2013 DISPA Meeting – Dublin 23rd & 24th May...

LITHUANIAN INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

DISPA REPORT

Leadership, ethics and motivation in public

administration: challenges and the search for an

adequate response

Report of the Meeting of the Directors

of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration

of the European Union (DISPA)

during the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the EU

Vilnius, 24-25 October 2013

DISPA Meeting – Vilnius 24th & 25th October 2013

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THE MEETING OF DIRECTORS OF INSTITUTES AND SCHOOLS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

(DISPA) ORGANISED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE LITHUANIAN PRESIDENCY OF THE COUNCIL OF

THE EUROPEAN UNION

"Leadership, ethics and motivation in public administration: challenges and the search for an

adequate response"

The meeting was hosted by the Lithuanian Institute of Public Administration (LIVADIS). A "Troika"

preparatory meeting took place by video conference on 25 June between LIVADIS, the Italian School

of Public Administration (SNA), the Irish Institute of Public Administration (IPA), the Greek National

Centre for Public Administration and Local Government (EKDDA) and the European School of

Administration.

The theme was selected from different proposals put forward by the Troika members. As with all

recent DISPA meetings, the agenda was drawn up in such a way as to contain a mix of presentations,

discussions and workshops and to pick up a number of themes from previous meetings.

The programme can be found in annex I and a list of participants in annex II. Copies of the speakers'

PowerPoint presentations have been sent separately to participants electronically.

The meeting was chaired by Arturas Arbatauskas, Chief Consultant of the Lithuanian Institute of

Public Administration.

OPENING REMARKS

Kęstas Komskis, Deputy Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania

Paulius Skardžius, Director of Public Governance Policy Department, Ministry of Interior

Renata Latvėnienė, Director of Lithuanian Institute of Public Administration


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After the opening words of welcome from Mr Arbatauskas, Mr Komskis took the floor to underline

the importance he attached to the question of ethical behaviour in the public service both from a

personal point of view and in his capacity as Chair of the Anti-Corruption Committee of the

Lithuanian Parliament. But the notion of good governance goes well beyond the narrow concept of

corruption and fraud and embraces more general principles of transparency and openness to which

the citizen is entitled when dealing with public administrations.

Mr. Skardžius then briefly recalled the origins of the DISPA network and the important contribution it

has made over the years in providing information to the EUPAN network in the field of public

administration development with a particular focus on training. He underlined the influence that the

Institutes and Schools have on the positive development of public administration and governance

which is a key factor in the government-citizen relationship. Clearly, the public sector plays an

important economic role as a regulator, service provider and employer especially in times of change.

The goal to do more with less, has become an inevitable reality for public administrations across

Europe. However, the crisis has presented not only challenges, but also opportunities for public

administrations as a tool for sustainable, inclusive and equitable development. Undoubtedly, the

topic of the development of public administration is very relevant – an example of its importance is a

high-level conference to be held in Brussels the week after the DISPA meeting under the auspices of

the European Commission on the theme of business-friendly administration. Obviously, bodies like

DISPA are also very important instruments for encouraging good practices in public administrations

across Europe and helping countries learn from each other.

Ms Latvėnienė then issued a very warm welcome to all participants and expressed the hope that the

meeting would be an informative and constructive successor to the previous one in Dublin. She

encouraged participants to be as active as possible in order to gain maximum benefit from the

discussions.

Developing leadership: our experience and necessary improvements

Artūras Arbatauskas, Chief Consultant, Lithuanian Institute of Public Administration


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Mr Arbatauskas presented LIVADIS's "Olymp" training programme that targets the 3 highest civil

service grades. The main goal is to transform formal management into effective leadership. Leaders

are vital because only they can bring about fundamental change in organisations by inspiring

commitment and working with their "followers" to identify solutions that are in the public interest.

This capacity has a positive impact on followers’ motivation, one of the main themes of this meeting.

Leaders are able to lead organisations during changes and this is particularly important when it is

necessary to find new ways of working with fewer resources. Lean solutions as one possible new way

in this respect will also be discussed in depth during the meeting. Leaders can influence changes of

organisational culture and ethical values that compose that culture. The experience of 3 Member

States in dealing with ethical issue will also be discussed later in the meeting. All this suggests that

leadership is the one factor through which so many other organisational opportunities can be

opened up and implemented.

The Olymp programme takes as its starting point the vital importance of four groups of competency:

self-management (development); dealing with staff; managing the organisation; and dealing with

external stakeholders.

The programme lasts for a period of 6 to 9 months and uses a mixture of methodologies ranging

from guest speakers to tests and working on individual and group assignments. All trainers have

leadership and management experience which reinforces their credibility.

Participant reaction has been positive but some improvements are needed. Greater emphasis will

therefore be placed on personality profiling at various stages and on greater tailoring of the

programme to individual needs. This latter will also be achieved by making some parts of the

programme compulsory and others optional. Measures also need to be taken to improve attendance

and a "fast-track" residential approach is envisaged with the goal of training 170-300 people within 1

to 2 years. Policy advisors will benefit from a separate programme to take account of their different

needs.


