MANAGEMENT PLANS European Personnel Selection Office. and. European School of Administration

Transcription

1 European Personnel Selection Office The Director Brussels, 19 December 2014 MANAGEMENT PLANS 2015 of European Personnel Selection Office and European School of Administration

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3 EUROPEAN PERSONNEL SELECTION OFFICE (EPSO) PART 1. Mission Statement... 1 PART 2. This year's challenges... 1 PART 3. General objectives of the policy... 5 PART 4. Specific objectives for operational ABB activities... 6 EUROPEAN SCHOOL OF ADMINISTRATION (EUSA) PART 1. Mission Statement... 1 PART 2. This year's challenges... 1 PART 3. General objectives of the policy... 3 PART 4. Specific objectives for operational ABB activities Management training Training for new staff "Key Skills" Seminars and Conferences Certification training and examinations Specific requests for assistance or tailor-made training programmes Programmes bringing together staff of the institutions and national administrations * * * * * *

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5 European Personnel Selection Office MANAGEMENT PLAN 2015 EUROPEAN PERSONNEL SELECTION OFFICE

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7 European Personnel Selection Office PART 1. Mission Statement EPSO's mission statement reads as follows: "EPSO's role is to serve the EU Institutions by providing high quality, efficient and effective selection procedures that enable them to recruit the right person, for the right job at the right time." In 2015, EPSO will continue to strive to achieve its ambitious vision, namely to be the best at selecting the best, that is: To be the best international public sector selection service through a process of continuous improvement based on best practice as well as international standards and developments in selection policy and practice; To evolve into the leading centre of expertise and excellence to support the European Institutions' broader HR and talent management strategies; To help provide a European Civil Service that is of the highest quality and representative of the diversity of the European citizens it serves. PART 2. This year's challenges The EU Institutions, whose greatest asset by far is their human capital, are currently facing the retirement of a generation of experienced and expert staff, and will have to compete effectively in a European and global 'war for talent' in order to attract and select the brightest and best from the current and future generations if they are to be able to meet the difficult political challenges that lie ahead. Their ability to do so in the longer term will depend to a significant degree on EPSO's own ability to 'be the best at selecting the best'. The nature of this challenge, which faces all Institutions, was emphasised by the new Commission President in his mission letter to the new Vice-President for Budget and Human Resources which asked her to maintain high standards in recruitment, develop a corporate talent management policy, and further rationalise the ways of working all of this in the context of the ongoing staff reduction and pressures on the administrative budget. The planning, employer branding, attraction and selection functions all fall within EPSO's remit and are integral parts of a talent management approach. EPSO, therefore, will have a key role to play in helping all the Institutions meet the particular challenges they face. Anticipating the challenges and opportunities of the 'war for talent', over recent years EPSO has already undergone a process of transformational change in the form of the EPSO Development Programme (EDP). As a result, EPSO has become a centre of excellence in its field, a reference for governments and international organisations, and is well on its way to its aim of being the best international public sector selection service in the world. 1

8 European Personnel Selection Office Following the transformation process, EPSO has subsequently re-engineered its processes and operations along a business services model. Together, these changes have been designed to ensure EPSO's capacity to respond to and deliver on political priorities. Over the coming year, EPSO will focus on delivering on an ambitious vision, centred on a revised set of five strategic goals which reflect the significant progress made and the challenges set at political level: engaging with candidates, adapting and improving selection methods, improving the recruitment process, improving organisational and cost-effectiveness, and contributing to the development of the EU Institutions' HR policy & practice. These goals are, in turn, underpinned by a comprehensive action plan. Engage with candidates highlighting the following two specific objectives: o Appropriate candidate pools are available for each selection procedure; o Our interactions with candidates are positive and proactive, and based on good customer management: EPSO has established the 'EU Careers' brand and made the Institutions an employer of choice currently ranked 10 th in the Top 500 graduate employers in Europe, and the top rated public sector organisation. Therefore, in 2015 we will aim to consolidate this success, focussing on better segmenting the employment market, implementing innovative strategies to attract the right people. Together with the relevant Member States, EPSO will continue to target applicants from focus countries, which are to date underrepresented in the candidate pool, through activities such as the EU Careers challenge project; and continuing to expand the highly successful programme of EU Careers Ambassadors, now at almost 100 universities, across the EU. EPSO has hired an Equality and Diversity Officer to ensure we attract and manage appropriately groups that may be underrepresented in the candidate pool and building further on our work on gender balance and candidates with special needs. A comprehensive simplification and restructuring of candidate communication via letters, manuals, Notices of competition and General rules governing open competitions is already underway and will be finalised in In 2014 EPSO piloted a new tool to help potential candidates decide whether an EU career is for them, coupled with a range of self-assessment tests, which we will develop further in 2015 to ensure we attract motivated and competent candidates. Adapt and improve selection methods highlighting the following specific objective: o EPSO's selection methods are continuously improved based on experience, best practice and international standards. Building on the work undertaken to create and deploy a suite of dedicated competency-based tests, EPSO will implement further measures to ensure high standards of performance management, fairness and consistency in the delivery of exams in line with internationally recognised best practise. 2

