Essays: Civil Service Reform

Government Reform, Public Policy

Transforming Recruitment in the Government of Puerto Rico

Date: July 20, 2022
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FOMB’s Research and Policy Department is publishing a series of essays on the methods, approaches employed and latest developments of the Civil Service Reform and its strategic components, which started with a pilot in the Department of the Treasury (Hacienda) and the Office of Management and Budget (OGP, by its Spanish acronym).   This second volume on the Civil Service Reform and its strategic components focuses on the following recruitment-related topics:  
  • Importance of getting recruitment right and providing a streamlined candidate experience to attract top talent, particularly in the context of a tight labor market where private sector entities are competing fiercely for the best candidates
  • The relationship of recruitment with the other strategic components of the Civil Service Reform, highlighting the importance of organizational design and strategic workforce planning prior to developing job specifications for a job announcement to optimize recruitment outcomes
  • Thorough review of the current-state recruitment process, focusing on identifying specific areas of opportunity to improve the experience of candidates and government agency HR recruiting and hiring teams for better recruitment outcomes
  • Future-state recruitment process:
    • Phase 1, designed and implemented as part of the Civil Service Reform Pilot
    • Phase 2, to be designed and implemented as part of the governmentwide Civil Service Reform
  • The importance of designing and launching an employer brand and recruitment campaign to communicate to potential applicants the government’s employee value proposition (EVP) in a clear and unambiguous manner, to inspire, engage, and attract top talent generally, and for the new innovative positions in the Department of Treasury (Hacienda) and the Office of Management and Budget (OGP, by its Spanish acronym).
  A first essay was published in April 2022 with a focus on:
  • Chronicle of the reform, from the initial stage of investigation and diagnosis to the recommendation, design, and implementation of the pilot plan of the reform and the planning for a broader implementation
  • Restructuring and modernizing the organizational structures of the agencies of the Government of Puerto Rico
  • Compensation benchmarking methodology to ensure competitive, fair, and justified salaries in the government.
  The importance of getting recruitment right in the Government of Puerto Rico, in this historical juncture, cannot be overstated. To equip the civil service with the talent needed to continue implementing the financial management and structural reforms to better serve the people of Puerto Rico, a transparent, candidate-centric, tech-enabled, and merit-based recruitment process is fundamental.

Methods And Practices

Date: April 28, 2022
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The Government of Puerto Rico and Oversight Board are working on a Civil Service Reform to build a more efficient, effective, and accountable government and creating an improved work experience for public sector employees. The reform program focuses on four strategic components: organizational design, compensation, recruitment, and employee evaluation. The first essay focuses on three main topics:
  1. Chronicle of the reform, from the initial stage of investigation and diagnosis to the recommendation, design, and implementation of the pilot plan of the reform and the planning for a broader implementation
  2. Restructuring and modernizing the organizational structures of the agencies of the Government of Puerto Rico
  3. Compensation benchmarking methodology to ensure competitive, fair, and justified salaries in the government
The objective is to implement the four components of the Civil Service Reform, beginning with the  new organizational structures and salary adjustments for the employees who were part of the Pilot. The next step of the reform will focus on implementing a new recruitment  process and a new employee evaluation system that supports career development.
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