New skillsets for public leaders

• Published in: Veftímaritið Stjórnmál og stjórnsýsla
• Main Authors: Guðmundsdóttir, Árelía Eydís, Jónsson, Sólmundur Már
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Icelandic
• Published: Stjórnsýslustofnun 2021
• Subjects: Public leadership; Public leadership policy; Leadership development; Opinber forysta; opinber stjórnsýsla og stefnumótun; leiðtogaþjálfun; Iceland
• Online Access: http://www.irpa.is/article/view/a.2021.17.1.4; https://doi.org/10.13177/irpa.a.2021.17.1.4

This research article contributes to leadership in the public sector by investigating the effect of a new policy for public leaders, introduced by Icelandic authorities in the summer of 2019. In the policy, the skillsets that are considered fundamental for public leaders in Iceland were defined. In this article, this policy of public leadership is analyzed, as well as its criteria and context, in order to answer the question if it reflects public leadership in organizations. Also, new leadership training and development is lacking which is not in accordance to the new public policy on leadership. Qualitative data was used and in-depth interviews were conducted with ten new public leaders. The main conclusions indicate that the new public leaders thought that the new public policy was relevant to their work. However, the participants felt they needed more training and mentoring when they were hired. Thus, there is a difference between the policy and its execution. The Covid-19 epidemic has, of course, dramatically impacted their working environment. The practical value of this research is in shedding a light on real assignments that public leaders face. Þessi rannsókn bætir við þekkingu á leiðtogum opinberra skipulagsheilda með því að skoða áhrif nýrrar stjórnunarstefnu. Ný stjórnunarstefna ríkisins var sett fram sumarið 2019. Í henni eru kynntir þeir hæfnisþættir sem liggja til grundvallar forystu hjá hinu opinbera á Íslandi. Í þessari rannsókn er fjallað um stjórnunarstefnuna, forsendur hennar og innihald til að svara þeirri spurningu hvort hún endurspegli starf stjórnenda hjá ríkinu. Einnig er skoðað hvort nýliðar í starfi stjórnenda fái þá þjálfun sem þeir telja sig þurfa til að geta sinnt starfi sínu miðað við hæfnisþættina er tilgreindir eru í stjórnunarstefnunni. Notast var við eigindlega rannsóknaraðferð og tekin djúp viðtöl við tíu nýráðna æðstu stjórnendur hjá ríkisstofnunum. Niðurstöður gefa til kynna að stjórnendum finnst stjórnendastefnan endurspegla starf þeirra. Hins vegar er nýliðaþjálfun ...