Training of staff of the Serbian Ministry of Public ...unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/UNTC/UNPAN012890.… · Training of staff of the Serbian Ministry of Public Administration

SCEPP Savetodavni Centar za Ekonomska i Pravna Pitanja

Policy and Legal Advice Centre An EU-funded project managed by the European Agency for Reconstruction

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Training of staff of the Serbian Ministry of Public Administration and

Local Self Government

Final Report

Relating to the Task 1.8.3 of the Work programme

Beneficiary: Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self Government

Prepared by: Mr. Afman Renger Jacob, SPAF expert

Drs. M. van den Muyzenberg, SPAF expert Prof. Dragoljub Kavran, SPAF expert

Prof. Predrag Dimitrijevic, SPAF expert Jelena Popovic, SCEPP Junior Consultant

April 2003, Belgrade



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Table of Contents

Executive Summary 3

1. Training of staff of the Serbian Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self Government -workshop schedule 4 2. List of participants 6 3. Summary reports: 8 - PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REFORM – Prof. Dragoljub Kavran 8 - CIVIL SERVANT LEGISLATION (SCOPE, PRIMARY, SECONDARY LEGISLATION – Prof. Predrag Dimitrijevic 10 - SELECTION OF CANDIDATES, REMUNERATION SYSTEM; DECISION MAKING PROCESS – Mr. Afman Renger Jacob 11 - HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT – Drs. M. van den Muyzenberg 13 4. Evaluation course 15 List of Annexes: Annex A- Human Resource Development - Drs. M. van den Muyzenberg 17 Annex 1- Public Administration Reform-Power Point Presentation (in Serbian) Annex 2- Civil Servant Legislation- Power Point Presentation (in Serbian) Annex 3- Human resources management - Selection of personnel - Remuneration - Decision making Annex 4- Human Resource Development - Power Point Presentation



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Executive Summary

The Workshop Training of staff of the Serbian Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self Government was organised by SCEPP and the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government from 1st to 10th of April 2003 on the premises of the Ministry. The specific objectives of this workshop were to introduce participants to various aspects of public administration reform, to provide insights into the relevant civil servant legislation, to inform about the challenges posed by the recruitment and remuneration systems as well as to explain the importance of human resource development in public administration sector. It was the first Workshop for all officials of the Ministry of public administration and as a result all officials of the Ministry received the training within this workshop on the topics exposed. The Workshop was attended by 20 representatives of different sectors within the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, divided in four groups, each group having up to 6 participants. The involved SPAF experts provided the training to the different groups on the abovementioned topics with detailed information as it is shown in the annexes to this report. The evaluation of the workshop shows that, in general, there was a high level of satisfaction with the Workshop measured by a 4.12 scoring average (out of a 5 point maximum). So it can be concluded, that this workshop was well received by the officials of the Ministry. Certificates were issued and distributed to the participants according to their request.



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1. Training of staff of the Serbian Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self Government - workshop schedule First week 01/04/03 – 04/04/03

Tuesday 01/04/03

Wednesday 02/04/03

Thursday 03/04/03

Friday 04/04/03

« PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

REFORM « Lecturer – Prof. Dragoljub

Kavran

« CIVIL SERVANT LEGISLATION (SCOPE, PRIMARY, SECONDARY

LEGISLATION) « Lecturer – Prof. Predrag

Dimitrijevic

9 – 12h

13 – 16h

9 – 12h

13 – 16h

9 – 12h

13 – 16h

9 – 12h

13 – 16h

Group I

• •

Group II

• •

Group III

• •

Group IV

• •

Venue: Premises of the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self Government, Bircaninova 6/V



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Second week 07/04/03 – 10/04/03

Monday 07/04/03

Tuesday 08/04/03

Wednesday 09/04/03

Thursday 10/04/03

« SELECTION OF CANDIDATES,

REMUNERATION SYSTEM; DECISION MAKING

PROCESS « Lecturer – Mr. Afman Renger Jacob

« HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT « Lecturer

– Drs. M. van den Muyzenberg

9 – 12h

13 – 16h

9 – 12h

13 – 16h

9 – 12h

13 – 16h

9 – 12h

13 – 16h

Group I

• •

Group II

• •

Group III

• •

Group IV

• •

Venue: Premises of the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self Government, Bircaninova 6/V



