The Strategic Role of Civil Servants’ Training
for reforming Public Administration in Bulgaria
Pavel Pavlov, Ph.D., Polya Katsamunska[1]
The thesis highlighted in the paper is that building a modern and advanced administrative system in Bulgaria and establishing a professional civil service requires a continuous training of public servants to develop appropriate capacity, new administrative culture and professional ethics. The paper is focused on a key element in the application of efficient policy for human resources management and development in the administration – the establishment of a system for continuous development of professional skills and expertise of the employees in the administration. The paper analysis is based on the two major trends of civil servants’ training in Bulgaria – the training for professional and career development of employees. Developing and implementing training programs have become one of the priorities for public administration. This policy brings for the development of the potential and professionalism of the employees in the administration and ensures the achievement of the national priorities, as well as the preparation of the Bulgarian administration for its functioning in the enlarged European Union.
To develop a democratic society, to ensure a market economy and to integrate to the Europe Union are three major reasons for the Bulgarian government to start reforming its public administration system. A change of political regime took place in Bulgaria at the end of 1989, but the reform process started de facto in 1998. The stability of the government and the pressure by international organizations created the conditions for starting the implementation of a much needed reform program. The Bulgarian government formulated the reform program as building, not reforming, the administrative system in its 1998 Strategy for Building a Modern Administrative System. The aspirations of Bulgaria to integrate into the EU played a major role in setting the direction of reform. The new government elected in 2001 did not appear to change substantially the direction of reforms. Political consensus still remains string concerning EU and NATO integration.
According to Synnerstrom[2] the main objectives of the public administration reform in a democratic society should be aimed at:
1. Improved quality of the outputs of public institutions
2. Improved efficiency and cost-effectiveness in public institutions
3. Better coordination between these institutions
4. Improved professional continuity and development within public institutions
5. Reduced scope of nepotism and corruption
6. Increase the public trust for the administration
7. Attract and retain qualified individuals for management positions.
Publications on Public Administration reform in Bulgaria[3] show that there is consensus among scientists and researchers about the basic characteristic features of a public administration in a democracy, functioning in a market economy, which should be:
1. Guarantee of fundamental rights
2. Legal Certainty and predictability
3. Balance of powers
4. Instruments of accountability and control and transparency
5. Coherence with government
Initially, the reform in Bulgaria had been focused mainly on the legislative and institutional building but it laid the foundation of a modern and effective public administration. The adopted legislation defined the scope and the principle of public servants and the status, the rights and obligations of civil servants in Bulgaria, as well as the structure of the public administration, its responsibilities and functions. The important pieces of legislation, adopted and later amended included a Law on Administration (1998, 2003), a Civil Service Law (1999, 2004), a Law on Creating the Supreme Administrative Court (1997), a Law on Administrative procedures (1999), a Law on the Ombudsman (2003). In mid - 2002 administrative reform moved higher up on the government's agenda and more determined efforts were made. The adoption of a Strategy for the Modernization of the Administration and the follow-up of an Anticorruption Strategy adopted were two of the main initiatives.
In addition to the legislative and institutional aspects of the reform, another important issue must be highlighted as to have a more comprehensive understanding of the public administration reform development. This is adoption of the Strategy for training of the public administration employees in 2002. Is a result of the prevailing opinion in Bulgaria that the success of the administrative reform is to a large extent a question of establishing an appropriate administrative context in which public servants can perform their obligations in a professional, politically neutral, transparent and accountable way. It requires a continuous training of public servants to develop appropriate capacity, new administrative culture and professional ethics. In fact, building a modern and advanced administrative system in Bulgaria and establishing a professional civil service started with the implementation of the Law on Administration and the Law on the Civil Servants. A key element in the application of efficient policy for human resources management and development in the administration appeared to be the establishment of a system for continuous development of professional skills and expertise of the employees in the administration.
In Bulgaria the civil service is divided into two groups. One group is governed by the Civil Service Law, while the other is made up of those civil servants governed by special statutes (judiciary, police, diplomatic corps, customs, etc). Not all positions in state administration structures (ministries and state public agencies, regional and municipal administration) are occupied by post holders classified as civil servants. There are administrative employees working under employment contracts. The Civil Service Law excludes from the civil service those who are members of ministerial political cabinets, deputy regional governors and deputy mayors. Also excluded from the civil service and subject to the Labor Code are those carrying out technical functions in the administration. The Unified Classifier of positions within the administration determines the manes of the positions of civil servants and their distribution in groups and ranks - "junior rank" and "senior rank". Along with that classification the positions within each institution are grouped into general administration and specialized administration. General positions are those aimed at providing general services to the institution. The list of functions considered as general administration includes: financial-economic activities, legal services, property management, human resources, information services, protocol and public relations. Specialized administration positions are those implementing state powers and assigned in a relevant policy or management area. The relevant institution's statute determines the specialized administration positions.
