of managers
4.6.1. Requirements for the future managers
Requirements for the future managers are described taking into account development scenarios of public administration from the fi fth part of the report and action plan attached to the Annex 2
“Public administration as the best employer in 2025”, especially taking into account the necessity to act in a proactive manner. In this context the list of the basic tasks of managers will include motivation of employees, putting forward the inner and nonmaterial motivation of employees, development of employees, establishment of result and collaboration oriented work environment.
Managers will fl exibly apply individualized solutions both in motivation and development of employees. The foreground of development of competences is formed by learning during daily work,
388 Latham, G., Borgogni, L., Petitta, L. (2008). Goal Setting and Performance Management in the Public Sector. International Public Sector Management Journal, 11(4), pp 385-403.
389 Pink, D.H. (2011). Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. Penguin.
390 Future of Public Administration Around the World: The Minnowbrook Perspective. (2010). O’Leary, R., Van Slyke, D. M., Kim, S. (editors). Georgetown University Press.
including during processes of exchange of knowledge and experience and at internal mobility and rotation programmes of public institutions. This approach requires introducing solutions for talent management and diversity management. Sustainable management, as well as health promotion activities have essential role within human resources strategy.
Decentralized implementation of solutions for public administration institutions means essential changes – solutions are implemented as part of an extensive transformation of organizational culture and structure, where hierarchy changes towards collaboration. Change management becomes a daily task of the managers.
In Tables 4.3. and 4.4. requirements are defi ned in expected action categories within the scope of the most essential personnel and organizational management processes for the levels of lower, intermediate and senior managers. Each action has a management level indicated in brackets (SM – senior managers, IM – intermediate level managers, LM – lower level managers) that in future has to provide this action. Three management levels in the tables refl ect position of the managers within organizational structure at the current moment. Since organizational development prognoses show that future organizational structures will be more fl at, current requirements of lower and intermediate level managers are unifi ed. Behavioural features described in Tables 4.3. and 4.54. can be used by grouping them and accordingly developing competence model for positions of the future managers of various levels.
Table 4.3. Requirements for the future managers in public administration (1st part)
Development and
¡ Establish research plan for their position and require it from the team of managers. (SM) there are such, in order to communicate vision on details of action plan.
(SM, IM, LM)
¡ Purposefully attract competent managers, dedication, “we can do it”
attitude and encourage it money as far as possible.
For strengthening of
¡ Challenge traditional problem solving
¡ Stimulate subordinates to adopt decisions
Development and
¡ Promote collaboration with universities, adopt fi nal decision on recruiting employee
¡ Identify individual needs and motivators example, in IT or social media skills. (IM, LM).
¡ Organise experience exchange events,
Table 4.4. Requirements for the future managers in public administration (2nd part)
¡ Promote intergeneration collaboration, involving and result orientation at their institution. (SM, IM) spent at place of work.
(SM, IM, LM)
¡ Require to terminate behaviour of employees, if such is observed, that imitates moving towards the goal” instead of “what I was doing this week”. effi ciency, collaboration, orientation towards customer. (SM, IM, LM)
¡ Provide implementation of the programme as the best employer in 2025”). (SM) seek support, if such is necessary. (IM, LM)
in contract to “what we have been doing”. (SM)
¡ Organize accessibility for employees, setting
4.6.2. The principles and the most effi cient methods for selection of managers
Selection of managers is personnel management process that is aimed to provide the right person with the right competences, in the right time and right place/position. The problems, roles, competences and requirements that are described in the previous chapters of the review demonstrate that the work of managers in public administration will be challenging, therefore competent and motivated managers are one of the crucial driving forces of the success of public administration.
In case of Latvia, according to the opinion of the experts, not only selection of managers, but also selection of employees is held in altogether very standardized and technical manner, strongly keeping to the job description of the applicant. Experts emphasized that it is necessary to follow more fl exible approach: “(..) you are allowed to employ somebody, who does not perfectly fi t the requirements for the position. They are allowed to do that, but they say that they are not allowed, because then there would be judicial proceeding at once. If we look at personnel management like this, then in principle we do not get any further.”
Upon describing existing problems within selection of managers, experts went into discussion on two aspects. Firstly, selection of managers is negatively aff ected by the political factor. During discussion issue was raised on how to distinguish in most effi cient manner political and professional level, namely, where the border is within the structure of public administration as organization, when position is taken by political person and when position is taken by professionals. Excessive role of political factor negatively aff ects selection of the most appropriate applicants and their appointment and indicates to the weakness of the state. One of the solutions of this problem – negative impact of the political factor – in opinion of the experts is centralized selection of senior managers, as well as delegating manager selection function to an independent institution, for example, as it is in Great Britain. It should be noted that on July 9, 2015 the Regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 293
“Selection Procedure of Managers of the Institutions of State Administration” were approved391 – according to them since September 1, 2015 selection of senior managers in public administration will be centralized and managed by the State Chancellery.
Secondly, Latvian experts drew attention towards the fact that decision on approval of applicant can be infl uenced by personal or professional relationship of members of commission with the applicant of the position of manager.
