WRITTEN QUESTION E-1202/02

by Nirj Deva (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(26 April 2002)

Subject: Administration

On 4 February 2000, Mr Horst Reichenbach, Director General Administration DG, was quoted by the Commission en Direct as saying that all senior managers would be trained by 2002. What percentage of DGs and Heads of Unit in the Commission have, in fact, been through the training programme?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(10 June 2002)

The Honourable Member should note as essential background to the answer to his question that, historically, the Commission has given relatively little attention to management training or to vocational training in general. The result of that is that, in 1999 for instance, only around 0,05 % of total employment costs were accounted for by expenditure on training. Improvements on that have since been made but, although the Reform commitment is to double training efforts over the next four years, that will still leave investment in training in the Commission proportionally at around half of the level of the average in Member State administrations.

Since 2000 the Commission has substantially increased its investment in training for managers, including managers at the most senior levels in the Institution. A range of training and developmental initiatives has accordingly been put in place. The main Commission-wide initiatives together with approximate take-up numbers in the period 2000-2002 for the levels of Director-General, Deputy Director-General, Director and Unit Head are shown below.

Management training which has been organised and financed at the level of individual Directorates-General (DGs) is not included in this list because there are fewer activities at that level. Management training given to staff below the level of Unit Head comprises several thousand participant days per annum but it is not included in the figures below.

Reform-Related Training for Management

Training is now underway to support implementation of central aspects of the Reform programme, especially the new policies in work planning, human resources management and financial management. These training initiatives involve all managers at Unit Head level and above in the Commission (around 1 200 personnel), without exception. Most of the eligible personnel required to attend several different modules, depending on their particular responsibilities.

Management Training Programme

Since 2001 an internal programme has been in place to develop the key management capacities which are specific to the Commission. By the end of 2002, about 400 managers will have attended this eight-day programme.

External Management Development Programme

In 2000 the Commission launched a programme to encourage its senior and middle managers to attend appropriate training seminars in leading European Business Schools. By the end of 2002, some 120 officials at the level of Unit Head and higher will have benefited from this initiative.

Developmental Consultancy

An initiative was launched in 2000 to enable middle and senior staff to draw upon the support of management consultants for short term assignments designed to improve the functioning of the Commission at DG, Directorate, Unit or team level. By the end of 2002, some 40 such assignments will have been funded from the central training budget. Each assignment involves at least one manager, whilst most assignments involve several.

Individual Coaching

An initiative was launched in 2001 to give management level staff in the Commission access to individual coaching in the context of implementing significant change in their areas of responsibility. By the end of 2002, 15 senior managers will have benefited from this facility.

Other relevant activities

There are other, smaller training and developmental initiatives for Commission managers, including university fellowships and distance-learning programmes. In the period 2000-2002, over 100 Commission managers will have benefited from such developmental facilities.

Overview

The above figures show that, as announced by the Director-General for Personnel and Administration in 2000, all management staff are participating to various degrees in the designated training on an unprecedented scale. This coverage is due in part to the Reform-related training activities. Furthermore, over 50 percent of the Commission's management staff at the level of Unit Head and higher will have taken part in intensive management training in the period 2000-2002. That pattern will, of course, continue as a regular feature of Commission efforts to improve training for, and training in, the essential skills of management.