HR- Peer Review: the Belgian experience

1. GOOD GOVERNANCE FOR DEVELOPMENT (GFD) IN ARAB COUNTRIES INITIATIVE GROUP B Regional Meeting of the Working Group on Integrity and Civil Service 04 APRIL 2008 Philippe VERMEULEN, Advisor general, Federal Public Service on Personnel & Organisation HR- Peer Review: the Belgian experience

2. 1. Getting started: a well considered process • End 2005: proposition by the OECD + estimate of the costs • March 2006: • Agreement/”contract” between OECD & CEO (Chairman of the Board of Directors) of the FPS P&0 & representatives Belgian federated entities • Drawing up & consensus on the Terms of reference • Taking into account some major challenges: • Complex structure of the Federal State • Volume on documentation • Different culture & views on HR & public management • Reputation of the OECD (80’s & 90’s) • Ensuring political commitment on federal level, quid on regional & community level?

3. 1. Getting started: a well considered process (cont.) • Responding to core questions: • Goal of the Peer Review? • Added value, now & for the future? • Consensus on definitions • Organizing workshops between the international experts and the respondents + interviews social partners & other stakeholders (May & September 2006) • Looking for & using already available data and/or ongoing surveys to limit the burden on the administrations • Draft paper (November 2006 & February 2007) • Final approval (June 2007)

4. 2. Do’s & don’ts • Clear contract between OECD & partner country • (senior) Experts • Timing • Cost • Outcome • Guidelines • Good practices instead of best practices • No universal truth • Client defines which areas are audited • Goal= • Not another survey • Define challenges • promote structurized cross-section dialogue & exchange views • Permanent feedback & only finished + published when government(s) agree(s)

5. 3. Added value • Methodological: • Interaction between both auditors and audited parties on a well defined consensual terms of reference • in which the autonomy of the auditors is crucial • the audited parties don’t find themselves in a conceptual or spoon-fed ideologically correct framework, • but are encouraged to give their points of view, clarifications or amendments as they see fit. • It’s then up to the experts to analyze the data and to give their expert opinion, always taking care to give sufficient feedback and being prepared to accept any reasonable arguments to rectify their opinions

6. 3. Added value (cont’d) • A forum for dialogue: • ensuring freedom of opinion, putting hard facts on the table and keeping the possibility open to react in respect for everyone’s goals and reasons • Not only between the auditors and the audited parties, but also between the different central levels within the Belgian Federation whose common and ultimate objective it is to serve the citizen in the best way they can. • also between different viewpoints on conceptual or practical approaches for common challenges

7. 3. Added value (cont’d) • enables data mining which is interesting for Belgium as well as for other OECD- Member Countries and Observers. • Furthermore, it allows benchmarking between different central levels in the Belgian Federation, and with other countries if they apply the same methodology. • strengthens cross-entity collaboration on matters of HR-policy • Communication between all actors continues by setting up a cross-entity extranet “RELEX” on OECD-documents and activities with the goal to reflect the opinions of the different entities in the viewpoints & communications of the Belgian delegation to the OECD on public governance matters;

8. 4. Impact • data was a topic for broad discussion between employers organisations & unions • Report was discussed at senior civil level in the different entities • basis for negociations when forming new federal government • has finally influenced policy objectives for the new government due to the fact that quite some recommendations & remarks were followed or taken into account : • The HR-policy:integrity, training possibilities, motivation, result-oriented & user or client-driven; • Customer satisfaction as well as civil servant satisfaction;

9. 4. Impact (cntd) • The regulatory simplification of the personnel statute within the goal to adapt HR- conditions to enhance modern career management & development ; • Priority is given to statutory employment, but possibilities to develop career possibilities & equal working conditions for civil servants recruited on contract basis will be examined as well as the possibility to contract interim personnel; • Developing an effective performance management; • Creating a real management contract between the political level and the administration based on concrete goals, adaptable to the stakeholders’ needs and objectives where the Chairpersons of each Federal Public Service receive large, real autonomy to develop their HR-policy and to use their budget where a priori, ex ante controls are to be replaced by random a posterior, ex post controls; • New citizen’s participation methods are to be examined in order to enhance involvement in policy making & assessment • A electronic Single Point of Contact (SPOC) is to developed ensuring the equal access to public information for those who don’t benefit from the internet revolution;