Brazil has thousands of commissioned positions available to the three spheres of public administration. Based on international practices, Insper, in collaboration with Vamos (partnership that brings together the Lemann Foundation, the Humanize Institute and República.org), developed the Leadership Management Map, linked to the Center for Management and Public Policies. With the support and collaboration of various organizations and experts from academia, the public sector and the third sector, the Map aims to support governments, free of charge, in strengthening their leadership teams.

 

Gustavo Tavares, professor at Insper in the area of People Management and Leadership, explains that in countries like the United Kingdom, Canada and Chile there are selection processes for these positions, while here people are appointed based on strictly political criteria. The idea is to present the best practices and assist the Brazilian government in selecting public leaders. “The initiative aims to ensure that the most qualified people occupy such positions. Also on the agenda are the performance management of these professionals, so that goals are clear and agreed to, development practices to improve the skills of current leaders, as well as actions to ensure diversity among those occupying positions”, says Tavares.

 

According to the professor, the Map is a diagnostic tool that will allow governments to understand  improvements that can be implemented when it comes to management practices. “The diagnosis will be made by filling out a form and sending evidence”, he explains. Precisely to help governments provide the necessary data, Insper held the course Strategic Management of People and Public Senior Management System, in partnership with the Public Management Leadership Observatory. For three days, at the end of October, 39 participants from state departments (secretariats) across the country took part in an immersion course.

 

The course was attended by representatives from states which expressed interest in participating in the mapping. “We offer the course, free of charge, to one person from each department, who will then be responsible for filling out the form so that we can map the actions”, says Tavares. “We feel the need to train people on the topic. We want to raise awareness among these representatives, and we know that the topic is not yet widely known.”

 

According to Vinícius Cassio Barqueiro, executive education coordinator at Insper’s Center for Management and Public Policies (CGPP), the topic of people management in the public sector is crucial.  “It is always a responsibility and a satisfaction to work in partnership with research centers to provide evidence and good practices in the form of executive courses for public managers. This specific project, which was only possible thanks to a lot of collaboration between CGPP, Observatory and Vamos, offered extremely important theoretical and practical tools for anyone who is committed to improving people management in the public sector”, says Barqueiro.

 

In addition to this last course and the creation of the Public Management Leadership Observatory, CGPP executive education area has developed several training courses on the topic. Last year, for example, Insper carried out the Executive Program in People Management in the Public Sector, with online classes and affirmative scholarships made possible by Vamos. “We also opened the MPP elective People Management in the Public Sector to the external public, a face-to-face course with weekly classes that aims to develop analytical and decision-making skills related to the human dimension of the organization. The next class has registrations open for February 2024”, remembers Barqueiro.

 

How the Map works

 

Data collection for creating the Map begins in November and will last around a month. According to Tavares, three states already have some type of initiative for hiring leaders: Minas Gerais, Ceará and Rio Grande do Sul. “Even so, these are still specific examples. The truth is that almost all positions in Brazil are political appointments without any structured criteria in technical terms. Those hired occupy positions according to the wishes of the appointing authority and this can be optimized with some selection practices to assess skills”, he explains.

 

In addition to delving deeper into the issue and mapping good practices and opportunities, the professor believes in creating a community. “Our idea is to help form a network connecting Brazilian states. Identify who has good practices, hold workshops to show how initiatives are developed and enable this very important exchange of knowledge”, he states.

 

Deepening the concept of the Map

 

Tavares emphasizes that the mapping objective is not to create a ranking of participating departments (secretariats), but to offer input to improve management and encourage cultural changes in the way public leadership positions are viewed in Brazil. The Map was built based on a broad review of what academic literature on leadership management considers important. This construction included contributions from important partners, such as entities linked to the topic (Instituto Gesto, Vetor Brasil and República.org, to name a few) and dozens of national and international experts on people management and leadership in the public sector.

 

The Map’s conceptual structure is focused on pillars considered essential for managing leadership positions in government: selection, performance management and development. Transversal to them are diversity and central coordination.