Decentralisation and Accountability Results from the Survey

Transcription

1 Österreich 2006 Präsidentschaft der Europäischen Union Austria 2006 Presidency of the European Union Autriche 2006 Présidence de L Union européenne 2nd Meeting of Human Resources Working Group Brussels, Decentralisation and Accountability Results from the Survey Christoph Demmke Gerhard Hammerschmid slide 1 Context and Agenda Ministers Meeting in June 2005: Europeanisation and Emergence of a European Administrative Space? Our study shows some common developments and trends but many differences in structures and differences in reform priorities 1. Is there a general public administration modernisation trend? 2. Is there a trend towards decentralisation and individualisation of HR competencies? 3. Which policies and structures are centralised/decentralised? 4. What is the role and involvement of central-hr units, ministers, DG s, managers, trade unions etc.? 5. Are the public services moving away from a centralised, hierarchical, bureaucratic structures towards a decentralised and fragmented public network? 6. What is the relationship between decentralisation & accountability: conflicting or harmonious relationship? 7. What are the consequences and effects of the trends? Positive negative? Good practices? slide 2

2 Agenda The Survey Public Administration Modernisation Trends in Europe: Common Agenda and Different Priorities Decentralisation: From a Unified Public Service to a Decentralised Public Network? Decentralisation & Accountability: Conflicting or Harmonious Relationship? Consequences for HRM: from Personnel Administration to Strategic HRM slide 3 1. The Survey slide 4

3 Decentralisation & Accountability Survey First survey with participation of all EU member States, EC and 2 accession states First comparative study in this area Considerable efforts of most countries to provide up-to date and high quality information Today: presentation of results, discussions and clarifications First draft of report in about 2 weeks Feedback still possible till mid May We very much appreciate your cooperation and support!!! slide 5 Decentralisation & Accountability Survey Need to take national contexts into consideration analyses related to popular categorisations Country size: small (< 4 mio.) vs. large (> 20 mio.) Public administration tradition: Anglo-Saxon Continental Mediterranean Scandinavian Transition HR system: Ireland, UK Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands Cyprus, Greek, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain Denmark, Finland, Sweden Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithunia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia Career-based Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, France, Germany, Greek, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithunia, Luxembourg, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain Position-based Estonia, Finland, Malta, Netherlands, Sweden, UK??? Denmark, EC, Italy, Poland Looking for similarities and differences Avoidance of one size fits all perspective slide 6

4 2. Public Administration Modernisation Trends in Europe: Common Agenda and Different Priorities slide 7 Main Drivers for Public Administration Modernisation very strong very low economic situation / budget EU legislation / integration national parliament/legislation socio-demogr. developments technological developments citizen demands p.a. top executives p.a. employees staff representatives / unions political parties public in general /media private sector other interest groups supranational organisations slide 8

5 Considerable Variations in Reform Pressures very strong very low economic situation / budget EU legislation / integration national parliament / legislation socio-demogr. developments technological developments citizen demands p.a. top executives p.a. employees staff representatives / unions political parties public in general /media private sector other interest groups supranational organisations mediterr. mediterr. anglos. large anglos. anglos. mediterr. transition continental transition contin./ transition considerable variations between public administration traditions little relevance of country size and HR-system slide 9 Public Administration Modernisation in Europe E-government consistently the most important topic Accountability high on the agenda in most countries HR-decentralisation less relevant than political, administrative and budgetary decentralisation NPM topics superseded by good governance topics Size relevant regarding accountability and decentralisation Considerable variations between HR-systems Position-based with more emphasis on good governance, decentralisation (adm., budg., HR), private sector involvement, market type and performance management Career-based with more emphasis on open government, quality management and public-public partnerships Overall dominance of traditional legal-bureaucratic p.a. Considerable variations between p.a. traditions slide 10

