Civil Servants Performance Appraisal in Romania

Civil Servants Performance Appraisal in Romania

National Agency of Civil ServantsNational Agency of Civil Servantswww.anfp.gov.ro

[email protected]

ENHANCING THE EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY OF THE CIVIL SERVICE THROUGH PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

10-12 October 2012 BAKU, REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN


The National Agency of Civil Servants (NACS)

was established by the Law no. 188/1999 on Civil Servants the Statute as a specialized body of central public administration subordinated to the Ministry of Administration and Interior

Role:

management of the civil service and civil servants professional training and development of civil servants and other categories of

employees in public administration

Management:

a president, with the rank of secretary of state a vice-president with the rank of undersecretary of state

Beneficiaries: civil servants public authorities and institutions of the local and central public administration citizens

NACS mission is to create and develop a professional, well prepared, politically neutral civil servants body, capable of assimilating the performance standards imposed by the EU.

Main responsibilities:

Elaborating the legal framework concerning the civil service and the civil servants;

Monitoring and controlling the compliance with regulations in the field;

Managing programmes concerning the civil service through which the management of the civil service and the civil servants is accomplished;

Collaborating with other institutions both national and international regarding the professional training of civil servants;

Offering professional training for both the personnel in public administration and private sector;

Managing the database comprising the national register of civil service positions and of civil servants.



The Romanian civil servants body consists of 126.146 civil servants

holding the following positions:

senior civil servants management civil servants execution civil servants

Performance appraisal – general framework

The performance appraisal is a basic activity of human resource management in order to assess how efficient the organisation’s employees are in the fulfilment of their tasks and responsibilities;

The individual professional performance appraisal of civil servants represents the overall processes and procedures implemented on annual basis, by applying the set performance criteria for the achievement of the individual professional objectives set based on the specific responsibilities in the job description;

The assessment regularity– The assessment period is 1January – 31 December of the

year for which the assessment is performed;– The assessment takes place between 1-31 January of the

year that follows the assessed period.



The scores obtained in the assessment of individual job performance are considered for promotions and the dismissal from civil service.

The Assessor – person in the public authority or institution that has management responsibilities in the department where the civil servant subject to assessment works or, as the case may be, that coordinates the activity of the civil servant in question.



NACS’ role

establishes the criteria for the appraisal of civil servants activity;

elaborated the methodology for civil servants individual professional performance appraisal approved by the Government (after consulting the representative trade unions of civil servants at national level).



The individual performance appraisal aims at:

linking the job requirements to the actual activity of the person holding that position;

achieving of the previously set objectives, and their assessment against the gained results;

motivating the civil servants with exceptional results;

identifying training needs in order to enable the civil servants to improve their performance.


WHAT is assessed?

Results obtained compared with those expected regarding:

not plannedperformance

objectivesachievement

task achievement

relevantmajor


HOW it is assessed?

The aim is to know how the performance was obtained

the way of fulfilling tasks and responsibilities

competencies (knowledge, skills, attitudes):- technical- behavioral




Civil servants appraisal has the following components:

Evaluating the degree and way to meet individual objectives;

Evaluating the degree of achievement of performance criteria.

The performance appraisal is conducted in a decentralized manner, in each public institution and authority.

Generally speaking, the performance appraisal procedure is conducted in three stages:

the performance appraisal report is filled in by the assessor by: – establishing a final score (1-5);– marking the exceptional results and the challenges

acknowledged; – setting the next year’s individual objectives,– setting and the training and development needs

identified; the interview between the assessor and the assessed

civil servant; the countersigning of the performance appraisal report

by the hierarchical superior of the assessor.



Individual objectives are set by the assessor based on the tasks in the job description, by reference to the civil service held, the professional level, as well as theoretical and practical knowledge and abilities of the civil servant

Requirements:– to be specific to the activities of the civil servant– to be measurable– to be provided with deadlines– to be realistic – to be flexible

Review of objectives can be done quarterly or whenever there is a change in the organizational structure of public authority or institution


Performance Appraisal Report – performance criteria section

Setting the objectives together with the employees leads to clear expectations from them.

Setting objectives in an effective way can help stimulate a greater spirit of cooperation and contribute to increased productivity and morale.

It is very important that the objectives are clear and transparent measures for performance appraisal. If possible, they should reflect the desired outcomes rather than activities, although activities may be part of the objectives.

Each key responsibility in the job description can have multiple objectives.



