Leadership in the Public Sector: Lebanon’s experiment with installing competitive recruitment for senior government positions Carl Rihan IIAS-IASA Congress Manama, Bahrain June 2013
Outline I. General Overview II. Competitive Recruitment for Senior Government Positions III. Challenges and Lessons Learned IV. Circumventing the Challenges of Implementation V. Concluding Remarks 2 /14
General Overview 3 /14
1. Background Information: Lebanon • Parliamentary Democracy since 1943 • Small country:10425 km2 • Conflict zone • Small population: 4,259 million • GDP Growth: 2% in 2012 • High middle income: GDP/Capita15,500 USD • Highly indebted country: Debt/GDP 137% • No Natural Resources, labor intensive • Low female participation to the labor force :21.1% • Literacy rate: 90% Reference – CIA World Fact Book; IMF World Economic Outlook October 2012; World Bank Data 2011 4 /14 OMSAR, 2011
2 . Lebanon’s Macro -Fiscal outlook Total public debt (% of GDP) Fiscal Performance by Economic Classification- (2000-2011) Source: Data published in Ministry of Finance annual and monthly publications (200-2011) 5 /14 Source: Haver Analytics, Barclays Research
3. Who We Are
Competitive Recruitment for Senior Government Positions 7 /14
1. The Lebanese Civil Service 1- Workforce: Skilled personnel emigrated, retired, or passed away LEBANON'S WAGE BILL (in L.L BILLION) FOR CENTRAL GOVERNMENT, eq. to 9% of GDP AND TO 26% OF CURRENT EXPENDITURES Almost 70% vacant positions in all categories Large number of obsolete positions 295 322 324 61 out of 150 vacant post at leadership positions 6000 206 5000 2- Recruitment: 1420 1391 1286 Recruitment put to a halt since 1975 4000 1087 Irregular Public Sector Employment and 3000 recruitment (Decision No.14 of the Council of 3818 2000 3325 3354 2676 Ministers dated 9 December 1999) 1000 No merit based recruitment / selection 0 2008 2009 2010 2011 3- Organizational Structure: Salaries, Wages and related items (Article 13) Excessive administrative centralization Retirements and End of Service Indemnities No major administrative reform initiative since 1959 Transfers to Public Institutions to cover salaries Confessional influence and political interference are the major obstacles to reform 4- Training: No legal framework regulating capacity-building and career path development in the public sector Civil Service Law dates from 1959 There are few national training providers 8 6/12/2013
2. The Process In 2005, the Lebanese Prime Minister proposed to newly appointed Minister in charge of administrative reform to draft a law that would enable meritocratic recruitment. Accurate Job Profiles • Attracting, developing and retaining civil General service leaders Objective • The establishment of a transparent and objective merit based recruitment system Avoiding Founding Mid-Term No Written • The process would allow the government to Patronage Exam Assumptions recognize the need to design a new civil & influence Objective service salary structure Long Term • The creation of a largely depoliticized merit- Addressing based civil service Objective the issue of religion 9 /14
3. Institutionalizing the Process Objective: (3-5 persons) SC Tasks of Steering Committee Monitor the Process Prepare the job description 1. Steering Committee Ensure neutrality Draft the announcement Manage the Process Screening applications Quality Control Selecting evaluators / interviewers Position Description Validation of results Overseeing oral interviews 2. Announcement 3. Receipt of Applications 4. & Feedback Screening CVs for: Rejected Eligibility Screening Applications Receive a letter Core Mandatory 5. Long list Accepted Move to next step requirements General Qualifications Receive a letter Rejected Short Listing Process Tasks of evaluation Committee 6. EC Move to next step Accepted Mark CVs of long list Oral Interview Report to Steering Committee Oral Interview 7. Analyzing CVs for: Technical assessment General professional experience Specific professional experience Decision – Award - Notification 8. 10 /14
4. Outcomes 39 By the end of the process, 39 candidates were selected to fill positions in various public sector administrations Applications came both from home and from abroad ( 8 % from the Arab countries and Africa, and 8 % from Europe and the USA) However, the process was halted as the recommendations of the committees were not taken in consideration by the concerned ministers 11 /14
5. Strength and Weaknesses Strengths 1. Government and PM-sponsored initiative (strong institutional backing) 2. Process based on international practice and standards 3. Process that seeks to relegate confessionalism and political affiliation to the lowest priorities 4. Large and diverse number of experienced academics and professionals comprising the committees 5. Trusted process that attracted applicants from Lebanon as well as from abroad, who came to the interviews at their own expenses. Weaknesses 1. Tremendous effort invested to establish clear job profiles, however defining compensation and remuneration packages did not follow through. 2. Lack of coordination and advocacy in Parliament. 3. No consultation or open discussion through policy forums or round tables with civil society, which could have drastically pressured for the adoption, by law, of the process 12 /14
Challenges and Lessons Learned 13 /14
Challenges and Lessons Learned Decline of the Process 1. “Failed State Catalysts / Centrifugal Forces”: Confessional belonging undermined meritocracy. 1. “Fear of Change / Red Tape”: The “Mechanism for the Appointment of Senior Leadership Positions in the Lebanese Government” was defeated by an overwhelming margin of 28 votes against, and two in favor in the Council of Ministers in 2008 Lessons for Future Processes 1. Learning from experience: undertaking an assessment of the strength and weaknesses of the past experience 2. Recognize effort and solicit contributions 3. Measure workload and ensure visibility: Inventory vacant positions and prioritize them 4. “Centripetal Forces!”: Strategize, communicate, rally support 5. Emphasize the need for diversity as a concept against that of confessionalism
Circumventing the Challenges of Structural Reform through Emphasis on Leadership Training 15 /14
Training Leaders • Learning centered leadership is Attracting, Learning- transformational leadership developing centered and retaining training and future capacity • It emphasizes knowledge leaders building building at all levels of the hierarchy Structural Learning- and centered • It allows for dialogue, exchange procedural leadership reform and reflection leading to a momentum of change • Leaders become trend-setters Review of Knowledge pay scales creation and • It allows the fostering of an and job diffusion descriptions environment that allows for Enabling structural change to eventually environment for change take place 16 /14
Thank you www.institutdesfinances.gov.lb 17 /14
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