6 A Broad Variety of Public Administration Modernisation Topics newpublicmanagement good governance use of market-typemechanisms austerity/saving programmes administrative decentralisation political decentralisation strengthening accountability strengthening policy coherence qualitymanagement aligning public-privateemploym. HR decentralisation budget decentralisation performance management open government customer orientation ethics / codes of conduct e-government public-public partnerships private sector involvement very high influence relatively low influence slide 11 Different Priorities of Public Administration Modernisation newpublicmanagement good governance use of market-typemechanisms austerity/saving programmes administrative decentralisation political decentralisation strengthening accountability strengthening policy coherence qualitymanagement aligning public-privateemploym. HR decentralisation budget decentralisation performance management open government customer orientation ethics / codes of conduct e-government public-public partnerships private sector involvement very high influence anglos. anglos. anglos. anglos. mediterr. continental transition anglos. continental relatively low influence transition small small/anglos. continental continental small small continental large continental slide 12

7 Different Modernisation Agendas Continental Scandinavian Anglo-saxon Mediterranean Transition E-Government E-Government E-Government E-Government E-Government Political decentralisation Performance management Good Governance Good Governance Open Government Accountability Citizen orientation Accountability Customer orientation Ethics Quality management HR decentralisation Customer orientation Accountability Customer prientation Customer orientation Administrative decentralisation Budgetary decentralisation Austerity NPM slide 13 Public Administration Modernisation Large Scale Efficiency Drivers Efforts and initiatives in most EU states Lack of common understanding Main focus on head count reductions (eg. Austria, Cyprus, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Malta, Slovenia, Sweden) Very broad spectrum of initiatives Large scale restructuring (eg. Denmark, Austria, Italy, Poland, Romania, EC) Back office reforms (Austria, Finland, Germany, UK) HR-reforms (training, mobility, employment conditions) (eg. Bulgaria, Czechia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia) Management initiatives (eg. Belgium, France, Italy, Latvia, Sweden) PPPs (Ireland, UK) ICT/e-Government (Czechia, Estonia, Italy, Netherlands) Transparency (eg. Romania) Tendency of strongly centralized approaches slide 14

8 3. Decentralisation From a Unified Public Service to a Decentralised Public Network? slide 15 Different Focus in Decentralisation Administrative/managerial decentralisation eg. Austria, Estonia, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Sweden, UK Political (multi-level) decentralisation eg. Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Slovakia, Spain Budgetary decentralisation eg. Austria, France, EC HR decentralisation Horizontal: from central-hr unit to single ministries/agencies eg. Austria, Hungary, Ireland, Malta, Poland, Spain, Sweden, UK, EC Vertical: increasing amount of discretion given to line managers eg. Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Sweden Regional eg. Greece, Sweden decentralisation is the answer, not deregulation slide 16

9 Focus of Quantitative Analysis Vertical decentralisation: central actors: central unit government wide line minister central unit within line ministry top public administration level degree of involvement: main minor no decentral actors: line management lower hierarchical level index between -1 (highly central) and 1 (highly decentralised) Multi-actor involvement: number of actors involved degree of involvement index between 0 (low complexity) and 1 (high complexity) Horizontal decentralisation: role of central HRM unit vs. line Ministries/agencies slide 17 Cyprus Higher HR-Decentralization Leading to Higher Complexity of HR-System France Slovenia Germany Finland 0,50 Malta Denmark Estonia UK Belgium Hungary Netherlands Austria Ireland 0,40 EC Portugal Lithuania 0,60 high multi-actor involvement Italy Czechia Poland Bulgaria Romania Spain Latvia 0,30 Sweden Luxembourg Greece Slovakia 0,20 0,10 0,00 low multi-actor involvement -1,0-0,8-0,6-0,4-0,2 0,0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0 highly central highly decentral slide 18