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More ambitiously, it is intended to link the programme much more closely with the competencies

that are required in terms of recruitment, appraisal, promotion and job assignment, so as to ensure

an overall joined-up HR strategy. Of equal difficulty is to put in place evaluation techniques that

provide a measurement of the outcomes in terms of organisational performance and, furthermore,

in terms of the prosperity of a country, in addition to the development of the individuals themselves.

Mr Arbatauskas concluded his presentation with two striking views of leadership from Peter Drucker:

Leadership has little to do with" leadership features" and even less with "charisma": it is

simple, every day, and can be boring.

Leadership is not an end in itself but a means to effectiveness of performance.

The presentation provoked a lively debate about all aspects of the programme from practical issues

such as how trainers were selected through to wider issues of the indispensable link between HR, the

Ministry's policy and the political agenda. Participants were particularly interested in the fact that the

programme had been extensively benchmarked with projects in a wide range of other countries.

Case studies

Improving corruption prevention skills: different states – different solutions?

In introducing this session, Artūras Arbatauskas pointed out that it would be a great opportunity to

see how the same question has been tackled in the South and the North of Europe. And that there is

a provocative question: “Is it really so that different countries require different decisions for the

same problem?”

Greece – Tackling corruption phenomena

Fani Komseli, Deputy Secretary General of the Greek National Centre for Public Administration and

Local Government (EKDDA) /Director of Institute of Training

Dr Komseli presented a case study on how Greece and EKDDA deal with corruption phenomena.

Cases of corruption in Greece have been detected mainly in public hospitals, tax offices and bodies

issuing construction licences.

From 2011-2012 until now, EKDDA's actions to address the challenge have been the following:


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1. Organisation of a workshop on anti-corruption entitled "Reinforcing transparency and

fighting against corruption" with 3 separate working groups/ subtopics (2011):

Transparency reinforcement, prevention of corruption phenomena

Suppression of corruption phenomena, auditing mechanisms, disciplinary processes,

administration of justice

Educating, training, raising awareness, motivating citizens

A policy paper and relevant Road Map was the outcome of this workshop.

2. Co-operation with the "Task Force for Greece" for the implementation of focused training

following a Road Map on Anti-money Laundering (2012-now).

Experts form the Dutch Taxation Authority and the Greek Institute of Training delivered 3

levels of training courses, from basic to advanced, where real case studies were addressed.

861 people have followed these so far.

3. Organisation of workshop on e-Prescription, regarding the implementation of the e-Health

programme (2011). The policy paper and Road Map that were the products of this action

were followed by the Hellenic state soon afterwards.

4. Specialised interventions regarding the reform of the Hellenic Health System in the

framework of the "Health in Action" project. Four actions were supported by EKDDA:

Funding the functioning of the Reform Committees in each field

Elaboration of action plans by experts from EU Member States

Evaluation of the current situation by experts from EU Member States

Foreign study visits by Greek delegations

5. Training programmes for all civil servants of the Ministry of Finance (2012-now). By October

2013, 286 training courses had been organised with 6.159 participants.

Dr Komseli concluded her presentation with a quote from Socrates regarding the future: "The secret

of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old but on building the new" meaning that

apart from fighting against the phenomena that distort the ethical public administration function, a

new public administration based on integrity should be the main purpose of our future efforts.


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Sweden- The Council on Basic Values

Robert Cloarec, Principal Secretary, Council on Basic Values, Ministry of Health and Social Affairs

Mr Cloarec explained that although the situation is not as dramatic as in Greece, it would be wrong

to think that preventing corruption is not an issue in Sweden. Accordingly, the Swedish government

has put in place a Council on Basic Values.

The reasons behind the decision to establish the Council on Basic Values are:

The high degree of autonomy enjoyed by the numerous Agencies which have almost full

responsibility for their management. In this context, the government needs to introduce a

supplementary level of governance as a framework within which the agencies operate. This is

achieved by establishing indicators (men-women recruitment for instance) or by ensuring the

enforcement of the 6 basic values referred to below.

The absence of a career civil service for the 250 000 employees at central level and all 1,5

million public employees

The absence of a school of public administration as such that could raise values' awareness.

The six basic values are:

1. democracy

2. legality

3. objectivity

4. freedom of opinion and expression

5. respect for equality, freedom, and dignity

6. efficiency and service

In this list, criteria n° 4 might be of special importance since it is linked to the policy of free access to

documents which is special for Sweden and some other countries.

The Council's mission is to:

improve knowledge of the basic values in all the agencies through training and workshops.

support transposing these values into the specific values of each agency.


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There are two specific topics to work on:

1. the treatment of citizens: for instance special attention is given to the fact that with IT tools

there can be very good or very bad treatment of citizens and the quality and level of service

to each and everyone.

