Key trends and challenges Main policy recommendations Flanders By Elsa Pilichowski, OECD

1
Key trends and challengesMain policy
recommendationsFlandersBy Elsa Pilichowski,
OECD
OECD review of Government human resource
management in Belgium Brussels Capital region,
federal Government, Flemish Government, French
Community, Walloon region
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4 main themes under investigation

• Workforce planning and management
• The management of staff performance
• The balance between consistency and flexibility
  of HRM rules across and within governments
• Core values

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Breakdown of General Government expenditures as a
percentage of GDP, in 2005
The costs of production of goods and services in
the public domain (as a of GDP)
4
Employment in government The issue of
sustainability
Relatively high employment and compensation costs
I
Compensation costs of employees in the General
Government output (2004)
5
Employment in government The issue of
sustainability
Little outsourcing
II
Share of intermediate consumption in the general
Government Output (2004)
6
Employment in government The issue of
sustainability
Relatively more focus on general administrative
tasks
III
Public administration, defence (excluding armed
forces) and compulsory social security, as a of
total population in 2005
7
Employment in government The issue of
sustainability
Growing numbers
IV

• Increase in compensation costs per employee
  compared to general labor market
• Employment in GG increased by 8 in 10 years
  and relatively more in Flanders
• Increase of number of staff working on general
  administrative tasks

Public employment in the Flemish Community
This has to be put in the perspective of ageing
in society and relatively high debt levels
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The underlying difficulties

• The federalisation process
• Governance difficulties
• Highly regulated centralised career based systems
  and the price of flexibility
• Low accountability for performancebut Flanders
  has a good story to tell
• Blurred political administrative interface
• Reforming for what?

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Reform in HRM is high on the agenda of all
governments

• Reforms have followed federalisation process and
  difficulties in the 1990s
• Economic difficulties
• Difficulties with credibility
• Reforms have generally followed the path of
  reforms across OECD countries
• Performance management
• Emphasis on senior management
• Implemented through wider management reforms
• Reforms are pretty similar with features that are
  relatively Belgium specific
• Emphasis on competency management
• Emphasis on mandates
• Reforms have taken place at different pace and
  with a different depth
• Mature phase of reform in Flemish and Federal
  governments with relatively more coherence of
  reforms in Flanders
• French Community and Brussels Capital region have
  taken a more incremental approach
• Walloon Region with a more incremental reform
  path and explicit emphasis on keeping traditional
  core values as guiding principles for the public
  service

Transition from a centralised rigid and highly
regulated career based system to a devolved
system with some attempts at decentralising
authority.
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Systemic difficulties remaineven in Flanders

• Regulation, delegation, and performance
• Move towards position-base system but some
  incoherence
• Coherent emphasis on performance management but
  missing incentives and still difficulties with
  the delegation of managerial authority
• Competencies and performance
• The problem of mobility
• Quid of cost saving measures?
• Serious governance weaknesses
• Bypass of traditional legislation and/ or core
  values
• The use of contractual staff
• Politicisation of the workforce

Flanders is advanced on issues related to
deregulation/delegation/performance. More
emphasis on systemic coherence and on
cost-efficiency, as well as on resolving
governance weaknesses would help improve
efficiency and effectiveness of the workforce.
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Emphasise productivity and efficiency

• Review functional size and structure of
  government employment
• Review compensation costs
• Harden budget constraints
• Devise long term workforce planning
• Get rid of negative incentives created by federal
  funding of pension costs and social employment
• Increase cross government consultation on the
  transaction costs of federalism

Better monitor staff numbers and compensation
costs
I

• Strengthen consistency of management framework
  with performance management
• Use competency management as a strategic
  management tool
• Emphasise performance in all areas of staff
  management
• Invest in mobility and career management

Strengthen performance management and delegation
of authority
Strengthen performance management and delegation
of authority
II
II
Taken altogether, these reforms should help
government better monitor their staff costs
compared to their outputs (and eventually
outcomes)
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Remedy most significant governance difficulties
Deregulate personnel management systems

• Review multiplicity of rules
• Emphasise delegation of authority and flexibility

III

• In the short run provide a career to contractual
  staff and monitor their performance
• In the longer run make a decision as to the type
  of employment system government would like to have

Rationalise the use of contractual and statutory
employees
IV
Clarify the political administrative
responsibilities and invest into leadership
capacity

• Decrease the size of cabinets and delineate
  responsibilities or make the present system
  absolutely transparent
• Improve development of future leaders

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Promote a coherent set of values
VI

• Continue investing in formally transmitting new
  core values
• Improve coherence of values with management
  practices

Review the intergovernmental governance framework
on HRM

• Review HRM framework
• Promote cross government co-operation and mobility

VII