10 Degree of HR-Decentralisation Dependends on HR-System and p.a.. Tradition But Not on Size 0,5 high complexity Continental UK position large Scandinavian small 0,4 career Baltic Eastern Transition other Other Eastern Transition Mediterranian medium 0,3 0,2 0,1 low complexity 0,0-1,0-0,8-0,6-0,4-0,2 0,0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0 highly central highly decentral slide 19 Degree of HR-Decentralisation Dependends on HR-System and p.a.. Tradition But Not on Size 0,5 high complexity Continental UK position large Scandinavian small 0,4 career Baltic Eastern Transition other Other Eastern Transition Mediterranian medium 0,3 0,2 0,1 low complexity 0,0-1,0-0,8-0,6-0,4-0,2 0,0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0 highly central highly decentral slide 20

11 Different Decentralisation Paths Small countries both with high centralisation (Cyprus, Luxembourg) and decentralisation (Estonia, Latvia, Malta) Finding the right balance between centralisation and decentralisation: The case of Estonia Regional decentralisation based on a distinction of bases and development : The case of Spain A preference for hierarchical HRM: The case of Cyprus and Greece Centralisation and decentralisation in a federal country: The case of Germany A step by step decentralisation over decades: The case of Finland Consequent decentralisation along with a comprehensive system of checks and balances: The case of Sweden slide 21 Majority of Countries with Preference for Vertically Centralised HR Decision-making Involvement of ministers / top administative level 0,7 verticallycentralized decision making EC Poland Belgium 0,6 France Slovenia Romania Cyprus Austria 0,5 0,4 0,3 0,2 0,1 0,0 Lithuania Luxembourg Greece Italy Slovakia Czechia Latvia Spain Bulgaria Netherlands Hungary Malta Sweden Portugal Denmark Estonia Finland Germany 0,0 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8 Ireland Involvement of line managers/ lower levels UK verticallydecentralized decision making slide 22

12 centralized decision making 1,0 Central vs. Decentralized Decision-making Structures Involvement of central unit government-wide 0,9 0,8 0,7 0,6 0,5 0,4 0,3 0,2 Luxembourg Greece Cyprus Italy Slovakia Belgium EC Bulgaria Czechia Portugal Poland Spain Austria Lithuania Ireland Hungary France Germany Latvia Slovenia Malta Netherlands UK Finland Estonia Denmark 0,1 decentralized decision making 0,0 Romania Sweden 0,0 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8 0,9 Involvement of line managers/ agency managers slide 23 Degree of Vertical Decentralisation Strongly Varying Between Different HR-Tasks centralized Q relocating staff Q head count reductions Q telework arrangements Q altering task responsibilities Q worktime arrangements Q line manager promotion Q employee dismissal Q disciplinary procedures Q codes of conduct / ethical norms Q performance management Q training and development Q awarding study contract Q performance related pay Q fixed salaries Q new line manager recruitment decentralized -1,0-0,5-0,0 slide

13 -1,00-0,80-0,60-0,40-0,20 0,00 0,20 0,40 0,60 0,80 1,00-1,00-0,80-0,60-0,40-0,20 0,00 0,20 0,40 0,60 0,80 1,00 Vertical HR-Decentralisation Pattern Dependent on HR-system and P.a.-Tradition fixed salaries performance related pay career career position based position based Scandinavian Scandinavian UK UK Mediterr. Mediterr. Eastern Eastern Continental Continental -1,00-0,80-0,60-0,40-0,20 0,00 0,20 0,40 0,60 0,80 1,00 awarding study contract deciding head count reductions in a line ministry career career position based position Scandinavian Skandinavian Anglo-saxon Anglo-saxon Mediterr. Mediterr. Eastern Eastern Continental Continental -0,8-0,7-0,6-0,5-0,4-0,3-0,2-0,1 0,0 slide 25 Horizontal HR-Decentralization Considerable Country Variations Strong involvement of central unit government wide low involvement of central unit government-wide high EC UK Sweden Spain Slovenia Slovakia Romania Portugal Poland Netherlands Malta Luxembourg Lithuania Latvia Italy Ireland Hungary Greece Germany France Finland Estonia Denmark Czechia Cyprus Bulgaria Belgium Austria 0,00 0,10 0,20 0,30 0,40 0,50 0,60 0,70 0,80 0,90 1,00 in % of questions answered slide 26

