2.1. Project description

The overall objective is to contribute to the creation of a public administration which is merit based, professional and accountable, with a strong public service ethos, which is respected by citizens and businesses, and which will support the establishment of the Russian Federation 'as a highly developed, law based, civilised European state characterised by a high standard of living and social stability. The focus of this project is human resource management and (re) training of civil servants.

Within the general framework of civil service reform in Russia, the project pursues three sets of objectives: the first involves the improvement of human resource management of civil servants; the second involves the improvement of the professional abilities of civil servants and their trainers through training; and the third involves the cooperation in pilot applications of human resource management in key ministries and in regions and municipalities.

2.2. Contract specific objectives

The project will have the following specific objectives, which will be covered by the following project components:

1. Exposure to best international experience in modern human resource management of civil servants (Ministry of Labour)

This component includes the development of the necessary regulations for a consistent human resource policy for civil servants in line with the civil service reform programme of the government at both federal and regional level. This component (which will be closely coordinated with the Tacis project Administrative Reform I) covers policy and legal advice concerning professional development, human resource management and recruitment policy for civil servants. It will focus on international experience and best practises and examine how these can best be adapted to Russian circumstances. Knowledge and expertise should be adapted to practical circumstances (see link with component three on pilot applications). The main project partner in this component will be the Ministry of Labour.

2. Training and retraining of civil servants and trainers in skills and application of new legislation, rules and guidelines on modern personnel management (Ministry of Labour / Training institutes)

The Federal Programme for Civil Service Reform requires a different approach to the professional development of civil servants, including training and retraining. Training activities should emphasise the development of practical professional skills of civil servants in order to provide the civil servant with instruments to implement the civil service reform programme in practice. A practical training approach focusing on skills should therefore prevail above academic education with an emphasis on the sole transfer of knowledge. Active participation and practical application as well as the usage of clear verifiable indicators should be encouraged to prevent a situation where training is conducted for the mere sake of training.

The project will concentrate on the second-level training and retraining of civil service practitioners and thus not on the education of students and future civil servants. The main project partners for this component will be the relevant training institutes responsible for these training activities.

3. Cooperation in a series of pilot applications in key ministries and selected regions and municipalities (MEDT / Ministry of Labour).

The project will encourage the implementation of new rules and regulations on civil service reform concerning human resource management. For this purpose the project will ensure cooperation over a series of pilot applications in key ministries and at least five (5) selected regions and municipalities. The pilot projects will covers aspects of new operating and funding practices for public bodies, the recruitment system, and staff regulations for all civil servants. The main project partners for this component will be the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade in the pilot regions, while it is expected that the Ministry of Labour will develop pilot projects in the area of human resource management in several key ministries and state agencies.