Human Resource Management
INTRODUCTION:
Human Resource Management is a long-established task within the Government's Management Framework. Through this task the Government meet sits obligation to be a good employer; seeks to secure staff commitment; and develops and manages staff to give of their best to help the Government serve the community. The need to respond to changing community expectations means that the task of managing our staff better is more important than ever - it is the staff who deliver the service, and it is through a new emphasis on staff management that a customer service and performance oriented culture will gradually evolve. The Civil Service Branch carried out a review in 1993 to determine what changes were needed in implementing Human Resource Management so that it could best complement and support the new focus on devolving authority, on customers and on raising service standards. The outcome of the review has established the direction for Human Resource Management. First the Civil Service Branch is now concentrating more on its strategic role, determining policy, setting guidelines and rules, and advising branches and departments on implementation. Within this, the Branch is delegating as much authority as possible to departments, and simplifying rules and procedures. Second, the emphasis is now more on the management of people rather than the administration of rules. Third, branches and departments are expected to review and develop their own Human Resource Management plans to help them meet their operational requirements. While the Civil Service Branch encourages the implementation of Human Resource Management initiatives, it appreciates that change cannot happen overnight, and that many effective staff management practices are already occurring. It is for departments to build upon these and show continuous improvement over time. This booklet explains how Human Resource Management works in the Hong Kong Civil Service. It describes the core principles and values of the Government; where responsibilities lie; and the key management tasks that must be addressed.
Read More
AIMS AND PRINCIPLES:
Aims The Government exists to serve the community : it seeks to provide the services the community needs and the leadership Hong Kong needs to go on succeeding. Serving the Community is the Government's single most important aim, to which all civil servants should be committed. It requires the Government to provide the services the community needs, and to provide the leadership Hong Kong needs to go on succeeding. To do so, we act in the public interest to: foster stability and prosperity, · improve the quality of life for the whole community, care for those who need help, protect the rights and freedoms of the individual, maintain the rule of law, and encourage people to play their part in the community. Read More
PRINCIPLES:
The Government establishes four main principles which guide us in our work. We have adopted the following additional principles to guide departments in their Human Resource Management work the government should be a good employer people are our most important asset staff are recruited and their careers managed on the basis of merit staff should take their share of responsibility for developing their potential staff management is the responsibility of all managers and departmental.Human Resource Management plans must be guided by departmental plans and objectives. Read More
WHERE RESPONSIBILITIES LIE:
The responsibilities for Human Resource Management rest with the Civil Service Branch, policy branches, departments, managers and individual civil servants. Civil Service Branch determines and communicates overall Human Resource Management policies and advises departments on the implementation of these policies. Policy branches and departments are responsible for implementing central Human Resource Management policy and developing the HRM plans to meet their own needs. Managers and individual civil servants have personal responsibility for putting policy into practice.
CIVIL SERVICE BRANCH:
The Civil Service Branch sets the strategic direction according to which civil servants are managed, and performs a number of central functions. To do so it:
Strategic Role : develops and promotes policies, standards and good practices in the management of civil servants and implements these policies through discussions, explanations, guidelines, regulations and circulars.