9 European Personnel Selection Office EPSO will continue to develop and propose a range of new testing tools and methods for the assessment of candidates in order to further improve the efficiency, effectiveness and value for money of the selection process. In 2015 EPSO will target compliance with ISO standard (Assessment Service Delivery) norms. A new "Permanent CAST" model allowing for continuous applications and shortlisting of candidates for testing and interview in parallel, which will result in huge efficiency gains and cost savings, has been approved by the Institutions. Work to build the new selection system shall be completed by end Improve the recruitment process highlighting the following two specific objectives: o Recruitment needs are clearly identified in close cooperation with the Institutions, aligning thereby supply and demand for laureates; o Recruiting services can identify and recruit appropriate laureates rapidly and effectively. EPSO has actively engaged with the Institutions to dramatically simplify and speed up the time it takes to get laureates from reserve lists into employment. Following pilots in which EPSO carried out a comprehensive check of laureate supporting documents, we will progressively expand this work in 2015 so as to obviate the need for further checks by the Institutions. Taking into account the results of the IAS audit on the subject, EPSO will continue to work with the Institutions to optimise the alignment of supply and demand for laureates. Together with DIGIT, EPSO will deliver in 2015 the first piece of the ambitious Talent Pool project, the Recruiter Portal, a powerful search tool based on a more efficient data model allowing institutions to efficiently identify suitable candidates for vacant posts and facilitating the exchange of data with the downstream systems for recruitment. Improve organisational and cost-effectiveness highlighting the following two specific objectives: o Existing processes are re-engineered, including the use of digital technologies and collaborative tools, to make them more cost-effective, efficient, agile and rapid; o The attraction, appointment and workings of selection boards and assessors are further rationalised and professionalised. In line with its Business Process Reengineering strategy already in place, EPSO will further continue documenting and streamlining processes; focussing upon improving key aspects of the procedures and management of selection through quality control measures and aligning business services and IT. Ongoing work to develop the remaining strands of the Talent Pool project, Candidate Portal and e-selection, for rollout in 2015/ 2016 will facilitate time and cost savings. 3

