GOVERNANCE NOTES NOVEMBER 2019 No.20 CIVIL SERVICE RECRUITMENT: RECRUITING THE RIGHT PERSONS THE RIGHT WAY Prepared by Wouter van Acker, Governance Global Practice Skilled and motivated personnel are arguably the most interviews and a CV, or qualifications, check. important determinant of an effective government. How does a In a career-based system, hiring methods are more general government recruit the best and the brightest? because hiring is for a broad career, instead of a specific job. A This Governance Note examines different approaches to general written exam might be more appropriate. recruiting through career- and position-oriented systems; In these examples of both systems, strong emphasis is placed measuring knowledge versus competencies; screening on merit. Position-based systems are first described followed by applicants through written or oral tests; and recruiting career-based and then a middle ground. junior- and senior-level civil servants. It also compares the advantages and disadvantages of centralized and decentralized Australia, Iceland, and the Netherlands. All three countries have recruitment processes. similar recruitment systems, which are the most position-based Although this note primarily focuses on civil servants, many systems of all member countries of the Organisation for Economic of the findings presented here are generalizable to other public Co-operation and Development (OECD). This leads to decentralized employees, such as teachers and health workers. recruitment, direct job application (instead of a centralized exam to enter the civil service at large), a scan of the applicant’s CV, WHY IS RECRUITMENT IMPORTANT? and a personal interview. The process is often conducted by either Merit-based recruitment — hiring based on the quality of the selection panels or by a recruitment firm and guided by rules candidate rather than political connections — forms a basic pillar determined at the central government level (OECD 2012). in the Weberian bureaucracy model (Rauch and Evans 2000; Bäck and Hadenius 2008). Research, though limited, shows this France. The French system is a classic example of a career-based approach correlates with economic growth and lower levels of system. Recruitment is organized through a competitive exam corruption and nepotism (Rauch and Evans 2000; Cingolani et (the concours), and takes place mainly at the beginning of civil al. 2015; Meyer-Sahling, Mikkelsen, and Schuster 2018; Meyer- servants’ career. There are three types of exams: one open to Sahling, Schuster, and Mikkelsen 2018). external candidates, one that is only open to civil servants, and Lower corruption is associated with higher citizen satisfaction one that is open to elected officials, managers of associations and and trust, and lower nepotism with greater performance, the private sector (Larat, 2018). motivation, and satisfaction among civil servants (Meyer-Sahling, Schuster and Mikkelsen, 2018). Especially where patronage is China. The Chinese recruitment mechanism of centrally organized high, introducing merit-based recruitment through formal civil examinations has a rich history, dating back to the 7th century service examinations can have a significant impact (Sundell 2014; CE. A strong focus on Confucian values makes it a unique system. Meyer-Sahling, Mikkelsen, and Schuster 2018). Applicants take a three-part test: (i) 140 questions on logic, mathematics, politics, and philosophy; (ii) an analysis of economic RECRUITMENT SYSTEMS and political documents; and (iii) an essay relating to a topic from The manner in which countries organize their recruitment is the second part. Many questions concern problem solving through strongly linked to whether the civil service system is based the use of Chinese philosophical principles (i.e., Confucius and on careers or positions. Career-based systems tend to recruit Laozi) (Mériade and Qiang 2015). once, at the bottom of the hierarchy. Candidates for internal promotions are sought within the existing pool of civil servants. India. The Indian public sector has a rich history of central Position-based systems open up all new jobs to competitive examinations. To participate in the civil service exam, the recruitment. Civil servants compete with outsiders from the candidate must have a university degree and be between private sector or other public organizations. Because this system 21 and 28 years of age. There is a single examination for all hires for each single job individually, the recruitment and screening administrative services, with the first step consisting of two methods are more specific. Mechanisms tend to take the form of papers — one general and one on a subject of choice. If passed, 1 GOVERNANCE NOTES NOVEMBER 2019 No.20 the candidate writes eight more papers for the second step. Finally, designed to measure” (Sundell 2014). an oral interview complements the eight written tests (Sarkar 2018). A third type of testing measures competency. In the early 2000s, competency-based recruitment became a popular tool for Brazil. The Brazilian system recruits its civil servants through human resource managers (Hood and Lodge 2004). Rather than a centrally organized concursos (competitive exams). About 90 percent candidate’s topical knowledge, broader issues are measured such as of federal civil servants enter the public sector through one of the leadership or strategic, critical, and innovative thinking (Lodge and concursos, which are organized by professional category (more than Hood 2005). 