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2. List of participants

Name Sector Position/ Job description

Dragana Rajić

Sector for state administration Head of the group for register keeping

Radmila Jagodić

Sector for state administration Administrative inspector

Dragomir Panjković

Material-financial operations Secretary

Nela Živković

Sector for state administration Salary monitoring in state bodies

Jasmina Damjanović

Secretariat of the ministry Normative operations

Nevenka Stanojević

Secretariat of the ministry Organisation of specialised exams for work in state administration bodies

Stanojla Mandić

Secretary with the Ministry

Jasmina Petrović

Chief of the cabinet Independent executor

Katarina Dašić

Sector for local self-government Supervision over the legality of acts and operations of local self-government units

Goca Stanić

Nina Fira

Sector for local self-government Advisor



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Name Sector Position/ Job description

Jasmina Benmansur

Vesna Stanivuković


Smilja Rakulj


Nada Dojčinović


Goca Janković

Sector for state administration Senior Advisor

Tanja Čabak

Maja Rakić

Petar Špadijer

Zoran Petrović

Goca Pajkić



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3. Summary reports:

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REFORM

Final Report

Prepared by: Prof. Dr Dragoljub Kavran

3 April, 2003, Belgrade

I have held a lecture on the Reform of state administration to four groups of participants from the Ministry for state administration and local state-government on April 1st and 2nd 2003.

1. The structure of my lecture is enclosed in the Lecture synopsis. Strategic and operative position of the Ministry as well as its role in the reform process has obliged the lecturer to draft an overview of the Administrative reform.

2. The lecture was followed by the Power Point presentation (which is enclosed in

the Annex 1) with 21 slides. The material on the disk serves as an illustration for the purposes of the Centre. Presentation has helped the elaboration of the idea of Administrative reform and clarified it to the particular audience groups in compliance with specific features of their work and tasks.

3. A part of the lecture was dedicated to answering practical questions related to

the role of the Ministry and individual sectors i.e. internal organisational units in the process of implementing the Action plan of practical reform introduction.

It seems that this exercise has been very useful and that such events ought to be practiced in future as well.



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Lecture synopsis I INTRODUCTION 1. Environment 2. Determining the content of administration reform

2.1 Successful administration reform is the result of joint efforts 2.2 Internal and external factors of administration reform

3. Types of strategies for administration reform

3.1 Legal-legalistic strategies 3.2 Experimentally-projected strategies 3.3 Compensatory-participative strategies 3.4 Organisational- process strategies 3.5 New systems of public management (“New Public Management”) 3.6 Administration reform strategy for Serbia 3.7 Factors that the success of administration reform depends upon

4. International context and domestic environment 5. Coordination and institution strengthening in the process of reform

5.1 Coordination and cooperation between the organs and bodies 5.2 Establishment of the Institute for public administration (Centre for public management) 5.3 Creation of an institutional network for education which will participate in the process of re-education of state administration human resources

6. Functionalisation of administration reform aims

6.1 General remarks 6.2 Short- and mid-term aims of the state administration reform

7. Legal system modification –reform of administrative legislation

7.1 Legislation regulating the functioning of Serbian state administration bodies 7.2 New form of state organisation on federal level

8. Harmonisation of regulations with the European Union system 9. New role of the reformed state administration 9.1 Change of the work character 9.2 Organisational needs of the changing strategy 9.3 New work style of the Government and Serbian state administration 9.4 Administration policy 10. How to introduce changes into administration?



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CIVIL SERVANT LEGISLATION (SCOPE, PRIMARY, SECONDARY LEGISLATION)

Final Report

Prepared by: Prof. Dr Predrag Dimitrijevic

4 April, 2003, Belgrade

On the third and fourth of April, 2003, I gave lectures on the subject « CIVIL SERVANT LEGISLATION (SCOPE, PRIMARY, SECONDARY LEGISLATION) « at the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-government. The civil servants of the Ministry attended the lectures according to the schedule. The lectures were followed by the discussion, which expressed significant interest for the subject. The lectures were presented in the form of Power Point Presentation, which is enclosed in Annex 2. The presentation has covered the following issues:

• Legal reform as a part of the Public Administration reform • Public Administration reform concept • Unresolved issues of the reform in the field of organisation, work, and control of

the administration • Legal approach to resolving these issues • Problems in the work of the Commission for Administrative Legislature • Model of the Civil Servants Act • Problems and alternatives of the regulation of the civil servant system in

Serbia The participants were interested in all of these topics. They were especially curious about civil servant classification, their titles, evaluation of their work, Central Register, recruitment policy, disciplinary panels, etc. I strongly believe this form of education should be continued in other Ministries, with the introduction of the new topics dependant on the civil servants' interests.