Central Functions : Determines and communicates overall Human Resource Management policy and standards of best practice; o advises departments on the implementation of policies and the development of their Human Resource Management plans formulates pay and conditions of service, fringe benefits and allowances and also deals with proposals for changes to structures of grades/ranks and for creation of directorate posts in the light of advice from independent standing bodies; o deals with appointment, promotion (including succession planning) and discipline relating to senior positions, taking into account the advice from the Public Service Commission. It also processes cases relating to staff complaints, early retirement, legal assistance for civil servants, and benefits for retired civil servants; o ensures service-wide comparability between grades and ranks with similar responsibilities consults with major staff associations; and manages the Administrative and General Grades. Read More
POLICY BRANCHES AND DEPARTMENTS:
Policy Branches oversee the effectiveness of all management tasks in departments, including Human Resource Management. To do so they: agree Human Resource Management plans with departments as part of their annual departmental plans; monitor progress on Human Resource Management plans in their departmental progress reviews review proposals for directorate post creation and with Civil Service Branch, undertake manpower and succession planning, appointment, promotion and appraisal of senior directorate officers. Departments are responsible for implementing policies and procedures, and providing opportunities to motivate, develop, and manage staff in a way which maximizes their contribution to departmental objectives. To do so they:ensure that their mission and values are understood by staff; determine the optimum staffing structure and establishment, and negotiate as necessary with such bodies as Civil Service Branch, Finance Branch, and the concerned Policy Branch; prepare an annual Human Resource Management Plan covering the priority issues to be tackled in the five main areas of manpower planning, recruitment, performance management, training and development and staff relations; and administer rules and regulations on managing human resources.
MANAGERS AND INDIVIDUAL CIVIL SERVANTS:
Managers in departments are the implementer s of Human Resource Management policy, and as such, vital to successful management practices - they hold the key to performance management. To do so they should identify individual objectives for staff to work towards, based on those of the department provide staff with on-going guidance and supervision, including regular performance feedback conduct appraisals counsel and initiate appropriate action where necessary to address poor performance or misconduct identify training and development needs for staff and match these where possible to the opportunities available communicate regularly with staff on subjects that affect them; and take an interest in the welfare of staff.
Individual civil servants should be committed to the Government's aim to Serve the Community. They should also: be committed to the mission, objectives and values of their departments understand the duties and responsibilities of their job and to do their best to fulfill what is expected of them work with their manager to identify their own training and development needs and where possible to take steps to meet these; and abide by Civil Service rules and regulations.
MANPOWER PLANNING:
Introduction:
Manpower planning enables a department to project its short to long term needs on the basis of its departmental plans so that it can adjust its manpower requirements to meet changing priorities. The more changing the environment the department is in, the more the department needs manpower planning to show the number of recruits required in a specified time frame and the availability of talent early indications of potential recruitment or retention difficulties surpluses or deficiencies in certain ranks or grades availability of suitable qualified and experienced successors.
Succession Planning:
Succession planning assesses the likely turnover in key posts, identifies suitable candidates to fill these posts in future, and ensures that they have the right training and exposure for their future work. Given the effort and support required for undertaking succession planning, it is normally confined to the directorate and those ranks immediately below, plus any grades with high turnover or anticipated expansion. Succession planning is a very important exercise because it minimizes the impact of turnover in these key ranks and gives a branch or department early warning of any skill shortages or likely difficulties in finding suitable candidates. Ideally a succession plan should cover 3 to 5 years. The succession plan should identify key posts and possible successors causes of turnover competencies of successors and the training required for them o posts for which no apparent successor exists and the remedial action planned The information derived from the succession plan should feed into the training and development of the individuals concerned by ensuring that they attend the necessary training and are posted to jobs that will provide them with the experience for their intended role.
Turnover:
Turnover refers to retirement, resignation and redundancy. While a department cannot plan turnover because there are factors, such as resignation, which are beyond its control, it can monitor turnover carefully to ensure the department will have minimal difficulties in retaining staff. If such difficulties are envisaged or experienced, the department will find out the causes for them and take early steps to address them by improving, for example, motivation or training and development opportunities. When addressing the aspects of succession and turnover, the department also needs to consider other manpower planning factors external factors internal factors.
External Factors:
A number of factors may affect whether talent is available in the market to fill posts in a department. These include the availability of the required personnel with the necessary qualifications, skills and experience at a specified time, the relative job opportunities in the private sector and the general outlook of the economy.
Internal Factors:
Departmental Plan: A department assesses the number of staff it requires at different levels, at specified time frames, in the light of its present and planned future work commitments. This may lead to an increase or decrease of the current manpower.