14 Horizontal Decentralization Patterns Dependent on HR-system and P.a.-Tradition strong involvement in % of questions answered 0,7 0,6 0,5 0,4 0,3 0,2 0,1 0,0 0,70 0,60 0,50 0,40 0,30 0,20 0,10 Continental Transition Mediterr. Anglo-Saxon Scandinav. other Transition Baltic central unit government wide line minister central unit line Ministry 0,00 position career slide 27 Horizontal HR-Decentralization Considerable Task Variations strong involvement of central units government-wide all countries: determining fixed salaries codes of conduct/ethical norms Anglo-saxon: relocating staff (different: Scandinavia) head count reductions Continental: head count reductions changing work time arrangements strong involvement of central unit ministry-wide all countries: new line manager recruitment training and development disciplinary procedures employee dismissal altering task responsibilities teleworking headcount reductions relocating staff Mediterranian performance related pay (if existant: 50% has no performance related pay) slide 28

15 Higher Involvement of Line Management and Employee Representatives in Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon Systems line / agency management Trade unions /staff representatives career based career based position based position based Baltic Baltic other Transition other Transition Scandinavian Scandinavian Anglo-Saxon Anglo-Saxon Mediterranian Transition continental 0,0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0 involvement in % of questions answered Mediterranian Transition continental 0,0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0 involvement in % of questions answered high level of involvement: performance related pay training and development performance mgt line managers disciplinary decisions high level of involvement: fixed salaries changing work time arrangements slide 29 Outcomes of Increased Decentralisation Survey Answers Performance/productivity improvements Increased citizen satisfaction due to increased service speed and quality more flexible HRM functions better suited to local needs More compatible pay levels Increased focus on tasks and performance accountability Increased motivation Empowerment of management Regional benefits Need for increased coordination and accountability Duplications and resource/competence deficits Danger of wagebill inflation Lack of transparency Increasing politicisation any decentralization initiative requires a transitional period, whereby close guidance and monitoring is provided by central body need for careful planning and good management of reform process slide 30

16 Decentralisation with additional Measures as regards to Policy Coherence and Control Coordinative initiatives (strategic, management, unit, etc.) eg. Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Malta, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden Creation of synergies/economies of scale eg. Finland (joint service centers ), Austria, Germany, Portugal, EC Management information systems (IT) eg. Austria, Bulgaria Codes of Conduct/Civil Service Acts eg. Denmark, Poland, Romania, Slovakia Decentralisation of operative tasks and strengthening of strategic capacities at the center slide 31 HR-(De)centralization Good Practices Survey Answers Decentralisation Act on deregulation of civil service (Austria) Introduction of Learning Units (Cyprus) Reduction of number of regional and local government units (Denmark) Decentralised performance related pay (Finland) Delegated pay system (Netherlands) Centralisation IT for information sharing (Bulgaria) Civil Service Act (Czechia) Establishment of Recruitment and Re-Deployment Advisory Group (Malta) Civil service reform with creation of central HRM authority (Slovakia) slide 32

17 4. Decentralisation & Accountability: Conflicting or Harmonious Relationship? slide 33 Accountability: A Central P.a. Modernisation Issue with Many Facets Judicial accountability highly relevant in all countries in general three-fold: disciplinary accountability penal accountability accountability under civil law Political accountability ministerial accountability prevailing Managerial (performance) accountability highly relevant in position-based countries Supervision/Dienstaufsicht highly relevant in career-based countries Trend towards codes of conduct and ethics (e.g. Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Malta, Slovakia, UK, EC) slide 34

18 Performance and External Accountability on the Rise increasing relevance decreasing relevance compliance accountability performance accountability external accountability juridicalaccountability politicalaccountability individual accountability organisational accountability Ministerial accountability mediterr. contin. mediterr. transition mediterr. mediterr. transition contin. slide 35 Conflicting or Harmonious Relationship between Decentralisation and Accountability? highly centralized and highly decentralized countries experience less trade-off countries with average level of decentralisation experience more trade-off main directions to balance: Hierarchy/control: the system of strict hierarchy in the public services ensures s ufficient control accountability in both central and decentralized functions and tasks a loss of control from the central agencies has occurred. As a result Government has adopted a process of more controlled decentralisation on Public Service departments Management instruments Decentralisation does not lead to less accountability, but to different forms of accountability The new budgetary law requires the setting of objectives and, as a consequence, more accountability from civil servants slide 36