Policy and Legal Advice Centre 11 An EU-funded project managed by the European Agency for Reconstruction

SELECTION OF CANDIDATES, REMUNERATION SYSTEM; DECISION MAKING PROCESS

Final Report

Prepared by: Renger J. Afman

7 – 8 April 2003

Following up the Terms of Reference for Training of staff of the Serbian Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self Government (MPALSG), ref.: T. 1.8.2/041, training has been given in the first two weeks of April, 2003. This report concerns the training given on 7 and 8 April, 2003. The training was given by Renger Afman1 with the support of two interpreters, ms Ljiljana Šobajić and ms Vesna Kostić, and supported by ms Jelena Popović resp. ms Snežana Milin of SCEPP. Participants were four groups of in total 18 staff members of MPALSG, amongst them the Secretary of the Ministry, ms Stanojla Mandić. Subjects of the training were: • Overview of HRM (general scheme, as an introduction) • Selection and recruitment • Decision making, with examples esp. in the field of personnel selection.

Consecutive training will be given for each group on 9 – 10 April by Marc van den Muyzenberg; this concerns the topics: • Human Resources Development • Remuneration.

The material on all the subjects (ppt presentations) has been sent already to SCEPP (enclosed in Annex 3). The slides presented were in the Serbian language.2 Participants received hand-outs of the slides. Further questions by e-mail were welcomed and additional information is available (among which elaborated material in English and Russian). Core target of the presentation was to provide participants with insights in main issues regarding each topic, including Dutch experiences, and especially paying attention to aspects that cannot easily be found in common handbooks. In all groups the character of the communication was as well interactive lecturing as discussion on Dutch resp. Serbian situations, including exchange of additional information. In almost every group some 2 – 3 people had interesting questions and supported lively discussions. 1 AO Management Consultants, ROI Dutch Institute for Public Administration; e-mail [email protected]; phone +31 654 983 658 2 So the material is available in English as well as Serbian.



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As to the contents of the training, questions and remarks to be mentioned especially concerned: • the problem how to cope with some elements of this modern approach of HRM in a

situation with comparatively more tradition. Especially the dynamic element (flexibility in jobs content; short(er) duration of employment in a certain job; changes in functions of the Ministry) asked for attention

• a lack of influence of many of the participants (in the present situation) on the realisation of these approaches to HRM.

As feed-back, participants reported positively on the training and, amongst others, that they experienced the methodology and the selection of main topics as interesting and raising attention. The interpreters did a good job. The meeting room for the training however was small and the furnishing of it, as decided by MPALSG, and even on request not changed, was hindering communication.



HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT

Final report

Prepared by: Drs. M. van den Muyzenberg

9 and 10 April, 2003.

In line with the Terms of Reference for “Training of staff of the Serbian Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self Government (MPALSG), ref.: T. 1.8.2/041”, training has been given in the first two weeks of April, 2003. This report concerns the training given on 9 and 10 April, 2003. The training was given by Marc van den Muyzenberg3 with the support of two interpreters, ms Ljiljana Šobajić and ms Vesna Kostić, and supported by Ms Jelena Popović and Daniel Odic of SCEPP. Participants were four groups of about 18 staff members of MPALSG, amongst them the Secretary of the Ministry, ms Stanojla Mandić. Logistics were well organised by the SCEPP. Subjects of the training were: • Overview of HRD (based on model of integral management as used in Dutch

Public Administration) • Development of a training programme and explanation of the training cycle

“feedback loop” • Remuneration policy in The Netherlands The material on subjects (ppt presentations) was made available in advance to SCEPP (enclosed in Annex 4), slides were translated and presented in Serbian. Participants obtained hand-outs of the slides and were also presented with background information on training needs assessments as well as a remuneration scheme used for Dutch Civil Servants. Core target of the presentation was to provide participants with the main concepts and insights in the aforementioned topics, including good practices. Throughout the workshop, the ample attention was paid to those aspects of everyday practice of public administration that cannot easily be found in the “book” but are relevant for a good understanding of day-to-day management of ministries and policy coordination. Questions were posed in most groups, and in some cases lively discussion took place. As to the contents of the training, questions/discussions were related, amongst others, to the following: • recruitment of apex of civil service and their training programmes as well as

training on the job/coaching programmes 3 Head of International Unit of the Dutch School for Public Administration



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• the importance not to introduce external PAR models but to reform PA from within the current cultural and institutional context

• The increasing role of the manager in the integral management approach requiring coordination management, HRM and HRD skills.

