INTERVIEW Korea passes on personnel management knowhow to other nations
Personnel Management Minister Kim Seung-ho / Courtesy of Ministry of Personnel Management
By Jun Ji-hye
Korea is passing on its knowhow in bringing innovation to public personnel management to other nations, based on the high praise it has received from various groups around the world, according to Minister of Personnel Management Kim Seung-ho.
During an interview with The Korea Times, the minister said Korea ranked third in the areas of recruitment of civil servants and management of high-level officials in the OECD's Government at a Glance report published in 2021.
In addition, the country's digital-based public personnel management system ranked first in the International Civil Service Effectiveness (InCiSE) Index that was published in 2019 by the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford and the Institute for Government in London.
“Since the personnel management ministry was launched in 2014 in Korea, many countries have shown interest in our systems,” Kim said. “In particular, various countries in Central and South America and Asia have expressed their willingness to benchmark our e-Saram electronic personnel management system that creates databases for human resources from recruitment to retirement.”
The ministry has held various webinars to inform other countries of Korea's public personnel administration. Government officials from Kenya and Tanzania have visited the ministry in person to benchmark Korea's successful cases, the minister said.
The ministry also built a foundation for cooperation between ASEAN member countries, Japan and Australia during the conference of the ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation on Civil Service Matters in November 2022.
This year, the ministry plans to carry out a joint study with the Astana Civil Service Hub (ACSH), an institutional platform for knowledge sharing in the field of civil service, about the introduction of electronic personnel management systems in central Asian countries.
The ministry is also working to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with developed nations such as the United States and Canada.
Minister Kim toured the United States in May on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Korea-U.S. alliance.
During his stay, he visited the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Partnership for Public Service.
“At the OPM, I met with Director Kiran Ahuja and signed a memorandum of understanding for facilitating bilateral exchanges and cooperation,” Kim said.
“At NASA, I met with Anne Roemer, who is in charge of personnel management there, and listened to their experience, as Korea is planning to launch the Korean version of the NASA this year.”
Personnel Management Minister Kim Seung-ho, right, stands with Director Kiran Ahuja of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) during his visit to the OPM on May 18 (local time). Courtesy of Ministry of Personnel Management
The ministry is also concentrating on recruiting highly-skilled Koreans living abroad to bring them to public posts in the country.
“We have made various efforts to secure talent among Koreans living overseas amid intensifying competition in technology and talent recruitment around the globe,” Kim said.
To that end, the minister signed several business agreements with overseas Korean organizations, including the Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association (KSEA), for cooperation in talent recruitment, during his visit to the United States.
MZ generation civil servants
Minister Kim said he agreed with the need to innovate the culture of public offices in consideration of the fact that the MZ Generation ― a term collectively referring to Millennials and Generation Z ― accounts for more than 40 percent of the total number of civil servants of the country.
He said the innovation is essential to guarantee the future capability and competitive edge of public offices, citing media reports that the MZ generation puts more importance on the values of horizontality, fairness and autonomy as well as work-life balance.
“Reflecting this, the ministry drew up plans to innovate the culture of public offices last year,” Kim said. “We have been working to establish a performance-oriented culture that grants promotion opportunities on the basis of demonstrated abilities.”
In a bid to boost generational understanding in public offices, the ministry published a book about “interpersonal skills” in May and instructed those in management-level positions at each ministry to complete relevant education.
“This is aimed at nurturing leaders who can communicate with junior workers more effectively to motivate them,” Kim said. “For this task, education on interpersonal skills such as listening courteously, conflict management and negotiation are very important.”
Vowing to continue to make efforts to improve the working conditions of civil servants, Kim said his ministry is planning to create “mental stability vacations” for those working at disaster scenes.
If a civil servant gives birth to a sick child as a result of working in a toxic environment, the government will offer support with medical expenses, Kim said, noting that the ministry will also enhance support for the families of civil servants who die in the course of performing their job.
“In a bid to overcome the country's record-low birthrate, the ministry will push for measures to give preference to those who have more than three children when they are promoted or transferred to another position,” Kim said.