A Professional Civil Service

The Civil Service will maximise the performance and potential of all employees.  

Specific actions outlined under this thematic area are below.

We will:

• Invest in a new strategic model for HR within the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to develop and lead HR reform across the Civil Service.
• Professionalise HR in the Civil Service by establishing a new HR professional stream.
• Support leaders to manage in a new strategic HR environment by providing active leadership supports to develop HR capabilities and accelerate this transformation in partnership with Departments.
• Simplify central HR policies to enable better and more consistent implementation of HR practices and policies across the Civil Service.
• Further develop and coordinate benchmarking and sharing of best practice in people management.

We will:

• Extend and maintain a continuous process of open competitions in key areas at a range of entry levels. Support this with regular and ongoing recruitment to meet workforce planning needs.
• Maintain the principle of competency based recruitment processes to ensure merit-based selection and appointment at all levels.
• Extend the established policy of open competition for all senior management positions by advertising all management level posts (Principal and Assistant Principal).
• Implement practical arrangements in line with business needs to move to a model of filling all vacancies through either open competition or a Civil Service wide inter-departmental competition.
• Improve gender balance at each level by reviewing supports and policies to ensure these are impactful and measurable.
• Establish a Graduate Programme to attract and retain a regular intake of graduates.
• Review end-to-end recruitment and promotion processes to ensure these are aligned with business needs.

We will:

• Develop a Civil Service Learning and Development Strategy based on an assessment of future skills requirements in both specialist and generalist areas.
• Establish a new shared model to deliver and evaluate a suite of common learning and development interventions and achieve more consistent and effective learning outcomes.
• Undertake a regular Civil Service Skills Audit and introduce a skills register.
• Review the Civil Service Competency Framework periodically to ensure it reflects capability and skills requirements.
• Introduce a ‘Core Skills’ induction programme for all new and newly promoted staff, with regular opportunities to refresh this over a career.
• Introduce opportunities for continuous professional development and explore the potential of accreditation at key stages for both generalist and specialist roles.

We will:

• Introduce a Development Centre approach for all senior managers, supported by suitably qualified practitioners to provide each manager with an objective assessment of their strengths and areas for development, and to generate reliable data on the quality of leadership and management across the Civil Service so that we can identify and address capacity and capability challenges more effectively.
• Initiate Civil Service wide talent management schemes on a phased basis to other levels so that we can develop a pipeline of future leaders.
• Ensure that all talent management processes are transparent and based on selection by merit.

In addition to commitments to strengthen learning and development opportunities, improve leadership supports and establish talent management schemes, all of which will contribute to enhancing levels of performance, we will:

• Replace the current ratings scheme with a new model of performance assessment that is focused on identifying under-performance, excellent performance and leadership potential and encourages regular and constructive feedback.
• Pilot a process of incorporating feedback from a range of perspectives as part of the appraisal process (not just direct line managers), as practiced in other sectors and administrations to strengthen the objectivity and consistency of each assessment.
• Strengthen the disciplinary code to enable managers to take more effective and decisive action as required to tackle underperformance, including exits.
• Introduce stronger pro-active supports for managers, including training and support from HR and legal specialties, to assist managers implement the system effectively and consistently for all performance levels, including tackling under-performance.
• Continue to simplify the performance management process so that it is as easy to use as possible.

We will:

• Introduce Performance Agreements for Secretaries General, Assistant Secretaries and equivalents.
• Implement a robust performance review process at these levels that incorporates 360 degree feedback and assesses the delivery of both departmental objectives and corporate Civil Service objectives.
• Support the process with the appropriate expertise to manage the appraisal process confidentially and maintain the full confidence of senior managers
• Publish performance targets annually.
• Report progress on implementation to the Accountability Board.

We will:

• Introduce an annual Civil Service Excellence and Innovation Awards to recognise success, in particular, innovative and impactful team initiatives.
• Introduce regular competition schemes to crowd source ideas within the Civil Service on key policy areas, questions or initiatives.
• Continue to seek innovative ideas and views as part of ongoing staff engagement.
• Ensure that award-winning innovations are tested and piloted widely across the Civil Service, supported by an Innovation Lab.