10 Years of CAF Final Version

8/13/2019 10 Years of CAF Final Version

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GrowingTowardsExcellenceinthe

EuropeanPublic

Sector

AdecadeofEuropeancollaborationwithCAF

PatrickStaesandNickThijs(ed.)

GUVERNUL ROMANIEIMinisterul Administraieii InternelorUnitatea Centralpentru

Reforma AdministraieiPublice

with the support of


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TableofContents

Foreword10yearsofCAF 5

Introduction 7

Part1:10YearsofCAFandmorethan2000registeredCAFusers 9

1.FirststepstowardstheCAF 10

2.Anoverviewof10yearsofEuropeancollaborationwithCAF 11

3.EvolutioninthedevelopmentanduseoftheCAFModel 13

4.Growingtowards2000registeredusersin2010 14

5.CAFdynamicsintheMemberStates 16

5.1 SynthesisoftheMemberStatecontributions 175.2 Austria 19

5.3 Belgium 22

5.4 Cyprus 23

5.5 CzechRepublic 24

5.6 Denmark 26

5.7 Estonia 28

5.8 Finland 30

5.9 France 31

5.10 Germany 335.11 Greece 35

5.12 Hungary 36

5.13 Italy 38

5.14 Lithuania 41

5.15 Luxembourg 43

5.16 Norway 45

5.17 Poland 46

5.18 Portugal 47

5.19 Romania 49

5.20 Slovakia 50

5.21 Slovenia 52

5.22 Spain 54

6.Celebrating2000CAFusers.Interviewwithuser2000: 56

theBelgianHighCouncilofJustice

Part2:Progressingtowardsexcellence 59

Introduction 60

1.Ageneraldescriptionofthe8principles 602.Theprinciplesofexcellenceinuse:realcaseillustrations 62

3.TheCAFExternalFeedbackProcedure 89


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Part3:Supportingtoolsontheroadtoexcellence 97

Introduction 98

Article1.Changemanagement 99

Article2.Strategicmanagement 109

Article3.Performancemeasurement/monitoring 132

Conclusions:thefutureofCAF 139

Annex:Contacts 143


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Foreword10yearsofCAF

As 2010 is closing, the global economy appears to be emerging slowly from the worstrecession since 1929. The recovery remains slow and fragile. Focus, collaboration andcoordinatedmethodsareneededtoaddresstherisksofapotentialnewcrisisandsetthestageforareturntostrongandsustainedglobalgrowth.

In times of severe budget cuts and further restrictions, strong solutions and policies areneeded to reduce costs, maintain the productivity and innovative potential of the civilservantorganizations andworkforce.Moreover, this is absolutely critical inensuring thatcustomerorientedserviceswillbedeliveredefficientlyandeffectivelytothebenefitsofthecitizens.

Civilservicesneedtocontinueashifttowardsmodernmanagement,evenmoresointimesof economic crisis and budget cuts. They need to create value for the organisation as awhole,andmoreoverforthestaffandtheir leadersbysimultaneouslysupporting(cultural)changeandcreatingmoreperformanceorientation.QualityManagementasawholeshouldproactivelysupportthedecisionmakingprocessanddeveloppracticalconcepts.

As Ireflecton thepastyears,key lessonscome tomind:collaborationmustbesustained.ThisisreallyoneofthegreatestfindingsoftheworkwithintheEUPANNetworkperhapsforthefirsttimeinhistory,administrationshavefinallycometogetherinaspiritofsolidaritytofacecommonproblemswithcommonsolutions.

TheBelgianPresidencyoftheEUisveryproudtopresenttheresultofmorethan10yearsofsharedefforts indevelopingQualitymanagement inthepublicsector inEurope.Thanksto

the continuous support of the Ministers in charge of the Public administration in theMemberStates,theirdirectorgeneralsintheEUPANnetworkandthenationalexpertsinitsworking groups, the Common Assessment Framework has become a referencemodel ofexcellenceforthepublicsector inEurope.Fromthebeginning,Belgiumcontributedtothissuccessandwillcontinuetodoso.

Thispublicationaimstosharethesecommoneffortsinordertosupportthespreadinganddeepeningofqualitymanagementamongstthecivilservantsandtheirleaders.

Continuously improving the service delivery to the citizens with better efficiency is the

challengeforeachandeverypublicorganisation!Letscontinuetodoso.

JackyLeroyPresidentoftheBoardofDirectorsoftheFederalPublicServicePersonnel&Organisation


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Introduction

In 2000 the Innovative Public Services Group (IPSG) of the EUPAN (European PublicAdministrationNetwork)presented theCommonAssessment Framework (CAF).After tenyearsofCAFin2010andmorethan2000registeredCAFusers,itistimetolookatthestateofaffairswhathasbeenachievedinthesetenyearsandmaybeevenmoreimportantlywhatdowewanttoachieveinthenexttenyears?

ThefirstpartofthispublicationwilllookattheevolutionofCAFsinceitsoriginin2000andexaminewhereCAF is standing in2010withmore than2000 registeredCAFusers in theEIPACAFResourceCentredatabase.ThemilestonesandachievementsofCAFanditsusersandpromotersup to its tenthbirthdaywillbehighlighted. Furthermore, thispartof thepublicationwillgiveanoverviewandashortanalysisof thespreadingofCAF inEuropewhereitisappliedandinwhichsectors.Itwillalsodescribethecontentwiseevolutionandthechangeofmaturitythattookplace inthepastdecade.Andwhatsmore, it isenrichedwith thecontributionswrittenby theCAFNationalCorrespondents inhonourof10yearsCAFintheircountryandwithanexclusiveinterviewwiththe2000thCAFuser.

ThesecondpartgoesintothelatestCAFdevelopments.In2009,theCAFExternalFeedbackprocedurewas launched.OneoftheaimsoftheProcedureonExternalFeedback is to laystressontheeightprinciplesofexcellencewhicharethe leadingprinciples inTotalQualityManagement. These principles are guidelines for organisations on theirjourney towardsexcellence and are therefore the foundation of the CAF. The programme of the fourthEuropeanCAFUsersEvent inRomania inSeptember2010wasbuildupontheseprinciples.EachprinciplewasillustratedwithtwotothreecasesfromalloverEurope.Thispartofthepublication will discuss the eight principles and illustrate them by giving the short

descriptions of the cases. It will end with an explanation of the Procedure on ExternalFeedback.

Organisations where TQM has been implemented, (probably) aim at becoming mature.Often,ahugedistancebetweentheircurrentsituationandtheirgoalhastobeovercome.The third part of this publication collects the texts of the keynote speakers on the 4thEuropean CAF Users Event. They are divided into three topics: Change Management,StrategicManagementandPerformancemeasurement/monitoring.

Tofinalisethispublicationandasaconclusion,wetakealookatthefutureoftheCAF.This

lastpartdealswith thequestions:whatare the future challenges for theCAF andwhichstepsdoestheCAFcommunityneedtotake?

In annex, a list with the contact information of the CAF National Correspondents, theprinciples of excellence case presenters, the keynote speakers and the European CAFResourceCentreisincluded.

TheCommonAssessmentFrameworkistheresultofanintensecollaborationbetweenmanyactorsontheEuropeansceneduringnearly12year.Thepreparationsstartedin1998undertheAustrianpresidencyandthe10thanniversarywascelebratedinthesecondhalfof2010

withthesupportoftheRomaniangovernmentundertheBelgianPresidency.NearlyallthePresidenciesinbetweencontributedtothefurtherdevelopmentandspreadingofthemodelinordertointroduceacultureofTotalQualityManagementinthePublicSectorallover


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Europe.Motivatedcivilservants, takingpart in the IPSGand theCAFNetworkofnationalcorrespondents, took up the responsibility for this approach. They are the fathers andmothersofCAF.SomeofthemlefttheEuropeanPublicAdministrationNetwork(EUPAN)forotherfunctions,butwillberememberedasthepioneersofQualitymanagementinEurope.TheEuropeanFoundationforQualityManagementEFQMandtheSpeyerUniversityinspired

fromthebeginningthenationalexpertsandseveralcolleaguesfromtheEuropeanInstitutedof Public Administration EIPA supported the network and build up the European CAFResourceNetwork.

It is impossible to thank themallbyname.Somanywereandare involvedandwedontwanttoforgetanyone.ThereforewewouldliketobethespokespersonsfortheEuropeanPublicsector inthankingthemallforalltheeffortstheymadeinthepastandwillmakeinthe future. Europe is build on many millstones, but they certainly contribute to a veryimportantone.

MargaPRHL,DirectorGeneralEIPAPatrickSTAES,HeadoftheEuropeanCAFResourceCentreatEIPA

Maastricht,October2010


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Part1:10YearsofCAF

andmorethan2000registeredCAFusers


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1.FirststepstowardstheCAF

ThelaunchoftheCAFhastobeplacedinacontext10yearsagowhen,asstillitisthecasetoday,thepublicsectorhastocopewithalotofchallengesandhastorespondtomanynewneedsanddemandsinsociety.Duetothesechallengesandthepressure,thepublicsectorissubjectoflargereforms.Especiallyintimesoffinancialcrisesandseverecostcutsinpublicadministrations,thefocus isonefficiencyandeffectiveness,attentiontotransparencyandaccountability,awarenessforpublicservicedelivery.1TogetherwiththeseprinciplesofNewPublicManagement(NPM),methodsandtechniqueswereconstructed,focusingononeofthese principles or trying to combine these principles. As one of these techniques TotalQuality Management became a feature of the public sector from the late 1980s andparticularlytheearly1990s.Inthelate1990s,manyqualitymodelsandtechniques(EFQM,ISO)andsubsequently theCommonAssessmentFramework (CAF) found theirway intothepublicsector.2

FollowingyearsofinformalconsultationswithintheEUPAN,therewasanincreasingneedattheendofthe1990swithintheEuropeanUnionforamoreintensiveandformalresponseinordertooptimisecooperationwithrespecttothemodernisationofgovernmentservicesintheMemberStatesandthepreparationfortheupcomingenlargement.3In1997,thisneedwas given substance in the formation of a steering committee at European level,whichsubsequently became the IPSG the Innovative Public ServicesGroup, acting under theaegisofthenetworkoftheDirectorsGeneral inchargeofthepublicadministrationsintheMember States, the European Public Administration Network (EUPAN). The preparatoryworkthathadbeenperformedforseveralyearsat informal levelbytheDirectorsGeneral,led in November 1998 to a ministerial declaration containing the general principlesconcerning

the

improvement

of

the

quality

of

services

provided

to

citizens.TheIPSGworking

group then developed a quality tool specifically intended for and adapted to the publicsector. This resulted in the year 2000 in the Common Assessment Framework a selfassessmentframeworkbasedontheprinciplesofTQMandderivedfromtheEFQMmodeland the German Speyer model. CAF was an easy touse and free entry tool for selfassessment in the public sector that could help public administrations across the EUunderstand and employ modern management techniques. It was launched at the firstEuropeanQualityConferenceinPortugalinMay2000.4

1Pollitt, C. & Bouckaert, G. (1999),Public management Reform, Oxford University Press.2

Van Dooren, W., Thijs, N., & Bouckaert, G. (2004). Quality management and management of quality in the Europeanpublic administrations. In: Lffler, E., & Vintar, M. (Eds.). Improving the quality of East and Western European publicservices. Hampshire: Ashgate. pp. 91-106.3Engel, C. (2003). Quality management tools in CEE candidate countries. Maastricht: Eipa, 104 p.4Engel, C. (2002).Common Assessment Framework : The state of affairs,Eipascope, (1), pp. 35-39.


