TOWARDS PROFESSIONAL
MANAGEMENT IN CENTRAL
GOVERNMENT IN FINLAND
Expert meeting October 6, 2003
PUMA/OECD
Ministerial Adviser Ari Holopainen
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MINISTRY OF FINANCE
Ari Holopainen
BACKGROUND
KEY ELEMENTS OF THE FINNISH SYSTEM
CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS
DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY –2012
 VISION
 TARGETS
 STRATEGIC PROPOSALS
KEY ROLES AND COMPETENCIES OF SCSs
LESSONS LEARNED/DISCUSSION
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BACKGROUND
FINNISH GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION
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MINISTRY OF FINANCE
Ari Holopainen
13 ministries and a large network of relatively
independent agencies
The Finnish civil service comprises of 100 000
civil servants + 20 000 employees (5 % at
Ministry level)
Number of senior civil servants is approx. 200
Fundamental changes during 90’s:
 results-based management system
 new budgetary system
 decentralised HRM
 personnel reductions mainly through
reorganisation
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BACKGROUND
EVALUATION
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Deliberate, consensual and relatively unhurried
approach to reform, high degree of continuity
Diversification, differences between state
agencies
Managers have been developed systematically,
but the impact has been uneven and insufficient
Need for performance targets for individual civil
servants
PERSONNEL POLICY LINE 2001
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MINISTRY OF FINANCE
Ari Holopainen
The State Employer’s targets:
 basis of clear values
 competitiveness as an employer
 new management climate
Proposal for a strategy for management
development -2012
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KEY ELEMENTS OF THE FINNISH SYSTEM
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No separate cadre of the senior civil service,
only some special regulations:
 establishing, transferring, abolishing public
offices
 termination of a civil service relationship
 recruitment/dismissal
No cadre of political appointees (exc.)
Open/position system
 permanent or fixed term appointments
through open recruitment
 formal appointments by the President of
the Republic or the Council of State,
otherwise selection is decentralised
 no career system
State Employer’s Office/Ministry of Finance
 the State’s general employer policy
 the State’s joint personnel policy
 training courses for senior civil servants,
senior civil service pay determination
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
Ari Holopainen
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CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS
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MINISTRY OF FINANCE
Ari Holopainen
Productivity: using the given resources as
efficiently as possible
Recruitment of skilled managers and preparation
of future managers
Adapting management to a networked
information society
Leadership:
“Management climate must have a clear
emphasis on trust-based interaction,
cooperation and skills in human relations”
The need for renewal
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DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY – 2012
VISION
‘Professional management guarantees the
productivity, well-being and constant renewal of
government operating units. Systematic
development of management ensures the
availability of future leaders and their
commitment to a common management culture.’
TARGETS
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MINISTRY OF FINANCE
Ari Holopainen
Professional and systematic development of
managers.
Effective, versatile use of management
resources.
Managers are management professionals.
Managers who retain their working capacity
throughout their careers.
Development of common management
competences and culture for central government.
Management duties in central government that
are attractive and make the State a competitive
employer.
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DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY – 2012
STRATECIG PROPOSALS
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MINISTRY OF FINANCE
Ari Holopainen
SCS duties should be for a fixed term.
Personal management contracts should be
drawn up for all top managers in central
government.
Management should be developed on the basis
of a common model.
The efficiency and leadership of managers
should be assessed on the basis of a common
framework.
The development, use and mobility of common
managers resources should be improved.
Management in central government should be
enhanced with joint development services.
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LESSONS LEARNED/DISCUSSION
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MINISTRY OF FINANCE
Ari Holopainen
Management development must be linked to
Government’s programme
Need to increase political resources (e.g. idea of
new political state secretaries) - clear distinction
between political leaders and professional
managers
Tensions between the new managerial and the
old legal administrative culture
Need to attract all the best candidates vs. the
principle of administrative transparency
How to bring career elements to an open system
The role of SCSs:
 experts or professional managers
 SCSs between politicians and citizens (role in
media)
How to maintain the unity of the civil service?
Decentralisation or recentralisation?
Gradual change or a big bang?
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BASIC ROLES AND KEY COMPETENCIES
OF SENIOR CIVIL SERVANTS (draft)
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
Ari Holopainen
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