2. how to instigate a corruption-preventive culture. One way is to encourage people to

talk immediately with others when facing an issue, to avoid becoming "lonely stars".

Activities of the Council also include drawing up reports, commissioning studies, and organising

workshops and discussions between management and employees at all levels.

One of its particular challenges is the constant ongoing restructuring of the central government

sector with the effect of agencies frequently being closed down, merged, or redefined.

The philosophy of the Council can be summarised as: "A culture supporting and supported by the

basic values".

Italy- Fighting corruption in the Italian Public Sector

Fabio Cintioli from the Italian National School of Public Administration

Professor Cintioli presented a new law which was introduced in Italy in November 2012 to address

the issue of corruption. This law is important to the Italian School, because it is responsible for all

training of civil servants in relation to its provisions.

Why is fighting corruption important?

It is a problem for the Administration, in terms of compliance with European and national

regulations and in terms of public bodies reaching goals that are in the national public

interest. It is about the efficiency of public administration.

It is a violation of fundamental European rights, given the citizen's right to good

administration.

It is a weakness for the institutional and economic system as a whole in an era of crisis.


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The tools of the new law are:

New criminal offences

A code of conduct for the administration and an attempt to transfer the level of

responsibility from one of procedures to the individual

Enhancing transparency

Assessing potential conflicts of interest in public bodies

Improving competition in the public procurement sector

Two new measures have been introduced: a new offence of corruption between private parties and

an increase in sanctions.

The new law emphasises the notion of transparency. Transparency is now considered as a value: the

interest of the citizens (and political parties, NGOs, etc) in having full knowledge of public actions in

order to make the public sector fully accountable. For example:

the obligation to explain the legal and factual basis of a permit

the role of the internet. Public administration should be "a room with crystal walls" and

Internet could help in achieving that

the right of access to administrative documents and information

information about officials and employees

the role of the official and his/her own disciplinary reliability

potential conflict of interest in administrative procedures

new regulation for access to parliamentary, governmental and public offices

transparency for elected members of Parliament and Regional Council

The anti-corruption programme operates at two levels:

1. a general anti-corruption programme

2. specific anti-corruption programmes per Institution. Every Institution has to appoint a person

responsible for anti-corruption issues and the Italian School is responsible for his/her

training.

Finally, there is a new regulation for transparency in public procurement aimed at increasing

transparency in the selection of contractors.

The needs for the future are to find a balance that allows implementation of the new code of

conduct, an increase in efficiency and transparency in Public administration, and dealing with

lobbying regulations.


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Lithuania- A national anti-corruption programme

Raimundas Kalesnykas, Corporate Securitus Ltd

Dr Kalesnykas explained that the global "corruption perception index" gives the following ranking for

Lithuania:

48th /176 countries

20th in the EU

The main question is not about actual cases of corruption but people's perception of corruption,

which the indicators show to be increasing, despite an improvement in the number of cases

identified between 1999 and 2012.

In order to deal with this, a national anti-corruption programme has been set up for the 2011-2014

period, with the following priority areas:

legislation

control of courts and law enforcement activities

business supervision (public procurement, health, territorial planning and construction).

In all these areas training and education are key drivers for the effectiveness of government action in

the fight against corruption.

The heart of the system consists of institutionalising the problem. The coordinated approach aims at

strengthening administrative capacity by training in the field of corruption prevention in line with the

needs of various key sectors.

The operational programme's aim is one of "fostering administrative competences and increasing

efficiency of public administration" and is planned to be implemented through the professional

development of public servants working at all levels.

The project concerns 2700 staff members, to be trained over a period of 2 years by 15 coordinators

who are also experts in the field. The target group needs to understand what the rules and measures

mean in the workplace. Their own expectations went along the same lines: the "importance of


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understanding" the rationale of the laws and rules themselves (their origins and the reasons for

them).

Quality will be achieved though:

teaching methods: working on good practice, which means that participants have to read

documents beforehand to ensure that the sessions are effective.

the development of a new unique training programme by experts with permanent

monitoring during delivery.

reduced size of groups

The training topics cover a range of 9 items such as corruption prevention and control, anti-

corruption assessment of legal acts which are either generic or linked to specific needs of sectors

(e.g. health, finance)

By way of conclusion, the project is the first of its kind in Lithuania to comprehensively address the

issue of complexity arising from the diversity of duties and missions. If successful, it would raise not

only awareness and knowledge of the rules but also the perception of a "philosophy of anti-

corruption" as a driving force.

* * * *

After the four presentations on this subject, there was an exchange of views among many

participants indicating how difficult a subject this is and of the limitations of training as a deterrent to

corrupt practice.

Lean Government initiatives in the public sector

The third session of the day was introduced by Artūras Arbatauskas as a more active part of the

meeting where some practical exercises would take place and participants would have the possibility

of expressing their wisdom and sharing opinions in working groups. The third theme of the meeting:

“How to find new ways for functioning with fewer resources and if lean solutions could help in it?".