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2.Anoverviewof10yearsEuropeancollaborationwithCAF

Sincethefirstlaunchin2000atthe1stEuropeanQualityConferenceinLisbon,manythingshave been realised. In this partwe give a brief overview of the initiatives taken at the

Europeanlevelduringthepast10years.

Theyear2001sawfurtherdevelopmentaroundtheCAF:theEuropeanCAFResourceCentre(CAFRC)wasestablishedat theEuropean InstituteofPublicAdministration inMaastricht,theNetherlands.ThisEIPACAFRChasbeencreatedunder the initiativeof theDirectorsGeneral inchargeofpublicservicewiththeaimofbeingaEuropeancentreofexpertise in

CAF implementation that coordinateswith thenationalqualityhubs and also serves asatrainingandconsultancycentre.Furthermore,theCAFRCcarriesoutresearchontheuseofthemodeltofurtherdevelopitandaimstostimulatetheEuropeanCAFnetworkofnationalcorrespondentsandbeasourceofinspirationtotheEuropeanCAFcommunity.Lastbutnotleast, theCAFRCwasentrustedwith the settingupofadatabase to registerand collectEuropeanCAFuserswiththeaimofreaching2000registeredCAFusersby2010.5

In2002,themodelwassimplifiedand improvedwiththeaimofadapting itevenmoretothepublicsectorandlaunchedatthesecondEuropeanQualityConferenceinDenmark.Theneed to adapt themodel in away that it ismore tailored to the public sector became

obvioustothenetworkbecauseofaEuropeanstudyontheuseofCAFthathadbeendonein2003.6

In2004theIPSG,intheirmeetingheldinVienna,tookthedecisiontosetuptheCAFexpertgroupfordevelopingadraftCAFActionPlan.TheCAFexpertgroupiscomposedoftheCAFnationalcorrespondentsoftheMemberStates,theEIPACAFRCandEFQMrepresentatives.Thegroup isopen to theparticipationofexpertsofCAF/TQMnominatedbycountries. Itmeetsatleasttwiceayearanditsmajortasksare:

o toimproveandregularlyupdatetheCAF;

5all info on www.eipa.eu/CAF6EIPA (2003), Study for the Italian Presidency on the use of the common assessment framework in the European publicadministrations, Maastricht, 92 p.


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o todefine incollaborationwithEIPA the roleof theEuropeanCAFResourceCentre(tasks,mandate,placement,financing);

o todevelopincollaborationwithEIPACAFsupporttools(e.g.CAFwebsite);o tovalidatethedifferentwaysto adaptCAFfornationalorsectoraluse;o to assist and promote the exchange of good practices of operational

managerialtoolsbetweenEuropeanMemberStates;o toorganisetheCAFusersevents(contentpapersandprogrammes);o toreportbacktotheIPSGatleasttwiceayear.

The collaboration as such is very special, because the network operates in the spirit ofconsensus on European level to drive forward the development around and within themodel,which isat timesdifficultdue todistance,differentpublicadministrationcultures,nationalagendas,funding,etc.However,thenetworkhasproven itscapabilitytosteertheCAF forwardwith itsmany initiativesandproducts,whichwillalsobecomeevident in thispublication.

SincethelaunchofCAFin2000,itwasclearthatmutualunderstandingandbenchlearningamong CAF users would be a strong impetus for the success of the model in Europe.EuropeanCAFUsersEventsarethusorganisedregularlywiththeaimofbeingan inspiringmeetingpointforCAFusersandtofurtherspreadTQMinthepublicsectorinEurope.In2003and2005CAFUsersfromalloverEuropemetinRomeandLuxembourgatthefirsttwoEuropeanCAFUsersEvents.ThePortuguesePresidencyorganisedthe3rdEuropeanCAFUsers Event in Lisbon in 2007. In 2010, Romania hosted the 4th CAF Users Event incooperationwith thenetworkofCAFnationalcorrespondentsand theEIPACAFResourceCentre.The4thEventhada special focuson the8principlesofexcellenceand thenewlydeveloped the CAF External Feedback as well as the tailormade CAF version for the

educationsector.

In 2004 the tradition of the European Quality Conferences was continued in theNetherlands. At thisQuality Conference a CAFMaster Class took place. Subsequently in2005, not only did the second CAF users event take place, asmentioned above, but asecondstudyontheuseofCAFwasalsoconducted.7ThestudyrevealedthatanumberofareasintheCAFneededfurtherimprovement:increasethecoherenceandsimplicityofthemodel,increasetheuserfriendlinessbyimprovingtheexamplesandtheglossary,developamore finetuned scoring system for certainusers,andbroaden thequalityapproachwithdirectivesfortheimprovementactionplansandguidelinesforbenchlearning.Consequently

theCAFwasreviewedforthesecondtimeand in2006theCAF2006was launchedatthefourthEuropeanQualityConferenceinFinland.Theresultwasabetterdefinitionofcertaincriteria and subcriteria, an increase of the internal consistency of the criteria, theformulationsandthewayofevaluatingandscoring.

Despite the fact that the procedure of adapting the model was highly technical andconceptual,therewasaverystrongparticipationof15countriesduringtheprocessoftherevision. Several countries prepared subtopics inworking partieswhichwere supportedsubstantivelybyEIPAandtherewasastrongcontributionfromtheEuropeanFoundationforQualityManagement(EFQM).

7EIPA (2005), Study on the use of the Common Assessment Framework in European public services, Maastricht, 89 p.


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Additionally,on initiativefromtheAustrianPresidencyandwithcooperationfromtheCAFRC thepublication CAFworkshasbeenput together in2006. CAFworkspresents29goodpracticesfrom15countriesand8differentsectors,wheretheuseoftheCAFhasledtoimprovedresults.8

ContinuingthehabitofholdingaCAFuserseventasmentionedabove,Portugalhostedthe

thirdevent in2007andfurthermoredevelopedtogetherwiththeCAFRCaCAFmovie,anattractive tool to promote CAF by showing the effectiveness of CAF in improving publicsectororganisations.9Inaddition,themovieclearlyshowstheEuropeandimensionofCAF:the collaboration between the different Member States, the advantages of a strongEuropean network and community. It is the appropriate tool to use for communicationactions in an organisation, at quality conferences, etc. to demonstrate the process andresultsofworkingwiththeCAFmodel.

The fifthEuropeanQualityConference tookplace inParis,France inSeptember2008andsawthesecondCAFCentreaspecialplaceforCAFandtheworkshopsandsessionsabout

itattracted800ofthe1100participantsattheConferenceanundeniablesignalthattheinterestforthetoolwasstillgrowing.

Currently, theCAFhasbeen translated into20 languages and isused inmore than2000organisations(seeinfra).

3.EvolutioninthedevelopmentanduseoftheCAFModel

Inthepast10yearstheCAF itself(and itsuse)alsobecamemoremature. Inthismaturityprocess three different phases can be distinguished. A first phase focusing on the selfassessment, a second phase havingmore attention for the improvements after the selfassessmentanda thirdphasedrawingattention to thematurecultureofexcellence inanorganisation.

In thefirstphaseof theuseofCAF, from2000until2006, theemphasiswasputon theintroductionofTQMprinciplesandvalues in thepublicsectorbyusing theCAFasaselfassessmenttool.Publicsectororganisationswerenotusedtolookatthemselves,certainly

not involvingtheirownpeople.A lothadtobe learnedandmostoftheenergywasput inspreadingasoundmethodologyofselfassessment.10

With the revisionof2006,muchmoreattentionwasdedicated ina secondphase to thefollow up of the selfassessment: the implementation of the improvement actions thatweretheresultofthediscoveryofmanyareasofimprovementduringtheselfassessment.ThesuccessofCAFwasmeasuredbytheimprovedmanagerialpracticesthatwereinstalledandthatleadtobetterresultsintheresultscriteriaofthemodel.11

8

The CAF works publication can be downloaded from www.eipa.eu/caf(publications section)9The CAF movie can be watched and downloaded from www.eipa.eu/caf(CAF movie section)10Staes, P., & Thijs, N. (2005). Quality Management on the European Agenda.Eipascope, 2005/1, pp.33-41.11Thijs, N. & P. Staes (2005), The Common Assessment Framework in European public administration: a state of affairsafter five years. Eipascope 2005/3, p.41-49


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But the awareness grew in a third phase that it was necessary to develop further theconcept of excellence that had been at the basis of CAF, butwas not explicitly enoughformulated for thepublic sector. If furtherdeveloped, theseprinciples couldbecome theleadingprinciples forbuildingup theorganisation towards the levelofexcellenceon thebasisofasoundselfassessmentandaneffectiveimprovementplan.ThisworkwasdoneinthecontextofthediscussionsonthenewProcedureforExternalFeedback(see infrapart

2).12

Most qualitymanagement tools have recognition schemes to evaluate assessments thathavetakenplaceinanorganisation.Upto2010,theCAFdidnothavesuchasystem.WithintheCAFexpertgroupanumberofvolunteers Belgium,Denmark,Italy,Slovenia,EFQMandthe EIPA CAF Resource Centre have crossed the Rubicon and paved the road for theimplementationofaCAFExternalFeedbackProcedure.InrelationtothenatureoftheneedsandthekindofdemandsexpressedbymanyCAFusersindifferentMemberStates,theCAFExternalFeedbackaimstoachievethefollowingobjectives:1. SupportthequalityoftheCAFimplementationanditsimpactontheorganisation.

2. FindoutiftheorganisationisinstallingTQMvaluesastheresultoftheCAFapplication.3. Supportandrenewenthusiasmintheorganisationforcontinuousimprovement.4. Promotepeerreviewandbenchlearning.5. Rewardorganisationsthathavestartedthejourneytowardscontinuousimprovementto

achieve excellence in an effective way, without judging their obtained level ofexcellence.

6. FacilitatetheparticipationofCAFusersintheEFQMLevelsofExcellence.

Within the course of the CAF External Feedback Procedure external experts the CAFExternalFeedbackActorsvisittheorganisationandgatherevidenceonhowtheinstitution

hasprepared, implementedand followedup theCAF selfassessmentprocess.AftergoingthroughthisprocesstheorganisationwillorwillnotreceivethelabelECU,whichisstandingforanEffectiveCAFUser,foraperiodoftwotimes.Theprocedurewas launched in2010.TheMemberStateshavetoinstalltheprocedureinthefieldfromnowon.

