The Civil Service Transformation Act, which was promulgated on August 6, changes the HR management framework by adapting it to new challenges faced by the French administration.

Outside of France's borders, other countries have also reformed public-sector employment and implemented provisions that directly affect employees' daily lives.

In labour-management dialogue, there is an obvious trend towards the development of "social councils" at local level, similar to the prevailing model in the private sphere, as has been the case for many years in Germany (Personalräte) and Sweden (personalutskotten). Council members are elected by employees and are mandated to negotiate with management concerning all issues of a basically collective nature. On the other hand, at national level, the representative trade unions always bargain with public employers. These negotiations then take the form of collective bargaining agreements that may be category- or sector-specific, as well as other types of agreements, some recent examples of which include:

• In Spain, the introduction of a variable component to pay rises that is pegged to economic growth

• In Norway, the active participation of public employees in defining the processes that will support the rollout of digital services

• In the Netherlands: the conversion of part of staff compensation into an individualised credit that can be freely converted into leave, training or retirement savings

Even though national circumstances (historical, cultural or economic) differ, we note that most administrations are seeking to adopt a more flexible recruitment policy in response to changing needs. To make this possible, managers must also be given greater autonomy. We can cite the following examples:

• Germany offers employment contracts to individuals with the appropriate professional experience and qualifications, and now takes that experience into account in the form of a length-of-service allowance, and even provides special allowances for certain professions experiencing recruitment difficulties

• Ireland introduced the fixed-term, specified-purpose employment contract, which was the inspiration behind one of the measures in the new French legal framework. This type of contract is attracting applicants and will be the subject of an initial assessment

• The United States set up the Hiring Managers portal. It is intended for managers and consists of assistants that help with job descriptions, candidate selection and workforce planning.

To support inter-departmental mobility, but also mobility outside the public sector, some countries have rolled out scalable systems to ensure career safety while promoting civil service appeal:

• As part of nationwide adjustments to the federal workforce, Canada provides employees with transition assessments and funding for diploma courses, as well as access to a job exchange programme, including in the private sector

• Denmark is currently relocating some government departments in its regions. Guidelines have been issued on how to reorganise departments (increased use of teleworking, recognition of travel time and housing subsidies)

Some countries, such as Australia (Opening up the APS), the UK (WIG Exchange) and, more recently, Slovenia (Partnership for Change), are strongly encouraging senior managers to take up positions in the industrial and commercial sectors at regular points during their careers.