Online job applications for the Macedonian administration (AOLS)

In modern societies, where difficult and complex policy decisions have to be made and carried out, a permanent and stable professional civil service is essential. As a future member of the European Union, Macedonia must have a civil service which will ensure the ability of our country to operate successfully, not the least with respect to the judiciary. The State Administration must provide its citizens with efficient and transparent services which do not provide any possibilities for corrupt behaviour by individual civil servants. The Civil Servants Agency, which operates the system for recruitment for all vacancies in all State institutions and municipalities, has a key role to play by assisting the recruitment of high quality civil servants but also to provide adequate training. Through the AOLS system, the agency can now by far better meet its obligations in this respect. AOLS provides significant increase in applications and candidates of much higher quality for the institution to choose between. Application through AOLS is entirely free of charge and evaluates candidates in a fully trusted manor that cannot discriminate between gender or ethnical groups. Electronically organised testing of the candidates eliminates possible human mistakes.

Policy Context

The Civil Servants Agency has a key role to play by assisting the recruitment of high quality civil servants but also to provide adequate training. The agency also gives advice and opinions concerning regulations applying to civil servants and coordinates the application of common standards and principles across the State Administration. The radical efficiency gains by AOLS regarding recruitment and training makes it possible for the agency to focus on its role as a regulator and watch-dog of the Law on Civil Servants and other related legislation. The Government has embarked on a strategy to introduce ICT into the country and in particular the State Administration by developing and offering to the public e-Gov solutions. The AOLS is a cornerstone in that respect. AOLS also significantly meets the objective of inclusion and democracy by making it possible for anyone irrespective of gender, ethnical group or living in a remote area to be considered for jobs in the Civil Service.

Description of target users and groups

The prime target group is all citizens of Republic of Macedonia, aged between 18 and 64, regardless gender or ethnical group, willing to apply for jobs in the State Administration and municipalities. The exact number cannot be estimated but during the first 1 1/2 half years of operation 63.000 out of a population of less than 2 million have already used the system.

Description of the way to implement the initiative

A Task Force group was organised by the Civil Servants Agency (www.ads.gov.mk) together with the participating partners from the e-Gov Project (www.eGov.org.mk) and Nextsense (www.nextsense.com). Detailed evaluation of the functionality but also the user perspective has been performed by the e-Gov Project together with the CSA. The evaluation has been used also to check if any possible modifications should be done. A country wide network of access points and support for job seekers was created primarily through the so call job clubs within the Employment Service Agency. The crucial issue was to fit the system into the realistic possibilities of the end users to access the system for information and to submit applications. Optional approaches were thus included to meet the demand both for those having their own internet connection and those being forced to use public access points such as internet cafés.

Main results, benefits and impacts

We took an exceptionally broad approach, focusing not only on the development of the software but also on the legal and administrative issues. As part of the project, the legislation was amended to provide for a no-cost application process. A previous obligation on candidates to attach five official documents to each application was thus eliminated, leading to cost savings of around 5000 MKD (€80) per application. The cost saving for the applicants should be seen in the perspective of the average salary in the country being €220 and that the unemployment rate is over 40%. We also paid significant importance on the end user perspective. How could we make sure that the system would be available for anyone, when the internet penetration rate is only between 10 and 20 %? We had to avoid a situation where only already privileged persons could apply on-line. These concerns were reflected in the design of the software but also through creating a vast network of access points and support organisations across the country. This was created without adding any additional costs. Public awareness campaigns were also organised. The remarkable high usage of the system right from the beginning confirms the effectiveness of the selected strategy. Thanks to the benefits of the system, the first two months of operation attracted the same amount of applicants to apply that normally applied during an entire year although the number of vacancies or their attractiveness were normal. The reason is a combination of the eliminated cost and the trust in the new system that the applications will be handled in an entirely fair way without any discrimination or preferences based on personal relations or bribes. In addition, the electronic testing module has been used to test all managers within the Health Sector. Further similar tests of existing civil servants are foreseen. The testing module is combined with e-learning modules that are used to increase the IT literacy among all existing civil servants, thus adding a significant number of users The system is also designed with the interest of the Civil Servants Agency in mind, significantly reducing the administrative burden for the agency when selecting candidates. The agency now handles around 6 times more applications with the same number of staff and nevertheless has more time to spend on capacity and process improvement. Finally all State Institutions are also important beneficiaries through the improved selection process which increases the possibility to recruit persons with the right background and qualifications.

Return on investment

Return on investment: Not applicable / Not available

Track record of sharing

The very successful uptake of AOLS by the citizens has encouraged development of other eGovernment applications and improving services and administration processes of the public institutions. For example: applying for student benefits (Ministry of Education), distribution of social benefits and CEMT transport licenses (both - Ministry of Transport and Communications) and testing of managers in the public health organizations (World Bank project). The very high usage by applicants from across the entire country, thus defying the negative impact of very low internet penetration rate, has broken the previous perception that e-Gov applications cannot be successfully implemented in such an environment. The system has bean presented to the countries in the region with similar environment. Civil Servants Agency is open to share the “know-how” with any interested administration.

Lessons learnt

Lesson 1 - In a country with very low internet penetration rate, revolution can be created if the services offered online are easily accessible and user friendly. Lesson 2 - The significant and very easily noticed efficiency gains within the Civil Servants Agency, which has made it possible for the staff members to focus on more interesting aspects instead of routine issues, have improved the willingness in general to use ICT. Lesson 3 - Services offered online make citizens understand that bribes should not be an automatic part of getting the service. AOLS thus starts a process that over time should clear out corruption throughout the entire society. Scope: National