Inthemeantime,theEuropeanCAFnetworkhasalsostartedtotailorCAFtospecificsectorsinpublicadministration.The first initiativeof thatkindhasstarted in2008,when theCAFnetwork created a European working group, consisting of national correspondents andexperts from the fieldtodevelopaCAFversion for theeducationsector.Theresult is theCAF and Education that has been approved by the EUPAN network in June 2010 and is

availableviatheCAFRCwebsite.

4.Growingtowards2000registeredusersin2010

In these tenyears theCAFhasnotonlygrown in termsof conceptualand contentwork,moreimportantlythenumberofCAFusershasgrownaswell,sincethetargethasbeensetin2005bytheBritishPresidencytoregister2000CAFusersin2010.InJune2010thistarget

12Thijs, N. & P. Staes (2010), From self-assessment to external feedback, Eipascope 2001/1, p.9-14


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wasmetandtheBelgianHighCouncilofJustice(CSJ)registeredas2000CAFuser.Later inthispublicationaninterviewwiththeCSJisincluded.

Themorethan2000usersarewidelyspreadinEuropeandbeyondEuropesborders.IfwetakeacloserlookatthecontentofourCAFuserdatabase(seeoverview)weseethatmostoftheEuropeancountrieshaveCAFusers.

Situation21September2010:2066registeredCAFusersin39countriesandtheEuropeaninstitutions

Italy 324 Spain44 UK7Belgium293 Greece39 Latvia6Denmark248 Slovakia39 EUInstitutionsandEC6Poland168 Romania45 Ireland5Portugal112 Switzerland21 Sweden5Hungary104 Cyprus19 Russia4

Austria89 BosniaHerzegovina18 Croatia3

Norway86 Estonia18 China2Germany69 France16 Namibia2CzechRepublic64 Luxembourg12 Netherlands3DominicanRepublic57 Lithuania10 FYRofMacedonia2Slovenia55 Bulgaria10 Tunisia2Finland50 Turkey7 Serbia1 Ecuador1

Furthermorethere isno longeranypatternthatwouldsuggestageographicalreasonasto

wheremostof theCAFusersare.At the topof theclassarecountries likeBelgium, Italy,Denmark,Portugal,PolandandAustria.ThatCAFdoesnotknowanycontinentalbordersascanbeseenbylookingattheDominicanRepublicandTunisiawhichbothcancountseveralCAFusers;andeveninChinaandNamibiawecanfindtracesofCAFusageinourdatabase.Alsothesupranational levelhascommitted itselftoqualitymanagementwithCAF;severalDGs intheEuropeanCommission,theCourtofAuditorsandEuropolareonlysomeoftheEuropean institutions that successfully have implemented the model. Looking at thespreadingofCAF from thisangle,prospectsare that the reputationofCAFand therewithalso its usage will grow further in Europe, in the European institutions and beyondEuropeanborders.

BelowwecanseethatCAFuserscomefromallsectorsinpublicadministration.IthastobenotedthoughthatthetwomostprominentsectorsaccordingtotheEIPACAFdatabaseareEducationandResearch(403users)andLocalAdministration(542users).Thisisparticularlyinterestingbecause as ithasbeenmentionedabove,a tailormadeCAFversionhasbeendeveloped for theEducation&Research sector already.AsCAF spreads further also inothersectors itmightbethat inthefuturemoreofthesespecialisedCAFsectorversionswillbedeveloped.


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5.CAFdynamicsintheMemberStates

As the efforts of CAF implementation in theMember States restswith themselves, theMember States have to be credited for the biggest part of the CAF models success.Therefore, the CAF National Correspondents have been asked to write down theirexperiences with the model during the last ten years. This chapter of Part 1 of thepublicationbringstogethertheircontributions,startingwithasynthesisthattouchesuponafew interesting subjects including future challenges. The synthesis is followed by thecontributions of successivelyAustria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic,Denmark, Estonia,Finland,France,Germany,Greece,Hungary, Italy,Lithuania,Luxembourg,Norway,Poland,Portugal,Romania,Slovakia,SloveniaandSpain.

5.1SynthesisoftheMemberStatecontributions

Activitiesatnationallevel

WhenCAFwasfirst introduced intheMemberStates, itwasnotalwaysabighitfromtheoutset. In some countries, public organisationswere not accustomed to the use of totalqualitymanagement.Inothercountries,publicorganisationswerealreadyusingotherTQMmodels. Itwasachallenge foreveryMemberState to launchanddisseminate theCAF intheirpublicsectors.For thatpurpose theydesignedmanyCAFrelatedactivitiesand tools.

These toolsaimed topromoteCAF,support the implementationofCAFandstimulate theexchange of best practices. The following enumeration gives an idea of themajor CAFrelatedactivitiesandtoolsintheMemberStates:


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CAFbrochuresin20languages

Specialguidelinesandworksheets

Electronicapplicationandevaluationtoolsin11countries

CAFtrainingin20countries

Onebenchlearningprojectinfourcountries Individualadviceandcoachingin14countries

Qualityprogrammes,conferencesandawardsin12differentcountries

CAFversionsforspecificsectorse.g.CAFandJustice(inDenmarkandItaly)CAFand

local administrations (in Belgium and Czech Republic), CAF and education (in

Belgium,Denmark,ItalyandPortugal)

Somecountrieshaveevendevelopedsupporting instrumentsfor theCAFmodel.Slovenia,for instance,developedamethodicalsupport for the Resultssideof theCAFmodel.The

supportinginstrumentinLuxembourgservesasasecondexampleandisbasedonaclusterapproach.Theyclusterfourtosixuserssothatthoseuserscanlearnfromeachotherduringthe fourstep process: the selfassessment, the definition of an action plan, theimplementationofimprovementactionsandthefollowupandtransferofgoodpractices.

TheexchangeofexpertiseatEuropeanlevel

Theeffortsmadeby theMemberStatesarereaping richrewardsastheCAF isstarting tospreaditself.Thegoodreputationofthemodelhasacatalysteffectonitsdissemination.Itstimulatesthedecisionto implementtheCAFandthusfacilitatesthepromotionofCAFbytheMemberStates.Thisisagooddevelopment.

Benchlearning projects are successful within Member States and between neighbouringMember States. Quality conferences, awards or contests occur in at least seventeencountries. From those seventeen, five countriesorganiseonlyquality conferences (CzechRepublic,Finland,Lithuania,LuxembourgandNorway),fivecountriesorganiseonlyqualityawards or contests (Austria, Greece, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain), and seven do both(Belgium,Estonia,Germany,Hungary,Italy,PolandandSlovakia).13

TheexchangeofgoodpracticesbetweenMemberStatesacrossEuropeontheotherhandhasprovedtobemoredifficultsofar.WithextensivehelpfromtheEuropeanCAFRC,three

MemberStateshaveorganisedCAFUsersEventsaspartoftheirEuropeanPresidency(Italy,

13Based upon the CAF study 2005 (p. 17) and contributions of the Members States for 10 years CAF


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LuxembourgandPortugal).14OnlyAustria,Hungary,SlovakiaandtheCzechRepublichadaformalinternationalbenchlearningprojectthroughpartnerships.15Thisisachallengeforthefuture.Morecanbedonetoenhancetheexchangeofsuccessfulsupport instrumentsandgoodpracticesfortheotherMemberStates.

TheriseofCAFasanewTQMinstrument

Over the course of ten years, CAF has become awell known TotalQualityManagementmodel. Itholdsa strongpositionamongstotherTQMmodels asa specificmodel for thepublicsector.ThemodelstartedasafirstlevelTQMmodelforinexperiencedusersandhasbecomeareferencemodel.IthastobeseenalongsideandcomplementarytothethreebigTQMmodels: BSC, ISO and EFQM.One of the frequently heard reasons forwhy CAF ispraisedbyitsusersisbecauseitisaffordable,easytouseanditmotivatesthestaff.

Expectationsforthefuture

The number of users continues to grow in all theMember States. Various CAFNationalCorrespondentsspeakofhugegroupswithaninterestinorplanstouseCAFinthefuture.InFrance for example, 22 regions and 100 county fire and rescue services are inspired byseveralbestpractices.InLithuania,thirtystateandsixmunicipalinstitutionsareplanningtoimplementCAFby2015.Infact,theEuropeanCAFResourceCentreisseeinganexponentialincreaseinthenumberofregisteredCAFusersintheCAFdatabase.Inaformerchapterofthispublication16wehadalookatthenumbersofusersintheMemberStates.Wecansaywithout anydoubt that there is still abigpotential forCAF in Europe,butbasedon the

currenttrenditseemsthatwecanhavegoodexpectationsforthefutureespeciallyasallthe Member States who contributed to this publication plan continuous efforts todisseminateCAF.At leasttenMemberStatesarealreadypreparingthe implementationoftheCAFExternalFeedbackProcedure,forexample.

ManyeffortshavebeenmadetosuccessfullydisseminateCAFintheEuropeanpublicsector.Morethan2000usershaveexperiencewiththemodel.Thesegoodresultsareanenergiserforthecomingyears.Oneofthefuturechallengesistoincreaseefficiencybyworkingonthequality of the CAFmodel.Morework also has to be done tomake public organisationsfamiliar with selfassessment, with making improvement actions and with aiming at

excellence.ThecommitmentoftheMemberStatestofacethesechallengestogether isbyfarthebiggeststrengthoftheCommonAssessmentFramework.

ThefutureofCAFwillbediscussedingreaterdetaillaterinpublication.ThefollowingpagesbringtogetherthecontributionsoftheMemberStates.

5.2TenyearsofCAFinAustria17

17Thomas PROROK, Deputy Managing Director KDZ - Centre for Public Administration Research and SandraKASTENMEIER, Federal Chancellery of Austria, Division for Administrative Development - Austrian CAF Correspondent


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Inpreparationofthe10thanniversaryoftheCommonAssessmentFramework in2010,theAustrian Federal Chancellery and the KDZCentre for Public Administration ResearchconductedasurveyontheuseandimplementationoftheCAFinAustria.SelectedresultsofthesurveysuchasknowledgeofCAF,usageofCAF,estimationsaboutCAFandsustainabilityofCAFgiveanoverviewofCAFimplementationinAustria.

In total 854 managers from public sector organisations were invited to participate andfeedback from318personscovering172publicsectororganisationswas received.Overall56organisations identifiedthemselvesasCAFusers,while25havenotyetbeenregisteredintheAustrianCAFdatabase.IntotalAustrianowcovers87CAFusers,butonlyfewerthan70arepublishedintheofficialCAFdatabase.

HighknowledgeofCAF

The publicity differs between the levels of government. Within the federal level CAF isknownby74%;intheregionsandtheirdistrictsanalmostcompleteknowledgeexists.

Do you know the CAF?

74%

98%

61%

89%

41%

71%

26%

37%

8%

7%

23%

52%

5%

2%

3%

2%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Federation

Regions

Municipalities

Districts

other

total

yes no n.a.

