The adoption of the Law on Employees in Autonomous Provinces and Local Self-Government Units in 2016 established the basic principles of professional service system for employees working in the bodies of autonomous provinces and local self-governments in Serbia. This laid the foundations for the introduction of a modern human resources management system.
The Centre of Expertise for Good Governance of the Council of Europe has provided support to the modernisation of human resources management at local level in Serbia during the last decade. In the framework of the Programme “Human Resources Management in Local Self-Government – phase 2”, it organised an International Conference on Human Resources Management, on 20 September 2022 in Belgrade. The main results achieved in Human Resources Management within the ongoing Public Administration Reform in Serbia were presented.
Opening speeches were delivered by Ms Nadia Ćuk, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade, Ms Alina Tatarenko, Head of the Democratic Governance Division, Council of Europe, Mr Martin Klaucke, Head of Operation II, Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Serbia, Ms Sanja Putnik, Assistant Minister, Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government and Mr Nikola Tarbuk, Secretary General, Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities.
Conference participants were introduced to the new Human Resources Management Toolkit of the Council of Europe, which includes indications regarding the creation of job descriptions, the recruitment procedure, evaluation and performance management and the inclusion of a gender perspective in a modern HRM system. Mr Jonathan Barber, the Council of Europe expert, said that it can be an extremely practical document for improving HRM in local administrations. This is of particular importance because the local administration is the level of government which is closer to the citizens. For them to have trust in and be satisfied with the services provided by the public administration, it is necessary to constantly improve competences and capacities of the municipal employees.
For this reason, fifty municipalities and cities applied for and received support from the Council of Europe Programme through the "support packages". This experience is also valuable for other municipalities in Serbia: ultimately, the joint aim of all partners is to modernise the management of human resources in the country, and to improve governance at local level in accordance with the European values and standards.
The Programme “Human Resources Management in Local Self-Government – Phase 2” is a joint project financed by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe in Serbia, in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government and the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities.
