡ Development solutions directed towards acquiring experience and analysis
¡ Talent management
¡ Development of competences
¡ Assessment of management competences at selection of managers
¡ Feedback, including application of 360 degree method Changes of mutual requirements
and expectations of society and individual values, and employers and employees
¡ Introduction of fl exible employment forms and working hours
¡ Diversity management
¡ Decentralization of personnel management procedures
¡ Individualization of personnel management processes Increased requirements
¡ Education of personnel specialists and managers of all levels in change management and development of organizational culture
¡ More active involvement of personnel management resources in planning and implementation of the process of changes
¡ Regular revision and renewal of personnel policy Increasing competition with
private sector for highly qualifi ed specialists and trainees
¡ Introduction and application of proactive personnel selection forms and methods
¡ Development of competences
¡ Talent management
¡ Introduction of fl exible employment forms and working hours
¡ Introduction of non-standard career solutions
¡ Individualization of personnel management processes
¡ Planning of outsourcing
Upon summarizing information on future development of the labour market examined both at this table and also at previous chapters, several directions of personnel management processes, where the most essential changes are expected, can be distinguished.
Individualization and customization of personnel management processes.
At the surveys of employees it can be seen that demand for regular assessments of individual performance (feedbacks between employer and employee) and planning of individual development increases.119 High level specialists gradually begin paying increasingly more attention to systematic development of personal skills that allow them building career of professional growth (in contrast to hierarchic career within particular organization), what may develop both within one institution and also119 Bundesministerium des Innern. (2013). Demografi esensibles Personalmanagement in der Bundesverwaltung: Empfehlungen zur Gestaltung. Berlin: Bundesministerium des Innern.
moving between diff erent organizations in search for new professional challenges and opportunities to grow.120 Thereby in competition on attraction of talents and keeping them increasingly greater role will be played by adaptation of personnel management processes and solutions for individual needs (individual plans for development of competences and trainings, providing of individual feedback at working process, adaptation of position’s content, off ering of fl exible employment forms and working hours, etc.).It means not only respective changes in personnel management processes, but also development of respective management and communication competences of all level managers. Personnel management based on such individual interaction also means that it will be necessary to require more responsibility on personal development also from employees. Increasingly greater value in personnel management is being ascribed to the competence of self-development – learning of such skills that help employees to learn and develop, so that they themselves could fl exibly and suffi ciently independently acquire those skills that are current for them. Necessity for self-development competence will become increasingly more topical in future.121 At level of strategic management of human resources changes in processes of personnel management of such kind require decentralization of human resources management and granting more powers to managers at institutional level.
Life-cycle oriented personnel management.
Policy of personnel management both have to base on analysis of demographic tendencies, forecasting availability of employees in various age groups, and cover elements of motivation of employees, effi ciency of work and health management system at all ages of personnel, integrating corrective, preventive and proactive solutions. Following aspects can be integrated at the basis of such policy: age, balance of work and personal life, equality of various groups of society, mobile work, fl exible working hours, organization of work, lifelong learning, knowledge management, health management, modern methods of effi ciency of work, attractiveness of employer. The task of the system is to ensure development and maintenance of working capacity at changing life-cycle conditions. Proactive systems regarding health management of personnel will provide positive result in the budgets of employers. This kind of policy is, for example, life-cycle oriented personnel management in public administration of Germany.122 Such kind of programmes is introduced also in Belgium, France and Finland.123Diversity management.
At personnel management policy it is important to identify diff erent audiences of employees and their various competences, and purposefully direct them towards performance of various functions and tasks of public administration. Diversity management means that simultaneously with identifi cation and attraction of competences it is being thought also about involvement of various social groups in provision of public administration processes, as well as in labour market and performance of specifi c functions in general. For example, one of the objectives of diversity management in public administration can be purposeful more intense involvement of women in management processes; another objective can be providing more family-friendly and more fl exible models of working hours, both for women and men, to whom it is important to balance working hours with family care, thus promoting possibly more eff ective participation in the labour market of new parents and maintaining of their competences. In addition to the positive eff ects regarding motivation of employees and attraction of necessary competences to public administration, inclusion of various groups at work of public administration may promote trust in institutions of public administration. One reason for such increase in trust is that broader representation in public administration of particular minorities (for example, ethnic, religious groups, but not only) promotes identifi cation of those groups with country. But equally important120 De Caluwé, C., Van Dooren, W., Delafortry, A., & Janvier, R. (2014). Mind-Sets of Boundaryless Careers in the Public Sector:
The Vanguard of a More Mobile Workforce? Public Personnel Management, 43(4), 490-519.