10 European Personnel Selection Office EPSO has already begun to use collaborative tools internally for meetings, to document processes and as a single repository for each competition's data and documentation and, following very positive feedback, will expand these efforts in Contribute to the development of the EU Institutions' HR policy & practice highlighting the following specific objective: o A comprehensive offering of flexible and adaptive services - including expertise in the fields of assessment, selection, occupational psychology, psychometrics and employer branding as well as support to the implementation of talent management strategies in the EU Institutions are provided in order to meet changing stakeholder needs. EPSO will define and continue to develop a catalogue of flexible, adaptive and customer-oriented services and tests which can be offered to Institutions, agencies and EU bodies to enable EPSO to meet the ever changing stakeholder needs. EPSO will support the development of the corporate talent management policy called for in the new Vice-President's mandate, building on what we have already achieved in branding, attraction and selection. Key Performance Indicators The five key performance indicators established by EPSO to help evaluate and report on progress made in relation to our specific objectives are: Key Performance Indicator Baseline Target Laureate delivery rate (proportion 2012: 78% of the cumulative 90% of the cumulative of laureates delivered as % of the published target figure for target figure, both for total number of laureates officials, 119% of the officials and contractual requested by the Institutions). cumulative published targets agents. for contractual agents. 2. Improved online presence of the EU Career brand, as measured by the number of views/visitors of the EU Careers website and the number of followers on Facebook and LinkedIn. 2013: EU Career website: million views and 3 million unique visitors. 2013: 128,645 followers on Facebook (October 2013). Retain number of views/visitors which will fluctuate according to the number/nature of the selection procedures published. 300,000 followers on Facebook. 3. Number of promotional activities organised by, or including the participation of EU Careers Ambassadors in the Member States. 2013: 3000 followers on LinkedIn. 2014: 315 EU Careers Ambassador events in ,000 followers on LinkedIn. At least EU Careers Ambassador 400 events. 4

11 European Personnel Selection Office 4. Candidate Assessment Centre satisfaction rate. 5. Number of critical/very important audit recommendations overdue for more than 6 months. 2012: 91% satisfied or very satisfied (46% very satisfied). 2013: % satisfied or very satisfied (at least 50% of them very satisfied). PART 3. General objectives of the policy This is not applicable given the nature of EPSO's activities. 5

12 European Personnel Selection Office PART 4. Specific objectives for operational ABB activities The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) has two operational ABB activities 1 : the Office itself and the European School of Administration (EUSA). As the European School of Administration is administratively attached to EPSO, the revenue and expenditure of the School forms an integral part of the Office's budget. Staff of the School is assigned to posts belonging to the Office. The specific objectives of the European School of Administration are set out in its own Management Plan. Operational expenditure Operational expenditure Under the activity of the European Personnel Selection Office, the following sub-activities can be identified: Selection of highly-qualified staff; ABB activity: European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) Financial Resources ( ) in commitment appropriations Human Resources Administrative expenditure (managed by the service) Heading 5 appropriations Other budget lines Evaluation of linguistic abilities; Total Contribute to the running of the certification procedure. Establishment plan posts Estimates of external personnel (in FTEs) For each of these sub-activities, one or more specific objectives have been identified. Total 19,405, ,405,000 ABB activity: European School of Administration (EUSA) Financial Resources ( ) in commitment appropriations Human Resources Administrative expenditure (managed by the service) Heading 5 appropriations 6,047,000 Other budget lines Total Establishment plan posts Estimates of external personnel (in FTEs) Total 6,047, * * * * * * 1 The third ABB-activity "Management of the Office" is described in paragraph 5.2 of this document. 6

13 European School of Administration Director MANAGEMENT PLAN European School of Administration 2015

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15 EUROPEAN SCHOOL OF ADMINISTRATION (EUSA) PART 1. Mission Statement... 1 PART 2. This year's challenges... 1 PART 3. General objectives of the policy... 3 PART 4. Specific objectives for operational ABB activities Management training Training for new staff "Key Skills" Seminars and Conferences Certification training and examinations Specific requests for assistance or tailor-made training programmes Programmes bringing together staff of the institutions and national administrations * * * * * *

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17 European School of Administration PART 1. Mission Statement The School's mission statement reads as follows: "The mission of the European School of Administration is to provide high quality training and learning opportunities that meet the needs of all EU institutions and their staff in order to contribute to the efficiency and effectiveness of the work of the institutions help preserve and diffuse the values that underpin the development of the EU and the work of the European Civil Service contribute to cooperation among the institutions themselves and between them and national administrations through the exchange of ideas and good practice in diverse cultural environments." In fulfilling this mission it works in partnership with the training departments of all the institutions to ensure a coherent approach that is responsive to their expectations and needs and to achieve maximum synergies with their own activities in this field. PART 2. This year's challenges At the beginning of 2015, the School will be 10 years old. Some of the challenges it will face are on-going, others are new and will reflect the changing landscape within which it operates. There are five main permanent challenges for the School: to ensure it continues to respond to the real learning and development needs of its stakeholders and customers, particularly at a time when there is a combination of increased pressure on resources and greater demands on staff to continually adapt both the content and forms of delivery of its training programmes to make certain these keep abreast of latest needs and techniques to provide training that is transferable into participants' everyday work to offer a sufficient volume of training activities to meet demand, even at a time of shrinking resources to maintain a balance in its dealings with the different institutions it serves and to work with their learning and development services in such a way as to avoid duplication of effort and inefficient use of precious resources. Each of these on-going challenges contains a more specific dimension in relation to the School's work programme for In the same order as above, these are: to place greater emphasis on issues relating to motivation, commitment, understanding the individual's role in the overall work of the European Civil Service, resilience, and adaptability and flexibility in the face of a rapidly-changing and increasingly complex world 1

