## Notes from 20 April 2025 [[2025-04-19|← Previous note]] ┃ [[2025-04-21|Next note →]] Read an [op-ed by Christina Lang](https://background.tagesspiegel.de/digitalisierung-und-ki/briefing/warum-verwaltung-ein-people-business-ist) (CEO of [**DigitalService**](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/#)). Her main point: digital transformation in Germany needs a serious focus on people and HR, not just technology. She rightly points out that government is a "people business," and that upskilling current employees and recruiting new digital talent is critical. The core tension I see is between acknowledging this need and grasping the depth of change required to actually do it in the German context. Lang points in the right direction, but implementing the kind of HR modernization required here runs into deep structural barriers. For example, she mentions the [British "Professions" model](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64b95f6c06f78d000d742669/Professions_Best_Practice_Framework___Final___13.07.23.pdf). A useful benchmark, but difficult to apply to Germany. The UK utilizes Heads of Profession (HoPs) with a cross-government remit to set strategic direction, fostering common standards and leadership pipelines across departments, supported by corresponding departmental HoP structures. Here, a common, often rigid interpretation of _Ressorthoheit_ (departmental sovereignty) leads ministries to operate largely in silos, managing their own back-office functions (like HR, IT, procurement) independently. This hinders necessary transversal action and coordination, especially in operational areas. The challenge, then, particularly for HR modernization, is how to establish a central capability that acts as a strategic business partner to ministries – generating shared intelligence and standards, offering support, yet allowing flexibility at the delivery end for those demonstrating capacity, rather than imposing rigid uniformity. As a result, there's currently no central vision for developing key skills across government. This leads to broader patterns. To name a few: 1. **Rigid structures**: The difficulty of offering competitive technical salaries within standard civil service pay scales often leads to the creation of government-owned companies (such as Lang's own Digital Service). This isn't inherently bad - they do good work - but this "escape" from public law points to a deeper inflexibility in the core system. It can also create a client-supplier dynamic between these units and ministries that is not always conducive to deep transformation if the "supplier" feels obliged to simply follow the "client's" lead. 2. **Skills, mobility, and team composition**: Traditional career paths and pension schemes often restrict the lateral mobility needed to bring fresh expertise into public digital teams. These constraints are further reinforced by the dominance of legal backgrounds, which narrows the range of perspectives essential for multidisciplinary work. In areas like user experience, where deep specialization takes years to develop, public administrations often need to recruit externally — in effect, buying talent from the market. Yet this imperative clashes with ingrained career norms that prioritize internal progression for roles of greater responsibility. 3. **Recruitment practices:** Basic contemporary HR tools, such as competency-based selection, are often hampered by a litigation-driven culture (_Klagen von Kandidaten_), leading to overly cautious and rigid processes. A strict, legalistic reading of _Gleichbehandlung_ (equal treatment) prioritizes procedural equality over quality of outcomes. The trade-off is real, but not insurmountable. While neutrality is important, it should never overshadow the primary goal: equipping the state with the best talent. Truly building state capacity hinges on a shift in how civil service rules are interpreted and applied — from procedural defense towards enabling strategic talent management and acquisition. This shift is difficult when HR decisions are dominated by legal perspectives, with little input from diverse HR professionals, psychologists, and subject-matter experts. And make no mistake: as long as HR disputes are handled primarily by normal courts, rather than through mechanisms grounded in HR expertise, it will be difficult to build the agile and effective civil service Germany needs. Ultimately, it's not just about hiring more digital talent; it’s about significant structural shifts. These are major challenges. Fingers crossed the newly announced Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs and State Modernization will have the mandate and backing to tackle these head-on.