RECRUITMENT:
Introduction:
Before a department takes steps to employ staff, it should work out the type of staff it needs in terms of grade and rank, and the time scale in which the staff are required. The general principles underpinning recruitment within the civil service are that recruitment should use procedures which are clearly understood by candidates and which are open to public scrutiny be fair, giving candidates who meet the stipulated minimum requirements equal opportunity for selection and select candidates on the basis of merit and ability. Recruitment of overseas officers is undertaken only when no or insufficient local candidates are available.
Key components There are three key components to the recruitment process deciding on terms of appointment selection of candidates probation.
Selection of Candidates:
Advertising:
Vacancies in the civil service are normally advertised in newspapers and through circulars.
Screening and Selection:
Departments screen applicationsto see if the applicants meet the specified qualifications and other requirements of the post. Suitable candidates are then shortlisted for subsequent examination and/or interviews. Not all grades/departments would require candidates to undergo examination, but candidates would normally be required to be interviewed by a recruitment board or an officer from the recruitment team.
Roles and Responsibilities :
The Civil Service Branch recruits staff of some General Grades while Heads of Grades/Departments recruit staff of their own grade/department. For recruitment to middle and senior ranks, the advice of the Public Service Commission has to be sought before appointment is offered.
Flexibility:
To minimize recruitment difficulties as well as attract and retain the best people, there are flexibilities which include recruitment overseas, offer of agreement terms, lowering entry qualifications and granting incremental credit for experience.
Probation:
During probation staff are introduced to the mission, objectives and values of the civil service and their departments. Probation: is a serious process which provides regular feedback on performance and assesses suitability for employment in the civil service. It includes
on-the-job training : staff should be exposed to the different duties required for their rank. In this way they can learn the skills expected of them and managers can verify their long-term suitability;
supervision and guidance : staff should receive close and sympathetic supervision and guidance to enable problems and difficulties to be identified early and timely counseling or other action to be taken.
Newly joined staff must be told the length of their probationary period, which varies with the requirements of each grade. If there are indications that staff are not suitable for confirmation, they must be counseled and then warned in writing if the problem persists. Confirmation is the step whereby a member of staff on probation is found suitable for the job and employed on permanent and personable terms.
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT:
Introduction Performance management is a very important Human Resource Management function. Its objective is to improve overall productivity and effectiveness by maximizing individual performance and potential. Performance management is concerned with improving individual and collective performance communicating management's expectations to supervisors and staff improving communication between senior management, supervisors and staff; o assisting staff to enhance their career prospects through recognizing and rewarding effective performance; o identifying and resolving cases of under performance and providing important links to other Human Resource Management functions, such as training.
Key Components Performance management therefore consists of several key components motivation performance appraisal promotion guidance and supervision addressing poor performance.
Motivation:
Motivation is in many ways the key to the success of Human Resource Management development. Managers should aim to increase performance through self-motivation, rather than having to use external motivation (i.e. the imposition of rules and continual improvements to conditions of service) to bring about higher standards of performance. The civil service has many formal programmed to enhance motivation, and these are discussed in the "staff relations" section of this booklet. However, even more important is the motivational impact that supervisors have on their staff.
Principle : The basic principle underpinning motivation is that if staff are managed effectively, they will seek to give of their best voluntarily without the need for control through rules and sanctions - they will eventually be self-managing.