For each of the objectives the assessor will set performance indicators and time ratio from the total working time to achieve each objective

These indicators must be relevant in terms of measuring the degree of achievement of individual objectives;

Each objective is assessed with scores from 1 to 5, the score expressing the degree of achieving the relevant objective by reference to the performance indicators.

The score awarded for achieving individual objectives is the arithmetic average of the scores awarded for achievement of each objective.

It is necessary to correlate the data contained in the section “achieved” and in the section “score” from the appraisal report.

For example, a 65% achieved objective will correspond to a score of 3.25, being the value of the equivalent percentage of the maximum score of 5.


Performance Appraisal Report – individual objectives section

Performance Appraisal Report – example of individual objectives – execution civil servant

Objectives% of time

IndicatorsAchieved(ratio)

- % -Score

1. Increasing the ability to manage specific activities of project management

25% No. concluded partnershipsNo. implemented activitiesNo. developed/implemented projectsNo. organised eventsNo. project proposals

90% 4,5

2. Developing the ability to pursue and accomplish the objectives set out in the framework of partnerships/cooperation agreements, international relations

25% No. partnerships proposalsNo. organised bilateral meetingsNo. correspondence documents No. organised eventsNr. concluded partnerships

90% 4,5

3. Developing the capacity of analysis and synthesis

10% No. documents No. proposals/recommendations

90% 4,5

4. Developing the ability to develop studies on civil service and civil servants

15% No. studies 100% 5

5. Improving the ability to translate programmatic/strategic documents

25% No. translated documents 65% 3,25

Final score for the objectives achievement 4,35


If objectives are reviewed during the assessment period they are set performance indicators and their degree of achievement is graded and included in the final score calculation for achieving the objectives of the appraisal report.


Performance Appraisal Report – individual objectives section

The individual professional performance of civil servants is assessed through the performance criteria set by law, based on the specific activity of the unit where the civil servant works;

Depending on the characteristics of the public institution’s activities, the assessor may establish other criteria which must be brought to the attention of the civil servant before the start of the assessment period;

Depending on the fulfillment of the performance criterion in achieving the established individual objectives each performance criteria has a score form 1 to 5;

The score awarded for achieving performance criteria is the arithmetic average of the scores awarded for each criterion.



There are two categories of performance criteria for civil servants, as following:

Performance criteria for execution civil servants;

Performance criteria for management civil servants.



The performance criteria for execution civil servants are the following:

– Implementing capacity;– Capacity to efficiently resolve problems;– Capacity to take responsibility/accountability;– Capacity of self capacity building and draw on the acquired

experience;– Capacity for analysis and synthesis;– Creativity and initiative;– Capacity to work independently;– Capacity to planning and strategic thinking;– Capacity to work in a team;– Competency in administering the allocated resources.



The performance criteria for management civil servants are the following:

– Capacity to organize;– Leadership;– Capacity to coordinate;– Capacity to get to the best results;– Decision-making competence;– Capacity to delegate;– Abilities to manage the human resources;– Capacity to develop the staff abilities/skills;– Mediation and negotiation abilities.



The final score of the annual appraisal is represented by arithmetic average of the scores obtained for the individual objectives and performance criteria.

Following the appraisal of individual job performance, the civil servant is given one of the following qualifiers, determined based on the final score : :– Very good (between 4,51 - 5,00);– Good (between 3,51 - 4,50);– Satisfactory (between 2,01 - 3,50);– Unsatisfactory (between 1,00 - 2,00).


Performance Appraisal Report – final score

The meaning of the scores is as follows: – score 1- minimum level and score 5 – maximum level.

Related to the previous example, if we assume that the score for achievement of the individual objectives was 4,35 and the score for meeting performance criteria was 4.45, the final score of the assessment will be 4.40, which corresponds to the final qualifier good.



In completing the report relative to the assessment of individualprofessional performances of civil servants, the assessor:

determines the final score for individual professional performance appraisal;

documents the outstanding results of civil servants, the objective difficulties faced by them during the assessment period and any other relevant comments;

determines the professional training needs for the year that follows the evaluated period;

sets the individual objectives for the year that follows the evaluated period.



Appraisal Interview The conclusion of the report will be preceded by the appraisal

interview.

The interview represents an exchange of information between the assessor and the civil servant, whereby:- the civil servant subject to assessment is communicated the findings of the assessor included in the appraisal report.- the appraisal report is signed-off and dated by both the assessor and civil servant subject of assessment.

In case divergent opinions appear between the civil servant subject to assessment and the assessor on the findings documented, the comments of the civil servant are included in the appraisal report.

The assessor may amend the content of the appraisal report if a common view is reached.


