Title: Aligning leadership and competences in recruitment and staff development: an empirical analysis in the context of regional public administration

Authors: Nuria Mancebo Fernandez, Assumpcio Rafart Serra, Andrea Bikfalvi, Maria Dolors Munoz Soler

Addresses: Universitat de Girona, Department of Business Administration and Product Design (OGEDP), Av. Lluis Santalo s/n, Escola Politecnica Superior, Campus Montilivi, 17071 Girona – Spain. ' Universitat de Girona, Department of Business Administration and Product Design (OGEDP), Av. Lluis Santalo s/n, Escola Politecnica Superior, Campus Montilivi, 17071 Girona – Spain. ' Universitat de Girona, Department of Business Administration and Product Design (OGEDP), Av. Lluis Santalo s/n, Escola Politecnica Superior, Campus Montilivi, 17071 Girona – Spain. ' Universitat de Girona, Department of Business Administration and Product Design (OGEDP), Av. Lluis Santalo s/n, Facultat de Ciencies Economiques i Empresarials, Campus Montilivi, 17071 Girona – Spain

Abstract: In the last decade, competences have gained a special interest in all pillars of the Triple-Helix model, namely academia, administration and business. Several competence models have been developed and put into practice in different public administration contexts. Leadership is one of the most important valued competences in business. Including competences and high-value leadership in the public administration is part of a process conducive to a more professional service. The empirical evidences come from a survey conducted recently. During the present study, personal and professional profiles as well as leadership styles of the target population are analysed on a sample of 160 managers in different departments of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia (Spain) engaged in the local public administration of the city of Girona. Our results show that competences highlighted as most important in the selection of managerial positions are commitment, professional ethics, understanding, and self-control of ones behaviour or actions related to values and professional ethics in general. Aspects related to teamwork or focused on people, with specific importance placed on the self-control of emotions are also important, followed by efficient time management, tenacity and perseverance, as well as the adaptability to deal with different, changing conditions in the workplace.

Keywords: leadership; values; competence models; Spain; knowledge management; regional public administration; human resources management; HRM; staffing practices; recruitment; staff development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPSPM.2008.018915

International Journal of Public Sector Performance Management, 2008 Vol.1 No.2, pp.167 - 182

Published online: 23 Jun 2008 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article