As feed-back, participants reported positively on the training, mentioning that it included various important new insights, especially in the field of personal skills development in the relation between person and organisation and the role of personal development. The aim of the workshop was an important one, i.e. to further sensitize the target group in relation to PAR and HRD. That said it can be concluded that the SCEPP has made a positive contribution towards the next step, i.e. the actual management development of the ministry.



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4. Workshop Evaluation course The workshop was organised by SCEPP and the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government from 1st to 10th of April 2003 on the premises of the Ministry. The specific objectives of this workshop were to introduce the participants to various aspects of public administration reform, to provide insights into the relevant civil servant legislation, to inform about the challenges posed by the recruitment and remuneration systems as well as to explain the importance of human resource development in public administration sector. The Workshop was attended by 20 representatives of different sectors within the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, divided in four groups, each group having up to 6 participants. 17 participants submitted the Course Evaluation Form. One of them marked that he/she had no previous experience of the Public administration reform topic while six had previously attended various specific courses related to this subject. In general, there was a high level of satisfaction with the Workshop measured by a 4.12 scoring average (out of a 5 point maximum). Regarding the fulfilment of the participants’ expectations the average rating was 4.06. There was a very large amount of new and useful information given during the sessions. Participants placed particular value on the content and use of the best European practice (specially emphasizing human resource development), the practical case handling advisory components of very well selected speakers and different aspects of civil servant legislation. The responses regarding the completely new material and information ranged from general - “Experience of all experts and comparative practice” to much more concrete like “Strategies and human resource development plan”, “Organisational profile of public administration in EU countries”, “Dutch experience” etc. The need for more discussion about some positive steps taken while drafting the Serbian Civil servant law as well as neglecting some praiseful segments of the current public administration was pointed out. Due to the fact that SCG is lagging far behind the EU countries, some of the contributions were criticized at the moment as too theoretical and useful for the participants only in the long term perspective. In response to the scored questions concerning the quality of presentation abilities of the lecturers and quality of distributed material, the scores (in the range 0 – 5 points) are as follows:



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According to the survey, some other remarks about the Course include excellent organisation, professional interpreters, but slight passiveness of participants. Having in mind all the above mentioned scores one can notice a strong indication underlying the general positive assessment ratings of the Workshop. In addition, it is clear that the great interest has been showed for further training of particular sectors within the ministry in appropriately selected issues of PA reform.

Question Score average 8. quality of presentation abilities of the speakers 4.35 9. quality of distributed materials 4.53



List of Annexes ANNEX A

I Introduction In general, a set of procedures for elaborating an HRD-plan that should be strictly followed does not exist. The next 8 points can however guide such a process: a. Discern the training and development requirements from the organisational

strategy and the institution’s objectives. b. Analyse the training requirements for effective work performance in organisational

functions and jobs. c. Analyse the existing qualities and training needs of current employees. d. Devise an HRD plan which fills the gap between organisational requirements and

the present skills and knowledge of employees. e. Decide on the appropriate training and development methods to be used for

individuals and groups. f. Decide who is to have responsibility for the plan and its various parts. g. Implement the plan and monitor and evaluate its process. h. Amend the HRD plan in the light of monitoring/evaluation and changes in the

institution’s strategy.

II Operational objectives The participant is able to: − describe in own words and carry out the 8 points which can guide the elaboration of

a HRD-plan.



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These points can also be summed up in the following diagram.

A training cycle based on HRD plan In the following, the different elements of this diagram will be dealt with.

III Analysing training needs For effective trainings it is necessary not only to discern the training needs of the individual and the group, but also how their needs fit in the overall objectives of the organisation. The management often doubts the usefulness of training and thus the analysis of training needs. No relation is mostly established between training needs and short- and long-term business plans. In many cases, the awareness of the importance of new insights is lacking in the organisation. Even when employees have done a training addressing real organisational needs, the risk is run that these freshly trained employees are really in the position to apply the acquired knowledge and

Monitor and evaluate

Training programmes

Analysis of needs

Training and development strategy

HRM strategy Organisational strategy



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experiences: they are confronted with resistance against changes their training may induce. Another problem is the reconciliation of the training needs of the individual and the organisation. This relation can be summarised in the following matrix.

