Study on Organisational Changes, Skills and the Role of Leadership required by egovernment (Working title)

Transcription

1 Study on Organisational Changes, Skills and the Role of Leadership required by egovernment (Working title) Version 4 21/02/2005 Christine Leitner OUTLINE Background The present working plan of the EPAN egovernment working group sets out a list of priorities for the years , among them "Organisational changes, skills and the role of leadership required by e-government", which include Organisational changes required to implement e-government services fast Models through which organisational changes take place Requirements of modernised service delivery processes regarding the sharing of data, business process redesign and human resources Acquisition of the different skills (not only ICT skills) which are needed by managers and clerical staff to govern and manage change In its 2003 Communication the European Commission re-defined e- government as " the use of ICT combined with organisational change, new skills in order to improve public services and democratic processes and public policies". 1 However, egovernment is more than that: It implies major socioeconomic innovations and politico-administrative institutional changes based on new IST applications and developments. Transforming culture is thus a key dimension of egovernment. It is well known that existing institutions of social and political life exert a strong influence on the behaviour and attitudes both of the general public and of the civil service. "The way we do things here" can never be changed easily through technical re-engineering. The institutional setting influences the nature of innovation in government and it determines its pace and selectivity. egovernment programmes must therefore develop strategies and change management processes that focus on cultural issues and closely associate the stakeholders (in particular public employees) as full partners of the change process. 2 It has been acknowledged that egovernment calls for strong leadership at different levels to provide a strategic vision for and operational implementation of innovation and change processes in public administration. Politicians and public sector managers need to be committed to investing in the future with a long term view. All too often political leaders long for visible results (i.e. essentially service delivery) within their mandates. However, such 1 The role of egovernment for Europe s Future, COM(2003) 567 final, adopted on 26 September EIPA COMO report. 1

2 considerations of immediate political survival lead to fragmented if not backward processes. Decision makers will need to gain a thorough understanding of the issues at stake in order to sustain the fast growing political interest in egovernment and to direct it towards meaningful goals. A new approach is required for everything from procurement to the major principles and values of privacy legislation. This transformation cannot be accomplished by the public service alone but requires strong, committed and informed leadership at the political level. Both leadership and the commitment of politicians and public sector managers are crucial to manage change. 3 Cooperation is a great challenge since it involves the departure from deeply ingrained behavioural structures. Identification with the goals of the agency or body to which one belongs is often stronger in the public sector than elsewhere. Many obstacles have to be overcome, including many competing goals, a dense grid of regulations, the fragmentation of traditional public sector institutions and many historical legacies. Our richness in diversity of cultures poses a major challenge to the unity that is required to make egovernment work effectively and efficiently. The way we think, live and work together varies. Actors are embedded in different structures and have different policies, visions and attitudes. There is a need for a win-win approach enabling us to establish common goals and common standards (e.g. a common service platform). This is not only true for the pan-european level but also for the national, regional and local administrative systems. During the last few years, encouraging signs of enhanced cooperation have been observed. Interorganisational and interdepartemental cooperation, which is of vital importance for innovation alliances, has considerably increased. Putting people first is a precondition for success: the interests, expectations, fears and dangers which egovernment solutions give rise to must be addressed proactively. Moreover, egovernment must not be confined to information processing within the modernisation of administrations, but should be geared towards knowledge management and good governance. Cooperation among stakeholders, including at the European level, is a prerequisite in this process. Naturally, in this process of transformation public service ethics must be revitalised. While government may learn a lot from business management, work organisation and personnel practices, its difference also needs to be recognised. egovernment will only be successful if people in the public sector can be brought "on- board". However, there is widespread concern among public employees that the increased productivity due to egovernment will translate into job cuts. Such fears must be addressed and two intertwined lines of action should be implemented everywhere in that respect: Employees and their representative unions should be involved in cooperative change management; 3 EIPA Como report 2

