Leadership in the Public Sector: Lebanons experiment with installing - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Carl Rihan IIAS-IASA Congress Manama, Bahrain

Leadership in the Public Sector: Lebanon’s experiment with installing competitive recruitment for senior government positions

June 2013

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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

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General Overview

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• 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 OMSAR, 2011

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Fiscal Performance by Economic Classification- (2000-2011)

Source: Haver Analytics, Barclays Research Total public debt (% of GDP) Source: Data published in Ministry of Finance annual and monthly publications (200-2011)

• 2. Lebanon’s Macro-Fiscal
• utlook

• 3. Who We Are

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Competitive Recruitment for Senior Government Positions

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1- Workforce:

Skilled personnel emigrated, retired, or passed away Almost 70% vacant positions in all categories Large number of obsolete positions 61 out of 150 vacant post at leadership positions

2- Recruitment:

Recruitment put to a halt since 1975 Irregular Public Sector Employment and recruitment (Decision No.14 of the Council of Ministers dated 9 December 1999) No merit based recruitment / selection

3- Organizational Structure:

Excessive administrative centralization No major administrative reform initiative since 1959 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

1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 2008 2009 2010 2011 2676 3325 3354 3818 1087 1286 1391 1420 206 324 322 295 LEBANON'S WAGE BILL (in L.L BILLION) FOR CENTRAL GOVERNMENT,

• eq. to 9% of GDP AND TO 26% OF CURRENT EXPENDITURES

Salaries, Wages and related items (Article 13) Retirements and End of Service Indemnities Transfers to Public Institutions to cover salaries

• 1. The Lebanese Civil Service

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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.

• 2. The Process
• Attracting, developing and retaining civil

service leaders

• The establishment of a transparent and
• bjective merit based recruitment system

General Objective

• The process would allow the government to

recognize the need to design a new civil service salary structure

Mid-Term Objective

• The creation of a largely depoliticized merit-

based civil service

Long Term Objective

Founding Assumptions

Accurate Job Profiles No Written Exam Addressing the issue of religion Avoiding Patronage & influence

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• 3. Institutionalizing the Process

Objective: (3-5 persons)

• Monitor the Process
• Ensure neutrality
• Manage the Process
• Quality Control
• Validation of results

Tasks of Steering Committee

• Prepare the job description
• Draft the announcement
• Screening applications
• Selecting evaluators / interviewers
• Overseeing oral interviews

Steering Committee Position Description

2.

Announcement

3.

Receipt of Applications & Feedback

4. 5.

Screening Applications Long list Move to next step Receive a letter Accepted Rejected

6.

Short Listing Process Oral Interview

7.

Decision – Award - Notification

8.

Tasks of evaluation Committee

• Mark CVs of long list
• Oral Interview
• Report to Steering Committee
• Eligibility
• Core Mandatory

requirements

• General Qualifications

Screening CVs for: Analyzing CVs for:

• Technical assessment
• General professional experience
• Specific professional experience

SC

Move to next step Receive a letter Accepted Rejected

EC 1.

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• 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

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• 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

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Challenges and Lessons Learned

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

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Circumventing the Challenges of Structural Reform through Emphasis on Leadership Training

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Training Leaders

Learning- centered training and capacity building Learning- centered leadership Knowledge creation and diffusion Enabling environment for change Review of pay scales and job descriptions Structural and procedural reform Attracting, developing and retaining future leaders

• Learning centered leadership is

transformational leadership

• It emphasizes knowledge

building at all levels of the hierarchy

• It allows for dialogue, exchange

and reflection leading to a momentum of change

• Leaders become trend-setters
• It allows the fostering of an

environment that allows for structural change to eventually take place

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Thank you

www.institutdesfinances.gov.lb