Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 19th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview Civil Service Author(s) Eve Limbach-Pirn Government Office of the Republic of Estonia Tallinn Estonia Title Growing leaders: Innovations in the competence development system of Estonian top civil service File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Abstract Growing Leaders: Innovations in the Competence Development System of Estonian Top Civil Service Due to the complexity and pace of changes in this century governments are faced with challenges that call for greater ability to offer a clear vision and an innovative approach to management on the part of top civil servants if these challenges are to be met. Traditionally, the public sector has not seen much need for strategic management, because top civil servants share liability with political leaders and too many factors influence the results to separately point out the specific impact of management in this context. In recent decades technological development, a rise in civic activity and the loss of citizens’ trust in governments has considerably changed the role of the public sector and public management. The public sector has become a service provider and an implementer and top civil servants have become a link in the service chain reaching from the minister to the lowest-ranking official. Today the development of the strategic capacity of top civil servants is considered a key issue in various states. In Estonia, the quality and management capacity of top civil service has been developed since 2005 when the first competency framework and foundations for systematic selection, assessment and development of executives were established. This paper analyses the competencies of strategic civil servants and the possibilities of contributing to the attainment of the state’s strategic goals through developing these competencies. The paper analyses the results of a pilot assessment of competencies carried out in 2010 and the development activities created on the basis of the results of the assessment. The paper focuses primarily on the competencies of five top civil servants and on the development of these competencies from the first assessment of the competencies in the course of the selection process to the present moment. The first top civil servant competency framework was established in Estonia in 2005. Secretaries-general and deputy secretaries-general of ministries and directors general of boards and inspectorates were considered top civil servants. Over the next four years the established competency framework was also applied upon selection, assessment and development of top civil servants. The feedback obtained from the target group regarding the efforts was positive, but refers to the need to improve the connection of assessment and development of top civil servants to their day-to-day work and raises the issue of assessment of the effectiveness of the development activities. In 2009 the competency framework and the principles of implementation thereof were thoroughly revised. A pilot assessment was carried out for the purpose of verifying the functionality of the framework. The target group of the assessment comprised 35 top civil servants. The results of the pilot assessment served as the basis for the final adjustment of the competency framework as well as for drawing up development plans and creating development activities. This paper focuses on the following issues: How to create a competency framework that functions as an effective and modern tool upon selection and development of top civil servants? How to ensure as effective development activities as possible, taking into account the individual competencies of a top civil servant, the goals of their work and the context of the specific organisation and the entire public service? How to nurture in the public service a culture where continuous self-development is part of the day-to-day work of the top civil servant? In the light of the previous analysis, some further discussion is brought up about the general applicability of this competency framework and competence development system to other countries’ contexts and the future possibilities in international cooperati