ExpendablefrequencyofCAFimplementation

Overall,50%oftheAustrianCAFusershaveimplementedCAFonlyonce.ThewillingnesstouseCAFagainisquitehigh(64%),butneverthelessthefiguresarechangingslowly.AftertenyearsofCAF,only41%arefrequentCAFusers.

Frequency of CAF implementation

50% 27% 6% 10%8%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

once twice three more than three n.a.


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Will CAF be used in future again?

64% 7% 19% 9%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

yes no dont know n.a.

CAFasapropertoolforQualityManagement

In total25%of theCAFusersassessCAFasverygoodand54%asagood toolofqualitymanagement.ThereasonsarethatCAFistailoredtowardsthepublicadministration,iseasyto use, cheap andmotivates staff.Othermajor objectives of CAF the networking and

internationalcooperationareofminorinterest.

CAF as tool of Quality-Management

25% 54% 14% 2% 5%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

very good good medium not satisfying n.a.

82%

86%

75%

56%

92%

27%

96%

89%

89%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

tailored for public administation

easy to use

low costs

quick results

benchlearning

networking

international cooperation

inclusion of staff

motivation of staff

Most important aspects of CAF

answers "very important and important"

SustainabilityofCAFisguaranteed!?

Two indicatorsmeasure the sustainabilityofCAF implementation: theexistenceof aCAF

actionplanandthenominationofaCAFprogrammemanager.Bothindicatorsshowthatinmorethan70%ofcasestheCAFexerciseresultedinanactionplanandaresponsiblepersonfortheimplementationoftheCAFwasnominated.


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Action-Plan based on CAF results exists?

72% 14% 13%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

1

yes no n.a.

Is someone responsible for the implementation of the CAF results?

79% 10% 10%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

1

yes no dont know n.a.

Conclusions

With87CAFusers thepotential for tailoredqualitymanagement inAustrianpublicsectororganisationsisnotfullyutilised.ThefiguresshowthattheCAFiswellknowninAustriaandthequalityoftheCAFproceduresisamatterofpotentialimprovement.ButnearlyonethirdoftheCAFusersarenotdevelopingaCAFactionplan.Thishastobeseenasrequestforthefurther development of the CAF methodology and the necessity for the external CAFfeedback.

InMayofthisyearaworkshopwasarranged inordertotrainaround20experiencedCAFusers, respectively qualitymanagers from the national, regional and local administrativelevel.AccordinglytheseexpertswillactasCAFExternalFeedbackActorsandwillawardtheEffectiveCAFUserlabel.ApplicationsfortheEffectiveCAFUserlabelwillbepossiblebysummer2010.

5.3TenyearsofCAFinBelgium18

Thehappyeventin2000

In1998,theDirectorsGeneralforPublicAdministrationestablishedaCommitteeofexperts,theInnovativePublicServicesGroup(IPSG),toorganisethecooperationofthe16partners(the 15 member countries and the Commission) in the field of evolution of publicadministration management. The Committee oversaw the running of a number ofassignments,suchasthepreparationsfortheQualityConferenceofPublicAdministrationsin the European Union in Lisbon in May 2000, and the development of the CommonAssessmentFramework(CAF).

18Jean-Marc DOCHOT, Federal Public Service P&O - Belgian CAF Correspondent


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TheenthusiasticadoptionbyBelgium

At a very early stage, Belgium joined in with this movement by organising QualityConferences since 2001, in order to meet the need to relay the European initiative topromote quality in public services to the national level. The instrument chosenwas the

CommonAssessmentFramework(CAF),theuseofwhichwasmandatoryforadministrationswanting to present a good practice. This strategy for disseminating CAF proved to besuccessful since a total ofmore than 3,500 people,mostly civil servants from all origins(local, regional, community and federal), have participated in and/or attended the fivebiennial conferences, and nearly 300 Belgian public organisations have implemented theCAF,theinstrumentfororganisationaldiagnosis.Anotherindicatorofsuccess istheemergenceofthistypeofevent(QualityAward,QualityDay,QualityConferences)inthefederatedentities:

3. Flanders regularly organises a "Quality Congress" for local government and an"InnovationAward" for the central administrationof the FlemishCommunity. The

FlemishGovernmentisusingtheCAFinmanyofitsdepartments.4. TheFrenchCommunityorganisesanannual"QualityDay"topresentitsinternalbest

practices.Inaddition,theCAFhasbeenformallyadoptedasamanagementtoolforthe5000administrationofficials.

5. TheWalloon Region organises an "ExcellenceAward" open to public, private andassociativeorganisations.

6. TheMinistryoftheBrusselsCapitalRegionhasalsoofficiallyendorsedtheuseofCAFas a management instrument for its entire administration, comprising nearly 60administrativeunits.

7. TheGermanspeakingCommunityhasrecentlyimplementedtheCAFthroughout its

modestsizedadministration.8. TheFederalGovernmenthasseentheuseofCAFextendtotheFederalpublicservice

ofJustice,particularly inprisons,thehealthserviceandsocialsecurity,tonamethemostimportantsectors.

It is indeed with great pleasure that we celebrated the 2000th registration on the CAFdatabase by the Supreme Council of Justice. This alsomeans that the whole of federalBelgium and its complex institutional structure is using the CAF as a managementinstrument.

Finally,theCAFhasalsoreachedotherareasthatthetraditionalgovernmentwasinterestedin,suchaseducation. Itwas inthiswaythattheprojectwasborntoadapttheCAFtotheeducationsectorwithagroupofexpertsoneducationquality:theCAFforeducationandtraining"whichcanbeappliedtodifferentlevelsofeducation,fromprimarytouniversity.ItcontributedsignificantlytothedevelopmentoftheEuropeanversionofCAF&Education,recentlyendorsedatthelastmeetingoftheDGsduringtheSpanishPresidency.ThejourneyforexcellenceisfarfromoverinBelgium,asitwishestoremainattheforefrontofCAFusersinEurope.

5.4Ten

years

of

CAF

in

Cyprus

19

19Panayiota KROKOU, Public Administration and Personnel Department, Ministry of Finance &Eleni GEREOUDAKIS,Cyprus Academy of Public Administration, National CAF Correspondents for Cyprus


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ThedecisionoftheCouncilofMinisterstointroduceCAF,onavoluntarybasis,intheCypruspublic sector in 2004 was a milestone in the Governments efforts to improve theeffectiveness,efficiencyandproductivityofpublicorganisationsand,asaresult,thequalityofserviceprovidedtothecitizens/customers.

The CAF has assisted public organisations in Cyprus to familiarise themselves with theconcepts under the fieldof TotalQualityManagement and to engage, in general, in theQualityManagementphilosophyandculture. Moreover,publicorganisationsconsidertheCAFasapracticaltoolwhichpromotesselfreflectionandselfassessmentaimingatrealisingandacceptingthatthere isroomfor improvementand,consequently,taking improvementaction.Specifically, ithasassistedorganisationstochallengemindsets,understandwhattoimprove, be committed to change, build the right culture, manage behaviours and,ultimately, to improve their performance. In addition, the fact that the CAF facilitatesbenchmarking and benchlearningwas faced as a challenge bymany public organisationswhichimplementedCAF.

OverthepastsixyearsofCAFimplementationinCyprus,publicorganisationsusingCAFhavemanagedtogobeyondtheircomfortzoneandentertheirlearningzone,sincetheyhavehadthe opportunity, through many different events, to network, exchange knowledge,experiencesandbestpracticesusingacommonlanguageandterminology.

The Cyprus Government encourages and supports the use of the CAF and invests in itsfurtherdissemination.Tothisend,ithasbeendecidedtoincorporatetheCAFintheprojecttitled Strategic, LeadingandManagerialDevelopmentof theCyprusCivilService,whichwillbefinancedbytheEUandaimstostrengthenleadershipandmanagementthroughthe

provisionofthenecessarylearningandsupporttocivilserviceorganisationsandtheirstaff.ItisexpectedthattheimplementationofCAFineverypublicorganisationwillcontributetotheprojectssuccess,sincetheactualareasofimprovementofeachpublicorganisationwillbe identified aswell as its development needs; the improvement initiativeswill thus befocused and targetedon them.Theprojectwill result in thedevelopmentof a completesystemofstrategicmanagementfortheorganisationsofthecivilservice.

5.5TenyearsofCAFinCzechRepublic20

The CAF model is seen as a useful guidance for quality management in publicadministrationsand it isverypopularalso intheCzechRepublic.This ismainlydue tothefollowingreasons:Byusingthisguidance,apublicauthoritycreatesanorderinitseverydayfunctioning,activitiesareno longer carriedoutona randombasis; instead,activitiesandstrategiesforthefuturearewellplannedseveralyearsahead.Indeed,wecanspeakofCAFasbeinganeasy,cheapandclearmanagementmethodinthepublicadministration.

Thefirstrecords inthehistoryofqualitymanagement intheCzechRepubliccanbetracedbacktotheperiod20032004;however,thefirstapplicationoftheCAFmodelalreadydates

20Karel BLAHA, Ministry of the Interior, Department for Effective Public Administration - Czech Republic CAF NationalCorrespondent


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from2001.Atthattime,theMinistryof Interiorstartedtodevelopsupportiveactivitiestoenable theapplicationof theCAFmodelandalsoofotherqualitymanagementmethods.Those methods included organising national conferences of quality management in thepublic administration and granting the Ministry of Interior Awards for quality andimprovement.

TheNationalQualityManagementconferencesinpublicadministration

TheNationalQualityManagement conferences in public administration take place everyyearunderthepatronageoftheMinistryof InteriorandtheCzechRepubliccommitteeonQualityincooperationwithadesignatedregionormunicipalityinthepublicadministration.Thegoaloftheseconferences istobringtogetherexperts inqualitymanagementtosharetheir experiences of the application of quality management methods in publicadministration.

AnoverviewoftheQualityConferencesinpreviousyears:1.Ostrava20042.Plze20053.Liberec20074.KarlovyVary20085.Olomouc20096.Tbor2010

The7thQualityConferencewilltakeplaceinChrudimon811February2011.

TheMinistryofInteriorAwardsforqualityandinnovationinthepublicadministration

Theregionsand/ormunicipalitiesareawardedeachyearfortheimprovementsachievedinthe quality management and for implemented patterns of efficient administration. Theprimary goal is to support and to award authorities and other bodies in the pubicadministration which are active in their efforts towards constant improvement of itsfunctioning.WinnersareawardedregularlywithintheNationalQualityConferenceinPublicAdministration.TheMinistryof Interiorgrants twoqualityawards inaccordancewith twodifferent levels of complexity and required demands. These are the Bronze and SilverAwards respectively. The Bronze Award recognises the first improvements made in the

qualityofserviceprovided,andtheSilveroneisforgenerallyobservedpositiveprogressandconsiderableresultsachieved intherespectiveyear.Thehighestpossibleawardforqualityinthepublicadministration,thesocalledGoldenAward,ispresentedfortheachievementsoftheCAF2006ModelwithintheNationalQualityAwardoftheCzechRepublic.TheGoldenAwardcanbeattributedonlytothosesubjectsthatalreadyreceivedtheSilverAwardfromtheMinistryofInteriorforthequalityinthepublicadministration.