Recent surveys and analyses[4] show that the employees of the Bulgarian administration have very high qualification - over 70 % of them are university graduates. This is a serious potential for their development in the public service and the actual realization of the capacity for professional and career development, i.e. coherent promotion in rank and/or position as an expression of their professional skills, qualifications and the results of the civil servants in performing their obligations.
Table1. Degree of completed education for public administration officials in 2003
Central administration / Regional administrations / Municipal administrationsMaster / 56.8% / 74.6% / 34.5%
Bachelor / 6.0% / 4.7% / 4.6%
Specialist / 2.6% / 3.3% / 4.5%
Secondary education / 32.6% / 17.2% / 53.3%
The analysis of the educational structure of the public sevants[5] reveals that there is a strong need for professional skills development and qualification of the employees in the administration in order to adopt the modern models of organization and administrative functions according to the best practices in the EU member states. The conclusion is supported by the data presented on Table 2 based on the findings of2002 Report on the Sate of Public Administration.
Table 2: Distribution of Public Servants according to their field of Professional Education and Qualification
Field of education / % public servantseducated in the
field of science
Technical sciences:
Engineers
Architects
Builders / 36.5 %
74%
4%
22%
Social, economic and law sciences:
Public administration
Law
Accountants, economists and financiers / 31.6%
2%
25%
73%
The Humanitarian sciences / 6.8%
Medical science and sports / 6%
Mathematics, Informatics and Natural sciences / 5%
Other fields of science / 14.1%
The Strategy for training of the public administration employees, adopted by the government in 2002[6], aimed at making the employees in the administration familiar with the principles and practices of the administrative work and further improving their knowledge and skills for the purpose of developing the capacity of the public service in Bulgaria. The Strategy is directed towards improvement of the professional skills of the civil servants as a core of the civil service and sets out the three main objectives to be achieved:
1.Strengthening of the Bulgarian civil service and the administrative capacity for introduction and implementation of the acquis communautaire through training.
2.Active participation in the process of change.
3.Building a system for development of the professional skills and qualifications of the employees in the administration.
Professional and career development training are determined to be the two major trends of training for development of the employees in the administration. These trends outline the model of civil service training in Bulgaria. The professional development of the civil servants consists in raising their skills and qualifications in performing their official duties and is expressed in promotion in rank, i.e. horizontal development of the civil service - "on-the-job" promotion with no chance of position in the hierarchy. The Civil Servants' Act regulates an obligation of the recruitment bodies to provide the necessary conditions for professional development (professional qualification and re-qualification). The ranking system incorporates 12 steps - junior ranks (five steps) and senior ranks (seven steps). The movement from one rank to another is gradual and it is bound with a performance appraisal at the earliest three years after the award of the previous rank. The possibility of an earlier promotion in rank is also provided. The main approach to raising the professional knowledge and skills of the employees is the establishment of a system for information. The system for informing the employees will enhance the knowledge of the employees of the international, social, economic, legal and constitutional environment, in which they work and with regard to the changes in the communications, science, equipment and technologies.
It is considered that the vocational training secures the necessary professional development of the administration and guarantees their professional competence, independence and political neutrality. Vocational training for professional development of the employees is required in the following cases:
- Preparation for an early promotion in rank - individual training in this case;
- A need for additional knowledge and skills as a result of a change (updating, development) in the job description - individual training or training for specific categories of employees, effected by the changes;
- Introduction of new models and/or technologies for specific administrative activities or working processes - the training is directed to those included in the respective activity or process.
Career development is related to the promotion of the employees in position, i.e. the vertical promotion within the civil service - occupying a higher position in the hierarchy. Positions in the administration are regulated positions in the hierarchy and occupied though service or labor legal relationship, based on determined requirements and criteria, and connected with the specific type of activity, expressed in a system of functions, duties and competencies, elaborated in the job descriptions. The Law on the Administration defines three categories of positions in the administration: Management positions; Expert positions; and Technical positions. The naming of the positions and the distribution of the civil servants into groups and ranks is specified in the Unified Classifier of the positions in the administration. The Unified Classifier of the administrative positions distinguishes between a position and profession. Occupying a position based on service legal relationship depends on the acquired rank, i.e. on one's professional qualification. The management position in the administration can only be occupied by service legal relationship, i.e only by civil servants. The expert positions can be occupied by service or labor legal relationship. The technical positions can be occupied only by force of a labor-code legal relation.