18 European School of Administration to continue and even reinforce the process begun two years ago of diversifying forms of training delivery in response to the fast-moving developments in the way people learn and look for and share information to intensify even further its efforts to measure the impact of its training activities on participants and the extent to which learning is effectively transferred into the workplace to continue to look for economies in the way it operates and to ensure that attendance rates at its training programmes are further improved to complete the process whereby the institutions' own learning and development services only complement the School's offer where there is a genuine specific need and thus eradicate any remaining examples of duplication of effort. These are the predictable challenges and the indicators and activities that feature in the rest of this document demonstrate how the School intends to deal with them. There is also a wider debate to be undertaken about the School's mission. Since its creation, the institutions have essentially regarded it as a service provider, albeit one that has been innovative in terms of the content and methodology used in its training programmes and its gradual extension into areas other than those of purely skills-based training. However, it has developed a wider role as a school of public administration in an empirical way through its work with the national institutes and schools in the Member States (the DISPA network) as well as with Member State administrations (notably through the Erasmus for Public Administration programme). Cooperation with other training and educational institutes was foreseen in the founding texts but without any specific indication as to the form of it might take. The School's management board has reflected from time to time about the School's responsibilities including developments such as these. It has been happy to accept the pragmatic extension of the School's activities, especially as these have yielded economies for the institutions and the School has developed a reputation as a centre of excellence. On the other hand, it has never reached any firm conclusions about a significant or formal extension of its mission. After 10 years of existence, it would seem appropriate therefore to revisit the question of the School's mission and decide whether now might not be the moment to take more significant and structured steps for it to develop as a school of administration in the broader sense of the term. Key Performance Indicator Baseline Target : 29 % of non- Commission participants 1. The inter-institutional character of our training activities which is part of the fundamental raison d'être of the School 2. The level of satisfaction expressed by participants 3. The degree to which we introduce more blended learning elements in our training programmes 2012: 96 % of satisfied participants 2013: 17 % of courses containing blended learning elements 2 30 % of non- Commission participants 90 % of satisfied participants 30 % of courses containing blended learning elements

19 European School of Administration 4. The rate of attendance 2012: 90 % 90 % 5. The evaluation of the impact of our training activities 2013: 2 pilot projects for the measurement of learning transfer and impact of training programmes 10 programmes to be analysed PART 3. General objectives of the policy This is not applicable given the nature of the School's activities. 3

20 European School of Administration PART 4. Specific objectives for operational ABB activities ABB activity: European School of Administration (EUSA) Financial Resources ( ) in commitment appropriations Human Resources Operational expenditure 4.1 Management training Specific objective 1: to provide a range of learning and development opportunities that contribute to an improvement in the performance of staff who exercise or who may exercise management responsibilities thereby helping them and their institution achieve greater effectiveness Non programme-based Result indicator: Participant satisfaction participants) Baseline 2012: 96 % Result indicator: Perceived relevance participants) Baseline 2012: 98 % (source: questionnaire completed by Target: 90 % 2. Rate set as part of the School s mission to provide high quality training and learning opportunities (source: questionnaire completed by Target: 90 %. Rate set as part of the School s mission to provide high quality training that participants can transfer to the workplace Result indicator: Non-Commission participation rate (source: internal statistics extracted from the learning management system) Baseline 2012: 35 % Result indicator: Attendance rate learning management system) Baseline 2012: 90 % Result indicator: Diversification of delivery Baseline 2013: 10 % Administrative expenditure (managed by the service) Total Establishment plan posts Estimates of external personnel (in FTEs) Target: 30 %. Rate set in order to ensure inter-institutional balance amongst participants (source: internal statistics extracted from the Target: 90 %. Rate set in order to ensure sound financial management (source: internal) Total Target: 25 % of our management programme should include non-classroom based activities 2 In general the target for participant satisfaction rate is set at 90 %. However, during the first year of a new training programme it is set at 85 % 4

