Competence-based management

Statistics Estonia published a compilation on “Regional Development in Estonia 2016”, which includes an article on “Competency-based assessment of training needs of local government employees” authored by Rivo Noorkõiv and Mari Nõmm. The article includes an extensive theoretical overview on the link between competence-based management and the organizational need to increase its capability through the action of individual employers and managers. The paper publishes the results of a survey among local government employees in the fields of social work, education, development and planning along five core-competences: representation of public interest (13 statements), public service provision (14), work organization (14), cooperation (9) and communication (11). To evaluate the need for further training, the respondents had to assess to which extent the descriptive statements represent their work activities. Self-evaluation scales were used. The developed methodology can be applied on the state level – for instance to design need-based training programs for public servants in local governments – as well as on the urban and rural municipality level, for example for regular development- and evaluation interviews with the employees, to develop a competence-model that takes the local government needs and public office’s specifics into account, for the definition of public servants’ development needs and the evaluation of their performance. It can be assumed that the changes occurring during the amalgamation reform on one hand increase the need for competence-based leadership in local governments and on the other hand support its implementation as the reform leads to a renewal of the work organization in many municipalities. The article can be found here: http://www.stat.ee/valjaanne-2016_eesti-piirkondlik-areng-2016