A forward-looking public service understands how the work of public servants is changing, and knows how to transform its workforce, to get the work done. It is a public service that can anticipate the workforce it will need, and take a strategic approach to workforce management, so that skilled workers are ready to be deployed at the moment they are needed.
The emergence of complex, multidimensional challenges linked to trends such as automation, demographic change or global emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic, reinforces the need to develop forward-looking workforce strategies. In a fast-changing employment environment, with scarce skills and resources on one side and unpredictable future changes on the other, strategic workforce planning based on data, evidence and foresight has the potential to become a cornerstone of public employment policies.
Read on below to find out more about how the OECD and its members are working to develop forward-looking workforce strategies.
The OECD works with governments to ensure a forward-looking public service through coherent and robust workforce planning in the following ways:
Principle 11 of the Recommendation on Public Service Leadership and Capability calls on governments to develop a long-term, strategic and systematic approach to people management based on evidence and inclusive planning that:
The following additional principles of the Recommendation are particularly relevant and may be used as a guide by those wishing to develop leadership capability in the public service:
Principle 4: Building a proactive and innovative public service that takes a long-term perspective in the design and implementation of policy and services.
Public service workforces across the OECD are facing similar challenges and trends, and much uncertainty. Taken together, these suggest a future of work in the public sector that will need to be more forward-looking – to identify the way the work will change, the skills and talents that will be needed and plans to get from a current to future state of readiness. It will need flexible workforce management to be able to access the skills it needs to meet fast emerging, often-unforeseen challenges. And it will need to provide fulfilling work experiences to attract, retain and motivate an increasingly diverse workforce. Each of these themes are explored in the next pages. |
A forward-looking HRM strategy has to be data-informed. In this sense, a vast majority of OECD countries collects and centralises essential HRM data, related to demographic traits of their public workforce, and employment arrangements. However, a smaller number of countries strategically collect data on leave use, mobility, turnover and dismissal, limiting the capacity of these systems to adapt to the constantly evolving needs of the workforce. |
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Developed in 2016, the following index on the collection and availability of administrative HR data measures the existence of the following administrative data records at the central/ federal level: number of employees, level, function, age, gender, disabilities, other minority status, level of education, length of service, languages spoken, type of contract, union membership, part-time work, other flexible working arrangements, total sick days used, training days used, special leave used, mobility within the civil service, staff turnover, retirements, resignations and dismissals. | |
The COVID-19 crisis profoundly tested the resilience public services, and therefore of human resource management. The most forward-looking countries had a low level of adaptation to overcome, while others had to implement, often overnight, a new way of working based on multiple new innovations to develop, test, and modify. This crisis forced digital transformation, and some of the solutions that emerged will remain after the crisis, potentially leading to more resilient public services. | |
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Belgium: In the Flemish Public Service, workshops around employee engagement surveys have been introduced. They aim notably at clarifying issues around the interpretation of the data, and the development of additional engagement analyses based on an online reporting tool. |
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Canada: A Central Innovation Hub has been created in the Privy Council Office, focusing on innovative policy approaches and instruments to support innovation in government programmes and services through behavioural insights, data and design. |
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Germany: The German Employment Agency designed a lifecycle oriented HRM policy, built around an intergenerational approach seeking to enhance workability of its staf. It also focuses on competencies, health, and engagement to promote lifelong learning and well-being in the workplace. |
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Netherlands: Directors of HR and Organisational Development of all Dutch ministries gathered to develop the HR Strategy 2020, a common vision for central public administrations. This vision structured from 2013 policy development in specific HR areas and topics. |
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Australia: Strategic workforce planning in the Australian Public Service to prepare for current and future needs |
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France: Building Capacity to Lead the Digital Transformation: a new mind-set in the French civil service |
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Korea: Data-driven Human Resource Management in Korea |
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Israel: Workforce mapping in the Israeli Civil Service to prepare for the Future of Work |
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US: Anticipating future challenges for the workforce through the re-skilling toolkit of the US Office of Personnel Management The case study focusses on building a forward-looking public sector in the US through the use of a re-skilling and up-skilling toolkit. Developed by the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the toolkit helps Federal agencies meet their objective of strategic workforce management and skills development in line with the President’s Management Agenda. |
A selection of recent reports is available through the OECD iLibrary, many of which provide more context and detail on a Forward-looking public service:
Reports
OECD (forthcoming), The Future of Work in the Public Service
OECD (2017), Skills for a High Performing Civil Service, OECD Public Governance Reviews, OECD Publishing, Paris.
Working papers
Nolan-Flecha, N. (2019), "Next generation diversity and inclusion policies in the public service: Ensuring public services reflect the societies they serve", OECD Working Papers on Public Governance, No. 34, OECD Publishing, Paris.
Public Governance Reviews
OECD (2017), Innovation Skills in the Public Sector: Building Capabilities in Chile, OECD Public Governance Reviews, OECD Publishing. Paris.