The training for career development secures the sustained and continuous performance of the civil service by means of preparation of its employees to occupy positions and perform the related activities. It is a characteristic for the Bulgarian model of civil service that the new appointed employees enter the administration with no prior special training on the specific functions and activities and subsequent movement to higher expert or management positions. An element of the career development is considered occupying of positions at the same level of hierarchy in a different administrative structure - horizontal mobility.
The main role of the training for career development is to adapt the skills and qualifications of all newly appointed employees to the principles and practice of the administrative work - introductory training and preliminary internship of the newly appointed. The introductory training and the internship provide for initial general preparation and initial special preparation for the administrative structures or positions, when such a requirement exists for the newly appointed employees. It is determined in the Strategy that this approach will be accompanied by the development of a mentor practice - every newly appointed employee to be attached to a senior officer, a "mentor" who assists for the adaptation in the administrative environment. Mentorship is meant to ensure a better organization and teamwork in the performance of administrative activities. The training for career development provides for the preparation of the employees for applying for or occupying a new position in the administration and in this case individual training is an option. But the training is mandatory when it refers to an employee's preparation to apply for or occupy a /first/ management position.
The government elaborated the general policy for building and implementing the system of developing of professional skills and qualifications in the administration introducing clear rules and responsibilities in this process. The Council of Ministers performs the general management of the public administration and defines the policy for its development. The Minister of Public Administration organizes the development and the coordination of its implementation. For the purpose of achieving maximum efficiency of the process, a mechanism for coordination of activities and financial resources allocated to human resources management is introduced. The Public Administration Directorate at the Council of Ministers being the central coordinating unit is responsible for providing coordination of the horizontal system for human resources management and the development in the administration. At the same time the Ministries and the other administrative structures preserve their operational autonomy of human resources management and development concerning certain matters that are specific for them.
The law on the State administration regulates the creation of human resources units in every administrative structure. The coordination between the separate Human resources units is the prerogative of the Public administration Directorate at the Council of Ministers administration. A key role in the assessment and planning of the necessary human resources, coming from the harmonization of the Bulgarian legislation with the European Union is played by the Directorate of European integration and the relations with the international financial institutions at the Council of Ministers administration.
The overall assessment of the status of the administration and the effective planning of the necessary expenses for training combines the general and the specific training needs assessment for creating and developing professional skills and qualification. It represents an element of the horizontal system for human resources management and development in the administration. The general training needs derive from the necessary human resources assessment intended to provide the staffing of the envisaged positions. This means defining the number and types of positions, following the requirements of their staffing, which will become vacant in the planning period, the newly opened positions, including an estimate of the necessary human resources for the establishment of hew administrative structures. The specific training needs are defined on the basis of performance appraisal. The performance appraisal includes achievement of agreed goals, level of execution of the official duties and demonstrated professional competence. The assessment of specific training needs is directed towards identifying the needs for raising the professional skills and qualification of the employees in performing their official duties.
Training of the employees in the administration is a priority of the human resources management and development policy, which is carried out though annual allocation of a special training fund in the state budget. The training finances are formed as a percent (not lower than 0.8%) of the overall salaries fund for the administration on the basis of the assessed training needs. The Institute for Public Administration and European Integration is responsible for centralized managing the funds, necessary for the career development training of the employees. The mission of the Institute is "to enhance the professional qualification and skills of the civil servants" and currently it plays a key role in the process of the administrative reform in the field of training and qualifying the public servants in Bulgaria.
In order to achieve the strategic goals IPAEI has been developing and implementing training programs oriented towards
- Developing the abilities of public administration officials to apply the achievements of the EU law and extending the overall knowledge of the employees about the EU and its policies
- Improving the communication skills of public servants and updating managerial knowledge of the specialists who advance in their professional career
- Changing the organizational culture of civil servants and developing the skills required for implementation and use of modern information technologies.
The training programs and seminars are grouped into two categories. Compulsory training for experts and newly appointed specialists for acquiring basic know ledges and skills for better administrative performance and contemporary managerial abilities. The second group is focused on specialized training. It involves a variety of programs developed in different fields such as Legal Regulations, Administrative Organization and Culture, Managerial Skills, Developing Human Resources, Regional Development, Administrative and Financial Decentralization, European Integration, Preparation for EU membership, Pre-accession Instruments of European Union, E-government and Programs for Foreign Language Teaching.