Open path to the public service

Within the framework of large-scale reforms aimed at increasing the efficiency of the civil service, measures are being taken to conceptually renew public administration in our country. The pace of reforms, as well as the goals set for the development of regions and sectors require a radical revision of the organization of work in each direction of the civil service. In particular, it is no longer possible to build a new Uzbekistan with the old management methods. In other words, today’s requirements set the task of introducing a modern approach in all areas.

Considerations in this direction were focused on in the speech of Sh.M. Mirziyoyev at the joint session of both chambers of the Oliy Majlis, dedicated to the solemn ceremony of the inauguration of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan on November 6, 2021. In the speech, it was noted that within the framework of the “Strategy for the development of New Uzbekistan” activities will be organized on the basis of a new principle: “man – society – state”. At the current stage of our development, 7 priority directions have been identified. Although the directions are different, the main idea remains the same: the basic principle “It is not the people who serve the state bodies, but the state bodies must serve the people” was supplemented by the statement that: “Leaders must serve not only the state but above all the people and their families, ensuring their legitimate interests”.

When does the state effectively serve the people? When positions in the civil service are filled with qualified, competitive personnel… This, in turn, requires staffing the system with dedicated, loyal, professional personnel.

In this regard, the head of state in his speech outlined the following direction: “At the same time, new, modern approaches to the process of selection and placement of personnel will be applied. Personnel will be recruited to the civil service on a competitive basis, criteria for continuous professional development, performance evaluation and promotion will be determined for them”. That is, henceforth, personnel will be recruited to the civil service solely on the basis of an open competition.

For the purpose of high-quality execution of such important tasks facing us, systematic work is underway, which contributes to the sufficient provision of state bodies and organizations with qualified specialists, the compliance of personnel qualifications with the assigned tasks and modern requirements, and the improvement of the quality of decision-making.

In particular, effective mechanisms are being introduced in the sphere to ensure comprehensive legal regulation of the civil service, including the process of selecting candidates through an open independent selection, as well as criteria for assessing the effectiveness and competence of civil servants and requirements for improving their qualifications.

The main goal of the reforms in Uzbekistan is remarkable in that it is aimed at ensuring the priority of human interests.

In particular, the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan is the main legal foundation in this respect. The Article 37 of our Constitution provides that “Everyone hasthe right to work, including the right to choose their occupation. Every citizen isentitled to fair conditions of labour and protection against unemployment in accordance with the procedure prescribed by law”. This might serve as the evidence that our Constitution is “people’s law”. In order to fully reflect this rule in practice, a number of new mechanisms are being introduced.

Due to the lack of a single competent authority for civil service in Uzbekistan, it was not possible to pursue a unified personnel policy in the public sector, to ensure effective personnel management and human resource development, as well as to form a pool of qualified personnel based on healthy competition.

In conditions of growth and renewal in all areas, the growing demand for leadership personnel requires a more serious approach to the area. It is noteworthy that in recent years, to address some of these problems, important steps have been taken to select young personnel and appoint them to leadership positions.

Since this is not the definitive solution of the problem, in order to streamline and radically improve the civil service in the Republic of Uzbekistan, international experience was studied and in accordance with the Presidential Decree “On measures to radically improve the personnel policy and the system of public service in the Republic of Uzbekistan” and the Presidential Resolution “On measures to organize the activities of the Agency for the Development of Public Service under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan” dated October 3, 2019, the Agency for the Development of Public Service under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan was founded.

According to the Decree, it was determined that from January 1, 2020 in some of the government bodies, organizations and regions from January 1, 2021 in all government bodies and organizations of the country, recruitment to the civil service will be carried out on the basis of an open independent competition and there will be applied the principle of meritocracy which is aimed at a fair assessment of candidates for admission to the civil service and promotion, at the selection of the most worthy among them.

One of the main tasks in the implementation of a modern management system in the field of civil service inspired by the model of developed countries is the selection of personnel on the basis of an open, independent competition. In this case, the most talented, highly competent employees fill vacancies on the basis of the principle of meritocracy.

In order to reduce the human factor in the recruitment to the civil service and create equal opportunities for all citizens, the Agency has studied the best practices of the UK, USA, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates and other developed countries, and has developed an Unified open portal of vacant positions for civil servants – vacancy.argos.uz.

