Amongst the measures contained in the new Ensuring a Qualified Civil Service (EQUALS) Act is the option of extending the probationary period of newly-appointed senior executives to two years. Federal agencies are now able to use this additional period to offer extra training and to conduct a proper assessment before granting (or not) career employee status.

This local authority in the South-East of the Greater Paris region has introduced a ground-breaking management strategy for which the buzzwords are innovate, experiment, listen and involve. The novelties of the new organisational structure include participatory organisation charts (38% of employees’ suggestions were used), managerial coordination systems and inverted management committees to upend the hierarchical structure.    

At the five-year anniversary of the What Works Network, the government is acting on the recommendation of its national What Works adviser, David Halpern, and is set to introduce “evidence” criteria into the assessment of officials. To this end, a dedicated Cabinet Office team is working on defining competencies that include a scientific approach and use of research outcomes.