Procedures : Some of the most effective ways for managers to motivate staff include giving praise; recognition; and positive feedback; passing on feedback from more senior managers; and letting other staff know which staff have been responsible for praiseworthy work and/or effort. Too often staff experience 'management by mistake', where most of the feedback received is corrective or punitive for mistakes they are perceived to have made. If staff feel that their decisions are generally supported, and when genuine mistakes are made they will be guided in the right direction, they will be more positive, confident and prepared to take on responsibility and decision-making. When staff are shown clear expectations, valued, trusted, encouraged and motivated, then they will be more likely to give of their best. Read More
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Human Resource Management is a long-established task within the Government's Management Framework. Through this task the Government meet sits obligation to be a good employer; seeks to secure staff commitment; and develops and manages staff to give of their best to help the Government serve the community. The need to respond to changing community expectations means that the task of managing our staff better is more important than ever - it is the staff who deliver the service, and it is through a new emphasis on staff management that a customer service and performance oriented culture will gradually evolve. The Civil Service Branch carried out a review in 1993 to determine what changes were needed in implementing Human Resource Management so that it could best complement and support the new focus on devolving authority, on customers and on raising service standards. The outcome of the review has established the direction for Human Resource Management. First the Civil Service Branch is now concentrating more on its strategic role, determining policy, setting guidelines and rules, and advising branches and departments on implementation. Within this, the Branch is delegating as much authority as possible to departments, and simplifying rules and procedures. Second, the emphasis is now more on the management of people rather than the administration of rules. Third, branches and departments are expected to review and develop their own Human Resource Management plans to help them meet their operational requirements. While the Civil Service Branch encourages the implementation of Human Resource Management initiatives, it appreciates that change cannot happen overnight, and that many effective staff management practices are already occurring. It is for departments to build upon these and show continuous improvement over time. This booklet explains how Human Resource Management works in the Hong Kong Civil Service. It describes the core principles and values of the Government; where responsibilities lie; and the key management tasks that must be addressed.
Read More
AIMS AND PRINCIPLES:
Aims The Government exists to serve the community : it seeks to provide the services the community needs and the leadership Hong Kong needs to go on succeeding. Serving the Community is the Government's single most important aim, to which all civil servants should be committed. It requires the Government to provide the services the community needs, and to provide the leadership Hong Kong needs to go on succeeding. To do so, we act in the public interest to: foster stability and prosperity, · improve the quality of life for the whole community, care for those who need help, protect the rights and freedoms of the individual, maintain the rule of law, and encourage people to play their part in the community. Read More
PRINCIPLES:
The Government establishes four main principles which guide us in our work. We have adopted the following additional principles to guide departments in their Human Resource Management work the government should be a good employer people are our most important asset staff are recruited and their careers managed on the basis of merit staff should take their share of responsibility for developing their potential staff management is the responsibility of all managers and departmental.Human Resource Management plans must be guided by departmental plans and objectives. Read More
WHERE RESPONSIBILITIES LIE:
The responsibilities for Human Resource Management rest with the Civil Service Branch, policy branches, departments, managers and individual civil servants. Civil Service Branch determines and communicates overall Human Resource Management policies and advises departments on the implementation of these policies. Policy branches and departments are responsible for implementing central Human Resource Management policy and developing the HRM plans to meet their own needs. Managers and individual civil servants have personal responsibility for putting policy into practice.
CIVIL SERVICE BRANCH:
The Civil Service Branch sets the strategic direction according to which civil servants are managed, and performs a number of central functions. To do so it:
Strategic Role : develops and promotes policies, standards and good practices in the management of civil servants and implements these policies through discussions, explanations, guidelines, regulations and circulars.
