Reshuffle at top may stoke tension, says personnel boss

Date: 02/05/02

By Peter Chapman

KEEPING former Commission bosses passed over in last week's reshuffle of top brass in their old departments will stoke tensions when the new chiefs step into their roles, a top human resources guru claims.

John Philpott, chief economist for the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development in the UK, says that is the price the Commission must pay for keeping on six former directors-general or their deputies as 'high-level advisors' in their old sections instead of kicking them out.

Among former DGs treading water in their old departments are former single market chief John Mogg, replaced by Germany's Alex Schaub (currently in charge of competition policy), and sacked fisheries boss Steffen Smidt.

'That can cause particular tensions that are not just purely personal,' said Philpott. 'If you bring some new personnel in, clearly the new guys can benefit from the old people,' he added, although organisations in the private sector would have got rid of the old guard rather than keeping them in the background.

However Philpott warns that the former bosses, many in post for over a decade, are likely to face humiliation as their replacements scrap their key strategies. 'That is an implicit indictment of what has gone on before.'

At the same time, tensions are likely to have ramifications further down the hierarchy, with staff hand-picked by the former managers facing uncertainty as the new leadership looks to bring in fresh blood. The old boys have 'built up political allegiances or may represent a constituency,' he said.

But, says Philpott, the shake-up is still likely to pay off for staff reform chief Neil Kinnock - even if the immediate returns boost the Commission's image as a bastion of cronyism.

'I suppose the Commission is less interested in productivity than credibility. That is, about trying to solve the problems of the last Commission,' said the management expert.

Commission sources make no bones about the nature of the 'high-level advisor' role. Although the old managers 'won't be sat twiddling their thumbs', the hors classe position is viewed merely as a staging post between early retirement or the chance of bagging one of several other high-profile vacancies set to be filled before September.

These include the plum posts of budget and fisheries directors-general and two deputy director-general jobs covering competition. If some of the current 'high-level' advisors fail to land a job in that round of recruitment they are not expected to stay around: 'If you come back in a year's time they won't be in these posts,' said one insider.

However, Steve Morris, forward planning spokesman for Kinnock, told European Voice there was no likelihood of high-level advisors causing trouble for their successors. 'Of course there won't be in-fighting...all these people concerned are top-quality professionals and will manage the changeover with the high standards of professionalism that we expect.'

John Philpott, chief economist for the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development in the UK, says that keeping on former European Commission directors-general or their deputies as 'high-level advisers' in their old sections will cause tensions when their replacements step into their roles.