200). These written exams focus on testing formal knowledge of a The OECD differentiates the necessary skill sets for civil servants narrow policy area related to professional category. No interviews into four categories: policy advice, work with citizens, collaboration are conducted. Some concerns exist that the exams do not measure in networks, and commissioning and contracting. Overarching all relevant managerial or generalist competencies. are three competencies: strategic thinking, professional expertise, and innovative capabilities (OECD 2017). The importance these Republic of Korea. The Korean civil service is a career-based competencies have for a well-functioning, modern civil service system, which combines both interviews and a central exam, without suggests including them in screening mechanisms. According to this education requirements. The first step consists of a multiple-choice logic, they are much more relevant for a civil servant than factual test, focusing on linguistic and logical ability, data interpretation, knowledge of a particular branch of public law. circumstantial judgment, and command of the English language. In two other examples, the Belgian federal government defines its Higher grade entries include a second step. The candidate takes an preferred competencies as loyalty, integrity, and orientation toward essay-based test, after which an interview concludes the process. citizens, internal clients, and society. The regional government Previously, tests concentrated on legal knowledge. Today, they chose client orientation, reliability, collaboration, and continuous emphasize job-related competencies (Kim 2010). improvement (Brans and Hondeghem 2005). In whichever way a government develops its competency Ireland. Ireland is an example of a middle ground between position- framework, it is clear that traditional screening mechanisms are and career-based systems, along with Belgium, Denmark, and incapable of measuring competencies beyond narrowly defined Mexico (OECD 2012). Although leaning toward a career system, professional expertise. And even then, that competency is often several junior ranking positions in the Irish system are filled through measured with a one-sided legal focus. Topical knowledge, legal both external recruitment (as in position-based systems) and knowledge, and other personality traits such as IQ might still be internal recruitment (as in career-based systems). Clerical, executive, relevant, but an emphasis on broader competencies could bring civil and administrative officers are recruited through open competition. service recruitment to another level. These recruitments are based on the outcomes of psychological and work-related tests, and a final interview (Andrews 2006). WRITTEN VERSUS ORAL EXAMS Competencies and knowledge can be tested in written and oral form. SCREENING: KNOWLEDGE, CHARACTERISTICS, COMPETENCY Both are widely applied across countries and have their advantages The first and most basic factors in screening are often age, and disadvantages. nationality, and educational attainment. How then should applicants Written examinations are perhaps the most commonly found be measured? In practice, testing of general, and especially legal, recruitment instrument. They can measure general or specific knowledge is widespread (Cardona 2006). Psychometric tests, such knowledge, IQ, personality traits, or competencies in multiple choice as IQ and Big Five, and administrative skill testing, such as mailbox and essay form. When coupled with the right accountability and exercises, are popular as well (Andrews 2006; Callen et al. 2015). anonymity measures, written tests can greatly reduce the potential For position-based applications, specialized testing of knowledge, for political or nepotistic influences, although answers to essay especially legal knowledge, is common practice as well. Tests questions are more prone to discretion than multiple choice (Sundell concentrate on the area of the job. Finally, despite solid empirical 2014). evidence showing the strong positive effects that public service Secondly, once the tests are designed, the system is motivation has on the performance of civil servants, it appears that relatively cheap to maintain. Badly designed exams, however, can no countries screen for this attribute. emphasize memory and test-taking skills instead of more relevant Many tests are criticized, in particular, when taking the form of competencies. Designing a good exam, and the institutional multiple-choice exams of factual knowledge (Meyer-Sahling et al. structures to diminish nepotism and politicization, can create a high 2015). They run the risk of rewarding those with keen memory skills cost at the start. and a basic understanding of certain topics, but not other desirable Finally, written exams need to be difficult enough to be properly traits. Much like debates in education surrounding standardized selective. Meyer-Sahling and colleagues (2015) found that 60 to tests, it could be argued that one’s test-taking ability is being tested. 