DIRECTION%20GENERALE%20DE%20L

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MANAGING SENIOR MANAGEMENT SENIOR CIVIL SERVICE
IN FRANCE
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SENIOR CIVIL SERVICE IN FRANCE THE PRINCIPLES

• Career-based system (800 professional bodies, and
  300 statutarian positions)
• Philippe  Le Bel , Colbert, Bonaparte, Debré
  inheritances
• Politically neutral
•  Republican elitism  recruited through high
  competitive examinations and training at the
  beginning of the career in special institutes
  (ENA first !)
• Political choices for the extreme  top
  management  ( soft  spoil system )

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SENIOR CIVIL SERVICE IN FRANCE the specificities

• Civil service 4.5 billions servants, three
  parts (State (2.4), Local (1.4), Health (0.9)),
• 800 professional bodies
• Career-based systems with some nuances
• 19 specific professionnal bodies ( corps ) (12
  out of ENA (National School of Administration, 7
  out of Polytechnics Institute) 13 000 senior
  civil servants
• 800 top positions, pulled off from our  corps 
  system. Special status, special appointments,
  special wages (but simply organised in a
  pyramid)
• Centralised recruitment

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SENIOR CIVIL SERVICE IN FRANCE the achievements

• Loyalty (low level of corruption)
• Excellent academic level in the first jobs
• Unions support
• Real capacities of adaptation (ex developpement
  of position-based statutes, special statutes)

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SENIOR CIVIL SERVICE IN FRANCE the drawbacks

• Global complexity
• Implicit hierarchy of professional bodies
• Lack of mobility (only one in the statutes of the
  professional bodies and always at the beginning
  ot the career, historical traditions of
  in-departments career)
• Priority to academic competences rather than
  professional
• Weakness of whole-of-government policies
• Low development of managerial competences because
  of weakness of longlife training in this kind of
  matters
• One-way bridge to private sector

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SENIOR CIVIL SERVICE IN FRANCE the challenges

• Demographic gap/new law on pensions
  difficulties of recruitment over the next 10
  years or opportunities for reshaping our
  organisation
• More recruitment of specialists rather than
  global experts ? (present trend for median civil
  executives)
• Recruitment of European Union civil executives
  (legal adaptations)
• merit-based appointments (social peace versus
  necessity of promoving performance)
• Bridges between the three parts of our civil
  service and between private and public sectors
  (ethical problems, appointments, wages, bonus
  etc.)

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SENIOR CIVIL SERVICE IN France the future ?

• Present concern of our government
• More position-based system and end of stability
  in position (new act in 2002 only twice 3 years
  in a same position)
• Opening up of recruitment (end of  corporatism)
  end of monopoly of ENA and X ?
• More emphasis on mobilities
• Performance-related pay
• Pools of future leaders ?

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Conclusion

• Transition days, troubled days !
• And anticipation of next  roaring  tennies  for
  senior civil service