21 European School of Administration Main outputs in 2015: 25 3-day courses for non-management staff (AST and AD) who lead teams 30 3-day basic management courses for ADs who are not Heads of Unit 8 3-day personal development courses for staff about the issues involved in being a Head of Unit ( 2 for women only and 6 mixed) 10 4-day courses for newly-appointed Heads of Unit 55 1-day thematic workshops for managers of all levels 8 2-day course for Heads of Unit with between 1½ and 4 years' experience 8 2-day advanced management courses for experienced Heads of Unit 2 2-day courses at the Jean Monnet House for Heads of Unit 1 edition of the development programme for newly-appointed Directors 6 editions of the Leadership Club for senior management The School's offer has expanded and diversified steadily over the past few years in response to demand. Programmes are now offered at all key stages of development of management responsibilities. Classroom-based courses have generally become shorter and been complemented by a number of 1-day workshops. Coaching figures more frequently as an integral part of the School's training programmes. The main challenge during 2015 will be conclusion of major tendering procedure that was launched in November Contracts are due to be signed mid-2015 whereupon work will commence on the detailed design of the next generation of leadership and management programmes that will come into effect during As a prelude to this work a major survey about management training needs was launched in the summer of 2014 across all the institutions among staff exercising management responsibilities. Over 800 people replied and the School will complete its analysis of the results during the first quarter of 2015 in the light of a number of discussion groups and interviews that will have taken place by the end of this year. The high response rate is indicative of the interest managers at all levels attach to training both for themselves and for their staff. Preliminary indications are that their main concerns focus on issues such as performance, motivation, staff development, handling conflict and the ability to think strategically. There is an emerging awareness of the need to provide a sense of purpose for staff and a deeper understanding of the broader environment in which they work. This preparatory work will provide the inspiration for the design of the next generation of leadership and management programmes. The preliminary conclusions have also been integrated into a number of actions and reflections contained in the management plan. One idea that is already being discussed within the School is the creation of a more structured training and development path for staff who have been identified as possessing the potential to become Heads of Unit. It is becoming increasingly important for the institutions to manage and develop talent and this would seem to be a key place to start. The School will also run its 4 th development programme for newly-appointed Directors in the institutions. 5

22 European School of Administration 4.2 Training for new staff Specific objective n 2: To help new staff understand the realities, values and specific challenges of working in the multicultural and multilingual environment of the EU institutions, contribute to their speedy integration and help them learn about how the EU has developed and works in practice Non programme-based Result indicator: Participant satisfaction (source: questionnaire completed by participants) Baseline 2012: 95 % Target: 90 % 3. Rate set as part of the School s mission to provide high quality training and learning opportunities Result indicator: Perceived relevance (source: questionnaire completed by participants) Baseline 2012: 93 % Target: 90 %. Rate set as part of the School s mission to provide high quality training that participants can transfer to the workplace Result indicator: Non-Commission participation rate (source: internal statistics extracted from the learning management system) Baseline 2012: 31 % Target: 30 %. Rate set in order to ensure inter-institutional balance amongst participants Result indicator: Attendance rate learning management system) Baseline 2012: 88 % Result indicator: Diversification of delivery internal) Baseline 2013: 20 % Main outputs in 2015: (source: internal statistics extracted from the Target: 90 %. Rate set in order to ensure sound financial management (source: Target: 20 % of non-classroom based activities 30 1-day seminars for newly-arrived staff (plus coaching) 16 1-day seminars on the History and Stories behind European Integration 20 ½ or 1-day seminars on the institutions' key missions and procedures, and recent policy developments 8 "Discover Brussels" lunchtime conferences 10 1-day information sessions on social security rights and the pension scheme 3 In general the target for the satisfaction rate is set to 90 %. However, during the first year of a new training course it is set to 85 % 6

