Ministry for Foreign Affairs

Transcription

1 Ministry for Foreign Affairs Human Resources Strategy

2 Dear Colleague, We are living the year 2010 but building the Foreign Service of the 2020s. As has been the case throughout the 92-year history of the Ministry, the world around us is changing at a rapid pace. We must have the courage to make adjustments in our own activity in anticipation of future developments and needs. This may create pressure and friction but at the same time it ensures that the Foreign Service will, at all times, be able Photo Raino Heinonen to fulfill its most important task promoting Finland s interests on international fora. Amidst change, one thing will remain and retain its significance. That is the personnel of the Foreign Ministry and its missions abroad all of you, my colleagues. Without a skilled and motivated personnel, there would be no foreign policy strategy and even the best strategy would be in vain. People, also in our house, are the key to everything. You are holding the Ministry for Foreign Affairs Human Resources

3 Strategy (HRS) for We have designed it to guide our work in the next few years to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness, competence and wellbeing at work of the entire personnel. This is not an easy assignment, because our financial resources are extremely limited while our work is getting more and more challenging. However, several remedies are available. Leadership will be emphasized in a new way. In the Foreign Service we cannot manage things only, we also have to be able to manage people and to take care of them. Top management positions in the Foreign Ministry will be of fixed-term duration in future. Furthermore, we cannot keep piling up new duties on top of the existing ones. The Ministry s Management will redefine the core tasks with greater accuracy and determine also the staff s secondary responsibilities. Resources will be channelled with determination to where they are truly needed. The reform also concerns our pay system which is in need of at least a partial makeover. We must take a fresh look at the career categories, too, and at the circumstances of different personnel groups. Particular attention has to be paid to the development needs of the technical and administrative staff. It is equally important to find the means to ensure the level of competence and to provide our personnel with the tools they need to succeed in the service of the Foreign Service of the future. I hope that this Human Resources Strategy will become dog-eared in the hands of the personnel. The implementation and success of the reforms call for our joint efforts. The reforms will enable us to make the Foreign Ministry an even better work place for us all. Peace! Alexander Stubb Minister for Foreign Affairs

4 Ministry for Foreign Affairs Human Resources Strategy You are holding the Ministry for Foreign Affairs Human Resources Strategy (HRS) for It concerns all the Ministry s employees and those of Finnish missions abroad. Preparation of the HRS started in spring 2009 when the Personnel Unit began to sketch its general outlines. A more precise framework was set out at the end of the year by the Senior Management Group led by the Minister for Foreign Affairs. The operational priorities for the Strategy were defined during the first joint workshop at the senior official level, held at the end of January Another similar workshop in April focused on the implementation. The contents of the HRS were endorsed by the Senior Management Group at the end of May The HRS focuses on: 1. Management 2. Deployment of human resources; prioritizing/de-prioritizing 3. A pay system compatible with the staff rotation system 4. Analysis of career systems and conclusions 5. Ensuring competence in changing circumstances. The goals and the practical implementation of the HRS were formulated on the basis of the work of the Extended Senior Management Group. The entire staff were given an opportunity to discuss the goals. Units and missions were invited to reflect on the goals, their timeliness and the need for reform. Representatives of staff associations also took part in the preparatory work. The comments and feedback from these dis-

5 Photo Raino Heinonen cussions were included in the formulation of the Strategy, and will be drawn on also during the implementation phase. The HRS highlights the most important needs for development in the next few years. For this reason it does not cover all aspects of the Ministry s personnel policy. The guidelines and norms currently effective will remain in force unless amended later. The HRS sets out to achieve certain goals which will be spelt out later in this text. These goals are expressed in the form of actions, to be put into effect as concrete projects in the course of the development work. Implementation will be spread over several years. A detailed timetable of the different phases will help to keep the projects on schedule. The Strategy will be reviewed once or twice a year by the Senior Management Group in order to assess whether the goals are still topical and to make certain that the projects have proceeded. In addition to the projects based on the new HRS, several other schemes are ongoing in the Personnel Unit, such as the reform of the Act on Allowances and Other Benefits Accorded to State Civil Servants in Finnish Missions Abroad. All ongoing projects are not specifically mentioned in the Strategy.

6 1. Management In discussions conducted within the whole organisation, management was highlighted as a central area in need of development. It is key to resolving a number of operational and human resources problems.

7 Measures Photo Embassy of Finland in Kathmandu 1.1 On the basis of the Government resolution on central government management policy, principles will be laid down to direct the Management Policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Policy guidelines will be prepared to steer management policy in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. These guidelines, containing a scheme and a timeframe for implementation, will cover the whole spectrum of management policy from performance appraisal system for superiors to leadership contracts of top managerial positions. A system will be created to help identify potential leaders and a set of principles will be laid down to support the recruitment of superiors. Other countries experiences will be drawn on to identify prospective leaders. Leadership contracts will be phased in as agreed and in due course. The means for increasing the number of fixed-term managerial positions in the Ministry will be looked into. Managerial and leadership skills training will become standard practice on all levels of the Ministry. The Ministry will introduce the performance evaluation system for all superiors (360 assessment tool) in the next few years. Job satisfaction will also be monitored in relation to management. 1.2 Leadership skills and wellbeing at work will be included in all superiors performance goals. The key contributors to wellbeing at work and related tools will be identified and instructions on procedures and practice will be issued. Leadership skills and wellbeing at work will be included in leadership contracts and performance and development discussion instructions and goals for all superiors. The management of individuals will be put on a par with expertise and competence without diminishing their significance. Superiors will be trained to be familiar with issues related to wellbeing at work. Training will be made available for superiors to advise them in the use of tools and practices contributing to wellbeing at work. Themes and topics relating to wellbeing at work will be communicated to the staff and superiors alike, and working community training will be organised. Wellbeing at work is of common interest to the whole Ministry and its Missions abroad. It is vital that information related to it reach each member of staff. Working community training will be made everyday practice at unit level in order to develop the work place and improve efficiency.