Modestas Gelbūda, Research Director, University of Management and Economics (ISM)


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Dr Gelbūda presented his experience as an academic and business, social and public sector

entrepreneur. He paid homage to the pioneering work of Dr Rytter in Denmark and has drawn

inspiration from lean government initiatives in Denmark.1 One of these was a reform project in a

Danish hospital.

He considers that the need to streamline the public sector is particularly important in the "ex-

socialist states". One of the challenges is that public opinion has not been sufficiently critical of public

sector inefficiency in these countries, having grown accustomed to that kind of administration.

Dr. Gelbūda explained that once the research phase was finished there was an "ideas contest" in

April 2010 to identify how to make the Lithuanian public service more efficient. A community of

volunteers was also set up involving a finance and corporate government expert, a public sector

leader in process excellence, a specialised consultant in the "lean" field, the Chair of the National

Young Researchers Association, and an academic entrepreneur interested in societal change through

knowledge.

The need for certain legislative measures and the onset of the Lithuanian Presidency have led to

some delay in the "lean project" which was therefore only launched in June of this year. A high-level

forum has been held which was attended by several Ministers as well as representatives from the

President's and Prime Minister's offices. The drive for reform will be supported by a series of

roundtable discussions for top officials, the production of a guidebook to lean government,

conferences, and if necessary legislative measures. Among the aims of the project is to encourage

sharing of knowledge and knowhow at key levels in the administration and to stimulate creativity.

Workshops

Following Dr Gelbūda's presentation, participants were broken up into 5 working groups on a

random basis. Each group was asked to discuss all four questions mentioned below although not all

groups completed the task. The following is a summary of the ideas that came out of the discussions,

as presented by the four rapporteurs.

1. What are the major shared or specific problems in the public sector organisations in your

countries?

Multiple requests for data

Excessive controls

Inertia

Protection of territory

1 Readers could usefully refer to the report of proceedings at the DISPA meeting in Copenhagen in May 2012

where many lean government initiatives were presented.


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Government-citizen mistrust

"Starving the donkey" – cutting so deeply that an organisation ceases to function

Political interference in public administration

Lack of long-term concepts and therefore lack of continuity and short-term solutions

Demographic problems – declining birth-rates might result in a shortage of people willing to

work in PA in the future

Political rationale against efficiency

"Doing more with less"

The human factor and motivation.

2. How can "lean management" principles and their implementation help solve these problems?

Critical review involving all users

Breaking down organisational silos

Participative communication

Technological support

More trust in top PA managers - more power and decision-making to staff

A major driver for motivation is to have an immediate perception of what is at stake for the team but

what is missing in a growing number of organisations is how that fits into the big-picture view of the

needs of the organisation.

The importance of staying focused on the big picture was illustrated by an example where several

agencies in one member state were found to deliver individually very efficiently but the collective

outcomes were contradictory.

On the other hand, perception of overall coherence allows involvement at an organisational level by

allaying doubts about the legitimacy of the public sector which in turn is a source of motivation.

Politicians should entrust more decisive power to both top managers and those at lower levels in

public administration as this can promote greater collaboration and a sense of responsibility

throughout the organisation.

3. What are the major barriers to adopting lean measures in public sector?

Lack of motivation

Cannot see the wood for the trees

Fear of the unknown

Size of the task

Competency deficit

Divergent interests

Perception that transferring methodology from the private sector might not work

The tension between political deadlines and the speed at which bureaucracies can deliver


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Vertical thinking and thus an inability to identify horizontal solutions

Lack of trust in PA

Lack of speed

4. How can public management institutes prepare, participate and support "lean

transformation" initiatives in the public sector?

Work with core business ... (HR...)

More than "training"

Use established practice (no need to re-invent the wheel ... on every occasion)

Facilitate the change process

Break habits

Act as a "curator" bringing knowledge, tools, best practice to help PA

Innovation

Apply lean processes and management to training

By raising awareness about lean management and applying its principles to their own

organisation.

Concluding comments:

Principles used in lean management:

1. Courage. How often do public servants stop a process when they see a problem? And this is

linked to quality.

2. The 5 Whys. Ask "why" 5 times until we arrive at the root cause of our problem. In lean

organisations all processes are linked to the client's needs and satisfaction.

3. Standardisation and routines.

4. Generating and proposing ideas.

People respond to good management practices. If people do not respond in the way we would like,

it is the managers that need to reflect. Engagement/involvement of people is critical yet only 25-30%

of public employees in Europe feel engaged.


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Case studies

The motivation of Public Administration managers

Artūras Arbatauskas introduced this fourth session as very interesting because at this time of

different kinds of reductions we find ourselves still caring about the motivation of civil servants. It

will therefore be intriguing to find out what surveys in different countries and institutions reveal for

us.

Italy

Alberto Petrucci from the Italian National School of Public Administration (SNA)

Professor Petrucci presented the main results of a research project on public sector motivation

(PSM), conducted by SNA and SDA Bocconi - School of Management.

