ProcurCompEU : implementation in Estonia.
Date: 2021-03-15
Institutions: Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs
Subjects: Estonia, Structural Funds, learning, personal development, professional career, professional qualifications, public administration, public procurement, vocational training

ProcurCompEU  
implementation in Estonia 

Project leader 

The Estonian State Shared Services Center (RTK) is a government agency under the Ministry of 
Public Administration. It provides services centrally to the government agencies, including performing 
the  function  of  management  and  payment  authority  for  the  European  Union  structural  funds  and 
cross-border  programmes,  and  public  procurement.  With  16  employees,  the  RTK  conducted  in  2019  about  270  public 
procurement contracts with a total value of EUR 72 million.  

Website: https://www.rtk.ee/ 

Context and objectives of the provided support 

Context: The Public Procurement Department of the Ministry of Finance (PPD) is the institution responsible for the 
design  and  implementation  of  public  procurement  policy,  and  as  such  supervises  all  contracting  authorities. 
Committed  to  the  professionalisation  of  public  procurement  professionals  with  a  view  to  support  the  capacity 
development  of  public  administrations,  the  PPD  expressed  its  interest  in  the  ProcurCompEU  tools  and  their 
application  in  the  Estonian  context.  This  materialised  in  the  implementation  of  an  organisational  gap  analysis, 
targeting the State Shared Services Center (RTK), which is the central purchaser for government authorities. 

Objective: The RTK received support from the European Commission to implement an organisational assessment, 
with  a  view  to  i)  assess their staff  members’  level  of  knowledge  and  skills to  achieve  their current  policy  and 
organisational goals; ii) better align the training activities of the RTK with its training needs by shifting the rationale 
for training from a legal/compliance type of exercise to evidence-based analysis of training gaps/needs; and iii) 
test how the assessment can be rolled out with other central and local contracting authorities. 

Target group: Officials of the RTK (12 Procurement Specialists and 3 Lawyers, all of whom participated to the 
organisational assessment), and further roll out to other contracting authorities. 

Target and timeline 

Duration of the intervention: 6 May 2020 until 7 July 2020. 

Actions 

1. Review of the competency matrix: Review of the competences selected by the State Shared Services Center (RTK). 
2. Review of the job profiles: Review of the job description, and associated proficiency target levels. 
3. Creation of the Self-Assessment Tool: Development of the self-assessment questionnaire, and the survey file on 

EUSurvey. 

4. Organisational assessment: Implementation of the self-assessment tool and review, collection and analysis of the 

results. 

5. Communication activities: Dissemination of the results to the staff participants, and high-level presentation of the 

next steps in terms of capacity building activities. 

      
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Implementation 

The review of the competency matrix and the job profiles assessed their coherence compared to ProcurComp EU 
with the goal of verifying that they include all relevant comeptences and proficiency levels. Based on these, the 
RTK developed the self-assessment questionnaire on EUSurvey. Once reviewed, the survey was distributed to 
RTK’s staff who had three weeks to complete it. 

In addition to identfying a focal point person to provide ad-hoc support, the RTK implemented a review process to ensure 
that the answers provided by the staff reflect their actual skills and knowledge. The review process was hence undertaken 
by their Line Manager (who has an overview of staff’s proficiency level per competence), and consisted of checking the 
answers  to  spot  any  under/overestimation.  The  RTK  then  collected  the  results  by  using  the  ProcurCompEU  calculation 
spreadsheet and analysed the results at profile and organisational level.  

A webinar was organised to present the results of the organisational assessment, with a view to highlight where the main 
competency gaps and training needs are, and inform the participants about the next steps in terms of capacity-building 
activities. 

Results and impact 
  The RTK has an overview of the competency gaps at the individual, job profile and organisational levels, and is hence 
better equipped to identify the capacity building activities that will allow the organisation to perform more effectively 
and efficiently thus maximising value for money. 

  Based on the organisational assessment, its resources (both in terms of human and financial capital), and strategic 
priorities, the RTK is able to prioritise the trainings that can deliver most impact by targeting priority competence areas 
for the organisation. 

  A close collaboration between the PPD and the RTK on the preparation of the organisation assessment ensured first-
hand  experience  in  the  implementation  of  ProcurCompEU.  This  will  help  the  PPD  further  promote  and  support  the 
implementation of the tools in other contracting authorities. 

Next steps 
  The RTK  will take advantage of the annual staff performance evaluation  to present the individual self-assessment 
results to their staff, with a view to discuss and agree where trainings could be most useful to strengthen their skills 
and knowledge. 

  The RTK will develop their capacity building plan, by identifying the key actions, potential sources of funding and the 

overall timeline for implementation.  

  The PPD, supervising all contracting authorities in Estonia, will plan the roll out of the organisational assessment at the 
level of other central purchasing bodies and contracting authorities, supporting them in each step of the process. 

Lessons learnt 
  The RTK set up a review process by Line Managers that consisted of Line Managers checking participants’ responses to 
the Self-Assessment questionnaire to correct possible over or under-estimation. This helped ensure that the results 
collected reflect the reality on the ground, thus ensuring the accuracy and relevance of the competency gaps identified.  
  The RTK presents the results of the organisational assessment using average scores and maximum scores (the latter 
refers to the  maximum score obtained by an individual from the same profile/organisation). Maximum scores  were 
found to be particularly useful in discussing training formats, as they indicate the extent to which the internal expertise 
can be leveraged to organise trainings. 

  Constrained  by  time,  the  RTK  did  not  have  the  chance  to  provide  detailed  guidance  on  the  interpretation  of  the 
competency framework, which generated questions from the participants during the Self-Assessment. Reflecting on 
this aspect,  RTK  recommends organizing  a  workshop  at  the  start  of  the  implementation  of  the  Self-Assessment  to 
support the smooth and efficient implementation of the assessment. 

ProcurCompEU is available in all official EU languages on the website of the European Commission:  
https://ec.europa.eu/info/policies/public-procurement/support-tools-public-buyers_en 

Where to find ProcurCompEU? 

The project “Implementation of ProcurCompEU” provided support with the implementation of ProcurCompEU tools in EU Member States. This document has 
been prepared by PwC for the European Commission. However, it reflects the views of the authors only, and the Commission cannot be held responsible 
for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. 

© European Union, 2020 – EUROPEAN COMMISSION - Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs  
Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2020  
ISBN 

978-92-76-23426-5 Doi: 

ET-04-20-609-EN-N  

10.2873/076447