Competency-Based Management in the Civil Service: Competences Have Become Broader, Including Knowledge, Skills, Ability and other Characteristics
Workshop on "Competency-based Management in the Civil Service of the Western Balkans " brought together 19 senior managers and officers in the line Ministries and Civil Service Agencies/ Human Resource Management Authorities from ReSPA Members to exchange experience on the development and practical use of competency frameworks.
Participants discussed the benefits of a competency-based approach and how to differentiate good performance from poor ones. Competencies have lost their original meaning and have become broader, including knowledge, skills, ability and other characteristics (KSAO). No uniform concept or methodology exists in the development and application of competency-based management, and the importance of planning the competency-based staff and raising awareness of competencies among managers and HR units were some of the main takeaways from the Workshop. Most important thing - job requirements and competencies need to make sense in your organisational environment.
ReSPA expert Kaido Paabusk gave a comparative overview of vertical and horizontal integration and implementation of competency frameworks in the Western Balkans, while participants presented their competency frameworks and discussed their practical implementation and obstacles faced.
The Workshop also provided the floor for presenting inspiring cases from the EU. Lina Daujotaite-Prusaitiene presented an application for competency management in Lithuania, Padraig Love application in Ireland and Tatjana Verli-Gorensek in Slovenia.
In addition, participants exchanged on career development, while Kaido Paabusk elaborated on the main features of career management and presented Estonia and Belgium's experiences in this area.
"Qulifications of employees, nowadays and in the future, will no longer be enough to achieve exceptional results and to distinguish successful associates. Therefore, in addition to qualifications, competencies are needed to execute work tasks in modern public administration successfully.
Keeping in mind the characteristics of competencies and the difficulties of their assessment, the introduction of competency frameworks and competency measurement is a highly complex, demanding and challenging activity.
Experience from ReSPA Members and good practice from the EU shows that the competency model must meet different requirements, starting from a better employment process through an objective assessment of work performance to identifying development weaknesses as well as potential strengths."
Bojan Golić, Head of Division for HRM, PAR and EU Integration, Civil Service Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