ThefutureoftheCAFmodelintheCzechRepublic

WhilstfortheMinistryofInteriortheCAFmethodhasthehighestpossiblepriority,theCAF

implementationisalongtermeffort.Currently,theMinistryofInteriorhasbeenpreparingtheprojectoftheQualitySupportCentre.


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TheQualitySupportCentreinthepublicadministration

Theproject shouldbe financedby theEUOperationalprogrammeHumanResourcesandEmployment.

Theaimoftheproject

SupporttotheMinistryofInterior in improvementsofthequalityofpublicservicesprovidedinpublicadministrationauthorities

Sourceofinformation DirectsupportoftheCAFmodelimplementation Theprojectishowevernotaimedatdirectapplicationofqualitymethods

3PillarsoftheProject

Qualitywebsite Advisoryandteachingcapacity CAFmodel

Conclusion

TheMinistryofInteriorwillcontinueprovidingitssupportfortheCAFmodelinthefuture.Itparticipates inthepreparationofvarioushandbooks;themostrecentone isthe2009CAFHandbook for the central state administration. The new CAF Handbook for localgovernments is in its finalstageofpreparation.Alsoquiterecently,theCAFHandbook forregulatorsandCAFforSchoolshavealreadybeenpublished.

5.6Ten

years

of

CAF

in

Denmark21

ItisinspiringtoworkwithpublicagenciesthatundertakeCAFselfassessment.Thiswasthecase when the Centre for Development of Human Resources and Quality Management(SCKK)wasgiventheresponsibility in2002todisseminateCAF intheDanishpublicsector;andthis isstillthecasetodaywhenworkingtogetherwithdifferentpublicagencies,e.g.adistrictcourtorahighschool.

WorkingwiththeExcellenceModelfrom1997hadgivenustheexperiencethataneffectiveimplementation of a quality management model requires more than translation into a

national language. CAF had a large potential to inspire more and more public sectorworkplaces to adopt quality development across the organisation as a whole; but thechallengewastodevelopproductsandmethodsenablingorganisationstoworkwithqualitymanagement in a dialogue between management and employees. In order to createsustainable value for the organisations, the design and execution of the selfassessmentprocessbecamethekeyfeature.Tosecure the involvementofmanagementandemployees intheselfassessmentprocess,thepartiesofcollectiveagreementsinthepublicsectortheDanishMinistryofFinanceandCFU(DanishCentralFederationofStateEmployees)wereinvitedtoworkwithSCKKanda

21Lisbet AABYE, SCKK - Centre for Development of Human Resources and Quality Management - CAFNational Correspondent Denmark


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numberofpublicsectororganisationstodevelopKVIK(TheDanishversionofCAF).KVIK isanacronymforQualityToolforDevelopingInnovationandCompetencies.KVIKprovidestheuserswithastructuredselfassessmentprocessbasedonaqualitymodelwith concrete examples and userfriendly terminology. It covers an individual selfassessment, a consensus seminar, aprioritisationof suggestionsof improvement, and anactionplanoftheimprovementinitiatives.Thismethodenablesorganisations:

To undertake quality development and selfassessment as a joint project formanagersandemployees.Theaccessoftheemployeestoselfassessmentandtheworkwithqualitydevelopment isan inbuilt featureof thesystem.The reason forthisisthattheirknowledgeaboutusersandthetasksand ideasonhowto improvethedaytodaypracticearevitalinputstowardstheselfassessment.

To have a meeting across professional boundaries and practice communities. Itinspires thinking and talking about development in new terms (evaluationsfrequentlystatethatacommon language inrelationtoorganisationaldevelopmentisoneofthemostimportantoutcomes).

To gain an overview of the overall strengths and areas of improvement of theorganisationandcreateacoherentplatformoforganisationaldevelopment.

Inaddition to theKVIKguidelines thepublic sectororganisationscanalsouse theeTool,called KVIKSelv in Danish. The tool guides the participants through the individual selfassessmentprocedureandenablestheprojectmanagertosubsequentlycompilealldatafortheconsensusseminar inaneasyway.The tool isavailableonlineand isprovided freeofcharge.During the last tenyearsSCKKhas registeredabout250 selfassessment groups,plus theoriginalelevenpilotorganisations.

Theexperiencesfromthemanyorganisationshaveshownthatselfassessmentisacomplexprocessandsomekindoftrainingorinstructionisrelevanttomostorganisationseitherbyuseofdoityourselftoolsortraditionaltraining.

AnewfeatureofCAF2006inDenmarkwastoproduceadetailedandpracticalguidetoallthe details of the selfassessment process aimed at project managers. Again this was aproductofcocreationwiththeusers.ThemanyusersofKVIKhaveprovidedSCKKwithalotofgoodexamples.Wehaveusedthe informationtogiveadviceonmattersconcerningthedesignoftheprocessandtoanswerfrequentlyaskedquestions.Theselfassessmentguide

makesprojectmanagersofaselfassessmentprocessawareof themany tasks involved intheprocessaswellasthepotentialpitfalls.

SCKKhasalsoworkedwithtraditionaltraining.Todaythepublicagencieshaveaccesstofivecourses intheDanishPublicEducationalsystemwithafocusonqualitydevelopment. It ispossibletochoosebetweenfourdifferentcoursesforemployeesandonefor leaders.Thisyearwewill launch a new possibility for KVIK/CAF training.Development consultants orleaders from the public sector can now participate in a special programme. If theparticipantshavecompletedallfivemodulestheyhavethepossibilitytobeaCAFexternalfeedbackactorinDenmark.

CAF inDenmark isnotjustafairytale.SCKKhasalsobeenmetwithcriticismfromsomeofthe workplaces. It is a challenge to position KVIK in relation to the political demands


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concerninggovernance. Someorganisationsthinkthatthe languageused inthequestionsandexamplesistooacademicandnotrelevantenoughinrelationtotheirtasks.OnthebasisofthiscriticismSCKKchosetodevelopanactivepartnershipwithsomeoftheinstitutions.Theresultof thishasbeenaredesignof theetoolKVIKselv.Thenewversionenablespublicsectorworkplaces tohaveaccess toan internet toolwhere theycanadaptthewordingtotheirownadministrativeenvironmentanduploadrelevantdocumentation.

Theuserscanchoosebetweenthreeversions:

- ThetraditionalKVIK/CAFbasedontheCAF2006;

- aversionspecificallyfortheeducationsector(exceptfortheuniversitylevel);and

- aversionspecificallyforCourtsofDenmark.

The lesson learned from theDanishpointofview is thatKVIKselfassessment isa tool todevelopsensitivitytoquality issuesbutatthesametimepromoteculturaldevelopment intheorganisation. Itcontainsthedimensionsthata leadershouldintuitivelybefocusingon

andthereforethemanagementcommitmentisabsolutelynecessaryinordertoinvolvetheentireorganisation.Youcannotcontrolthe interestandthewillingnessoforganisationstoperform selfassessment;butmaking theusers tell the storyofwhy it isagood ideacanstimulateleaderstousethemethodasachangemanagementtool.

5.7TenyearsofCAFinEstonia22

TheCAFmodelhasbeenused intheEstonianpublicadministrationsincethebeginningofthe 2000s. The government of the Republic of Estonia agreed in 2001 on the documentPublicAdministrationReformProgrammeoftheGovernmentofRepublicofEstonia.ThisdocumentstatedthegoalsandmeasuresformodernisationoftheEstonianpublicsectorinordertoachievetheinnovative,flexible,highqualityandeffectivefunctioningofthepublicsector.One strategyof thisprogrammewas targeted towards the citizenorientedpublicsector,which brought the ideas of qualitymanagement into the Estonian public sector.These ideas also included the use of quality prices and public services standards (citizencharters).The Ministry of Finance of Estonia was given the task to develop the methodology forimplementation of public service standards as well as more broadly promoting quality

thinkinginthepublicsector.

In2002theMinistryofFinancewasthefirststateagencyinEstoniatousetheCAFmodelforselfassessment. The selfassessment project was carried out successfully and was alsosupportedby the topmanagementof theministry.TheMinistryofEnvironmentalAffairsfollowedbyusingtheCAFmodelforitsselfassessment.

Since2001theMinistryofFinancehashadaleadingroleasacentralbodyforpromotingtheuseoftheCAFmodel intheEstonianpublicsector.TheMinistryofFinancehastranslated

22Karin NREP, Ministry of Finance, Public Governance Policy Department (CAF National Correspondent) andReelika VLJARU, Development Department, Ministry of Finance of Estonia


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theCAFversions intoEstonian,andhasalsoconductedseveraltrainingsandconsultations,bothforstateandlocalgovernmentagencies.

In2003aspartofpromotingqualitythinkingamongpublicsectormanagers,theMinistryofFinance,incooperationwithqualitymanagementexperts,launchedthepublicsectorqualityawardpilotproject,basedontheCAFmodel.

Theaimsofthepilotprojectwerethefollowing:1)StimulateorganisationaldiagnosisbyselfassessmentusingtheCAFmodelwiththeaimto:

raiseawarenessaboutqualitymanagement; conductevaluationofthestrengthsandweaknessesoftheorganisation; comparewithotherorganisations.

2)Publicrecognitionforstateagenciesandtheirstaff.There was a high interest from public sector agencies towards this pilot project and

altogether10agencies(includingoneministry,StateChancellery,boardsandinspectorates,oneinstitutionofappliedhighereducation,onecountygovernment)tookpartinit.The reasons forusing theCAFmodel as amethodology for selfassessment and externalfeedbackwasasfollows:

i. introductorytooldesignedespeciallyforthepublicsector;ii. involvementofthestaff;iii. enablescomparisonwithotherorganisations;iv. firstexperiencesofusealreadyinplace;v. lowlevelofawarenessaboutqualitymanagementinthepublicsector.

As theCAFmodelwasdevelopedfor thepurposeofselfassessment,theexperts involvedhad a task to elaborate a special methodology to also use the CAF model for externalfeedback.It isalso important tomention that therewere50externalevaluators/assessors from thepublic, private and third sectors involved in the pilot project. The aim was to use theassessorsaschangeagentstoalsopromotetheCAFmodelintheirowninstitutions.The feedback fromtheprojectby theparticipants (bothfromagenciesandassessors)wasverypositive:

- firstexperiencewithselfassessmentformostoftheparticipants;- externalfeedbacktotheagency;

- overview of its own organisation for the implementation of the strategicplanning;- promotionoftheparticipativemanagement;- comparisonofitsownorganisationwithothersusingsamecriteria.