Central Functions : Determines and communicates overall Human Resource Management policy and standards of best practice; o advises departments on the implementation of policies and the development of their Human Resource Management plans formulates pay and conditions of service, fringe benefits and allowances and also deals with proposals for changes to structures of grades/ranks and for creation of directorate posts in the light of advice from independent standing bodies; o deals with appointment, promotion (including succession planning) and discipline relating to senior positions, taking into account the advice from the Public Service Commission. It also processes cases relating to staff complaints, early retirement, legal assistance for civil servants, and benefits for retired civil servants; o ensures service-wide comparability between grades and ranks with similar responsibilities consults with major staff associations; and manages the Administrative and General Grades. Read More
POLICY BRANCHES AND DEPARTMENTS:
Policy Branches oversee the effectiveness of all management tasks in departments, including Human Resource Management. To do so they: agree Human Resource Management plans with departments as part of their annual departmental plans; monitor progress on Human Resource Management plans in their departmental progress reviews review proposals for directorate post creation and with Civil Service Branch, undertake manpower and succession planning, appointment, promotion and appraisal of senior directorate officers. Departments are responsible for implementing policies and procedures, and providing opportunities to motivate, develop, and manage staff in a way which maximizes their contribution to departmental objectives. To do so they:ensure that their mission and values are understood by staff; determine the optimum staffing structure and establishment, and negotiate as necessary with such bodies as Civil Service Branch, Finance Branch, and the concerned Policy Branch; prepare an annual Human Resource Management Plan covering the priority issues to be tackled in the five main areas of manpower planning, recruitment, performance management, training and development and staff relations; and administer rules and regulations on managing human resources.
MANAGERS AND INDIVIDUAL CIVIL SERVANTS:
Managers in departments are the implementer s of Human Resource Management policy, and as such, vital to successful management practices - they hold the key to performance management. To do so they should identify individual objectives for staff to work towards, based on those of the department provide staff with on-going guidance and supervision, including regular performance feedback conduct appraisals counsel and initiate appropriate action where necessary to address poor performance or misconduct identify training and development needs for staff and match these where possible to the opportunities available communicate regularly with staff on subjects that affect them; and take an interest in the welfare of staff.
Individual civil servants should be committed to the Government's aim to Serve the Community. They should also: be committed to the mission, objectives and values of their departments understand the duties and responsibilities of their job and to do their best to fulfill what is expected of them work with their manager to identify their own training and development needs and where possible to take steps to meet these; and abide by Civil Service rules and regulations.
MANPOWER PLANNING:
Introduction:
Manpower planning enables a department to project its short to long term needs on the basis of its departmental plans so that it can adjust its manpower requirements to meet changing priorities. The more changing the environment the department is in, the more the department needs manpower planning to show the number of recruits required in a specified time frame and the availability of talent early indications of potential recruitment or retention difficulties surpluses or deficiencies in certain ranks or grades availability of suitable qualified and experienced successors.
Succession Planning:
Succession planning assesses the likely turnover in key posts, identifies suitable candidates to fill these posts in future, and ensures that they have the right training and exposure for their future work. Given the effort and support required for undertaking succession planning, it is normally confined to the directorate and those ranks immediately below, plus any grades with high turnover or anticipated expansion. Succession planning is a very important exercise because it minimizes the impact of turnover in these key ranks and gives a branch or department early warning of any skill shortages or likely difficulties in finding suitable candidates. Ideally a succession plan should cover 3 to 5 years. The succession plan should identify key posts and possible successors causes of turnover competencies of successors and the training required for them o posts for which no apparent successor exists and the remedial action planned The information derived from the succession plan should feed into the training and development of the individuals concerned by ensuring that they attend the necessary training and are posted to jobs that will provide them with the experience for their intended role.
Turnover:
Turnover refers to retirement, resignation and redundancy. While a department cannot plan turnover because there are factors, such as resignation, which are beyond its control, it can monitor turnover carefully to ensure the department will have minimal difficulties in retaining staff. If such difficulties are envisaged or experienced, the department will find out the causes for them and take early steps to address them by improving, for example, motivation or training and development opportunities. When addressing the aspects of succession and turnover, the department also needs to consider other manpower planning factors external factors internal factors.
External Factors:
A number of factors may affect whether talent is available in the market to fill posts in a department. These include the availability of the required personnel with the necessary qualifications, skills and experience at a specified time, the relative job opportunities in the private sector and the general outlook of the economy.
Internal Factors:
Departmental Plan: A department assesses the number of staff it requires at different levels, at specified time frames, in the light of its present and planned future work commitments. This may lead to an increase or decrease of the current manpower.
