Public selection process for choosing the municipal secretary of education: analysis of the experience of the City of Londrina, PR

Abstract

This project discusses the experience of the public selection for the title of Municipal Secretary of Education of Londrina, state of Paraná, emphasizing the relevance of two main aspects: the topic of the high public administration, still little explored by the country’s literature, and the success of the establishment of a selection model, based on the previous assessment of the management competencies as material to finance political appointments of discretionary nature. In our analysis of this pioneer initiative, we will demonstrate the dialog existing between the Londrina’s experience and literature about the topic of high public administration, exploring three dimensions: the concept of director and public leader, the characterization of the institutional spaces where they act and the role of managerial competencies as central axis for the realization of the selection processes of these professionals. The project also details the steps that had formed the selection process in Londrina and indicates who are the actors involved with this process. Next, it relates the main advances and challenges that characterize a selection process of this nature and offers recommendations destined to public managers that want to replicate this initiative. The methodology adopted for the case analysis was the participant observation, considering the involvement of the authors in this experience’s conception and deployment.  

Keywords: Human resources management. Selection. Selection process. Competencies. Public officials.