Estoniahas in recentyearshadverygoodopportunities topresent itsexperiencesat theinternational level. In2002 theseexperienceswere introduced (aspartofEIPAtraining) inSlovenia; an Estonian delegation presented its experiences during CAF events in 2003(qualityawardproject) and in2007 (selfassessment inMinistryofEconomicsAffairsandCommunication). Hosting the CAF network meeting in Tallinn in 2005 was also a very

interesting learning experience. There have been several conferences and seminars inEstoniawheretheMinistryofFinancehasusedtheoccasiontospreadtheknowledgeoftheCAFmodelthroughoutthepublicsector.


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Duringtheyears20042009theinteresttowardsusingtheCAFmodelhasbeenquitestableamongstateagencies.Since2007therehasbeengrowing interest inusingtheCAFmodel,also in localgovernmentstwo localgovernmentshaveusedCAF.Altogetherthereare18publicsector institutionsusing theCAFmodel,someofwhichhavealreadydonesomorethanonce.

Themost successfulCAFusersduring theseyearshavebeen theMinistryofFinanceandMinistryofEconomicAffairsandCommunicationsofEstonia,asthesetwoministrieshaveintegrated themodelaspartof theirmanagementprocesses (incl. the implementationoftheimprovementplanwithclearresponsibilitiesoftopmanagementleveletc.).

Inconclusion,EstoniahasbenefitedgreatlyfromusingtheCAFmodelasthishashelpedthepublic sector to move closer to the European standards of good public administration.Estonia is very interested in new developments of the CAF model concerning externalfeedback,andseesitasachallengetoimplementthisschemealsoinEstonia.TheMinistry

ofFinancecontinuestohavetheroleoftheleadinginstitutioninpromotingqualitythinkingamongtheEstonianpublicsector,inwhichtheCAFmodelhasaveryimportantrole.

5.8TenyearsofCAFinFinland23

ThenewbornCAFwasfirstintroducedtothegeneralpublicatthe1stQualityConferenceforPublicAdministrations intheEUheld inLisbon inspring2000.Thoseofus,whohadbeen

involvedinthepreparationprocessofthemodelduringtheprecedingFinnishandAustrianPresidencies,wereperhaps thennotyet able to imaginehowpopular and successful theyoungCAFwouldbecome.Tenyears laterwehave2000 registeredusersandmanymorewhohavenotyetregistered.Alothashappenedinbetweenandallofushavemanystoriestotell.

Crucialactors in theFinnishCAF storyare theorganisations,whichduring thevery firststepsofthejourneytooktheCAFandimplementeditintheirorganisations.Orperhapsitneeds tobe said that thecrucial factorwere thepeople in theseorganisationswhowereenthusiastic enough to test this new tool. The experiences of these people have been

extremelyvaluablefordisseminatingtheuseofCAFandforimprovingthemodelitself.Theyhavebeenwillingnotonly to invest in improving theirownorganisations,but also assistothers indoingso.Theyhavealsobeenwillingtosharetheirviewsand ideasasfarasthecontent of themodel itself is concerned. Step by step, the number of these people hasgrown.Recently itseemsthatwehavereachedthestagewhereCAF isbasicallyspreadingitself.Thedecisionsto implementCAFaremadebasedontheknowledgesharedbetweenthedifferentpublicorganisationsandnotasaresultofpromotionactivitiesoftheMinistryofFinance,which istheFinnishhomebaseforCAF.Andthis ishow itshouldbe.ThebestexpertisetodayisfromthepeoplewhouseCAFintheirownworkplaces.

23Johanna NURMI, Ministry of Finance, Public Management Department - CAF National Correspondent Finland


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Networking isnotonly importantatthenational level. Ithasbeenvery importantforus inFinland tobe able to extend the knowledge sharing and capacitybuilding to a Europeanlevel. This is very visible in the number of Finnswho have participated in the EuropeanQualityConferences.Since the firstLisbonconference,wehavehadover100participantsfrom Finland in each of the conferences. We have also always had small delegationsattending theCAFUsersEvents.Nationaland regionalnetworkshavebeenprogressively

formedbasedonthesedelegations.

The use of CAF is not mandatory in the Finnish public sector, but it is recommendedalongsideothersuitablequalitytools.However,CAF isdefinitelydoingwellatthemomentinFinland.Basedonthesurveycarriedoutinsummer2009,halfofthestateorganisationsareeitheralreadyusingCAForintendtouseitinthefuture.Withinthemunicipalsectorthisnumber isslightly lower.EFQMorotherqualitytoolsareoftenusedbythosewhoarenotusingCAF,buttherearealsoexamplesthate.g.CAFandEFQMareusedsidebysideinoneorganisation.AlthoughCAFisnotmandatoryonagenerallevel,therearesomesectorbaseddecisions to use CAF. For example the Ministry of the Interior has decided that CAF

assessmentshavetobecarriedoutthroughout itswholeadministrativefield,includinge.g.the police. In the fields of theMinistry of Employment and the Economy, all of the 15regionalCentresforEconomicDevelopment,TransportandtheEnvironmentwillbecarryingoutCAFassessments.ThesixRegionalStateAdministrativeAgenciesundertheMinistryofFinancewillalsocarryoutCAFassessments.InthemunicipalsectoronerecentexampleisinthecityofVantaawhichisimplementingCAFthroughoutalltheservicesectors.Inadditiontothat,citiessuchasTurkuandTamperealsohavewidespreaduseoftheCAFmodel.Turkuwas among thepioneersof implementingCAF and as a resultof their constantworkonquality,acasefromTurkuhasbeenselectedasoneoftheFinnishbestpractices inallbutoneof theEuropeanQualityConferences.Since theselectionprocessof thebestpractice

cases for the 2QC held in Copenhagen 2002 (and where the 2nd

version of CAF waspublished),wehaveusedCAFasanassessmentcriteriafortheFinnishcases.Thishasbeenonewaytopromotethetool.

TherewasgreatinteresttowardsCAFinthebeginningofthecenturyinFinland.Afterthatitcooleddownabitandnowduringthepasttwoyearsthere isclearlyasecondbigwaveofCAF.Thisoneseemstobethebiggestsofar.Economicallytheyears20082010havebeenverydifferent from the first yearsof thisdecade,whereCAFwas implemented in a verygood financial environment where high quality services were the buzzword. Today thequalityofpublicservicesisagainaveryimportanttopicbuttheoriginsofthisdiscussionare

different.There isanurgentneedtosecurethequalityofpublicservicesby improvingourprocesses and by concentrating on what is essential. As so many organisations andadministrative fieldsare turning toCAF in thissituation,perhapswecanassume thatCAFhasnowgrownintoamaturetoolforpublicservicedevelopment?WelldoneCAF!

5.9TenyearsofCAFinFrance24

Aseriesofexperiencesthatmustunite

24Cline PELLETIER, Ministre du Budget, des Comptes publics, de la Fonction publique et de la Rforme de l'EtatDirection gnrale de la Modernisation de l'Etat (DGME), CAF National Correspondent France.


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In 2003, the Minister of Civil Service, State Reform and Regional Planning, JeanPaulDelevoye,andtheSecretaryofStateforStateReform,HenriPlagnol,senttheCAFrepositoryto all State services, asking them to engagewith courage anddetermination in theCAFprocesstohelpthembetterunderstandthemselvesandthustoimprove.

Nearly10yearslater,wherearewe?

Theneedforaneffectivepublicservice:aunanimouslyshareddiagnosis

The Directorate General for State Modernisation and of the Ministry for Budget, PublicAccountsandStateReform(DGME)managesthetasksthattakeplaceatthecrossroadsofthedesignand implementation strategiesofmodernisation. It is thepower thatprovidesMinistrieswith proposals, innovation and advice on changemanagement, and it aims toprovidethemwithrelevantexpertiseintermsofmodernisation.

Thisstructurededicated to theStatemodernisation iscurrently focusing itseffortson thenew context of statemodernisation, constituted by a general revision of public policies(RGPP).Thechallenge istotransformtheStatetowardscontrollingandrationalisingpublicspendingwhilstimprovingthequalityofservicesforusers.

Today, "Lean" is themethodology distributed by DGME, as it characterises the issue ofrationalisingpublicexpenditureby avoidingwastage and limiting any actions thatdonotcreateaddedvalue(waitingtime,mailprocessing,casetracking...).

Creatingacommunityofpractice...

Meanwhile,thechallengeisalsotomovetowardsagovernmentservicethatissimplerandclosertousers,achallengethatleadstheadministrationtoorganiseitselfinordertosatisfyits users.

TheDGMEalsoaimstodevisethefutureadministrationattheserviceofusers,byorganisinganaudienceforthem,identifyingimprovementleversandstructuringproposalsforabetterserviceatalowercost.

It is for this reason that the promotion of the CAF at one time suspended, but sincerecentlyresumedhascreatedacommunityofpracticebringingtogetherpractitionerswhoarealreadyadvancedintheCAFapproach.

...tounitepracticesthathavebeenachievedbutarestilltooisolated

ThePaysde laLoireJobCentre25 iscommittedtoaqualityprocessnotasanendresult,butasawaytouniteintentionsandskillsaroundacustomerfocusedorganisation.TheCAF

25The Job Centre is a new organisation for employment service in France. Its missions are to assist all job seekers in theirsearch for employment, to ensure the payment of benefits to claimants receiving compensation, to help companies withrecruitment and to collect their contributions.


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is, for them, undoubtedly the quality process thatmeets the performance requirementsexpectedofanorganisationprovidingapublicserviceremit.

Therearepotentially22regionsthatmaybeinterestedintheapproachtakenbythePaysdelaLoireregion,withpossiblevariationswithintheterritorialdivisions.

The county fire service and emergencydepartmentofDeux Sevres26has also focused itsentirequalityprocessonCAF (EFQM)andhashad verypositive results,both in termsofimproving the quality of service and the satisfaction of stakeholders (mayors, electedofficials,citizens,taxpayers...).

There are potentially 100 county fire and rescue services that will deploy the CAF...

Theaimofthiscommunityofpractice istouniteourenergies,tocreateanetworkandtopromotethedisseminationofbestpractices.

ThisspecificallyinvolvestheparticipationofCAFusersinfutureEuropeanmeetings.

5.10TenyearsofCAFinGermany27

In late2000 theFederalMinistryof the InteriorcreatedaGermanCAFCentralAgency topromoteand coordinate the implementationof theCAFmodelatnational level.Upuntil2005 the CAF Central Agencywas located in the premises of the German University ofAdministrativeSciencesinSpeyer,whichalreadyhadmanyyearsofexperienceinholdinga

qualitycontestinpublicadministrationamongGermanspeakingcountries.

In2002morethan60publicsectorinstitutionscarriedoutaninitialCAFselfassessmentaspartof the 6th SpeyerQualityContest. The contest'sprincipleobjectivewas topromoteinnovativedevelopmentsinpublicadministrationinthecontextofaholisticmodernisation.Thatincludedboththeinternalmodernisationofeachpublicadministration'sorganisationalstructure to make it more performance, quality and customeroriented, as well asbroadeningitsperspectivetowardsamore"activatingstate"andgoodgovernance.