1.High individual/ Low organisational

2. High individual/High organisational

3. Low individual/ Low organisational

4. Low individual/ High organisational

Workers lower in the hierarchy have to acquire more specific skills, which cannot be transferred easily to other organisations. They can be often found in quadrant 4, whereas professionals like lawyers and accountants mostly come in quadrant 2. The situation in quadrant is the most ideal. The situation in quadrant 1 can be regularly observed: in many cases the training needs expressed by individual exceed what the organisation wants to honour. The situation in quadrant 3 is likely not to occur, when the organisation has awareness about the importance of training for its performance and when open communication between the employees and the management exists. Only in rigid bureaucracies in which the procedures are being maintained for their own sake, the situation in quadrant 3 may appear.

IV Methods for training need analysis Following the distinction individual - organisational two elements for carrying out the assessment of needs should respectively take into account: the job requirements and the person requirements. a. For the job Job description: Job descriptions are useful in determining training needs, because based on these performance appraisals are done, and additional training indicated for improving the performance. With a too strict interpretation of job descriptions the real training needs for improved performance may be overlooked. Job analysis: With elaborate job analysis tools training needs can identified in detail. This makes an efficient use of training resources possible. This advantage becomes smaller the higher the employee is posted in the hierarchy. Jobs are at these levels more complex, stressing more the ability to analyse and to solve complex problems. Trainings for these employees tend to have a more general character. Interview with jobholders: This means is often applied by the personnel or senior manager. The concerned interviews can be structured in the sense of having a series of questions framed to cover all aspects of a job.



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Interview with managers and supervisors: The immediate supervisor of a jobholder can be interviewed as well. The results of such interview can be compared with the results of the one held with the jobholder. Such practice serves as a double check for discrepancies or elements missed by either party. Performance objectives: From the overall goals of the institution, the performance goals are derived. The next step is to assess whether employees need training to meet these objectives. Analysis of competencies: An analysis of competency requirements could be useful to match national standards, which are considered relevant to the jobs involved. These can be compared with assessments of the current general levels of employee skills and abilities. Characteristics of people required (Person Specification): In the effort to identify job skills and competency requirements, the characteristics of the people required for the job, are often forgotten. Various instruments to determine necessary characteristics like for example tests or personality typologies are applied: no common practice exists. Doubts about the practicality of these instruments explain this circumstance. b. For the individual Much information about employees can be gleaned from organisational records, including original application forms and other bio databases. Not all databases can be used often, due to internal procedures (i.e. the results of an official performance assessment are kept only for two years in Dutch civil service organisations). Personal profiles: Information about career aspirations, preferred areas for learning and the development of the past career is stored in the personal profile record. Initiatives for trainings can be taken on the bases of the identification of common elements from the different personal profile records. Performance appraisal: An appraisal aims at revealing the strengths and weaknesses of individuals in terms of their performance. Indications of areas where training and development programmes could improve performance are important for the individual and the organisation. Assessment centre techniques: With a variety of methods including in-depth interviews and re-interviews, psychometric tests, team performance simulation exercises etc, a detailed profile of employees can be constructed, which are useful for analysing the training needs. Assessment techniques are normally expensive, whereas their results are not always infallible. ‘Global review’ and training audits: The most wide-ranging method of training needs is the ‘global review’ or training audit. All the previously mentioned training needs



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assessment means are used in a combination that serves best the actual situation. A training audit is mostly used, when far reaching changes in the organisation are planned. c. Relating resources to the training objective An across-the-board use of all mentioned methods should be cautioned against, because of its lack of cost effectiveness. Especially with the training audit this risk is run: this can end up in mounts of paperwork without many tangible results.

V Training methods The right choice of training methods can be a very cost-effective investment. The embedding of these trainings in the organisation is herein an indispensable requirement. Often short-term and isolated training initiatives led to chopping and changing of previous initiatives. The importance of long-term coherent training initiatives in line with the major strategic orientations of the organisation is frequently underestimated. Training methods can be classified under ‘on-the-job’ and off-the-job’. a. On-the-job training On-the -job training is a very common approach to training and range form simple ‘observe and copy’ to highly structured courses built in workshop or office practice. ‘Sitting by Nellie’ and ‘learning by doing’: For acquiring new skills the employee is linked to an experienced employee to learn by practice with guidance of this employee. This method is often used for teaching new skills. A disadvantage is that the experienced employee does not have training in skills and methods of training. In the system of apprenticeship (Germany) such training is provided additionally in off-the-job courses. Mentoring: In mentoring the relation ‘master/apprentice’ is more intensive and more prolonged and concern mostly more complicated knowledge and skills. Showing and job rotation: The method of showing is often applied for higher employees to get a ‘feel’ with the organisation by having them experienced in different departments by means of temporary postings. Trainees are often reluctantly received by these departments; they are seen as an obstacle for the daily routine. Trainees themselves often have the impression of wasting their time. Afterwards the trainees evaluate this method as positive. Job rotation was more applied for lower employees to break the boredom of always doing the same simple tasks. It may increase motivation, but is often carried out without sufficiently structured training. b. Off-the-job training