19 Main Tools and Instruments to Monitor and Control in Decentralized Context Broad spectrum of tools and instruments Observable clusters: regulation (laws, guidelines) dominating form supervision (hierarchical control, audits) high relevance managerial/performance instruments high relevance personnel contacts / informal control / networks high relevance information dissemination Codes of Ethics, good governance, values External (transparency, Ombudsman etc.) slide 37 Main Tools and Instruments to Monitor and Control in Decentralized Context Typical patterns related to different contexts : tendency of larger countries to apply a greater variety career-based HR: focus either on supervision or regulation position-based HR: managerial/performance instruments Scandinavian: managerial/performance instruments Continental: emphasis on supervision Mediterranean and Transition: dominating regulatory approach slide 38

20 A broad Spectrum of Reform Initiatives to Strengthen Accountability Performance management: eg. Germany (Zielvereinbarungen, performance agreement), Ireland (Civil Service Regulation), UK (Public Service Agreement), Portugal (Charter of Mission), Italy (assessment and control system) Changes in legislation: eg. Hungary (act on the legal status of civil servants in 2001), Lathvia (law on disciplinary liability, 1st September 2006), Czechia (civil serviceact) Budgetary means eg. Austria, France, Cyprus (with a strong focus on IT-system), Finland (financial controller s function) Soft coordination and networking: Job rotations (e.g. Germany), support and advice (e.g. Poland), seminars and consultations (e.g. Latvia), training programs (eg. Cyprus), HRM Subgroup of Secretaries General (e.g. Ireland) Increased transparancy eg. Finland, Ireland slide Consequences for HRM: From Personnel Administration to Strategic HRM slide 40

21 HRM Involvement in Public Administration Modernisation Mostly limited to HR-reforms (11) Relatively strong role and broad involvement (5) Mainly supportive role (5) helped to implement reforms rather than being a strategic partner HR is a follow-up of the reform and not the most important driver Training and staff development as crucial success factor for many reforms (4) slide 41 Leadership and Training Demands Resulting from Decentralisation need for further training and development of managerial skills Most countries with government-wide management training programmes and specific institutes Mostly not specifically related to decentralisation / accountability Decentralised and centralised systems Management training programs: voluntary: eg. Austria, Belgium, Latvia obligatory: eg. Bulgaria, France, Lithuinia, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia Only few countries with special HR policy for top management eg. Belgium, Estonia (competency framework) Strong focus on strategic management, policy making, leadership skills, ethics Increasing relevance for institutionalising possibilities to share information and good practices slide 42

22 Changing Role and Identity of HR departments Considerable changes for central HR units: reduction of direct control along with increasing controlling tasks Shift of focus from administrative to strategic / policy tasks proactive leadership functions central level provides frames to be filled out at decentral level soft coordination in working out common frameworks and principles and providing leadership in major/new government wide developments where central initiative is needed changed from that of a decision making and monitoring body into a strategic partner that seeks to give guidance and disseminate information on good practices increasing role as pilot, change manger, policy designer connection point function more strategic character dealing with change management slide 43 Changing Role and Identity of HR departments Pressure towards increasing professionalisation service-orientation knowledge-work management capacity building Employer responsibilities somewhat stronger role in providing advice, guidance and support customer-orientation is a word describing the current orientation of the office provide guidance on a number of issues via seminars, distributions and consultation No changes only in countries with ongoing central HRsystem slide 44

23 6. Conclusions: A Need for More Contextual Approaches towards HRM reforms slide 45 Points for Discussion Questions of understanding Comments on results Interesting examples / country experiences Other points of interest slide 46