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In recent years, the OECD – an international organisation that brings together 36 countries including France – has been particularly active in the field of public administration. Within the OECD's Directorate for Public Governance, a Public Governance Committee (PGC) drafts strategy and coordinates all activities related to budgeting and performance management, public policy development and regulatory reform, strengthening ties between administrations and citizens, human resources management and ethics.

Every two years, this committee publishes "Government at a Glance"¹, a detailed overview based on a set of shared indicators. In addition to updating standard data, each edition picks specific topics related to governance and public administration to focus on.

The Public Employment and Management working group (PEM), which is a subset of the PGC, deals specifically with issues related to public employment trends. indeed, in recent years, HR issues have become increasingly a part of the public governance topics dealt with at the OECD, as evidenced by the increased presence of governments within PEM. Participating governments share their national experiences and the results of reforms, thus contributing to the professionalisation of public officials by defining new skills and management standards.

After dealing with civil servants' commitment and skillsets, both of which gave rise to a specific publication², the working group issued a "Recommendation on Public Service Leadership and Capability", a first for the OECD in terms of organisation of the public service.

The text – which was put out for public consultation in the summer of 2018, and was the subject of a large number of contributions – was adopted by the Board on 17 January 2019 and is now one of the organisation's legal instruments, along with the two previous recommendations on gender equality in public life and on public integrity.

Although these recommendations are not binding, it is expected that the Member States that voted for them will do their utmost to implement them fully.

To this end, the working group is currently implementing an inclusive process for deploying the recommendation, including toolkits and analyses to assist States in the various implementation phases and to ensure follow-up. These are timely issues for the PEM working group, which met in Paris on May 6 and 7, where France was represented by the DGAFP.

The OECD is also working on three other issues:

• Defining a "next generation" strategy for diversity and inclusion. The goal is to analyse the convincing results obtained with regard to academic knowledge in behavioural science to identify obstacles and better direct efforts.

• The changing professions in the public sector in response to the development of digital technology and automation.  This reflection is part of the OECD's major campaign "The Future of Work", and focuses on the impacts of new forms of work, but also on the challenge posed by the need for constant skill-building to cope with ongoing changes in employment and administrations.

• Defining the emerging needs of senior management and executives. France (DGAFP) is part of a small working group (Australia, Canada, Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Israel, the Netherlands). For France, a section is dedicated to boosting the digital abilities of senior officials. This important report will be published in late 2019.

¹ "Government at a Glance 2017" (next edition at the end of 2019)
² "Engaging public employees for a high-performing Civil Service" and "Skills for a high-performing Civil service" 

The remit of the Office of Personnel Management (US HRD) will be divided between two other federal agencies: talks related to administrative recruitment and training support will be merged into the General Services Administration, while strategic policy concerning staffing and planning will be entrusted to the Office of Management and Budget, which reports to the White House.

According to recent projections, in ten years' time, 1% of public servants will be under 40 years of age, while 81% will be over 50. This is an alarming situation for the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Civil Service, which commissioned a detailed HR audit. The goal is to identify vacant positions in government departments and the age of active staff members by cross-referencing this information with the estimated change in staffing levels in the various departments. 

Certain categories of federal personnel (customs, military) had an early legal retirement age. The Federal Council has decided to align this with the retirement age of all other employees (64 for women and 65 for men). The new rules will apply to those hired since 1 May and a transitional regime has been introduced, including the payment of a bonus by the government as compensation.

To address recruiting difficulties experienced by some of Italy's regions, characterised by major discrepancies between north and south, the government will set up regional competitive exams with local assignments. The first will be held in June in Campania. The Ministers of Public Service and Education have also announced the creation of a university program with direct reserved access.

"Talent Exchange" is a programme organised by the Federal government. It allows both civil servants and permanent contract staff to carry out temporary assignments (six to twelve months) in another public organisation so that they can share their experiences and acquire new skills. A specific scholarship is available.

As a result of the latest collective bargaining negotiations (OK18), a National Fund, with a three-year, €23 million budget – has been created to support skill-building amongst civil servants. It can be used to help finance certain individual training measures not covered by employers as well as related expenses, such as transport and accommodation.