8 2. Deployment of human resources; prioritizing and de-prioritizing In the discussion concerning prioritization and de-prioritization, there was a general agreement about the need of both approaches. Their practical implementation will be challenging and the requirements set out in the Productivity Programme will make the challenges even greater. The amount of work must decrease as the number of staff declines. Succeeding in this is one of the key goals of this Human Resources Strategy.

9 Measures 2.1 Top management s role in the deployment of human resources will be strengthened Human resources planning will be clarified as part of the further development of performance management. At an early phase of the annual planning cycle, the Ministry s top management will take into account the availability of human resources and decide upon their preliminary deployment with a view to achieving the prioritised operational goals. 2.2 Action is to be aligned with resources Operational models will be prepared to enable flexible deployment of human resources on different levels of the organisation. A practical procedure will be established for the redeployment of resources requiring top management s approval. 2.3 Management will def ine the core and secondary tasks of the Ministry Photo Raino Heinonen Implementation of the HRS is conditional upon management s position on which tasks are to be given priority over others, particularly in the event that the available resources are insufficient for all the tasks to be carried out. Management s view is needed for the annual planning process in which the human resource base is determined, and for operational and financial planning.

10 3. A pay system compatible with the staff rotation system The problems of the current pay system recurred during the preparation process of the Strategy. The job classification system has failed to respond to planning needs arising from staff rotating from one assignment to another. Diplomatic staff have become less willing to accept transfers abroad, which has become an obstacle to the staff rotation system. Performance appraisal has been deemed too complicated and ill-suited as an incentive.

11 Measures 3.1 Reform of the pay system A project will be launched, in cooperation with the staff associations, to revise the Ministry pay system taking into account the demands of staff rotation. Local negotiations about the pay system reform will be started in accordance with the collective agreement for civil servants. Streamlining of the job classification system and performance appraisals will be negotiated on the basis of the collective agreement for civil servants. An application procedure and implementation schedule will be established for phasing in the new pay system. 3.2 The pay system for heads of mission will be examined on the basis of a mission prof ile system, which is under preparation. The pay system for heads of mission will be looked into once the reform of the pay system of the Ministry has been completed and the mission profile system defined. Developing the salary scheme will require negotiations with the Ministry of Finance. Photo Heli Nissinen

12 There are several career categories at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The number of locally employed staff has grown over the past decade. Unlike elsewhere in the public administration, the diplomatic staff of the Ministry are subject to the staff rotation scheme, while specialist staff work permanently in the Ministry in Helsinki. Changes in the content of tasks of technical and administrative staff require a fresh look at developing this career category. 4. Analysis of the career systems and conclusions

13 Measures 4.1 Career categories will be streamlined in parallel with the pay system reform. Career categories within the diplomatic, technical and administrative staff will be examined simultaneously with the reform of the pay system. A pay system compatible with the staff rotation system requires clarifying the principles governing the career categories. 4.2 Personnel groups and career categories will be examined, and the need for reforms established A comprehensive review of the position of different personnel groups employed by the Foreign Service and issues relating to careers will take place over the next few years. The outcome of this analysis will serve as the basis for long-term reforms. The assessment will cover the entire Foreign Service personnel, including that of the missions abroad. As for the superiors, the description and evaluation of different career paths is related to the development of the Management Policy. Photo Raino Heinonen

14 In 2010 a Plan for Human Resources Development was approved in the Ministry. The Ministry supports investing in skills and competence both in Finland and in the missions abroad. The ongoing transition process and the consequent changes in the content of tasks demand new approaches and procedures in order to ensure expertise in all circumstances. The Administrative Services are responsible for preparing programmes common to all and the working communities are charged with developing their own competence to support their specific operations. 5. Ensuring competence in changing circumstances

15 Measures 5.1 Competence development is part of the management system of the Ministry The working communities define their competence needs in their operational and financial plans. The essential development measures will be prioritized annually in cooperation with the management of the Ministry. Competence needs are channelled to the performance and development discussion in which a competence development profile is designed for each employee. 5.2 Competence development adapts flexibly to changing needs and the new career system. The supply of tools for competence development will be adapted to support the new career system. The range of tools for improving skills and competence will be adjusted to correspond to the changed content of tasks after the new career categories have been determined. The roles of the working communities in competence development will be given more weight. Working community training will be organized by the units themselves, taking advantage of tutoring, mentoring and networking in order to further develop their competence. Missions abroad will be supported in their competence development efforts. The Human Resources Development Group of the Ministry will conduct an active dialogue with the missions on applying new practices and competence development. Training for locally employed staff will be improved based on local needs. Measures supporting the staff rotation system will be defined and implemented. Initial training will be made compulsory throughout the Ministry. The working communities own role in this work will be strengthened, and procedures will be determined to ensure that knowledge and information is passed on. Photo Eero Kuosmanen

16 HRS working group: Leena Aalto, Pirkko Hämäläinen, Vesa Lehtonen, Kirsti Narinen, Ari Rouhe, Anne Vasara, Riitta Tihinen (HAUS) Cover picture Raino Heinonen. Printed by Erweko Painotuote Oy, Helsinki Graphic design Jaana Viitakangas.