Basing on the analysis of literature and the best practice principles within personnel management, selection of public administration managers should be planned by using the following principles:
¡ Centralized selection of managers of institutions – in order to provide high quality of selection process and reduce the risk of confl ict of interest, selection of managers of institutions is being planned and organized in centralized manner. It is carried out by State Chancellery as human resources policy maker, in case of necessity involving external experts for defi ning requirements and/ or assessing applicants.
¡ Decentralized selection of managers for remaining management positions – selection for positions that within the organizational structures would be directly or through an intermediary subordinated to the manager of institution, is being planned and monitored by the manager if institution in accordance with the policy on selection established by the State Chancellery and guidelines on the methods for attraction and assessment methods of applicants. Direct manager of the vacancy has the primary responsibility on the process of selection and decision. Practice shows that adoption of decision on selection of particular applicant for his team activates readiness of the managers to motivate and develop these employees, as well as more successfully deal with the problems regarding performance, if such arise in comparison with situation, when the fi nal decision on selection is taken by somebody else.
391 Available: http://likumi.lv/ta/id/274668-valsts-tiesas-parvaldes-iestazu-vaditaju-atlases-kartiba
¡ Open competitions – in order to increase the number of applicants at competitions for the manager vacancies in public administration, it is necessary to organize open competitions, where both internal applicants and applicants from other sectors and countries can take part.
¡ Competence based setting of requirements – since competence management approach is being put into practice in public administration, requirements within selection process for the applicants for manager position are being defi ned in categories of competences.
¡ Putting competences that are problematically to be developed fi rst – upon establishing tender rules and determining requirements for the applicants, it must be assessed, which of the competences necessary for the position are easy to master and which – are complex.
Accordingly, those competences that are diffi cult to be developed, are indicated as priority, with higher weigh, when assessing applicants within selection. For example, competence – “orientation towards development” or “integrity” is more diffi cult to be developed than competence “presentation skills”, therefore, when choosing from two applicants, decision should be primarily based on comparison of competences that are problematically to be developed. In complex situations it is recommended to involve professional competence evaluation experts already at the stage of defi ning requirements for the position before establishing of tender rules and plan of assessment process.
¡ Analysis of motivation and values of applicants – the core of personality of applicants is made by their values and motivation. They determine readiness to develop competences.
When recruiting managers, whose values contradict with the principles of public administration, there is a high risk that these managers will not be motivated, as well as that they will have diffi culties to establish positive and towards achieving public administration targets oriented work environment within their institutions. Thereby it is important that values of the applicants and their motivation for work are being assessed during the stage of selection. It is especially advisable during selection to look for the applicants with high public sector motivation level, characterized by interest on policy making, social conscience and willingness to act for the benefi t of society. Studies show that high public sector motivation positively correlates with loyalty for work in public administration, better relationship at work and often better quality of work.
¡ Assessment of diversity of experience – for implementation of this principle it is necessary to refuse from requirement of experience at institutions of public administration as compulsory precondition. Studies in other EU countries show that refusing from this requirement allows attracting managers with stronger management competences.392
¡ Professional and objective assessment of competences – assessment of competences is complicated and time-consuming process. Studies show that even in a result of a skilful assessment that involves using several methods, actual assessment of further work of the selected candidate will correspond to the initial assessment of the competences not more than for 70%393. It means that in order to provide professional assessment of competences, internal specialists that are trained for this aim and accordingly qualifi ed or external experts are the ones assessing competences of the managers within selection. The same competences are assessed for all the applicants, using the same methods.
¡ Application of varied methods in assessment of competences – in order to adequately assess competences of the applicants, it is recommended to provide that each competence is being assessed by using at least two methods. For example, employee management competence is recommended to be assessed by using behavioural interview method and some of situation simulation methods. For assessment of interpersonal communication and
392 European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA). (2008). Top Public managers in Europe: Management and Working Conditions of the Senior Civil Servants in European Union Member States. Available: http://www.eupan.eu/fi les/
repository/20101215131426_Study_on_Senior_Civil_Service2.pdf (accessed 19.01.2015).
393 French, R., Rumbles, S. (2010). Chapter 9: “Recruitment and Selection” in a book: Leading, Managing and Developing People, 3.izdevums. CIPD. Available: http://www.cipd.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/01F95685-76C9-4C96-B291-3D5CD4DE1BE5/0/9781843982579_sc.pdf.
management competences it is advisable to use methods based on observing of the actual action of the applicant, for example, role playing, presentations or tasks on situation analysis.
¡ Anonymous assessment – in order to increase objectivity and avoid mistakes of psychological perception, assessment must be held anonymously when possible. This principle can be primarily referred to assessment of paper works – assessment of vision of the branch or strategic plans, written analysis of tasks on situation analysis. Evaluators are not allowed to know the author of the works before announcing assessment to the commission.