The research is part of a larger scientific project jointly developed by SNA and SDA Bocconi, involving

two lines of analysis on Italian Public Administration at a central level: a) one on PSM; and b) one on

Public Sector Performance.

The research questions are:

What is the relationship between PSM and performance?

What are the main determinants of PSM?

What is the PSM role for attracting and motivating public employee?

The aims of the research are:

Empirical analysis of PSM, extrinsic motivation as well as intrinsic motivation for the Italian

Public Administration at a central level

Consequences for Italian public management

Public Administration policy implications

From a doctrinal viewpoint, it can be stated that:


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a) Performance depends on:

Ability,

Task understanding

Motivation

Environment

b) Work motivation is related to:

Job importance

Mission validity (perceived importance of institutional goals)

Extrinsic elements (rewards, career, etc.)

Self-efficacy (capacity to organise and execute actions requited to attain a

designated performance level)

Job difficulties

c) Intrinsic motivation:

Achievement of personal goals

Job satisfaction

Compliance with ethical standards, fairness, team spirit, procedural fairness and material fairness

Conscientiousness

The research focused on HR management in the Italian Public Administration at a central level and

specifically on the number of civil servants, their profiles, recruitment and selection, career system,

training on the job, performance evaluation and payments and bonuses.

351 public sector managers responded to the survey that was sent to them in 2012.

Results of the analysis

Level of job effort is lower in senior positions, higher in senior executive positions and higher

when intrinsic motivation exists.

PSM is higher at the hierarchical level and among female managers and linked to academic

education. It is lower were extrinsic motives exist.

Intrinsic motivation is (paradoxically) lower for Directors General, higher for people from

"civil service families" and has a positive correlation with conscientiousness and job

satisfaction

Extrinsic motivation has a positive correlation with public manager seniority and a negative

correlation with PSM

Job satisfaction is higher for public managers with an academic degree and has a positive

correlation with intrinsic motivation


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Conclusions from the survey

This survey provides only a snapshot of the situation in the Italian Public Administration. It is

important to have a systematic and continuous monitoring of the motivational capital.

Individuals with different motivational profiles respond differently to the same organisational

conditions.

The managers of today need to close the motivational deficit and future managers need to

be able to select and keep those with high PSM

Public management policies need to be adjusted continuously to be more effective

Public sector performance and motivation should be analysed through a richer framework

One final striking figure which contextualises this research: general "public" happiness is only about

the same now as at the end of the Second World War despite GDP being 10 times higher!

Ireland

Dr. Richard Boyle, Head of Research and Publishing, Irish Institute of Public Administration (IPA)

Dr Boyle reminded his audience of the key points that had been presented at the previous DISPA

meeting:

the number of Irish public servants has dropped back almost to the levels of 2012 some 10%

lower its peak in 2008

In terms of the number of public servants per 1000 citizens there has been a fall from the low

seventies over the period 2002-2008 to around 65 in 2012

staff have suffered pay cuts in the region of 15-20%

on the whole the media is consistently hostile and aggressive towards the public sector that

it describes as "bloated and pampered, and bleeding the nation dry."

Studies have shown that motivation in the public service remains higher than for equivalent workers

in the private sector, although it is not clear whether that impacts positively on performance. On the

other hand, high performance in an organisation will build higher levels of motivation.


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Research also shows that action can be taken to improve public service motivation: it is not just a

question of individuals' intrinsic qualities. The main elements that contribute to public service

motivation are:

transformational leadership

a match between the individual and the organisation

effective goal-setting and seeing how you as an individual fit in

autonomy on the job

a supportive work environment (how conflicts are handled, collaborative working practices,

etc.)

clear public service values.

As extrinsic motivational factors are being eroded, it is more important than ever that leaders and

managers foster the intrinsic motivation of their staff by ensuring the abovementioned values and

tools are effectively demonstrated and implemented.

In turn, this underlines that there is a role for learning and development professionals to play but it

also throws up a number of challenges in terms of the way in which the public service is organised,

administered and the quality of its leadership. One danger is to be avoided at all costs, namely that

the HR agenda is dominated by a "bottom line" agenda.

European Commission

Norman Jardine, Head of the Commission's HR Communication Unit - Staff satisfaction survey in the

European Commission

Mr Jardine explained that the survey was conducted at a time where the EU was under attack from

member states and the public media. It was also the moment when the Staff Regulation was under

revision which was perceived as an internal threat.

Out of a total of 33 000 staff there was a 40% response rate, which makes the survey statistically

sound and highly representative. It focused on 5 main themes:

The Commission as a workplace

Current job


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Professional future

Management

Senior Management

The Commission as a workplace

70% satisfied with working in the Commission

80% can see clearly the link between their own job and the mission of their DG and/or the

Commission as a whole

80% feel proud of their job

One possible interpretation is that public criticism has reached such a level as to provoke a "fortress

mentality" which paradoxically increases staff's sense of loyalty.