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Off-the-job trainings are done, when it is deemed necessary to get the employees away from the work environment. They often have a workshop character. Especially for knowledge transfer (new theories) or the generation of innovative ideas the method is applied. The perception of courses also plays an important role for the employee: granting the participation in a course is often considered as an acknowledgement of the employee’s contributions and a positive indication for future promotion. Active and passive learning methods are both applied in off-the-job training. Passive learning methods (student is passive learner while receiving information from the instructor, tutor, or lecturer) are increasingly replaced by active learning modes. In these methods active interaction between tutors, instructors, or lecturers is a central feature. The techniques are: • workshops: sequence of training activities, in which knowledge and skills are

acquired in a group set-up, where group members are actively working together. A workshop may contain different elements.

• case studies: real life cases related to certain theoretical knowledge are treated in a small group setting; they may be part of a workshop.

• role plays: 2 trainees play roles with role descriptions that are based on real life situations in a job (i.e. performance review, recruitment interview, negotiations).

• simulations: the reality of an organisation is condensed in a set of rules. These rules are the framework of a group (10 - 20 persons) for playing a real life problematic situation in the organisation.

• interactive computer learning packages, video, and audio tapes: in computer packages the user is guided to take subsequent steps for solving a problem. By going through these steps the trainee is learning by doing. Video and audio tapes are realistic reference material that can be observed or listened to by means of special assignments.

• problem solving: the concerned exercises are aimed at solving a problem within a limited time-span. Such exercise can be done individually and in groups of different sizes.

VI Responsibility for and delivery of training Who is responsible for training and who delivers the trainings? Sometimes both are done by the same persons/organisations; sometimes the execution is done by different ones. a. Training departments In many large organisations special training departments were carrying out both responsibilities. The advantage of such an approach is the consistency of the training programmes offered and a better acquaintance with the organisation as such. However, it often proved that the training departments:



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• became too rigid to respond to the changing needs of the organisation; • were too expensive, self-serving and bureaucratic; • were loosing the regular contact with the workfloor in providing off-the-job training

that does not respond to on-the-job needs; • provided too much theoretical trainings in stead of practical ones; • do not provide training and development meeting individual needs; trainings were

too class/group based. b. Training consultancies For meeting more specific training needs the services of specialised consultancy firms are often involved. These firms normally do not provide only trainings, but offer these in a full package, based on an impartial analysis of the organisational needs. Consultancy firms are especially useful for smaller organisations that cannot afford training departments.

VII Evaluation and monitoring of training For a good monitoring and evaluation of training the involvement of the different stakeholders (i.e. trainees, designers of courses, trainers, sponsors of trainings -management of the organisation) is necessary. Each of them has own purposes, aims and objectives and these must be identified before the evaluation can proceed. For meeting these requirements different methods of evaluation can be applied, which are used in combination (especially when it concerns complicated evaluations): • Questionnaires (feedback forms): Trainees are requested to put down their

appreciation of the courses and programmes followed. • Tests or examinations: For checking the progress of the trainees these are used; in

most cases it concerns executing abilities. • Projects, structured exercises and case studies: Acquired skills and techniques can

be applied under observation of tutors and evaluators. • Tutor reports: The opinion of those who deliver trainings provides an assessment

from a different perspective. • Interviews with trainees after the course: these can be informal or formal, individual

or group or by telephone. • Observation: observations of different stakeholders (trainees, training designers) in

relation to the training process provide information from different perspectives. • Participation and discussion: during the training this should be facilitated by

persons who are adept in interpreting responses for avoiding subjectivity. • Appraisal: the trainee and his/her line manager assess the results of training in

terms of improved performance. The application of this means is increasing. Based on the evaluation results the HRD plan may be amended. Feedback on the original objectives of training programmes is obtained. Adaptations of a HRD plan are



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hardly possible during an ongoing training cycle (6 months to 1 year); strategic modification can be made only after its completion. Small scale modifications in courses for improving their efficiency are mostly made immediately after the termination of such courses.

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Training of staff of the Serbian Ministry of Public ...unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/UNTC/UNPAN012890.… · Training of staff of the Serbian Ministry of Public Administration