Employees in the public administration and the private sector together move boundaries, break stereotypes and create positive stories.
Partnership for Change is a program of innovative collaboration between Slovenia’s public administration and private sector, aimed at exchanging and using good ideas, practices and useful solutions, as well as employee exchange. In this program, employees in the public administration and business sector jointly push boundaries, break down stereotypes and create positive stories, proving that collaboration between the public administration and business, in a new, different and innovative manner, works.
The idea for Partnership for Change was born during a casual conversation over “pizza and beer” between the youth from Snowball and the Minister of Public Administration Boris Koprivnikar. The search for a better cooperation of public administration and business gave rise to the idea of employee exchange between business and the Ministry of Public Administration. In June 2015, the Partnership for Change pilot project was launched with the first employee exchange, involving 27 employees, 23 companies and the Ministry of Public Administration. In the very first round, participants broke down many stereotypes, primarily the one about “the lazy public service”.
After the successful first employee exchange, more ministries (in addition to the Ministry of Public Administration, the Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport) and over 30 Slovenian and international companies joined the project led by the two principal coordinators, AmCham Slovenia and the Ministry of Public Administration. Project participants jointly selected five challenges that the employees from the private sector and participating ministries attempted to solve throughout the year.
In June 2016, the second round of employee exchange was started, with 67 participants, 30 companies and 5 ministries. After the successful exchanges, five groups presented five solutions at the closing ceremony for the five challenges set, with the additional goal of implementing said solutions in the next round of the Partnership for Change.
Partnership for Change program is an excellent platform for achieving change and was recognized as such not only is Slovenia but also by the international environment. Three mottoes of the program became guidelines in my work, and these are working together in partnership, playful innovativeness, and bold responsibility.
In the third round of the Partnership for Change, the group of participants grew even more: there were now 75 employees, 36 companies and 6 ministries. The partners for change found and implemented in practice solutions for increased employee motivation in public administration, strengthened inter-ministerial cooperation, outlined teaching programs for the 21st century, developed user-friendly e-services and expanded the recognition of the “I feel Slovenia” brand in business. The participants presented all five solutions in practice at the closing ceremony of the third round. Even before this, the third round of employee exchange between business and public administration was already underway, showing once again that collaboration and integration can lead to excellent results.
With their endeavors to change mentality, teaching and promoting collaboration, and strengthening the role of the individual, Partnership for Change implemented a concept of innovative co-creation in the Slovenian society, such as never before existed. The gap between public and private sector oftentimes seems to large, and the project initiators, AmCham Slovenia and the Ministry of Public Administration, achieved a nearly impossible feat, connecting Slovenia in collaboration and writing a story that brought nothing but positive results.
The Partnership for Change program already earned its first recognitions abroad. In 2016, the program received the Creative Network Award for best practices from the AmChams in Europe network, connecting 44 countries and 46 AmChams from Europe and Eurasia. In July 2016, the Partnership for Change program participated in the OECD call for applications for innovations in the public sector, which is looking for interesting stories on the global level. Among over 150 applications, we reached the shortlist and presented our program at one of the largest annual government conferences in Dubai in February 2017. Many countries expressed interest in the program and hope to implement it.
In Autumn 2017, the Partnership for Change program continues with its fourth round. We opened the door to anyone who recognizes the importance of bold responsibility, playful innovativeness and partnership cooperation. We were looking for solutions to problems recognized by different stakeholders in society, we got 31 problems and chose three of them in order to solve them by cooperation. How to identify and retain talents in the economy, how to clear Slovenia of paper bills and how to impress 300,000 Slovenians with the ambition of "Slovenia, the green reference country in digital Europe" are the three challenges that have attracted the most people. By June, we will develop prototypes on how to solve these challenges. We managed to fulfill our wish, which was to make Partnership for Change a national innovative platform of cooperation that can take on any challenge.
In the fourth round, we will also maintain employee exchanges between the public sector and companies, members of AmCham Slovenia. Exchanges will take place during the week between April 9 and April 13, 2017.
"Partnership for Change is a Partnership for the True Future"
Partnership for Change: Where Are We on the Path of Implementation?