The Australian civil service is changing the way it selects its senior management in order to speed up recruitment and improve coordination across ministries (which launched this initiative in an endeavour to pool their pools of candidates). By strengthening central oversight, this new procedure also ensures independence and reduces overlaps in processes.

Each year, every federal department will have to nominate at least five employees for various awards. This initiative is a response to an internal evaluation that revealed that civil servants are “largely underrepresented” in Canada’s honours system. The Office of the Governor General is responsible for ensuring that all departments cooperate in this matter.

The Irish government’s “Fastrack to IT” and Civil Service HR departments have designed Ireland’s first  apprenticeship programme aimed at helping participants take up government jobs, more specifically in the digital professions. After a two-year period during which participants are paid and earn their credentials in IT networks or programming, the successful candidates will have access to career opportunities in government departments and offices.