121 Getha-Taylor, H. (2010). Human Relations 2.0. Public Administration Review, 70, s170-s172; Petrie, N. (2011). Future Trends in Leadership Development. Colorado Springs: Center for Creative Leadership.
122 Bundesministerium des Innern. (2013). Demografi esensibles Personalmanagement in der Bundesverwaltung: Empfehlungen zur Gestaltung. Berlin: Bundesministerium des Innern.
123 Bossaert, D., Demmke, C., & Moilanen, T. (2012). The impact of demographic change and its challenges for the workforce in the European public sectors: Three priority areas to invest in future HRM. Maastricht: European Institute of Public Administration.
mechanism is that inclusion of various groups in public administration allows improving the content and quality of provision of public services, adjusting them to the needs of various social groups.124 It improves satisfaction with work of public administration in long-term, and via that – trust in institutions of public administration and the overall image of public administration. Towards diversity management oriented policy examples can be encountered in public administration of Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands, Germany and Sweden.125
Talent management.
Traditionally by talent management is understood forming of a group of talented (such, whose performance of work is above the average and who have potential of development) existing employees for fi lling of positions important for organization and systematic development of the competences of those employees and maintenance of their commitment to the organization, preparing them for taking over of duties.126 In terms of defi nition and essence talent management diff ers from the strategic personnel management with greater emphasis on elitism and marking out of separate employees or their groups within the process of personnel management. However, an opinion also exists that talent management is not to be seen as (elitist) part of strategic personnel management, but as general philosophy of personnel management, and many organizations also avoid to specifi cally distinguishing talent management from personnel management, strategically using term “talents” as synonymous for the overall workforce.127 Talent management at the process of personnel management of public administration is mentioned as one of the methods, how to cope with challenges caused by ageing of employees (and society in a whole) and to retain the knowledge that promotes competitiveness of institutions of public administration.128 As of the perspective of future development of public administration, greater benefi t is possible upon applying basic principles of talent management as philosophy of general personnel management, planning development of employees and succession in a complex manner not only for the positions crucial for competitiveness, but also all the positions necessary for functioning of public administration. Such approach follows from necessity not only to develop competitiveness with organizations of private sector, but also to increase ability of public administration to fl exibly and dynamically react to the changes of environment, increased assuming of responsibility by employees and their ability to take decisions at all levels, as well as to increase satisfaction of employees with work in public administration. Thereby it is expected that in future talent management in public administration will increasingly be perceived not as a separate towards elitist group of employees oriented element of personnel management, but as basic principle of general planning of personnel. Such change of approach includes several potential challenges.Firstly, it makes to look at talent management not only as means for maintaining and increasing of organizational effi ciency, but also as socially responsible practice, where work provides opportunity to every employee to realise potential of their development.129 Secondly, process of personnel planning will become technically more complex. Thirdly, it will be even more important than now to defi ne, which competences are possible to develop at the process of work and trainings, but which ones need to be attracted by selection.130 The elements of talent management have been included
124 Popescu, S., & Rusko, R. (2012). Managing Diversity in Public Organizations. Global Business & Management Research, 4(3/4), 235-247.
125 Ministry of the Presidency. (2010). Public employment in European Union member states. Madrid: Ministry of the Presidency.
Technical Secretariat-General.
126 Collings, D.G., & Mellahi, K. (2009). Strategic talent management: A review and research agenda. Human Resource Management Review, 19(4), 304-313.
127 Dries, N. (2013). The psychology of talent management: A review and research agenda. Human Resource Management Review, 23(4), 272-285.