At theCAFUsersConferenceon21February2002variousadministrationspresented first

experiences gained in implementing the CAF and some also gave reports at the 2ndEuropeanQualityConferenceheldinCopenhagenfrom24October2002.

Intheearlyyearsitbecameapparentthatparticulardifficultywasbeingexperiencedwhenit came to drawing on the outcomes of the CAF selfassessment to derive improvementactions, to record these in an action plan and then rigorously implement that plan. Thissituation improved through a more intensive management advisory process and byprovidinghintsastohowprojectmanagementcouldbeoptimised.FollowingthefirstCAF

26The county fire and rescue services are public institutions managing fire fighters at the county level. There are potentially

100 rescue services that will deploy the CAF.27Astrid STEIN, Bundesverwaltungsamt, Federal Office of Public Administration - CAF National CorrespondentGermany


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selfassessment,improvementsaremostfrequentlyseeninregardtoprocessmanagement,resultsorientation, involving customers and employeeorientation.Once the actionplanshave been adopted they are generally also implemented. Nevertheless, it has provenadvantageous tohaveacoordinatingoffice to supervise the implementationprocessand,whererequired,tooffersupportorgivenewimpetus.

In August 2006 the German CAF Central Agency relocated to the Federal Office ofAdministration(BVA).

In 2006 the German government launched a programme "Focused on the Future:Innovations forAdministration",whichprovided the key strategicorientation for theCAFCentralAgency.PromotionoftheCAFisbasedonthenotionthat"itisnolongerpossibletoimagine professional, performance and resultoriented management without ...comprehensive quality management" (Government programme "Focused on the Future:Innovations forAdministration",11/2006,p. 15). The implementationplans for 2007 andbeyondregardingthisgovernmentprogrammecontainconcretegoals,including:

1. Expandingqualitymanagementinthefederaladministration,2. Increasingtheefficiencyandeffectivenessofadministrativeaction,3. Involvingemployeesinacontinuousimprovementprocess(CIP).

Inordertobeabletosupporttheauthoritiesindevelopingtheirownqualitymanagement,theCAFCentralAgencyworkstoraiseawarenessoftheCAF,communicatesthebenefitsofselfassessment andqualitymanagement, and facilitates theuseof theCAFbyprovidingpractical information and assistance. The CAF Central Agency supports select authoritiesduring the selfassessment process. The content andmethodologyof the CAFmodel are

presentedatinformationandtrainingevents,inessaysinrelevanttradejournals,atforums,and inpresentations at trade fairs and conferences.ThisPRwork is accompaniedby theEuropeanCAFvideo,which isavailablewithGermansubtitles.ACAF learningprogrammewasdeveloped in thecontextofaprojectcalled"Newmedia inEducation PublicPolicy"fundedbytheFederalMinistryofEducationandResearch(BMBF).TheprogrammeteachesthebasiccontentandmethodologyoftheCAF.

The CAF Network (www.cafnetzwerk.de) is an important hub of information anddocuments. More than 500 people from some 400 public sector organisations that areinterested intheCAFandqualitymanagementorwhohavealreadycarriedoutaCAFself

assessmentarenowregisteredinaclosedMembersArea.TheCAFNetworkcontainsbasicinformationonqualitymanagementandtheCAF,reportsofresultsandprojectdescriptionsfromthoseauthoritiesusingtheCAF,aswellasservingasafirstpointofcontactforemailenquiries.

The CAF CentralAgencydraws up its annualworkplans in cooperationwith an advisoryboardcomprising leadingauthoritiesusingtheCAF.In2009theexperienceandknowledgeavailable in the advisory board was pooled and detailed, and practical guidelines onorganising a CAF selfassessment processwere drawn up. These now provide importantpracticaltipstoallthosewhoarenewtothesubject.

TheFederalMinistryoftheInterior is intheprocessofexpanding itsstrategicpartnershipsto include localgovernmentadministrations.TheOfficeforStreamlinedLocalGovernment


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(KGSt),whichisfundedbycities,municipalitiesanddistrictcouncils,isadevelopmentcentrefor localgovernmentmanagement. In its2/2009 report theKGStexplicitly recommendedthat local government authorities use the CAF and set itself the goal of supporting localgovernmentauthorities in theirprocessofmodernisationon thebasisof theCAF. It runstrainingcourses,providesadvisoryservicesandisinvolvedintheCAFCentralAgency'sworkatconceptuallevel.

ProvidinginformationtoandadvisingmanagementisoneoftheCAFCentralAgency'smostimportantservicessincethissetsthecourseforatargetorientedCAFprocess.InApril2010the FederalMinistry of the Interiororganised aQualityConference for the heads of thefederal,federalLnderand localgovernmentadministrations.The importance,advantagesandaddedvalueofqualitymanagementwasillustratedinvariousspecialistforums.TheCAFCentralAgencyhasother,moredetailed informationon variousmodels that incorporatequalitymanagement.Informationonthedifferencesbetweenandcommonalitiesofthebigcrosssector quality managementmodels based on ISO 9000 et seqq. and EFQM/CAF isprovidedatinformationandadvisoryevents.Oneofthefocuseshereisonbasicapproaches

todevelopingand introducingaqualitymanagement systembasedon thechosenmodel.Ideally, the advice results in the authority deciding to develop and introduce qualitymanagementbasedon theCAFselfassessment.During theprojectphase theCAFCentralAgencyprovidessupport indevelopingtheprojectcontractandtheprojectstructureplan.Withintheframeworkofitslimitedresourcesitcan,inindividualcases,organiseatwodaypreparatory training course for the assessment group and subsequently moderate theindividual assessmentprocess, the consensus talksand theworkshop inwhich theactionplanisdrawnup.

Inaddition,inautumn2009theFederalMinistryoftheInteriorestablishedtheQualityCircle

Federal Administration that will focus the technical knowhow and experience availableacross all the ministries with regard to the implementation of quality management. ByregularlysharingknowledgeandexperiencestheQualityCirclewillbeabletoprovideideasfor establishing and expanding quality management competencies within the federaladministration and will develop recommendations and guidelines related to theimplementationofqualitymanagement. In2010thisworkwillfocusondevelopingajointunderstanding of quality management and its importance for modernisation, compilingpractical quality management guidelines containing examples (incl. a case study onimplementing the CAF in the Federal Central Tax Office) and developing a qualitymanagementtrainingframework.

AnanalysisoftheCAFNetwork insummer2010revealedthatqualitymanagementhasbynomeansbecome routineonce the firstCAF selfassessmenthasbeen completed.Manyorganisationshavenotyet followedup their firstCAFprocesswitha secondassessment.Improvementsare tobemade in thisarea in2011byproviding tipson firmlyembeddingqualitymanagementwithintheorganisationsand implementingtheCAFExternalFeedbackProcedureatnationallevel.

5.11TenyearsofCAFinGreece 28

28Nikos MICHALOPOULOS &Pantelis TAGALAKIS , Ministry of the Interior, Public Administration andDecentralisation - CAF National Correspondents Greece


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Greecewas one of the first EUMember States to support andpromote the use of CAF.ThroughitsrepresentativeintheInnovativePublicServicesGroup,DrNikosMichalopoulos,ithascontributedfromtheearlystagestothedevelopmentoftheCAFmodel.

InthecaseofGreece,thepast10yearscanbedescribedasagroundbreakingperiodasfar

astheCAFisconcerned.IntroducingtheCAFintheGreekpublicadministrationwasnotaneasy task asGreekpublic organisations have notbeen accustomed to using totalqualitymanagement.Anefforttoestablishanewresultorientedadministrativeculturehasbegunover these years, putting an emphasis on performance evaluation and total qualitymanagement.Ofcourse, thisefforthasnotyet reached itsend.Changingaculture isnoteasy;muchmoreworkremainstobedone.

The ultimate sponsor of the CAF activities in Greece is the Ministry of Interior,DecentralizationandEGovernment.TheadministrativeunitresponsibleforpromotingCAFis the Directorate of Quality and Efficiency of the General Secretariat of Public

AdministrationandEGovernmentoftheMinistry.In order to facilitate the dissemination and the use of CAF in a concrete and consistentmanner,theDirectorateofQualityandEfficiencyhasoverthelasttenyearsundertakenfourmajoractionsaimingat:

Informing public organisations. In order to facilitate the dissemination of CAF andfacilitate itsapplicationbyGreekcentral, regionaland localgovernmentorganisations,theDirectoratetranslatedandpublishedtherevisedversionofCAF(2006)inGreekandcompiled a Guide on CAF which provides guidelines on how to implement CAF.Moreover, the Directorate has issued two circulars: the first providing general

informationonCAF,andthesecondprovidingguidelinesonteambuildingaswellastheroleoftheteam leaderoftheselfassessmentteam.Thetwodocumentsweresenttopublicorganisationsincentral,regionalandlocalgovernment.

Trainingstaffofpublicorganisations.InordertotrainpotentialorcurrentCAFusersaswellasdisseminateCAFamongpublicservantsandpublicorganisations,theMinistryofInterior is coorganising training programmes with the National Centre of PublicAdministration. These programmes train employees working in central, regional andlocalgovernmentorganisations.Moreover,targetedseminarsonCAFforspecificpublicorganisationslikeMinistries,LocalGovernmentAgenciesetc.arealsoorganised.

Providing support to CAF users. Maintain regular contact and providing technicalsupporttopublicorganisationswishingtoapplytheCAF.

Identifyingand rewardingbestpractices.TheCAFwas linked to theNationalQualityAward.TheNationalQualityAwardforGreekPublicOrganisationsaimsat identifyingand awarding top performing public organisations on effectiveness, efficiency andqualitybasedonanevaluationusingtheCAF.Theawardwasheldtwicein2007and in2009.


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Sofar,72publicorganisationsfromthecentral,regionaland localgovernment levelshaveusedtheCAFtoevaluateandimprovetheirperformance.TheefforttoincreasethenumberofGreekpublicorganisationswillcontinuewithanemphasisbeingplacedonspecificpolicyareas i.e.education.TheDirectorateofQualityandEfficiency isalsoplanning to translatetheCAF inEducation intoGreek incooperationwiththeMinistryofEducation,LifeLongLearningandReligiousAffairstopromoteitsuseamongGreekeducationalinstitutions.

Moreover,theDirectorateofQualityandEfficiencyhasdevelopedanelectronicversionofCAFwhichwillbeoperationalinthenearfuture.

5.12TenyearsofCAFinHungary 29

Inaccordancewith the firstEuropeandevelopments,CAFwas introduced inHungaryasapilotprojectin2001.HavingpresentedthesecondEuropeanversionofCAF,theHungarianMinistryoftheInteriorpreparedtheofficialHungarianversionofCAFin2003.

CAF has become one of the significant tools of the development of Hungarian publicadministrationandhasenhancedefficiencyofpublicsectororganisations.