80 percent of candidates pass the central exams in Bosnia and As a consequence, “applicants are bound to focus their efforts Herzegovina and in Serbia. Results like those found in the Philippines, on mastering the test itself rather than the skills that the test is between 9 and 17 percent (Brilliantes and Tiu Sonco 2010), are more 2 GOVERNANCE NOTES NOVEMBER 2019 No.20 useful in diminishing the workload of the assessment process. JUNIOR VERSUS SENIOR RECRUITS Interviews and other oral exams are, by contrast, more flexible A distinction should be made between recruitment for junior- and than written exams. They can be tailored to the particular job senior-level positions. An increasing number of governments opening and are cheaper to implement. However, they operate more have created a specific recruitment mechanism for senior-level at the discretion of the officials conducting the interview, which civil servants. At the senior level, less focus is put on measuring increases the risk of nepotism or politicization of the recruitment specific and general knowledge. More attention is paid to assessing process. competencies, specifically, skills linked to the interplay between To reduce these risks, some standardization is possible through politics, policy implementation, and policy coordination with other interview handbooks and neutral interview panels, although the departments. costs of the screening mechanism increase (Chen, Chiang, and Chen In a purely career-based system, these senior positions will 2013). Training will be needed for each new interview panel, and the only be available to current civil servants. Many career-based flexibility of interviews is at odds with attempts to standardize them. systems, however, have opened up some senior positions to There is either the need for one surface level interview handbook or external candidates to acquire competencies that might not be many different ones per position and per department. developed in a public sector context (Kuperus and Rode 2008). Furthermore, whereas junior-level applicants are usually hired by CENTRALIZED VERSUS DECENTRALIZED their future direct supervisor under position-based systems or by an Institutionally, recruitment can be centralized or decentralized. In a examination board under career-based systems, at the senior level, centralized system, the authority to determine who and how many the final decision is often made through the use of panels, selection people are hired is located at the national level, usually a recruitment committees, and supervising bodies. For the most senior positions commission or specialized agency (Mosley 2012). (e.g., secretary generals), political representatives and head-hunting By contrast, decentralized recruitment is organized by the firms might be involved as well (World Bank 2012). line ministry, agency, or subnational government itself. Having recruitment carried out by line ministries can lead to more CONCLUSION specialized recruitment mechanisms, a higher likelihood of recruiting Countries at different stages of development will need to focus the right person for the job, and a smaller processing time. It also on different elements, whether it is designing and systematizing a makes it harder for the Ministry of Finance to control all personnel centrally administered written exam or implementing a competency- budgets for the line ministries and increases the risk of nepotism or based framework. Merit-based recruitment requires constant corruption. attention as reforms are easily reversed, and the temptation to do so Overall, there is a correlation between decentralization and might be high, especially since these mechanisms strongly diminish position-based systems, and between centralization and career- the possibility of recruiting people for their electoral efforts (Rose based systems (see figure 1). and Gowthaman 2015; Kiragu and Mukandala 2003). For example, Meyer-Sahling (2011) showed that recruitment reforms in Poland and Figure 1. Centralization of Recruitment and Recruitment System the Slovak Republic were largely reversed, after the incentive of EU- accession had been cashed in. 0.9 At the same time, some systems may be merit-based on paper, Sweden but not in practice. Enforcement is equally important. Implemented 0.8 Estonia Austalia correctly, merit-based systems can increase government capacity, Centralized —> Decenentralized Portugal New Zealand Russian Slovenia Finland Iceand service delivery, transparency, and trust. United 0.7 Slovak Republic Federation Denmark Kingdom Poland For more cases, reports, working papers, or answers to questions, France Belgium Hungary Switzerland Czech Republic Norway contact wvanacker@worldbank.org. United States Germany Italy Canada Austria 0.6 Netherlands Japan Korea, Rep. Chile Greece Spain 0.5 Israel Turkey Ireland 0.4 Brazil 0.3 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 Career —> Position Sources: OECD 2012, 2016. Note: The scores are approximations, interpreted from graphs as provided by the sources. 3 GOVERNANCE NOTES NOVEMBER 2019 No.20 REFERENCES Andrews, B. 2006. “Recruitment and Selection in the Irish Civil Service.” Paper prepared for the SIGMA Seminar on “Civil Service Recruitment Procedures,” Vilnius, March 21–22. Bäck, H., and A. 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GOVERNANCE GLOBAL PRACTICE Guiding Results through Public Institutions Governance Notes captures knowledge derived from World Bank engagements and technical and financial assistance requests. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Bank. For more information, contact: govgplearns@worldbank.org. 5