3 The basic and specialist skills needed for effective egovernment must be identified and provided through vocational training for all public employees and managers. Investment in appropriate skills will ultimately pay off. Some Member States have started to set up skill maps as part of their egovernment strategies. (See Annex 1 for example). 4 Required skills The relevance of a skilled labour force has recently been emphasised in the Kok report and, more specifically, in relation to egovernment, in the CoBra Recommendations to the to the eeurope Advisory Group: "Successful transformation will only be possible with the full commitment and engagement of all stakeholders. In this context civil servants are key actors in the transformation of the administrations. Skills training of civil servants with respect to new ways of working and networked governance are essential." The increasing importance of ICTs and the Internet for public administration calls for complex skills to drive change in government. In terms of e- Government, ICTs and the Internet imply modernised service delivery processes regarding the sharing of data, business process redesign and human resources which in turn require organisational change, new top level leadership (eleaders), with mid-level leadership (echampions) supporting their work. Clerical staff as well as managers require a new and challenging set of skills. A new type of manager is required with a complex vision, integrating the reengineering of work processes, the administrative structure(s) and culture(s) with a citizen centred approach, bearing in mind that ICTs and the Internet are in the core of those new competencies. Managers must be able to lead (and not be lead by) the organisation s IT department and outside partners and must be able to integrate the organisation s ICT strategy with its broader goals. Apart from basic technical skills, general managers need an understanding of information management and the information society. 5 This new type of (general) manager requires traditional knowledge and skills of public management, i.e. HRM, organisation, financial management, etc., together with skills in network management in different policy areas such as health, education, social work, as well as basic IT literacy, and knowledge and skills in management of information systems and communication networks, and aspects related to information society policy. The 2003 OECD analysis could serve as a point of departure for further analysis of the skills required for both public sector managers and employees. 4 EIPA Como report 5 OECD,

4 For details see table 1 below: Table 1: Essential skills for dealing with egovernment processes Skills Information Technology Basic IT literacy Specialist IT skills Information management Internal information management External information management Privacy protection Feedback mechanisms Information Society Understand capabilities of ICT Ability to evaluate trends Foresee ICT's impact on organisational culture Ability to set ICT strategy Management/Business Organisational change Risk management Accountability frameworks Financing arrangements Co-operation and collaboration Public-private partnerships Source: OECD Needed by All employees, managers and IT specialist Managers and IM specialists Managers Managers Decision makers in the EU have emphasised the importance of new skills for effective egovernment implementation on various occasions. More specifically, the Mid Term Programme for Cooperation in Public Administrations in the EU aims at identifying the acquisition of the different skills (not only technical skills) which are needed by managers and clerical staff to govern and manage change. By the end of 2005 the egovernment skills required will be appraised and recommendations will be agreed by the Member States (EPAN Mid Term Programme 2003). To date a variety of training schemes (short term) and educational programmes (postgraduate programmes) have been developed in the EU member states (e.g. UK, Finland, Italy, Austria, Germany, Estonia to name but a few 6. As a recent study in the EU has confirmed that approaches to training of public employees vary in the EU, in addition responsibilities for training are quite scattered among the different levels of administrations in the EU Member States (EPAN, 2003). For details table 2 below: 6 Some examples will be referred to in more detail in the report. 4

5 Table 2: Training systems in EU Member States (ex EU-15) EU Member States Semidecentralised Decentralised Austria Belgium Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Ireland Italy Luxembourg Portugal Spain Sweden The Netherlands United Kingdom Source: Hellenic National Center for Public Administration (2003) Centralised At present, a European training curriculum does not exist. However, training programmes within the EU Member States very often follow the scheme outlined by the OCED (see also table 1). Various Member States are developing programmes to support the development of skills for staff, in line with the complex evolutionary process underway. Subjects linked to leadership skills and digitalisations of the public administration are the main common priorities for training in the public sector in the EU according to a recent EPAN study (2003). Objectives of the study The Mid Term Programme for Cooperation in Public Administrations in the EU aims to...identify the acquisition of the different skills (not only technical skills) which are needed by managers (and clerical staff) to govern and manage change. By the end of 2005 the egovernment skills required for managers and clerical workers will be appraised and recommendations will be drafted by the Member States' administrations. In response to the challenges described above, the Ministry for Public Service in Luxembourg has requested the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) to draft a report on "Organisational Changes, Skills and the Role of Leadership required by egovernment" to provide a basis for discussion during the EU Presidency of Luxembourg in the first half of The report should provide some input for the recommendations to be agreed by the end of