The creation of this platform paved the way for meritocracy. The principle of meritocracy, which literally means “the power of the worthy”, has already become a tradition in developed countries. According to this principle, the most capable, diligent and talented candidates, regardless of their financial status and social background, get positions in the public service. Because it is here that the results, abilities and intelligence achieved while climbing the career ladder, are of decisive importance.

Most importantly, in the new system, measures to limit human intervention are a priority. In other words, digital technologies have been introduced at all stages of the selection process: the application process is carried out through the portal, the testing process is carried out on the test.argos.uz platform, and the interview process is broadcast online.

This approach allows the most suitable and qualified personnel to be attracted to the civil service through open and fair selection processes without bureaucratic barriers.

This portal is the only electronic system for the organization of open independent competitions to fill vacant positions in government bodies and organizations, which functions on the principle of a “single window” on the Internet.

Information about vacant positions in government bodies on the portal is automatically posted on the site using the interdepartmental hardware and software complex “Unified national labour system” and candidates’ documents are accepted only in electronic form.

Out of 12 796 vacant positions for which the competition ended, 4 416 (35%) were filled with qualified personnel, for 8 380 (65%) vacant positions competitions were re-announced.

On average, competitions are announced per day for 140 vacant positions, documents are received from 1 350 candidates, out of which 30-35 qualified personnel fill vacant positions in the civil service.

It should be noted that 446 (10%) out of the 4 416 competition winners hired for the civil service are women, 1425 (32%) are cadres under 30 years old and 677 (15%) are cadres hired for the first time in the civil service. Of course, in Uzbekistan, the processes of recruiting for the civil service based on an open competition are gradually developing and reforms in this area are continuing. In the future, it is planned to introduce this system in all state organizations.

This platform, in turn, allows to improve the quality of civil service cadres in the country, timely meet the needs of state bodies and organizations in qualified personnel and create equal conditions for all citizens.

This practice acts as an electronic platform free of paperwork and redundant correspondence. A candidate who wants to get a job does not have to run around organizations with his/her documents. Also, it is not required to obtain unnecessary certificates and references from various departments. Each candidate has the opportunity to test their knowledge in an open area and go through the stages of testing, psychological assessment and interviews.

An open, independent competition for vacant positions consists of the following several stages:

– studying the compliance of each candidate with the qualification requirements of the vacant position;

– checking the level of knowledge of the candidate through testing;

– an interview in the form of an assessment.

An important aspect of this system is that information about the stages of the competition is sent online to the personal account of each candidate on the portal, that is, based on the results of each stage, candidates are given a reasoned answer.

As of November 6, of 2021 year, competitions in the Portal were announced for filling 16 961 vacant positions in
60 ministries and agencies, as well as in all khokimiyats of the Republic, 258 241 candidates submitted documents to participate in the competitions for these vacant positions (on average, 15-18 candidates for one position).

The analysis of the conducted competitions by ministries and departments showed that the largest number of competitions were organized within the system of the State Tax Committee (2 786), the Ministry of Public Education (2 342) and the Ministry of Finance (2 083); in total, this figure within the system of ministries and departments is 15 998, within the system of khokimiyats – 963.

The analysis of the competitions by regions showed that the largest number of open competitions were organized in Samarkand (1 516), Navoi (1 460), Tashkent (1 410) and Andijan (1 410) regions.

Out of 12 796 vacant positions for which the competition ended, 4 416 (35%) were filled with qualified personnel, for 8 380 (65%) vacant positions competitions were re-announced.

On average, competitions are announced per day for 140 vacant positions, documents are received from 1 350 candidates, out of which 30-35 qualified personnel fill vacant positions in the civil service.

It should be noted that 446 (10%) out of the 4 416 competition winners hired for the civil service are women, 1425 (32%) are cadres under 30 years old and 677 (15%) are cadres hired for the first time in the civil service. Of course, in Uzbekistan, the processes of recruiting for the civil service based on an open competition are gradually developing and reforms in this area are continuing. In the future, it is planned to introduce this system in all state organizations.

This platform, in turn, allows to improve the quality of civil service cadres in the country, timely meet the needs of state bodies and organizations in qualified personnel and create equal conditions for all citizens.