23 European School of Administration The School is in the process of significantly modifying the programmes it offers for newlyrecruited staff as a result of a series of discussions with the institutions, several of which are revising their own induction training programmes. The change in the Commission is likely to be quite radical. The first seminar in the above list is new and still in the process of being developed. Its primary target audience is newly-recruited staff who have also undergone the additional stress of having had to move home in order to take up their duties. Its creation is the result of participant feedback about the School's current initial induction course which targets all new staff. It would seem that more focus is needed on the "real" newcomers for whom the process of integration and adaptation is especially challenging. With the abolition of the possibility of extending the probationary period, it has become more important than ever to give new staff all the assistance they need in order to reach a good level of performance as quickly as possible. In addition to the seminar itself, up to 10 hours of coaching will be made available The second and third of the programmes referred to in the above table will almost certainly be integrated into the Commission's new compulsory programme and added to that of the Parliament. It may well be included in those of other institutions as well. The School will also continue to run separate editions of these seminars on an inter-institutional basis for existing staff members in view of their relevance for these colleagues as well. 4.3 "Key Skills" Specific objective n 3: To help staff acquire or extend the key range of skills they need to be effective in their jobs Non programme-based Result indicator: Participant satisfaction (source: questionnaire completed by participants) Baseline 2012: 97 % Target: 90 % 4. Rate set as part of the School s mission to provide high quality training and learning opportunities Result indicator: Perceived relevance (source: questionnaire completed by participants) Baseline 2012: 99 % Target: 90 %. Rate set as part of the School s mission to provide high quality training that participants can transfer to the workplace Result indicator: Non-Commission participation rate (source: internal statistics extracted from the learning management system) Baseline 2012: 23 % Target: 30 %. Rate set in order to ensure inter-institutional balance amongst participants 4 In general the target for the satisfaction rate is set to 90 %. However, during the first year of a new training course it is set to 85 % 7

24 European School of Administration Result indicator: Attendance rate (source: internal statistics extracted from the learning management system) Baseline 2012: 92 % Result indicator: Diversification of delivery Baseline 2013: 10 % Main outputs in 2015: 2-day seminars unless otherwise indicated 25 Analysing and solving problems 25 Day-to-day negotiation 30 Oral communication 25 Writing with impact 30 Working in teams 35 Personal effectiveness (1 day plus coaching) 40 Developing resilience (1 day) 5 ½-day workshops on using the web 10 ½-day workshops on stress management Target: 90 %. Rate set in order to ensure sound financial management (source: internal) Target: 30 % of non-classroom based activities Demand for this range of courses continues to rise. The combination of their timeless relevance and the fact that they are short and practical makes them extremely attractive to staff. However, some changes will be made in 2015 in the light of participant feedback and observed trends in demand. Accordingly the courses on effective searching on the web and productive meetings will no longer be run. The former will be replaced by practical workshops and some of the content of the latter will be integrated into the seminar on working in teams. A particularly striking feature of these programmes is the extraordinary demand for the seminar on resilience. This was only introduced in 2014 and already is the most sought-after of all the programmes mentioned above. Furthermore, the School will develop another new course in a similar area, that of stress management, at the specific request of many of the institutions. This phenomenon underlines the increasing extent to which staff feel themselves under pressure in their work and the School is liaising with the medical services as it develops this course.. In line with the School's policy of reaping the full benefits of new technologies, it will progressively replace traditional paper documentation by online material ("e-books") in all these courses during This approach should bring a large number of benefits. It will for example: - allow potential participants to access very quickly learning resources that they need without having to wait for their registration on a course (link to videos, texts exercises and other resources immediately available), 8

