Relevance: GS Paper II
Why has this article been published?
The Indian government has taken the initiative to invite executives from beyond the ranks of the civil service to apply for certain Joint Secretary posts known as lateral entry.
How can lateral entry be successful?
The following elements can increase the chances of success:
- Establish objective criteria: The key decision makers involved in making a senior appointment should agree on what skills, qualities and experiences the role requires and the requirements agreed to should be the actually needed to be successful.
Having objective criteria also gives decision makers confidence that their appointments will be able to stand up to public scrutiny without fear of seeming biased towards or against candidates for caste, geography, political affiliation or other considerations. - Target the talent you need: Top talent has many options outside of public service. Government, therefore, cannot sit back and wait for these candidates to present themselves. It must proactively identify and approach executives with the desired skills and experience.
- Look for potential to succeed in this environment: There are three key personal traits that predict success of lateral hires in such roles.
- The first is resilience. Government bureaucracy can be tough on outsiders; it is essential to have the ability to persevere in the face of constant pulls and pressures and aligning multiple stakeholders.
- Successful lateral hires also have a high level of curiosity. They acknowledge that they don’t have all the answers, are eager to learn and model their behaviour accordingly. These candidates know that while they may have many useful new ideas, they also have much to learn from career civil servants.
- Finally, they have the ability to engage others. The ability to build consensus among stakeholders is essential.
- Less is more when it comes to selection panels: The government screening process traditionally includes appearing before a section panel of three to five interviewers, who each take their turn investigating topics they have divided between themselves. Unfortunately, this approach often results in only a surface-level understanding of the candidate. One-on-one or two-on-one interviews allow for a much more meaningful exploration of key points of a candidate’s career, their mindset and approach.
- Accelerate the new hire’s integration: Successful recruiting is only part of the equation; the selected lateral hire must also be primed for success in his or her new organisation. Cultural differences between the executive’s old and new environments should be identified and strategies should be developed so that the executive could use to navigate this change.
Conclusion
India’s lateral entry programme has the potential to introduce new thinking and new expertise into key ministries. Leveraging on lessons learned elsewhere will allow India to more completely draw from the country’s rich array of talent while maintaining the objectivity necessary to preserve the public trust.