The "Manager's Career Path" is the result of expectations expressed by managers during the drafting of their service project. It brings together 25 young and 25 experienced managers who discuss current management and the impact of the digital transformation. The goal is to overcome the often negative prejudices associated with a "trial and error" approach, in order to better understand their managerial practices. 

The centre is expected to formally launch in September, and will train around 100 public-sector leaders a year. A planned digital platform will reach a further 1,500 leaders and will establish a peer-learning network. The centre will also work to lead “high quality research to develop a better understanding of the relationships between leadership, well-being and productivity”.

Since 2016, ITZ Bund has been the federal government's IT service provider. To attract specialists to professions in high demand (for which measures to boost their appeal are being studied), ITZ Bund presents the various professions and the advantages for each of the target categories (work-study apprentices, newly-minted graduates, experts and experienced executives).

Eurofound, an EU agency, has published, in collaboration with the ILO, a report entitled "Working conditions in a global perspective". Combining sector-specific and geographical data (from Europe, America and Asia), the report analyses seven dimensions of job quality: the physical environment, work intensity, working time quality, the social environment, skills and development, prospects, and earnings.

"Social clusters" were designed as support structures for real-world trials carried out in willing establishments. A cluster's three members include one representative each from management, staff and the medical staff. Clusters provide a link between the quality of life at work and care provision, and they provide data to the National Observatory for the Quality of Life at Work of Healthcare Professionals, which was set up in 2018.

As France's leading employer, La Poste Group employs nearly 200,000 people working in many different fields (insurance and banking, mail and distribution, logistics and transport and – more recently – personal services). At this scale, making the same high-performance digital tool available to all, involving new uses and modifying how work is organised, is a large-scale operation that the company has carried out by drawing on the skills of its own staff.

An internal recruitment drive was launched, and 4,200 employees (slightly more than the ratio of 1:50 that had been decided on) were selected and then trained in the chosen solution (Office 365) as well as innovative ways to lead training sessions.

Within their departments, these ambassadors are responsible for ensuring the success of the programme, serving as both points of contact and advisers for their colleagues. Management provides support. Today, a number of communities have formed and are bringing the digital transformation to life at ground level.

After the initial ownership phase, the next challenge for La Poste will involve breaking out of a long-standing silo mentality and encouraging the development of cross-functional uses.

¹ Stands for "point commun" in French ("common element")

Having observed that many civil servants – due to their education level and/or changes in their jobs – are facing real difficulties in the event of professional transition, the Portuguese government has just launched a vast high-priority initiative designed to give them the means to be better prepared.

"Qualifica AP" is a mixed programme that covers both academic knowledge and professional skills. It is designed to foster lifelong learning, ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to improve their qualifications and boost their career prospects.

It is the public-sector version of a highly-successful plan that was implemented two years earlier in the private sector. Qualifica AP is coordinated by the Directorate-General for the Qualification of Public Employees (INA).

As a first step, government departments must carry out a head-count of staff with little or no qualifications¹ as well as those wishing to earn additional qualifications for their CV.

These needs will be integrated into the training plan in the same way as those related to skill-building or employment adaptation.

A network of "Qualifica AP" accredited centres – consisting of educational establishments and post-graduate schools for practical training – will be gradually established throughout the country, to ensure proximity to the workplace. They will offer a wide range of certified and diploma courses, as well as curriculum suggestions.

To help them do so, civil staff will also have access to the "Qualifica Passport" module, a platform where they can record the qualifications earned throughout their careers, as well as receive guidance through simulations.

Depending on the academic and professional progress made or underway, and by being able to easily identify the skills staff need to reach their goals, "Qualifica AP" aims to turn civil servants into participants in building their training paths.

The programme is fully in line with the government's "INCoDe2030" strategy on the development of digital skills and the promotion of the work of public-sector employees.
 

¹  Qualifica AP primarily concerns the 150,000 public employees (22% of the workforce) who do not have a secondary school-leaving certificate