¡ Distant assessment – in order to increase the range of applicants, it must be provided that assessment of applicants can take place from distance, for example, by using interviews via telephone conferences or video conferences. Thereby it is possible to access applicants, whose existing place of residence or work is outside of Latvia.
In order to establish suffi cient and qualifi ed range of applicants for selection of managers, it is recommended to use the following applicant attraction methods:
¡ Direct addressing. Increasing public participation and collaboration with non-governmental sector will increase the range of people, who will have contact with public administration.
Upon establishing vacancies in public administration, managers can directly address some of collaboration partners from other sectors. Direct addressing does not exclude requirement for the applicant to take part at competition; however, it increases the number of applicants, whose competences have already been partly tested within current collaboration projects.
¡ Direct searching by using manager recruitment companies – recruitment companies can be used for positions of senior managers, where diffi culties are expected to attract a range of qualifi ed applicants. There can be applicants in their data bases that would not answer recruitment ad themselves; however they might be ready to apply for the competition after addressing.394
¡ Announcement of open competition within public administration internally and externally. In order to reach the potential applicants for the position, the message on the competition must be communicated by using various information channels, including internal portal of public administration, home page of the respective institution, section on vacancies in the portal www.lvportals.lv, social media.
¡ Analysis of database containing results of previous competitions – when automating administration processes of the personnel of public administration, it is recommended to provide also establishing of common selection database, where to keep data on applicants having taken part at competitions on positions of managers in public administration.
Information of database could be used by inviting applicants of the previous competitions, whose experience could be appropriate, to participate at competitions on the current vacancies of manager positions.
¡ Managers and volunteers at non-governmental organizations (NGO) – studies show that people, who engage into activities of NGO, have increased public sector motivation. As it is described above, it is advisable also for the ones working in public administration.
¡ Rotation as method for fi lling vacancies and development. Although expert interviews carried out within study show that rotation at Latvian public administration until now has rather negative image and the positive examples are not highlighted, world-wide experience indicates that it is effi cient tool for development of managers that at the same time helps fi lling vacancies of manager positions. Also in this case applicants have to take part at competition.
394 O’Donnell, G., Normington, D. (2012). Chairing Competitions: A guide to the approach of the Civil Service Commission. Available:
http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Chairing-Competitions-March-2012.pdf
For assessment of applicants for positions of public administration managers it is recommended to use such applicant assessment methods:
¡ Interview on assessment of behaviour/ competences – structured interview, within the scope of which applicant by answering questions previously prepared by the interviewer describes his action, reasoning and emotions in various situations at his current practice.
Experienced selection expert identifi es proofs in the result of interview that certify development level of the competences to be assessed. Interview is time-consuming process - during two hour interview it is possible to assess no more than 4 competences.
¡ Structured interview for fi nding out motivation and values of the applicant. According to the principles of selection, compliance of the value system of the applicant with public administration values forms the basis of the obligations of the manager. This interview can be combined with competence assessment interview.
¡ Situation simulation tasks for assessment of interpersonal competences. Competences that involve communication of the manager with others are recommended to be assessed by using methods that allow observing the action of the applicant, for example, role playing, presentations for employees, “incoming document basket” kind of tasks in nature.
¡ Situation simulation tasks for assessing professional and thinking competences, for example, situation analysis allows assessing reasoning of the applicant, analytical and decision adoption competences. In order to increase reliability of these methods, it is recommended, for example, following submission of the written task of situation analysis to discuss with the applicant his approach for performance of the task.
¡ Knowledge tests – written knowledge tests can be applied for assessment of professional competences, including understanding on the branch, its development priorities.
¡ Presentation – one of the most essential competences for positions of public administration managers is ability to communicate vision of the institution or structural unit to employees and/ or society in encouraging manner. Presentation allows assessing communication competences, listening and stress management skills. Presentation can be used also for assessment of language skills of the applicants.
¡ Tests of verbal, logical, mathematical intelligentsia – special tests that allow assessing verbal, logical, mathematical skills of the applicants. It is important that the tests are validated and approbated for using in Latvian language. Such tests are recommended to be used in cases, when large number of applications is expected, as fi lter of initial applicants within the process of selection.
¡ References – at the end of selection process, before entering into agreement, it is advisable to obtain references on activities of the applicant from the previous employers and/ or collaboration partners. Good practice of selection provides coordinating sources of reference with the applicant, but it does not provide for coordinating issues to be discussed. References can be used in order to obtain proofs on competences, where it was not possible during other assessment stages, as well as in order to obtain additional information in spheres that have been marked as risky during the course of selection. When obtaining references, it is necessary to use structured questions similarly to the behavioural interview, requesting the provider of references to describe action of the applicant in particular situations in the past.
In order for selection process to be effi cient, it is recommended to establish approach of several stages, where the number of applicants reduces in each next stage. For example, assessing compliance of the applicant with the formal education and other qualifi cation requirements at the fi rst stage, carrying out competence assessment interview at the second stage, organizing various onsite tasks at the third stage. According to the manager selection principles, it is recommended to foresee that each competence required for the positions is being assessed by using at least two methods.