Countersigning of the performance appraisal report


The appraisal report is submitted to a counter–signatory. Counter-signatory – the civil servant hierarchically superior to the assessor according to the organization structure of the public authority or institution. In case the assessor is the head of the public authority or institution, the appraisal report is not countersigned. The appraisal report can be modified according to the decision of the counter-signatory if the documented findings are not true to the reality or if between the assessor and the assessed civil servant are differences of opinion that could not be resolved by mutual agreement. The appraisal report amended by the counter-signatory is communicated to the assessed civil servant.

Right to complain against the performance appraisal report


The civil servants who are not satisfied with the result of the assessment are allowed to complain against it to the head of the public authority or institution. The complaint is filed within 5 days from the date when the civil servant became aware of the result of the assessment.

The complaint should be settled within 15 days from the date when the complaint submittal term expires.

The head of the public institution/authority settles the complaint on the basis of the documents included in the appraisal file:

- the appraisal report- the reports drawn up by the assessed civil servant, the assessor, namely the counter-signatory.

Right to complain against the performance appraisal

report


The result of the complaint is communicated to the civil servant within 5 days from solving the complaint.

The civil servant who is not satisfied with the solution given to the complaint may refer the dispute to the administrative courts for settlement, as provided for by the law.

The civil servants directly assessed by the head of the public authority or institution who are not satisfied with the results of the assessment are allowed to refer the dispute directly to the administrative courts, as provided by the law.

There are specific rules for the performance appraisal of the debutant civil servants in probationary appointment:

the probation report completed by the debutant civil servant;

the preparation of the debutant civil servant tutor’s report; the assessment interview with the civil servant on probation.The assessment of the debutant civil servant is made within 5

working days from the end of probation, usually by the head of department in which they operate, who is an assessor.

The assessor can provide two types of qualifiers: appropriate or inappropriate, depending on the level of theoretical knowledge that the civil servant made or didn’t make evidence of and practical skills necessary to perform the public position.


Assessment of the debutant civil servants

Senior civil servants hold the following positions in the civil service system: – Secretary General of Government/ Government Deputy

Secretary General, – Secretary General / Deputy Secretary General of

ministries and other bodies of central public administration,

– Prefect / Sub-prefect, – The government inspector.

The assessment of senior civil servants is done by a special appraisal committee consisting of five members appointed by decision of the prime-minister for a period of three years, proposed by the minister of administration and interior.


Assessment of senior civil servants

The assessment of senior civil servants’ performance has two components:

assessment of individual professional performance, carried out annually and aimed at assessing the performances resulted from effectively relating the outcomes to the operational objectives set out;

overall assessment, carried out once every 2 years and aimed at confirming the professional knowledge, the capacities and skills required to hold a senior civil servant position. In the overall assessment, the outcomes are related to the strategic objectives set out.



For assessing individual professional performances, the assessed period is 1 January – 31December of every year, and the assessment period is 1 January – 31 March of the year following the assessed period.

For the overall assessment, the assessed period is of 2 years, starting with 1 January of the first year and ending on 31 December of the following year, and the assessment period is 1 January – 31March of the year following the assessed period. In the year when the overall assessment is performed, the assessment of individual professional performances is part of the former.



A public manager is a civil service position for graduates of the following programmes:

A specialized training programme in public administration for public managers, lasting two years;

A specialized training programme in public administration for public managers, lasting one year;

The Special Scholarship "Romanian Government" organized to train managers in the public sector, provided that it is followed by an intensive specialized training in public administration in Romania.


Assessment of public managers

Public managers are assessed annually for the activities and performances in the previous year, appraisal consisting of two components: internal and external.

In what concerns the internal component, the assessment is carried out based on performance criteria established for the permanent execution civil servants.

If public managers carried out mainly coordination and leadership activities, then the internal assessment will consider performance criteria established for the management civil servants.



External assessment of public managers is carried out by persons selected for this purpose and who act as external evaluators, in the 1st semester of the year following the assessed year.

The result shall be notified to NACS within 5 days of the date on which it was declared final (following the resolution of possible complaints).

NACS sets up and manages the external assessors’ body.



Following the individual professional assessment performed by independent assessors, public managers may receive the following results:

reconfirmation of the public manager status and promotion to a higher position;

reconfirmation of the public manager status and reconfirmation of their current position;

reconfirmation of the public manager status and demotion to a lower position;

loss of the public manager status.



Thank our for your attention!

For any further information:www.anfp.gov.ro

[email protected]


Documents

Civil Servants Performance Appraisal in Romania