Area of concern: only 49 % of staff agrees that the Commission cares about staff health and well-

being. This figure is a red light indicating an increased risk of burn out.

Current job

70% express satisfaction with their job

High ratings also for interest in their work (88%) and willingness to make an extra effort

when required (95%).

Area of concern: managers do not identify staff's training needs sufficiently well. This figure has been

low since the first staff survey in 2006.

Professional future

more than half of staff feel they can manage their own career path.

Area of concern: only 4 out 10 staff feel that general mobility in the Commission is encouraged.

Management

Almost 3 out of 4 staff feel that their manager encourages teamwork

7 out of 10 staff feel that their manager is open to their ideas

7 out of 10 staff feel that their opinion counts

These are very good results, and probably illustrate that the investment in management training, in

particular by the European School of Administration, has had a positive impact.


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Areas of concern: dealing with poor performance as only 4 out of 10 staff feel that their managers

deal effectively with poor performance. If one wanted to be cynical, one could conclude that under-

performance is practically non-existent.

Senior managers

The scores relating to perception of senior management are the least good.

It has probably to do with the simple physical distance between the average member of staff and

their senior managers. One other area of concern is that staff use social media and many assume

that senior managers should as well.

Engagement

For the first time engagement was measured among staff through "the staff engagement index".

The definition of engagement taken into consideration was: "A workplace approach designed to

ensure that employees are: committed to their organisation's goals and values; motivated to

contribute to organisational success; and able at the same time to enhance their own sense of well-

being."

Area of concern: there is an expectation that the organisation should collaborate more, that people

could collaborate with a Commission view and not only a unit, Directorate or DG view.

The key drivers for engagement that were used were taken from research conducted in both the

public and private sector in the UK.

1. Strategic narrative: do you know where the organisation is going and can you as a manager explain it very simply? 2. Engaging managers: do you have a group of managers who know how we can engage? 3. Employee voice: where can staff have their say in the organisation (in meetings, social media)? 4. Integrity: do not break the "psychological contract"

One final thought. We now have a new Staff Regulation and it will be important to avoid the risk of

becoming obsessed by the fact that its administrative implementation is the be-all and end-all of HR

policy. It is just one of the constituent elements and managers must actively bear in mind that the

full implementation of the new Staff Regulations is a major change initiative and should be managed

accordingly.


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DISPA matters

David Walker, Director of the European School of Administration

Mr Walker informed the meeting that the European School of Administration would organise three

sessions of the Erasmus for Public Administration programme in 2014. This is a two-week programme

for young national civil servants dealing with EU affairs who have never worked for any of the EU

institutions. During the programme, participants visit all the EU institutions and other bodies in

Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg with the aim of understanding how the decision-making

processes work in practice and to provide them with networking opportunities among themselves

and staff in the institutions. The School asks the Member States' Permanent Representations to the

EU to ensure wide publicity among government departments and to provide it with lists of applicants

for each session. Extra places on the scheme are given to Member States that will be running the

rotating Presidency in the next twelve months.

He also repeated his offer of providing free places from time to time on some of the School's

management training programmes and would send details to members as soon as dates were known

for 2014.

He indicated that the School was looking at the possibility of transferring the information currently

stored on the DISPA wiki to a dedicated part of its Europa website with password-only access, in an

attempt to promote greater use of this tool among members.

Finally, he announced that the School would be circulating a brief questionnaire among members in

order to gather basic information about each of the Institutes and Schools (mission, status, size,

funding, etc.) which would be made available on the website for information purposes.


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European Reciprocal Training Programme (ERT)

Mariette Baptist-Fruin, from the Dutch Institute of Public Administration gave an overview of the

ERT programmes.

ERT is about the exchange of good practice between different member states regarding public sector

policies, performance and common challenges. It is also about understanding each other's

administrative systems and governance mechanisms and building networks between civil servants

across the EU.

The study visits are organised by one of the DISPA members for civil servants from other member

states and usually last three days. Some are thematic and some are general, i.e. focusing on the

administrative system of the host country including the EU coordination system. There are variations

in the fees depending on the status of each Institute.

The ERT network is comprised of members from the Institutes and Schools in the DISPA network.

However, it is mainly the older EU countries that take part at present and Ms Baptist-Fruin appealed

to other Schools to join in. Schools are encouraged to link their ERT programmes with policy, either

by organising general study visits, especially when a Member State is close to its EU presidency, or by

identifying relevant policy themes/ good practice for specific study visits.

Participants were then asked to suggest a theme/ specific topic that is good practice or of particular

interest in their country and that could be the subject of an ERT event. The list of suggestions can be

found in Annex III.

Mrs Baptist-Fruin suggested that the ERT delegates prepare a two-year plan for several study visits

based on the input of the members during the DISPA meeting (both general and thematic). The plan

will be submitted to the next DISPA meeting for discussion and approval. It is suggested that DISPA

members appoint a contact person in the ERT network if there is not one already.

