Boiarka municipality is well aware that employees are not just “personnel”. They are a team that keeps the municipality strong. That is why Boiarka was determined to change its approach to HR management, shifting from a formal to a people-oriented one. So, they began to build an HR service that truly cares about employees and strives for the best performance.
These changes were inspired by the participation in the programme “Preparing to Create Effective HR Management Services” by U-LEAD with Europe. After the course, not only did the municipality transform the HR department into a new service, but it made fundamental and value-based changes to its approach, shifting from staffing to managing people, who are the most valuable resource and asset of the municipality.
Hanna Salamatina, the Head of Executive Committee of Boiarka City Council:
“We approached the creation of the service informally. We aren’t just renaming the HR department. We have detailed the job descriptions and tasks, with professional development, psychological support and a friendly atmosphere rather than recordkeeping in mind. We have started encouraging people to learn by rewarding initiative, hosting events for employees to develop new skills and get a second or third degree. The service is now open and dynamic. People engage with it, make plans and grow.”
How to start creating a service?
According to Tetiana Korobka, the Head of the Working Group on HR Management at U-LEAD, a successful municipality begins with people. Or rather, with a professional, motivated team that is able not just to “maintain the system,” but to build upon it. That is why today an increasing number of local self-government bodies are realising that sustainable development is impossible without an effective HR management service.
“What is an effective service? First and foremost, it is not about formal administration or HR recordkeeping. It is about fostering a system that attracts, develops, supports and retains people. And to create it, you need to start with the basics, evaluating the organisational structure of the local self-government and identifying the place for the HR department within it,” says Tetiana Korobka.
Next, she highlights the importance of managing functions: what authorities does the function have, what are the regulatory provisions, and how up-to-date are the job descriptions. Today, you can follow the professional standard developed by the Ministry of Economy for the position of HR manager in local self-government. This is a very specific and useful tool for those who wish to update documents in line with modern requirements.
“Effective HR management directly impacts the ability of local self-government bodies to perform their duties. The reform is not merely an internal one; it is a tool for real change. Don’t wait — set up an HR management service now and prepare for the new legislation to come into force. Because a strong municipality means more than simply infrastructure. It also means a team that works for the benefit of people every day,” said the head of the Working Group.
Practical application: experience of Boiarka municipality
Following the training programme, Boiarka City Council took specific steps to:
- create an HR management service, adapting it to the updated legislation;
- update job descriptions and prepare the comprehensive package of necessary documents, which will come into force together with the new Law;
- revise recruitment approaches, changing the format of advertisements, introducing situational tasks and holding competitions even in wartime.
Further, the municipality is providing its employees with new types of training, encouraging professional development with incentives and a chance to get a degree under the state commission quota. The municipality is now a platform for internships and training of young people, as about 20 people have already completed their internships in the executive bodies of the City Council. Among the innovations there is the use of European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) to record the training outcomes of officials.
The municipality also launched a project to provide weekly psychosocial support to staff at the Social Services Centre to build up their resilience skills. Group and individual activities, workshops, professional relief sessions, programmes for developing inclusive communication skills, self-help and stress management techniques are all held here.
Boiarka Service: a case to scale
The HR management service in Boiarka is not merely a department any more. It is a platform that supports, develops and helps people. It is a space where every employee knows that their proactive efforts will be encouraged, their professional growth is important, their well-being is at the forefront. This is what Kateryna Dubovetska, the Head of the HR Management Service, firmly believes.
“The service has become the most transparent in the structure of the executive committee. It aims to help people grow rather than simply keeping records of them. It is a “point of progress” for our team. It is both a recreation room and a youth support space, as well as an environment that encourages new approaches and personal growth. And we’ve created all this thanks to the expertise we gained through training provided by U-LEAD,” comments Hanna Salamatina.
U-LEAD as a platform for knowledge and change
Boiarka’s team stressed that participation in U-LEAD’s training programme inspired them to rethink their HR approaches. The training provided both knowledge and motivation to learn, change and implement.
“All the changes that we are introducing today are based on the knowledge, skills and capabilities that we have received and built together with U-LEAD,” concludes Hanna Salamatina.
According to Tetiana Korobka, U-LEAD supports these changes for a reason. They have already become part of Ukraine’s new state policy on local self-government. This is a systematic step towards implementing the principles of the European Charter of Local Self-Government. That is why U-LEAD experts are working with municipalities to ensure that they are ready for new requirements and, at the same time, have all the tools necessary for effective HR management — a key element of a strong and sustainable municipality — right now.
Experience of other municipalities in Kyiv Oblast: Velyka Dymerka
Last year, nine municipalities from different regions of Ukraine participated in the programme “Preparing to Create Effective HR Management Services”, two of which were from Kyiv Oblast: the urban municipality of Boiarka and the village municipality of Velyka Dymerka. According to Larysa Kochur, an Adviser on the Functioning of Local Self-Government and HR Management at the Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe in Kyiv Oblast, this training programme is vital for the introduction of HR management innovations:
“We welcome that Boiarka municipality has already largely implemented its plans, and Velyka Dymerka is working on the same. The latter has also made some progress: an HR department is functioning, a new position of a Commissioner for Corruption Prevention was introduced to the organisational structure of the council, employees received internal training and were introduced to the new Law “On Service in Local Self-Government Bodies”. In addition, employees of the council administration, headed by the chief manager of affairs, are learning English.”
According to the adviser, both Boiarka and Velyka Dymerka are great examples of systematic efforts in the field of HR management and institutional capacity development yielding tangible results. They prove that in addition to gaining knowledge within the U-LEAD training programmes, municipalities are also actively applying them in practice.