25 European School of Administration - give participants more autonomy in their learning by allowing them to examine certain subjects in more depth if they so wish, - give participants the opportunity to revisit what they have learned whenever they need to and allow them to access some references at the moment when it is needed for their job, - reduce the quantity of financial and human resources needed for the management of paper documentation. The School has asked all institutions to reflect on whether any further themes should be added to its "key skills" offer. There are certainly further subjects of general interest that would merit an inter-institutional approach and thereby avoid duplication of effort. A number of institutions have also expressed a desire for additional training in some of the existing fields but at a more advanced level. Finally, the School will examine whether institutions wish to develop a specific training path for staff in the new AST/SC category. This could subsequently cover more targeted training to prepare them for the opportunity to move into the main AST category, depending on the mechanisms the institutions decide to put in place. The School's experience of the certification procedure means it would be ideally placed to contribute in this area. Similar paths could also be envisaged to prepare staff for promotion into the new "non-linear" grades of AD 13 and AST 10. The School will actively pursue these discussions during Seminars and Conferences Specific objective n 4: To help staff acquire or extend their knowledge on their external environment, pension scheme and on the role of the EDPS and the European Ombudsman Non programme-based Result indicator: Participant satisfaction participants) Baseline 2012: 98 % Result indicator: Perceived relevance participants) Baseline 2012: 95 % (source: questionnaire completed by Target: 90 % 5. Rate set as part of the School s mission to provide high quality training and learning opportunities (source: questionnaire completed by Target: 90 %. Rate set as part of the School s mission to provide high quality training that participants can transfer to the workplace 5 In general the target for the satisfaction rate is set to 90 %. However, during the first year of a new training course it is set to 85 % 9

26 European School of Administration Result indicator: Non-Commission participation rate (source: internal statistics extracted from the learning management system) Baseline 2012: 12 % Result indicator: Attendance rate learning management system) Baseline 2012: 86 % Result indicator: Diversification of delivery Baseline 2013: 10 % Main outputs in 2015: Target: 30 %. Rate set in order to ensure inter-institutional balance amongst participants (source: internal statistics extracted from the Target: 90 %. Rate set in order to ensure sound financial management (source: internal) Target: 30 % of non-classroom based activities 2 Master Classes: Brussels for Europe 6 "European Ombudsman" lunchtime conferences 6 "European Data Protection Supervisor" lunchtime conferences 6 2½ hour workshops: "Clear Speaking: Communicating in the Tower of Babel" 8 ½ day information sessions on pension rights The School has been running these events for a number of years as part of its overall policy of increasing staff's awareness about the city in which they live, two areas that affect them all in their daily work (good administration and data protection), the world of interpretation and how to get the best out of it, and on a more personal level, pension planning issues. In 2015, the School will examine whether further subjects should be added. 4.5 Certification training and examinations Specific objective n 5: a) To enable assistant grade staff selected for the certification procedure to become effective administrators by providing them with the wide range of skills they will need and b) to guarantee the quality of candidates who pass the examinations by ensuring that these are sufficiently demanding Non programme-based Result indicator: Candidates satisfaction of the training programme (source: questionnaire completed by participants) Baseline 2012: 98 % Target: 95 % 6. Rate set as part of the School s mission to provide high quality training and learning opportunities 6 In general the target for the satisfaction rate is set to 90 %. However, in order to take into account the importance of the training programme for the candidates it is set to 95 % 10

