Montenegro

Advancing human resource capacities of municipalities to better deliver services to citizens

Podgorica, 11 November 2011

“Human resources development is a key factor for economic growth and knowledge generation, and it represents indeed a crucially important development agenda,” said Ms. Lovita Ramguttee, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative to Montenegro at the presentation of the “Functional review of the human resource function and management capacities in Montenegrin municipal administrations”. “We hope that this Review will contribute to keeping municipal officials and national stakeholders abreast of the main findings in this regard, with key recommendations for improving their respective performance, ultimately leading to better delivery of services to the citizens,” she added.

This document, produced by UNDP in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior of Montenegro, Union of Municipalities, Human Resource Management Authority, provides a comprehensive set of recommendations for addressing HR challenges in all 21 municipal administrations. It was developed within the framework of the IPA 2010 Project “Support to the implementation of the National Training Strategy for Local Self-Government in Montenegro and Provision of Grants to Municipalities”.

Mr. Mladen Jovović, Deputy Minister for local self-governance at the Ministry of the Interior emphasized that human resource management is a basis for successful performance of any local government. “If municipal officials and employees perform more effectively, they will respond better to the challenges that municipalities are facing. It is very important that the authors of the Review noted that all 21 municipalities have invested great efforts and that they all got involved in coordination of human resource development activities, be it through analysis of training needs or through results and competencies assessments. Certain shortcomings were identified in terms of quality of human resource planning and hiring procedures, but it was also recognized that all local administrations have one thing in common – and that is a strong will to improve and advance human resource management.”

Lovita Ramguttee, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative to Montenegro explained that as part of the wider UNDP support to Montenegrin Government, public administration reform holds a crucial role. “As we know, in its pre-accession efforts, in line with the European Commission's requirement for additional development of institutional capacities, Montenegro is preparing its institutions for new tasks and duties. In this regard, UNDP in Montenegro is continuously working to support national and local governments in advancing their human resource capacities and to better respond to the challenges on their way towards the EU accession.” Ms. Ramguttee pointed out that UNDP’s support in developing the Functional review of human resource function and management capacities in Montenegrin municipal administrations is one such step in this endeavour, in view of supporting the National Training Strategy for Local Self Government in Montenegro. “UNDP stands ready to support further the local governance reform agenda of the Government of Montenegro,” Ms. Ramguttee concluded.

 

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Functional review of the HR function and management capacities in Montenegrin municipalities

To date, some significant changes have been made to formally introduce some important human resource management functions such as human resources planning and performance appraisal.  Municipalities must also prepare for the introduction of the new Law on Civil Servants and State Employees, which will come into force on 1 January 2013.  Although municipalities in Montenegro have made more progress than others in the region thanks to the work of the Human Resource Management Authority (HRMA) and the Union of Municipalities, the current status of human resource management in municipalities could be improved further.
 
In the context of the IPA 2010 Project “Support to Local Self Government for the Implementation of the National Training Strategy and Provision of Grants to Municipalities”, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), supported by the Ministry of the Interior, and in cooperation with the Union of Municipalities and HRMA, has conducted a functional analysis of human resource functions and management in municipal administrations.  The analysis was the first step in view of initiating a more comprehensive project to invest in training and human resource management in municipalities.  The aim of the analysis was to see what basic changes are needed in municipalities now in order for the future investment in human resource management to have the greatest impact.

Better human resource management in municipalities should lead to the improved motivation of staff, better services delivered by municipalities, and higher citizens’ satisfaction.
Some of the recommended actions are:

1. Chief administrators to take stronger coordination role in ensuring up-to-date skills for the municipality staff and performance to the best of their potential;
2. Municipalities to invest more financial resources in development of staff skills – this will ultimately have a positive cost-effective impact through a better and more efficient staff performance;
3. The legal framework to be clarified in order that the regulations which apply to municipalities are clearly understood, practical to implement, and serve the best interests of the municipalities;
4. Recruitment to municipalities to be fairer and more transparent, and employment made more flexible in order to ensure that the best people available work for local governments.

 

The Functional review of the HR function and management capacities in Montenegrin municipal administrations provides a comprehensive set of recommendations for addressing these challenges. The consultants responsible for the report assessed the situation in every municipality, and their recommendations were discussed with senior officials in all municipalities, as well as relevant national stakeholders.
 
The development of the report also enjoyed strong support from the Ministry of the Interior, Union of Municipalities and the HRMA. These three agencies are expected to be crucial in supporting the improvements in human resource management in municipal administrations.

If the recommendations would be adequately incorporated in legal and institutional framework at the national and local level, we would expect to see considerable improvements in staff performance and citizen’s satisfaction rate over the next 3-4 years.

“Functional review of the human resource function and management capacities in Montenegrin municipal administrations” – will be available soon

“Analiza funkcija i kapaciteta upravljanja ljudskim resursima u crnogorskim opštinskim upravama“– biće dostupna uskoro