The next ERT meeting is scheduled for 26 November in Berlin.


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INVITATION TO NEXT MEETING

Renata Latvėnienė expressed her regret that everything that has a beginning also has an end.

Previously, she had only had the opportunity to read about such meetings. This meeting and the level

of participation in it has exceeded her and, probably, Arturas’ expectations because at the beginning

certain problems were seen and the same questions kept coming up. But today it seems as if all the

problems have disappeared, or at least that a clear way forward and clear decisions for further

developments have become evident. Also without doubt participants acquired a new level of

enthusiasm. She thanked all participants for their sincerity and that they took the opportunity of

coming together here. Before passing the floor to the representatives from Greece she presented

them with a special symbol – wooden clogs, so that their first steps would be easier.

Fani Komseli extended a warm invitation to all DISPA members to the next meeting of the network

which will take place in Athens on 5 and 6 June 2014. The Troika will meet before the end of this year

to discuss the agenda. If any members have any suggestions they will be welcomed.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Artūras Arbatauskas then thanked all participants for their active participation in the meeting and

expressed his gratitude to those who have provided invaluable support in finding relevant speakers.

Several participants took the floor to congratulate him in particular and LIVADIS in general for the

first-class organisation and good quality of the meeting.

The meeting was then declared closed.


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Annex I

DISPA MEETING PROGRAMME

Leadership, ethics and motivation in public administration: challenges and search for an adequate response Meeting venue: Radisson Blu Hotel Lietuva, Vilnius, Konstitucijos av. 20, LT-09308 – Vilnius.

Day 1: Thursday 24th October 2013

9.00 REGISTRATION Lobby of hall Beta

9.30 Welcoming address Kęstas Komskis, Deputy Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania Paulius Skardžius, Director of Public Governance Policy Department, Ministry of Interior Theme and Objectives of the Meeting Renata Latvėnienė, Director of Lithuanian Institute of Public Administration

Hall Beta

10.00 Developing leadership: our experience and needed improvements Artūras Arbatauskas, Chief Consultant, Lithuanian Institute of Public Administration

11.00 COFFEE BREAK Lobby of hall Beta

11.30 Case studies: Improving corruption prevention skills: different states – different solutions?

In Greece – Dr. Fani Komseli, Deputy Secretary General/Director of EKDDA’s Institute of Training

In Sweden – Robert Cloarec, Principal Secretary, Council on Basic Values, Ministry of Health and Social Affairs

In Italy – Prof. Fabio Cintioli, Italian National School of Public Administration

In Lithuania – Dr. Raimundas Kalesnykas, Corporate Securitus Ltd

Hall Beta

13.00 FAMILY PHOTO

13.15 LUNCH Restaurant

14.15 Lean Government initiatives in the public sector Assoc. prof. Modestas Gelbūda, Research Director, University of Management and Economics (ISM)

Hall Beta

14.35 Start of discussions and working in 3-5 parallel groups Facilitated by assoc. prof. Modestas Gelbūda

Hall Beta Halls: Gamma, Eta, Epsilon



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16.00 Discussion and working in 3 parallel groups – continuation Presentation of group results, drawing conclusions

Hall Beta Halls: Gamma, Eta, Epsilon

17.00 Close

19.00 Dinner and cultural programme Hall Beta

Day 2: Friday 25th October 2013

9.30 Case studies: Surveys of civil servants‘ motivation and response of training providers

In Italy – Prof. Alberto Petrucci, Italian National School of Public Administration

In Ireland - Dr. Richard Boyle, Head of Research and Publishing, Irish Institute of Public Administration

In European Commission – Norman Jardine, Head of the Commission's Communication Unit

Hall Beta


11.30 DISPA matters

Internships in other member states/ EU institutions – areas of possible cooperation David Walker, Director, European School of Administration

European Reciprocal Training Program (ERT) Mariette Baptist-Fruin, Senior Advisor and Trainer, Dutch Institute for Public Administration

Hall Beta

12.30 Invitation to the next DISPA meeting in Greece

12.45 Concluding remarks

13.00 LUNCH Restaurant

14.30 Optional Cultural Programme


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Annex II

Delegate list

Nr. Representation Name, surename Institution Email

1. Austria Klaus

HARTMANN

Federal Chancellery, Unit II

Public Service and

Administrative Reform

[email protected]

2. Czech

Republic

Lukas JIRSA Institute of State

Administration

[email protected]

3. Germany Ernst WILZEK Federal Academy of Public Administration

[email protected]

4. Estonia Tanel OPPI Estonian Academy of

Public Service

[email protected]

5. Spain Carmen

GONZÁLEZ

SERRANO

Spanish School of Public

Administration

[email protected]

6. Finland Anneli TEMMES HAUS Finish Institute of

Public Management

[email protected]

7. France François LE

THEULE

National School of

Administration

[email protected]

8. Greece Naya

VRETTAKOU

National Centre for Public

Administration & Local

Government

[email protected]