128 Calo, T.J. (2008). Talent Management in the Era of the Aging Workforce: The Critical Role of Knowledge Transfer. Public Personnel Management, 37(4), 403-416.
129 Thunnissen, M., Boselie, P., & Fruytier, B. (2013). Talent management and the relevance of context: Towards a pluralistic approach. Human Resource Management Review, 23(4), 326-336.
130 Meyers, M.C., van Woerkom, M., & Dries, N. (2013). Talent – Innate or acquired? Theoretical considerations and their implications for talent management. Human Resource Management Review, 23(4), 305-321.
in the personnel policy of public administration, for example, in such countries as Belgium, France, Great Britain, and Netherlands.131
Development of culture of confi dence and psychological contract.
Within environment, where future institutions of public administration will have to face unexpected changes in society, economy and geopolitical processes, it is very important to promote mutual trust both between public administration as employer and employees, and also among the employees themselves (both vertically and horizontally). In future employees will be expected to demonstrate greater independence, initiative, fl exibility and ability to undertake individual responsibility;practical realization of such competences is possible only upon existence of suffi ciently high trust in individual skills and decision making. Building of such trust is an essential precondition for ability of organization to adapt and react to changes.132 One of the ways for building such trust is to practice mutual agreements between employer and employee on the task and expectations of results in parallel to legal work relationship. Such agreements create conditions and situations that employee undertakes additional initiatives and duties in long-term. Such agreement may include (on the part of employer) job security guarantees, interesting job content, seeking career opportunities, informal balancing options of work and personal time, development options of competence, praises, creation of modern working conditions (on the part of employee), work engagement, orientation towards objective and result, loyalty towards organization, initiative of independent development, fl exibility in acceptance and performance of working tasks, openness in communication. Such approach in long-term allows employees to get used to greater independence, but employer – to trust employee.133
Integration of strategy of personnel management in development of strategy of public administration.
Successful development of long-term strategy of personnel management needs to have its priorities coordinated with priorities of development of public administration. Personnel management strategy serves as intermediate step between the strategy of organization and performance of organization (quality of performance of the functions), ensuring coherence between strategic objectives on the one hand, and organizational culture and regulations, capacity of human resources and motivation necessary for introduction of strategy, on the other hand. As a result of this, coordination of the processes of human resources management with organizational strategy improves organizational performance.134 Within the context of public administration it means that the role of the processes of personnel management is not only top-down realization of development strategy of public administration, but also active participation at development of this strategy (bottom-up notifi cation, feedback and correction). Examples for integration of strategy of human resources with the strategy of public administration can be found in public administration of France and Great Britain.135Previously mentioned directions of development concern practically all processes of personnel management, therefore it is not possible to unambiguously forecast, which processes will be topical and which ones will lose their signifi cance. The same as in development of competences of public administration, there is a tendency also within personnel management processes to move away from standardized, routine procedures and to off er fl exible solutions, adapted to the needs of each institution and individual. The following table outlines potential changes within particular processes of personnel management.
131 Huerta Melchor, O. (2013). The Government Workforce of the Future: Innovation in Strategic Workforce Planning in OECD Countries. Paris: OECD Publishing; Op de Beeck, S., & Hondeghem, A. (2010). Managing Competencies in Government: State of the Art Practices and Issues at Stake for the Future. Paris: OECD Public Employment and Management Working Party.
132 Lengnick-Hall, C.A., Beck, T.E., & Lengnick-Hall, M.L. (2011). Developing a capacity for organizational resilience through strategic human resource management. Human Resource Management Review, 21(3), 243-255.
133 Bundesministerium des Innern. (2013). Demografi esensibles Personalmanagement in der Bundesverwaltung: Empfehlungen zur Gestaltung. Berlin: Bundesministerium des Innern.
134 Buller, P.F., & McEvoy, G.M. (2012). Strategy, human resource management and performance: Sharpening line of sight.
134 Buller, P.F., & McEvoy, G.M. (2012). Strategy, human resource management and performance: Sharpening line of sight.