Employment and Social Affairs Platform This project is funded by the EU

Employment and Social Affairs Platform (ESAP) Implementation period: March 2016- March 2019 Implementing institutions: RCC and ILO Overall objective: strengthen regional cooperation and institutional capacities of national administrations, employers’ and workers’ organizations, enabling them to develop and effectively implement labour market and social policy reforms in their EU enlargement process.

Benchlearning among Western Balkan PES 3. Strengthen the capacities of Public Employment Services (PES) to facilitate the SEE 2020 labour mobility objective and prepare for future participation in the European Employment Services Benchlearning initiative – conduct comprehensive benchmarking and follow up with mutual learning activities

Idea of Benchlearning and underlying rationale Benchlearning: The process of creating a systematic and integrated link between benchmarking and mutual learning activities that consists of identifying good/best performances through indicator based benchmarking systems Ultimate aim of Benchlearning: Support each PES to improve its own performance through a structured and systematic reflection on its own performance and how this has been achieved Performance: Measurable achievements which can be attributed to the efforts/activities of a PES (and not to external factors) Implication: Benchlearning offers a structured methodology which can be applied to support the complete process of organisational development/change in PES → recurring process

PES benchlearning cycle PES-Report Mutual Learning National Action Plan Improved Outcome Quantitative and Qualitative Assessment Areas for improvement National Implementation Good Practices

Assessment process Quantitative Assessment Qualitative Assessment Data collection and analysis Database with comparable data from each PES Overall PES benchmarking comparative statistics Valid performance outcomes Identify unquantifiable strengths and good practices PES self-assessment PES external assessment True performance enablers Evidence based good practices

Quantitative benchmarking 1. Transition from unemployment into employment 2. Number of people leaving the PES unemployment records, as a share of the stock of registered unemployed individuals 3. Transition into employment within 6 and 12 months of unemployment C1) Composition of the unemployment register (by individual characteristics and geographical distribution) C2) Inflow and outflow C3) Participants to active labour market programmes

Transition from unemployment into employment

Transition into employment within 12 months of unemployment, 2013-2016

Share of participants to active labour market programs

Assessment Framework on Benchlearning Labour market conditions Institutional conditions Strategic PES management A Design of operational processes and use of information B Sustainable activation and management of transition C Relations to employers D Evidence-based design and implementation of PES services E Effective management of partnerships and stakeholders F Allocation of PES resources G Output and outcome of PES Learning Context Variables/ Background Qualitative Assessment of Performance Enablers/ Self-Assessment Bench-marking indicators Mutual Learning Activities Integrated Benchlearning Concept based on EFQM-Excellence Model Performance drivers/ enablers Results

assessment template

Self-assessment and external assessment process Self-assessment (September – November 2017): Host PES scores itself on a 6-level scale for each enabler; Scoring is done on the basis of available evidence that a PES has implemented organizational solutions according to the definition of excellence (“ideally”); The more evidence is available and the more convincing it is, the higher is the score. External assessment (November – December 2017): Discussion on results of self-assessment with representatives of host PES; Assessment of evidence presented by host PES; Identification of room for improvement together with host PES; Scoring of presented evidence.

Benchlearning external assessments Peer PES and expert perspectives on: Strengths Areas for further development Potential good practices Recommendations

Preliminary benchlearning findings Strengths Albania Strategic management and target-setting, use of new service model, integration of PES register with other databases, autonomy of regional offices for partnerships BiH Human resources, standardized counselling process, mobile offices, local partnerships for employment Kosovo* EMIS, holistic profiling, early intervention, automatic matching Montenegro Human resources, well defined operational processes, well-developed ICT system Serbia Standardized business processes, ICT system The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Human resources, division of responsibilities, rich databases, good cooperation with local level actors

Preliminary benchlearning findings Areas for further development Albania Human resource strategy, monitoring and evaluation, employer strategy BiH Fragmented operational processes, quality management system Kosovo* Distribution and evaluation of measures, a strategy for employers Montenegro Evaluation of activities and measures, blended services, budget constraints Serbia Strengthen analytical function, better targeting, multi-channel services The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Administrative cost of active measures is high, unit for employers, staff motivation

Benchlearning follow-up activities National action plans Promotion of good practices/Mutual learning events/study visits Technical assistance Support the inclusion of BL as an integral part of PES activities Ongoing: collection of data on performance outcomes and data analysis Qualitative benchmarking every 2 years

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