InthefirstyearsofCAFthemaingoalwastodisseminatethemodel.Inordertoreachthisobjective,severalactivitieswerecarriedout:

- publishingtheHungarianversion;- elaboratingguidelines;- organisingconferences;- conducting an open competition where about 50 applicants were supported to

introduceCAF;

- informationusingnewsletter;- centralfurthertrainings;- regionalCAFbenchlearningproject;and- introducingacentralCAFonlinesystem.

The centralCAFonline systemhasbeenoperating since 2004, andwaspresented at thethirdEuropeanQualityConference inRotterdam (in2004).Theonline system is availablefree of charge for public administration organisations. It enables the paperless CAFapplicationstobecustomisedandflexiblycompleted.

The structureof theHungarianPublicAdministrationQualityAward (established in2004)followstheCAFcriteria.ApplicantspresenttheirorganisationsaccordingtoCAFcriteriaandtheassessmentisalsobasedonthisstructure.

TheEuropeanCAFgoodpracticesmanual in themiddleof thisdecadewasalsopublishedonline in Hungarian language for public administration organisations. Furthermore, aHungarianCAFgoodpracticeshandbookwasalsopublishedonline.

InHungary,severalsectorshaveappliedtheCAFmodel:- laboursector;

29Viktor HORVTH, Department for the Development of Public Administration and Strategic Planning - CAF NationalCorrespondent Hungary


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- pensionsector;- territorialadministrativeorgans;- localgovernments;- police(borderguards);- customsoffices;- healthcareadministrativeorganisations.

Currently, theMinistry of PublicAdministration and Justice is responsible for the centralcoordination of CAF. The Ministry fosters public administration organisations bydisseminatingCAFdevelopments,guidelines,consultationsandonlineservices.

Following a survey sent out representatively in 2009, the opinions on CAF by theadministrativeorgansapplyingCAFwerecompiled.TheorganisationspointofviewonCAFwasbasicallyanddecisivelypositive.According to their standpoint, the model is a good tool to scan the operation of theorganisation,identifystrongandweakpointsintheoperation,andinvolvecolleagues.

CAFalsoprovidesmanagerswithanoverallpictureofemployeesopinionoftheoperationandactivityofmanagement.ACAFsurveydelivershardlyavailable informationand isthususefulforthemanagers.Itiseasytouse,relativelysimpleandcosteffective.

In some cases, the emerging problem was in applying the subcriteria, which causeddifficulties and overburdening of colleagues. Gathering appropriate information on eachsubcriteria and creating indicators requires much time; however, the systematicallygathered information fosters both the selfassessment and the efficiency of theorganisation.

According to themajority,CAF isa complex survey that canbeanefficientandeffectivemethodofdeveloping theorganisation, if thepreparation is suitable.Anapplicationgivesbetter insighttooperativefieldsoftheoffice,exploresmorecorrelations intheorganandstrengthenslinksamongcolleagues.

5.13TenyearsofCAFinItaly30

The longCAFjourneysincethecontributiontothe initialdefinitionofthemodelthroughitsupdatedversionsin2002and2006andthesubsequentdiffusionprocesshavebeenanimportantopportunity for Italy todesignand implementapolicyaimedatpromoting theculture of quality and continuous improvement among public administrations. Since thelaunch of the first CAF version in 2000, the Italian CAF user community has grownconsiderably. Italy isnow theMSwith thehighestnumberofCAF registeredapplications.Overtheseyears,theItalianPublicAdministrationsDepartment(PAD), incooperationwithFormez,hasbeeninchargeofthepromotionofthemodelandhasimplementedanumberofinitiativestosupporttheuseofCAF,bothatcentralandlocallevelaswellasindifferentsectors. All the activities are planned and developed under the supervision of the CAFnationalcorrespondent,withastrongconnectionandsynergywiththeEuropeanCAFRC(atEIPA)andtheCAFnetwork.

30Sabina BELLOTTI, Department for Public Administration - CAF National Correspondent Italy


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2000/2004:thepilotphase

We started with a pilot project to verify, with the contribution of the involvedadministrations,thefeasibilityoftheuseofCAF,andtoobtaininputfortheplanningofthefollowingpromotion and supporting activities. The pilot involved 21 administrationswithprevious experience of quality tools at different levels: these were the first Italianadministrations registered in the EIPA database. This was the beginning of an ongoingdiffusionprocesstakingplaceatnationallevel.ThemainsponsorsofthediffusionhavebeentheCAFusersthemselves.ManyseminarswereorganisedtopresenttheirCAFapplicationstopublicmanagerstakingadvantageofthestronginterestandenthusiasmarisingfromtheuseofthemodel.In2003about150representativesofpublicadministrationsfromalloverEurope tookpart in the first EuropeanCAFEvent,plannedandorganisedby the ItalianPresidencyoftheEUinRome.ForItalythiswasalsotheoccasiontoconduct,incooperationwith EIPA, the first European survey on the use of CAF. Since then, both activities havebecome periodic appointments for the European network of the CAF nationalrepresentativesandfortheusers.

2005/2006:astrategyforthepromotionoftheCAFmodel

InthisperiodanationalstrategyforCAFdiffusionwasdefinedandimplementedinordertodisseminate the knowledge about themodel, support the administrations in its use andpromotetherelevantbestpractices.SeminarsforthepresentationofCAFandlearninglabsfor a structured application process supported by CAF experts were organised involvingdifferentkindsofpublicorganisations.Withtheaimtostartpromotingtheuseofthemodelinastructuredway,throughtheseactionstheknowhow,thepracticaltoolsandmanycasedescriptionswerebuilt.Moreover,asignificantimpactwasreachedbytwofurtheractions:the settingupofanewNationalQualityAwardbasedonCAFanda formal recognitiongivenbythepoliticalleveltotheimportanceoftheperformanceselfassessment.With the first editionof theQualityAward, launched inMay 2006,we started awardingadministrations engaged in continuous improvement processes aimed at improvingresponsivenesstowardscitizensandthequalityofperformancesandservices.Thisbiennialaward isbasedona threestepprocessofexternalevaluation,carriedoutbyexperiencedassessors,withreferencetotheCAFmodelcriteriaandTQMprinciples.Forthesettingupoftheaward,a trainingprogramme forCAFassessorswasdefined thenaddressed topublicmanagers and officials, with the aim of also spreading CAF knowledge among publicadministrationsandcreatingtheconditionsforpeerreviewing.WiththeDirectiveforquality inpublicadministrations, issued inDecember2006,allpublicadministrations are invited to introduce selfassessment practices as a means ofimplementing continuous improvement actions aimed at increasing the overall qualityofperformancesandservicesdeliveredtocitizensandenterprises.TheDirectivesuggeststheuseofTQMandexcellencemodelsingeneral,butaspecialfocusisgivenforthefirsttimetotheCAFmodelrecommendedforbeginners.

20072008:theNationalActionPlanforquality

In autumn 2007 in the framework of the first national action plan for quality in publicadministrations,manyinitiativeswerelaunchedtofurtherincreasethenumberofCAFuserswhich at that timewas alreadymore than 200. The strategywas based on the directinvolvementofpublicandprivatestakeholders,thepartnershipwithMinistersandregions,

andthecontributionofmanyexperiencedorganisations.Specialattentionwaspaid tothejusticeandeducationsectorsbecauseofthe largenumberoforganisations involvedacrossthe whole country. In addition, the delivery of supporting services for the general CAF


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community through an internet portal dedicated to all initiatives to promote quality ofperformanceswas started and progressively enhanced. In this context, theNational CAFResource Centremanaged by Formezon behalf of the PADwas created and shortlybecamethereferencepointbothforalltheadministrationsinterestedinCAF,aswellastheCAFusers.

2009/2010:theCAFandthenewPAReform

Thepolicybeing implementedhasbeenendorsedandreinforcedby thenewGovernmentwholaunched,attheendof2008,anewnationalplantoreformthepublicadministrations.Special focus is given to quality and standards of the services, customer satisfactionmeasurement, efficiency andbenchmarkingof theperformances. The excellencemodels,andamongthemtheCAF,arealsorecommended.In2009theLegislativeDecree150/2009introduced a special focus on measurement, evaluation and improvement of theperformance. To that purpose all public administrations have to guarantee a correctmanagement of the socalled performance cycle. The strategic approach for aperformancebasedevaluationsystemcapitalisesontheusers/citizensdemandforquality

ofservicedeliveryandallpublicadministrationshave to setupeffectiveCSMsystems. Inthisperspective,CAF againplaysa roleas theEuropean customerfocusedmodel for theperformance SA, well known and well spread among Italian public administrations andgenerallyrecognisedasusefulforhelpingpublicorganisationstodefineimprovementareas.During this period the implemented national CAF Action Plans aimed at: increasing thenumberofadministrationsusingtheCAFmodelinthelessdevelopedareasofthecountry;supporting thequalityof theCAFselfassessmentand its impacton theorganisationwithtechnicalassistance;awardingandpromotingthebestpractices.

Mainactivitiescarriedoutintheperiod2007/2010:

Regional seminarsOrganised inpartnershipwith the regions topromote thecultureofqualityandcontinuousimprovementandtheuseoftheCAFmodel.Theseseminars,heldinall regions, involved a significant number of participants (till now more than 1000),belonging to both central and local public administrations. The following matters areaddressed: thebasicTQMprinciples, thePDCA cycle, the selfassessmentmethodologies;theCAFmodelandhow touse it for selfassessment and improvementplanning; gettingreadyforbenchmarkinginitiativesandexternalevaluation.CAFAssessorTrainingProgrammeThreeeditionsofthetrainingprogrammeaddressedto

public employees have been organised to increase the number of CAF assessors to beinvolved in different national programmes aimed at promoting quality in publicadministrations.Moreover,anationalsurveyonspecifictrainingneedsconcerningCAFusersand CAF assessors and the public offers of training courses was conducted to define aminimumcommonstandardtobedelivered.Morethan100CAFassessorshavenowbeentrained.NationalawardbasedonCAFSecondeditionof theaward.Since2006more than700publicadministrationshavebeen involved in theawardwhich is currently in theongoingphaseofitsthirdedition.CAFsectoradaptationsInpartnershipwiththetworesponsibleMinistries,customisation

of themodel for the education and thejustice sectors has taken place. It involved theadaptationof theexamplesof theCAFmodelto the futuresofeachsector, togetherwiththelinguisticadaptationofallpartsandtheinsertionofindepthboxes.ReferringtotheCAF


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for justice, a pilot implementation was also conducted to test the quality of thepersonalisationofthemodelandaframeofsupportingactionsaimedatfacilitatingtheuseofthemodelbyjusticeorganisations.ConcerningtheCAFforeducation,theresultsofthisnational adaptationwere transferred in 2009 at European level through the cooperationwiththeMemberStates involvedincludingItaly inthefinalisationoftheEuropeanCAFfor Education. A project for the adaptation of the model for universities is currently

underway,inpartnershipwithalltheinstitutionalbodiesinvolvedandasignificantnumberofuniversities.CAFvalidationAnationa

Documents

10 Years of CAF Final Version