1.1. Problem analysis

Change is happening in ever shortening cycles. To remain successful in the longrun, organisations have to adapt their structures, processes and strategies to new circumstances. In open flexible systems reactions to change can take the form of a continuous process. In systems with a strong legal orientation and a less flexible administrative structure, change happens in the form of reorganisations.

Reorganisations are almost a permanent feature of public organisations. The European Commission is no exception to this trend. Only over the past five years, at least seven large reorganisations of its different Directorates General (DGs) have occurred, involving thousands of staff.

State-of- the-Art literature underlines the importance to understand how people react to change. Resistance to change may lead to disengagement of staff and loss of productivity. Approaches where change is ordered from top-down do not work well in complex situations. Involvement of staff at all levels of the institution helps to mobilize people for change processes and to find more comprehensive and better responses to change.

Looking at experience over the last few years, it seems that reorganisations in the European Commission have successfully tackled the “hard” factors of reorganisations to adapt structures and organisation charts, but often neglected the “soft” factors which refer to values, culture, behaviour, and processes at the level of the individual, in short the human face of change. Processes of internal restructuring often happened without sufficient time to consult and fully involve staff.

This is also a reflection of the normative culture prevailing in the Commission which pays less attention to the human factor. While external processes concerning EU policies are well prepared by the Commission and widely discussed with expert groups and stakeholders, often over several years, to accommodate different views, no comparable efforts are made for internal processes.

This being said, considerable progress has been made to render human resource management in the Commission more professional. Also, reflections are ongoing to improve the way how reorganisations are carried out.

The current context of profound financial and political crisis in the European Union will bring deeper and more radical change to the European Commission than ever before. Signals are already very clear: as the European Commission is negotiating the next seven year financial perspectives, pressures is mounting from the Member States to reform the statutes of public service, cut personnel, outsource activities, and reduce the overall budget available to the European Commission, while at the same time adding new tasks and responsibilities to the institution. In this context, a number of questions will need to be addressed:

• How does the Commission respond effectively to the shifting external context?
• How can the Commission deliver higher quality services with a reduced budget?
• How does it mobilize the right people, with the right set of skills, expertise and motivation to deliver services optimally?
• What are best ways to plan and implement reorganisations?
• And most importantly, how can the Commission ensure that its staff is on board to face these challenges?

This paper makes the argument that - in the current situation of radical external change - a more comprehensive approach to reorganisations in the Commission is necessary. Comprehensive in the sense that particular attention is paid to the missing dimension of “peoples ́ issues”. This paper does not seek to formulate something radically new but proposes to better integrate this human dimension into the current existing practices.

Case studies from recent large-scale reorganisations in the European Commission are used to distil best practice and to enrich reflections. Based on past experience with Commission reorganisations, the paper will make strategic recommendations for the future.