27 European School of Administration Result indicator: Perceived relevance (Learning transfer) (source: questionnaire completed by participants) Baseline 2012: 66 % Target: 70 %. Rate set as part of the School s mission to provide high quality training that participants can transfer to the workplace Result indicator: Rate of appointment of successful candidates after end of procedure 7 (source: regular statistics provided by Institutions) Baseline: Milestone: 2016 Target: % 50 % 70 % Result indicator: Diversification of delivery Baseline 2013: 10 days of individual study and feedback sessions Main outputs in 2015: (source: internal) Target: maintain the 2014 level 25 days classroom-based training for the 2014/2015 exercise plus individual study Sufficient refresher courses for previous year's candidates who have failed one or more examinations 2015 will see the tenth Certification exercise. 9 It is expected that the number of candidates will remain about the same as in Following the successful transfer of responsibility for this programme to a new contractor in 2014, only minor adjustments will be made next year. However, the School intends to launch a debate with its partners in the institutions with a view to further shifting the balance between classroom-based training and individual study. The objective is twofold: adapt the training programme to candidates preferred learning standards and seek, wherever possible further economies, especially in the time candidates are physically absent from their offices. The School will ensure that any changes will not affect the high quality of this training programme. 7 Only partially under the control of the School. 8 As the final results will officially be published in December 2014, no appointment can be done before This procedure was introduced by article 45a of the 2004 staff regulations. Each year institutions select a number of staff in the assistant function group whom they consider as having the potential to become administrators. Selected candidates then follow a compulsory training programme organised by the School and pass a series of examinations in order to be "certified" and therefore eligible to apply for administrator posts. 11

28 European School of Administration 4.6 Specific requests for assistance or tailor-made training programmes Specific objective n 6: To respond positively to any specific requests for assistance or tailor-made training programmes made by any of the institutions or EU agencies and bodies Non programme-based Result indicator: Percentage of requests satisfied (source: internal statistics) Baseline 2012: 100 % Main outputs in 2015: Depends on demand. see text above Target: 100 %. Rate set as part of the School s mission to provide services to European bodies The School's founding decisions encourage it to respond positively to any requests for advice and assistance or for tailor-made training activities that individual institutions, departments within institutions or EU agencies may make to it, provided this does not compromise its core business. A number of institutions are regular customers of the School in this respect. In addition, the School now has service-level agreements with 43 agencies that send a number of staff to the School's courses and occasionally request tailor-made programmes. All such activities are supplied against payment, to enable the School to recover its costs. At the time of writing, 39 tailor-made programmes have been provided or are being finalised by the School in Demand is expected to remain at a similar level in 2015 and the School will endeavour to satisfy all requests. One significant development in this area, which will become fully operational during 2015, is that the European Court of Auditors has delegated to the School the complete organisation of a number of its training activities such as team-building exercises, reflection days, and other ad hoc initiatives in the field of equal opportunities and ethics. 12

29 European School of Administration 4.7 Programmes bringing together staff of the institutions and national administrations Specific objective n 7: To contribute to efforts to reinforce links between officials of the institutions and national administrations (EPA) Non programme-based Result indicator: Number of participants (source: internal statistics) Baseline 2012: 116 (2 sessions) Target: at least 135 Result indicator: Participant satisfaction (source: questionnaire completed by participants) Baseline 2012: 100 % Target: 95 % 10. Rate set as part of the School s mission to provide high quality training and learning opportunities Result indicator: Perceived relevance (source: questionnaire completed by participants) Baseline 2012: 95 % Target: 90 %. Rate set as part of the School s mission to provide high quality training that participants can transfer to the workplace Main outputs in 2015: 3 2-week Erasmus traineeships One of the School's major achievements in 2014 was to secure the future of this highly successful and much appreciated programme. Although the financial support provided to participants will be lower, as will the number of participants, its continued existence will enable about 135 young civil servants working on EU issues in the Member States to follow a one and a half week long training programme that will enable them to better understand the way the EU and its institutions work. The programme's relevance can be judged from the fact that nearly all Member States use it as part of their preparation of staff who will be involved in upcoming Presidencies of the EU. The School will continue to play an active role in the DISPA network for which it is the informal coordinating body and secretariat. As such, it contributes to continuity in the network's activities, provides assistance to the Schools that organise the twice-yearly meetings (under the auspices of the rotating Presidency) and draws up the reports of proceedings. During staff members from 5 different national schools attended various management courses offered by the School and it is hoped that this practice will continue. This is one area where considerably more joint actions could be involved, including training programmes for national and EU civil servants, if there is a desire to see the School develop as indicated in the opening section of this management plan. The question as to whether the School's activities in these fields should be extended was raised at the end of Part 2 above. * * * * * * 10 In general the target for the satisfaction rate is set to 90 %. However, in order to take into account the financial investment from the Commission it is set to 95 % 13