RECRUITMENT:
Introduction:
Before a department takes steps to employ staff, it should work out the type of staff it needs in terms of grade and rank, and the time scale in which the staff are required. The general principles underpinning recruitment within the civil service are that recruitment should use procedures which are clearly understood by candidates and which are open to public scrutiny be fair, giving candidates who meet the stipulated minimum requirements equal opportunity for selection and select candidates on the basis of merit and ability. Recruitment of overseas officers is undertaken only when no or insufficient local candidates are available.
Key components There are three key components to the recruitment process deciding on terms of appointment selection of candidates probation.
Selection of Candidates:
Advertising:
Vacancies in the civil service are normally advertised in newspapers and through circulars.
Screening and Selection:
Departments screen applicationsto see if the applicants meet the specified qualifications and other requirements of the post. Suitable candidates are then shortlisted for subsequent examination and/or interviews. Not all grades/departments would require candidates to undergo examination, but candidates would normally be required to be interviewed by a recruitment board or an officer from the recruitment team.
Roles and Responsibilities :
The Civil Service Branch recruits staff of some General Grades while Heads of Grades/Departments recruit staff of their own grade/department. For recruitment to middle and senior ranks, the advice of the Public Service Commission has to be sought before appointment is offered.
Flexibility:
To minimize recruitment difficulties as well as attract and retain the best people, there are flexibilities which include recruitment overseas, offer of agreement terms, lowering entry qualifications and granting incremental credit for experience.
Probation:
During probation staff are introduced to the mission, objectives and values of the civil service and their departments. Probation: is a serious process which provides regular feedback on performance and assesses suitability for employment in the civil service. It includes
on-the-job training : staff should be exposed to the different duties required for their rank. In this way they can learn the skills expected of them and managers can verify their long-term suitability;
supervision and guidance : staff should receive close and sympathetic supervision and guidance to enable problems and difficulties to be identified early and timely counseling or other action to be taken.
Newly joined staff must be told the length of their probationary period, which varies with the requirements of each grade. If there are indications that staff are not suitable for confirmation, they must be counseled and then warned in writing if the problem persists. Confirmation is the step whereby a member of staff on probation is found suitable for the job and employed on permanent and personable terms.
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT:
Introduction Performance management is a very important Human Resource Management function. Its objective is to improve overall productivity and effectiveness by maximizing individual performance and potential. Performance management is concerned with improving individual and collective performance communicating management's expectations to supervisors and staff improving communication between senior management, supervisors and staff; o assisting staff to enhance their career prospects through recognizing and rewarding effective performance; o identifying and resolving cases of under performance and providing important links to other Human Resource Management functions, such as training.
Key Components Performance management therefore consists of several key components motivation performance appraisal promotion guidance and supervision addressing poor performance.
Motivation:
Motivation is in many ways the key to the success of Human Resource Management development. Managers should aim to increase performance through self-motivation, rather than having to use external motivation (i.e. the imposition of rules and continual improvements to conditions of service) to bring about higher standards of performance. The civil service has many formal programmed to enhance motivation, and these are discussed in the "staff relations" section of this booklet. However, even more important is the motivational impact that supervisors have on their staff.
Principle : The basic principle underpinning motivation is that if staff are managed effectively, they will seek to give of their best voluntarily without the need for control through rules and sanctions - they will eventually be self-managing.
Procedures : Some of the most effective ways for managers to motivate staff include giving praise; recognition; and positive feedback; passing on feedback from more senior managers; and letting other staff know which staff have been responsible for praiseworthy work and/or effort. Too often staff experience 'management by mistake', where most of the feedback received is corrective or punitive for mistakes they are perceived to have made. If staff feel that their decisions are generally supported, and when genuine mistakes are made they will be guided in the right direction, they will be more positive, confident and prepared to take on responsibility and decision-making. When staff are shown clear expectations, valued, trusted, encouraged and motivated, then they will be more likely to give of their best. Read More
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