By Dimitrios Vyzirgiannakis (University of Crete)

Although it is generally accepted that technology itself has no inherent value, there is no doubt that it is the key enabler of e-Government services. In regards to personnel recruitment, technology has undoubtedly revolutionized traditional methods. E-recruitment, generally defined as the process of utilizing new Information and Communication Technologies for candidate attraction, selection and communication management, has been extensively used in the private sector over the last two decades. The success of e-recruiting, especially in terms of reductions in hiring time and costs, also made the practice attractable as part of most e-government initiatives worldwide. Greece is no exception to this trend. Following the institution of the Supreme Council for Civil Personnel Selection (ASEP) as an independent authority in 1994, the Greek State was provided with an autonomous entity tasked with the staffing of the Public Sector, “in conditions of full transparency, publicity, objectivity and meritocracy”. However, it is this very statement that points at the particularities pertaining to public sector recruitment practices which are rarely present in the private sector. Greece is characterized by a decades-old clientelistic approach to public sector employment and e-recruiting for the state is a mission that raises the stakes clearly higher than that of a measured cost reduction. The current paper briefly reviews the benefits of e-recruitment practices in the private sector, examines the significant differences that apply to the recruitment practices of the Greek state and finally assesses the official ASEP website in a technical and functional manner as a tool for promoting trust between citizens and the State by applying the guidelines provided by the Greek Public Portal Certification Framework.

Source: SSRN