(To be Checked against delivered Speech)

Welcoming words by Maud de BOER-BUQUICCHIO, Council of Europe Deputy Secretary General

“EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE IN HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT”

(Symposium organised by the Personnel Managers Club - Belgium)

Council of Europe
23 March 2006, Room 1

Vice-President of the Personnel Managers Club, Mrs Inez Senecaut,
Dear Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

First of all, I am very happy to welcome you today to the “Palais de l’Europe”, the home of the oldest and today largest political institution in Europe, composed of 46 member States, founded in 1949 with the aim of defending and promoting human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

We are the oldest, but not the only European Institution, and even though we have only ONE Europe, we have a myriad of institutions that often lead to confusion with our general public. We are often confused with the European Union, composed of 25 member states, with whom we have very good bilateral relations. We have in all cases been the waiting room for countries wanting to join the European Union and we have an important role to play in bringing countries closer to our common values and into the European family.
Two institutions who share the same values but with different means and working methods, striving towards one common goal: greater unity between its members with the ultimate aim of securing peace for all European citizens. We attach great importance to this co-operation and complementarity to reach these valuable objectives.

As you may have read on the window of the entrance to our building, you are now in the “Home of Democracy”.

But even in the “Home of Democracy” we have some housekeeping to do, which is why over the last five years the Council of Europe has been undergoing a major process of review and reform of its internal management procedures and structures.

This reflects a trend among many national and international public administrations. The public sector is responding to a demand for good governance from stakeholders. Here in the Council of Europe, we have a duty to ensure that the Organisation provides the best possible service for the governments of our member States and above all for the citizens of Europe. To borrow terms from the private sector, we must be “customer-oriented”.

I am also pleased to welcome you today to this symposium and debate, organised by the Personnel Managers Club. It is the first time that our Organisation has been asked to participate in a pan-European symposium of this kind.

As some of our keynote speakers this afternoon will point out, human resources management in an international organisation such as the Council of Europe should take into account the varying views and perspectives of its 46 member states. It is highly questionable that comprehensive European policies exist and it is all the more important to seek common views and perspectives. This symposium will hopefully contribute to such a search.

The second imperative of the human resources management in the Council of Europe is that it must reflect the standards and values our organisation was set up to defend. In other words, we must practice what we preach.

This should be the case for our managers but also for all of our staff. When one of our staff members, in the advent of the Presidential Elections in France some years ago, called for an upsurge against Islam and amalgamated insecurity, immigration and islamism, the Organisation had to take appropriate actions against the staff member concerned. At a time when the Council of Europe is more than ever engaged in promoting tolerance, inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue, we could not - and cannot - tolerate that these values be made a mockery of. Working for an organisation which stands for our common values is a privilege and not an obligation !

Neither do we as managers have a clean sheet. We continue to be faced with what I want to call a “backlog of inequalities”. We are working hard on this and results are beginning to show.

This evening, during the dinner-Causerie, our Director General of Administration and Logistics, Mario Martins, will present to you a comprehensive picture of what the Council of Europe is trying to implement and the ongoing review of all aspects of our human resource management, from recruitment and selection, to training, evaluation, performance management and equal opportunities.

In this respect I should certainly also refer to Marleen Limbourg who has assisted us as a consultant on a number of the reforms you will hear about today.

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Allow me now to give you a concrete example of this evolution in the field of equal opportunities:

Very recently, we had the opportunity to discuss career development and the existence of the well known glass-ceiling phenomenon for women in managerial positions, and in a broader sense, equality of opportunities in our Organisation. Studies led by a British professor (Marilyn Davidson) clearly show that barriers for career opportunities are paramount, and especially for female staff in the Organisation, despite some positive elements that can already be identified.

The first challenge is to change perceptions. Equal opportunities must be seen as an ethical value but also as an asset in terms of productivity.

In this respect, the Council of Europe is bound to make an asset of its diversity. We attach great importance to meeting the challenge of managing staff of different backgrounds and nationalities, cultures and religions.

For this reason, we are focusing in our human resources policy reform on competency development and mobility as ways of developing careers in different directions, and of increasing professional satisfaction.

In common with many public sector organisations, our human resource management has traditionally been based on a staff administration approach. The shift is now towards a focus on the staff members’ contribution and competencies and how to optimise those.

You will agree with me that these different elements call for a strong management and leadership culture to drive the change. It was clear to me from the first day that I took up my functions as Deputy Secretary General that this should be a key focus during my term of office. It is only recently that we have started to discuss within the Organisation what it means to be a manager.

Many of the projects underway in the framework of the reform of human resources policy aim also to permit a better recognition of staff members’ contribution.

I am thinking in particular of the proposals under discussion on performance management, covering both under-performance and exceptional performance. Competency management, which is gradually being introduced into all fields of human resources, most recently into appraisal, is crucial to ensuring that staff decisions are based closely on the actual competencies and abilities of each staff member and are fair.

I must admit, however, that in spite of progress made internally, there are still major differences in approaching various themes, which do reflect the different views throughout Council of Europe member States. As an intercultural, intergovernmental organisation, we try to bring together different approaches to human resources management, in order to form a unique, comprehensive and effective European approach to managing human resources.

This approach of course is adapted to the circumstances specific to our organisation and to a large extent, also other European public organisations. The Council of Europe’s approach to human resources management also reflects – or to be more modest – strives to reflect a set of ethical, social and human rights values which not only could but should inspire how resources are managed in public organisations and private companies throughout our member states.

I will conclude by thanking you again for the invitation to participate in your meeting and to wish you a successful symposium.

I will now hand you over to my colleague, Patrick Penninckx, who will give you a short presentation to illustrate the different concepts of Europe – not so much in Human Resources terms, but in the development of Europe as a whole.