6 More specifically, the report will describe the context in the EU Member States (MS), identify learning points and transferable good practice with regard to organisational change, skills and leadership requirements, focus on the identification of the new skills required, An attempt will be made to draw up a list of recommendations for future action which focus on the identification of skills. Proposed methodology The following methodology will be used: 1. A (short) questionnaire for the information relevant to set the context; to be sent to the 25 EUPAN_EWG members. The questionnaire aims to identify what measures MS propose to encourage organisational change, what measures MS propose to encourage leadership, how national e-government strategies and action plans do include measures on skills, what programmes do exist, what could be done at the European level/in the framework of EUPAN. 2. Case studies and (semi-structured) interviews Approximately 5-10 cases will be analysed. Existing sources such as the eeurope Awards, Backoffice study, etc. will be used as well as additional cases to achieve a balance in terms of the size of MS, geographical spread, different levels and types of administrations and different policy sectors. Each case (or group of cases) will be assigned to a country representative who will be in charge of the analysis of the case which will include a visit to and interviews with the responsible administrations. Table 3 below provides an outline of the contents, structure, method and methodology proposed for the study. 6

7 Contents of the study Table 3: Study on "Organizational Changes, Skills and the Role of Leadership required by egovernment" Categories of analysis Research Methods Methodology Comments 1. Introduction and context Organisational changes Skills Leadership Introduction -short questionnair e (online) Comparative Overview within the European Union Main purpose information provision, details could be listed in annexes (e.g. programmes) 2. Good Practices -Context and objectives of the case -"Innovativeness " - Use of ICTs -Resources -Management of the egovernment implementation -Real practical results and impact -Functionality and visibility 3. Conclusions Learning points and transferability Organisational changes Skills Leadership Organisational changes Skills Leadership -In depth interviews -Direct observation -Review of internal documentati on -Existing material available Case study Focus on case studies (5-10) Successful and innovative cases with outcomes already identified Organisations from different levels of government and sectors Including studies from egov and ehealth Awards Final outcome: Report for egovernment Working Group Introduction and Context Good Practices Future prospects Recommendations Conclusions 7

8 TIMETABLE Date Task Comments 11/01/2005 Draft questionnaire was already drafted in mid- December 13/01/2005 Questionnaires sent to EPAN 04/02/2005 Questionnaires returned to EIPA 10 questionnaires received 12/02/2005 Reminder Questionnaire 22/02/2005 Outline of study Slides for presentation meeting on 24/05/2005 sent to EIPA 24/02/2005 Presentation of outline and preliminary results of questionnaires Presentation of study methodology and objectives 1.Draft of Study 20/04/ Draft of Study 21/04/2005 Review 30/04/ /04/2005 Revised text 12-13/05/2005 Presentation of Study to group 30/06/2005 Final Report Language: The study/report is provided in the working languague of the group, i.e. in English. References: CoBra Recommendations to the eeurope Advisory Group, Amsterdam September 2004 Criado, J. Ignacio, in: Construyendo la e-administración Local. Las Tecnologías de la Información y lacomunicación e Internet en los Ayuntamientos de la Comunidad de Madrid. Madrid: Instituto Complutense de Ciencia de la Administración. EPAN Study on current and future use of new technology in human resources management in European Public Administrations (2003), presented to the EU Directors of Public Administration in Rome, December 2003 Leitner, Christine (2003), E-government in Europe: The State of Affairs, IDA Report and egovernment News No.5, September 2003 edition Mid Term Programme for Cooperation in Public Administrations in the EU, approved by the Ministers responsible for Public Aminstration in the EU on 1 December New Local Government Network (2003). e-government and Organizational Transformation. Lessons from Liverpool and Hertfordshire. London. OECD (2003) Policy Brief, Checklist for egovernment leaders OECD (2003), The egovernment Imperative Report from the high Level Group chaired by Wim Kok, Facing the Challenge- The Lisbon strategy for growth and employment, November Strategic Computing & Telecommunications in the Public Sector (2000). Eight Imperatives for Leaders in a Networked World. Harvard: John F. Kennedy School of Government. 1 The role of egovernment for Europe s Future, COM(2003) 567 final, adopted on 26 September