Foreword
To cope with retirements and to make the organizational structure even more effective in offering excellent services to citizens, in 2021 the Emilia-Romagna Region has announced 6 competitions for 6 different professional profiles, for a total of 39 management positions.
The stated objective: to include people who, in addition to having the necessary technical/specialist knowledge, actually possessed the managerial/behavioral skills to fully perform the required managerial role. With this in mind, in collaboration with the Region, PRAXI designed and implemented a selection process that included, within the ‘traditional’ phases of the competitive procedures, also the use of the Assessment Center methodology, which would ensure the necessary formal rigor and at the same time allow for the factual assessment of behavioral capabilities indications of Article 3 of Decree Law no. 80/2021 which rewrote Article 28 of the Consolidated Text on Civil Service (“the calls for access to public management shall assess not only theoretical notions but also individual skills, aptitudes and motivation, including through tests, written and oral, aimed at their observation and comparative evaluation, defined according to recognized methodologies and standards”).
Project
Thanks to PRAXI’s well-established experience in project management in the Public Administration sector and the deep knowledge gained in assessment through Assessment Centers, a selective path was designed and delivered to examine, in addition to the specific technical knowledge for each managerial profile, the possession of certain managerial skills considered indispensable by the Emilia-Romagna Region to fill the managerial role: managed interpersonal skills within and outside the organizational context, stress management, people leadership, strategic thinking, economic sensitivity, flexibility and adaptability.
Prior to the start of the competition procedures, a training/information seminar was held in which all members of the 6 Selection Boards participated, with the aim of homogenizing and developing knowledge about the selection and evaluation process and the Assessment Center methodology.
Thus, each competition procedure included (in addition to the evaluation of qualifications and a pre-selection test for competitions with more than 150 applications):
- a first written test that consisted of the administration of an in-basket drill;
- a second written test with the purpose of assessing specialized ‘domain’ knowledge, in which participants were tasked with writing a technical paper;
- a practical test in which candidates conducted a Leadershipless Group Discussion (LGD: group dynamics), a role-play (simulation of a leader-collaborator interview) and a semi-structured individual interview (BEI: behavioral event interview);
- an oral interview in which specialized knowledge, motivation and English language skills were investigated.
The 12 PRAXI consultants involved in the project, senior and experienced assessors, were an integral part of the Competition Boards by participating in all activities, particularly conducting the tests related to the examination and assessment of behavioral competencies.
Results
The goal of assessing with the highest possible degree of objectivity the ability to manage human, financial and technological resources on a day-to-day and strategic basis was achieved through the design of a methodologically rigorous process and a set of tools that offered the opportunity to investigate acted versus expected behaviors, with a high degree of significance with respect to the competencies to be examined.
At the end of the competition procedures, the Selection Boards each drew up their own rankings, which resulted in a total final result of 60 successful candidates, starting with approximately 3,500 applications initially received (of which a significant number were employees of the Emilia-Romagna Region).
More than 500 people participated in the in-basket test and 143 were those who took the group and individual tests for the managerial skills assessment.
For the success of the project and the outcomes of the evaluation procedures (which led to the outstanding result of having no appeal) were crucial:
- Specific knowledge of the public administration context;
- years of experience in using the Assessment Center methodology through contextualized testing in the public environment (scenario, terminology, etc.) to avoid conflicts between “substantive problem solving” modes and procedures related to existing regulations;
- The objectification of the assessment of managerial skills with the definition of appropriate “evidence/skills matrices” (each skill measured in at least two tests) and a “skills dictionary” complete with behavioral indicators;
- The training of members of competition committees in relation to the tools and skill models used.
Future
PRAXI has supported other public bodies not only in conducting competitive procedures, but also in rethinking the entire personnel recruitment process, from writing notices to new methodologies and tools to be used, training managers and organizational positions.
The shift from a recruitment system focused solely on the assessment of knowledge to one that adds an important new dimension, represented by the observation and assessment of behavioral skills, is a turning point to which all Public Administrations need to adapt because, beyond the norms already in place, it is essential for Local Authorities and for the entire Public Administration to include people who possess the appropriate management and organizational skills to assume positions of responsibility.