9. Fani KOMSELI National Centre for Public

Administration & Local

Government

[email protected]

10. Italy Renato

CATALANO

National School of

Administration

[email protected]

11. Fabio CINTIOLI [email protected]

12. Alberto

PETRUCCI

[email protected]

13. Daniela SKENDAJ [email protected]


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14. Hungary Péter

PRINCZINGER

Institute for Executing

Training and Continuing

Education

[email protected]

15. Ireland Richard BOYLE Institute of Public

Administration

[email protected]

16. Latvia Edite KALNINA Latvian School of Public

Administration

[email protected]

17. Lauma PRIEDITE [email protected]

18. Luxemburg Philippe

DIEDERICH

National Institute of Public

Administration

[email protected]

19. Romain KIEFFER [email protected]

20. Malta Joanna

GENOVESE

Office of the Prime

Minister

[email protected]

21. Netherlands Manette

BAPTIST-FRUIN

Dutch Institute of Public

Administration

[email protected]

22. Poland Jan PASTWA National School of Public

Administration

[email protected]

23. Romania Maria Rodica

PICU

National Agency of Civil

Servants

[email protected]

24. Alexandra

APOSTOLEANU

25. Sweden Petra

GÖRANSSON

Swedish Council in Charge

of definition and

development of skills for

officials

[email protected]

26. Robert CLOAREC Principal Secretary, Council

on Basic Values, Ministry of

Health and Social Affairs

robert.cloarec@regeringskansliet

.se

27. Croatia Dubravka PRELEC State School for Public

Administration

[email protected]

28. Switzerland Etienne FIVAT Swiss Graduate School of

Public Administration

[email protected]


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29. Norway Gry AALDE Agency for Public

Management and

eGovernment

[email protected]

30.

31. EU

institutions

David WALKER European School of

Administration

[email protected]

32. Fay GIANNAROU [email protected]

33. Karine AURIOL [email protected]

34. Norman JARDINE European Commission [email protected]

35. EIPA Marga PRÖHL European Institute of


[email protected]

36. Ukraine Yurily

KOVBASIUK

National Academy of Public

Administration

[email protected]

37. Lithuania

Paulius

SKARDŽIUS

Director of Public

Governance Policy

Department, Ministry of

Interior

[email protected]

38. Renata

LATVĖNIENĖ

Director of Lithuanian

Institute of Public

Administration

[email protected]

39. Osvaldas

ŠARMAVIČIUS

Director of Civil Service

Department

[email protected]

40. Artūras

ARBATAUSKAS

Chief Consultant,

Lithuanian Institute of


[email protected]

41. Vigilija BRUŽAITĖ Chief Advisor of Public

Governance Policy

Department, Ministry of

Interior

[email protected]

42. Ingrida

TINFAVIČIENĖ

Lithuanian Institute of


[email protected]

43. Daiva URBUTIENĖ Lithuanian Institute of


[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


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44. Raimundas

KALESNYKAS

Corporate Securitus Ltd raimundas.kalesnykas@corporat

esecuritus.com

45. Ernestas

LIPNICKAS

Corporate Securitus Ltd ernestas.lipnickas@corporatesec

uritus.com

46. Modestas

GELBŪDA

University of Management

and Economics (ISM)

[email protected]


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Annex III

POSSIBLE THEMES FOR ERT EVENTS

Creative leadership

Good relations with EU Institutions

Experience of developing study programmes for PA in countries of EU

Decision-making process in the EU

How to prepare for the EU presidency for the first time

Integrity: linking individual work with EU values

Ethics and integrity

Motivation of civil servants

E-government

Public Sector Reform

Switzerland: Training for Members of Parliament, International Master of Public

Administration

EUSA: The EU narrative

Norway: E-government, strategic ITC management

Italy: Good practices; national/ cultural heritage

Sweden: Effectiveness in PA, lean management, the development of HR management, the

lack of central support to small agencies

Finland: Good governance/ administrative transparency

Latvia: Regulation of conflict of interest in public administration, training/ education to

prevent corruption, public procurement issues, sustainable training and development

system, EU citizen identity

Czech Republic: Anti-corruption measures

Estonia: E-government, e-services, e-democracy, civil service reform, anti-corruption and

ethics, top-civil servants development


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EIPA EPSA Winner 2011: City of Bilbao (long-term change strategy, zero debt, co-operation of

politics, administration, citizens, business)

Hungary: Integrity: advisory role and further training programmes, e-learning methodology

centre for further training

Spain: The reform of public administration to adapt to the current context of crisis

France: The future of the European Financial Regulation- how to get the EU out of crisis/

managing European funds in the area of regional and neighbourhood policies, how to

manage selection processes in the public sector: international comparisons, managing parity

of gender in the public sector

Greece: "Diavgeia" and "Mobility" programmes

Malta: Performance management

Ireland: Public sector reform

Lithuania: EU Presidency training planning-organisation

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