Having been a thorny issue since the most-recent enlargement of the European Union, the matter of balanced geographical representation within its institutions, agencies and bodies (employing 60,000 people) has been subject to an initial agreement negotiated under the Croatian Presidency. It is set to be applied in a wider scope in terms of function groups and grades to reflect the diversity of the 27 Member States.

Having flagged up the fact that HR professionals are not always representative of the Civil Service as a whole (in terms of age, training, origin and/or career path) and that this could generate certain unconscious biases, the government is focusing on diversifying recruitment. A Capability and Talent team provides support to departments and raises their awareness of inclusion issues.

The OECD’s Observatory of Public Sector Innovation tracks all the innovative responses to the health crisis rolled out worldwide, some of which concern public employees directly. A virtual networked event on the topics “Rethinking and rebuilding through innovation” and “Collaboration for systemic change beyond crisis” will be organised in mid-November to allow practitioners and managers to share their experiences.