13-14 December 2023, Tirana, Albania

You cannot develop innovation by sticking to the traditional way of thinking and working!

A two-day workshop on career development provided an opportunity for civil servants from the Western Balkans to learn more about career development, a process of exploration of a person’s career path. The differences in career development, succession planning, and talent management, were explored and they learned about linear, expert, spiral, and transitory approaches in career ladder and portfolio theory.

Inspiring Estonian practice on career development was shared by Eve Limbach Pirn. Lukas Jirsa from the Institute for Public Administration Prague shared the experience of Check Republic. Inspiring cases on career development from the Western Balkans were presented by Albania and Serbia. Participants heard from Keida Meta from the Department of Public Administration of Albania about their career system, mobility, and governing principles. Jelena Babic from Human Resources Management Service of Serbia shared the experience about their Career Development Center and the services they provide.

A blend of experience sharing, joint discussion, group work, and role play enabled participants to delve into career development techniques, exercise the role of a career counsellor, and discuss the use of career development in staff attraction and retention but also challenges faced in the introduction of career development and how to overcome them in the Western Balkan administrations with position-based systems. Participants were also reminded of the importance of having, among others, well-defined competencies, meaningful performance appraisals, talent management, and lifelong learning opportunities. Participants got recommendations for the implementation of career development on a strategic and practical level.  The innovative approach was underlined as very important having in mind the new generations with different interests and requirements.