The Ministry of the Interior’s bill for the new framework for selecting administrations of public bodies and strengthening their efficiency was put into public consultation.

The consultation will end on Tuesday 24 October and its content has been posted at the following address:

Δημόσια ηλεκτρονική διαβούλευση για το σχέδιο νόμου του Υπουργείου Εσωτερικών με τίτλο «Νέο σύστημα επιλογής διοικήσεων φορέων του δημοσίου τομέα, ενίσχυση της αποτελεσματικότητάς τους και λοιπές διατάξεις».

The ministry proceeded with nine questions and answers about the bill:

Which organizations does the new bill for the selection of administrations of public bodies concern?

This is a bill which establishes a new, flexible and more targeted system for the selection and evaluation of the administrations of Public Sector bodies. The bill concerns more than 600 positions of Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Governors, Deputy Governors, Deputy Governors, Directors and Authorized Advisors in Public Sector bodies (Public Law Legal Entities and Private Law Legal Entities for which the choice of administrations belongs to the Government).

They include:

  • legal entities whose responsibilities extend throughout the territory (e.g. National Center for Public Administration and Self-Government),
  • legal entities whose responsibilities are of a very special nature or extend to a specific region of the country (e.g. public libraries, sports centers), and hospitals.

What are the main objectives of the bill?

  • The upgrading of the requirements for each position, so that the executives who will be selected have increased qualifications and abilities.
  • Strengthening meritocracy and transparency.
  • System efficiency through speeding up processes.
  • The evaluation of administrations, so that if they achieve their goals they are rewarded financially, and if they do not achieve them, they are replaced.

What are the minimum (on-off) criteria for participating in the selection process?

All candidates must have a university degree, very good or good, as the case may be, knowledge of a foreign language and 10 years of work experience (8 years for hospitals with 400 beds or less and 6 years for local or highly specialized institutions). Also, there must be relevance of one of their degrees and/or (as the case may be) 5 years of work experience to the subject of the position or the exercise of management (3 years for bodies of a local scope or of a very special nature). At the same time, a skills test of the candidates is conducted for certain groups of agencies with immediate and reliable results, according to international standards, ensuring the suitability of the candidates for the advertised positions.

How will executives be selected?

  • Issuance of a call for expression of interest by the supervising Ministry, following an audit by ASEP.
  • For legal entities whose competences extend throughout the territory, Health Regions and hospitals, conducting a written test to verify the skills of candidates in an electronic way (e.g. questions on productive reasoning). The written test, which is instituted horizontally for the first time in the Public Sector, will be conducted by ASEP in collaboration with public or private sector bodies.
  • Scoring of the formal qualifications and work experience of the eligible candidates, plus the score of the written test.
  • Invitation to a structured interview by the relevant Executive Selection Committee of the first 7 candidates for each position.
  • Compilation of a list of the top three candidates by the relevant Executive Selection Committee & selection of one of the three by the relevant Minister (or the relevant Ministers or the Council of Ministers, as appropriate).

What are aptitude and personality tests? Where else do they apply?

Skills tests assess abilities and qualifications that are not related to specific knowledge and therefore cannot be counted towards the scoring of formal qualifications. For example, they check the ability to solve problems, analyze information, the candidates’ perception of themselves, managing emotions, teamwork. These tests are widely used in the public sector in other countries, and in the private sector in our country. Indicative questions of these tests will be published for the preparation of the candidates.

How is meritocracy and transparency enhanced?

ASEP reinforces the immutability of the process. ASEP members preside over the Executive Selection Committees for nationwide institutions and hospitals, while for the rest of the institutions a sample check is carried out by ASEP. In addition, joint selection procedures are established for each group of Public Sector entities with fair and transparent criteria. At the same time, the term of office of the administrations is increased from 3 to 4 years, so that they have more time to complete their work.

How can the system be made faster and more efficient?

Indicative:

  • Multiple Executive Selection Committees are formed at the same time, which will operate in parallel, instead of one Selection Committee for all agencies.
  • It is possible to group the notices, e.g. one advertisement for 120 hospital administrator positions instead of 120 separate advertisements.
  • Specific exclusive deadlines are foreseen for the issuance of invitations, for the submission and adjudication of objections.
  • Only the first 7 candidates in the ranking order are called for an interview, and not all candidates, significantly reducing the time required to fill the positions.

Will there be an evaluation of the administrations?

Yes. Annual action plans are established for each agency, which include action planning and qualitative and quantitative objectives with specific performance indicators. The administrations of the agencies sign performance contracts with the competent Minister from the beginning of their term and are evaluated on an annual basis, with the possibility of financial reward (productivity bonus) or immediate termination of the term depending on the achievement or non-achievement of the set goals, ensuring accountability.

What are the benefits for citizens?

Agency administrations will be of higher quality and have more features. Combined with increased transparency and objectivity in the selection of administrations and their continuous evaluation, citizens will enjoy better public services and faster service.