KWDI Korean Women’s Development Institute

With the rapid changes and sophistication of the administration environment surrounding public offices, government employees have been asked to be equipped with more diverse and higher-level capabilities. In other words, needs for capable government officials have increased.

The share of female officials in public service has recently jumped, with the percentage of women in managerial positions also rising gradually. Against this backdrop, what is important is to enable them to grow to become capable managers. The cultivation of competent female civil servants requires research on related support plans and a comprehensive fact-finding scheme that connects capabilities to career development.

This paper aims to present HR management plans that enable capabilities and careers to be managed by level in the process of female government employees being promoted to level 3 or higher positions. To this end, elements relating to women’s capabilities and career development by level were thoroughly analyzed. Via this process, we tried to come up with HR management plans for career development designed to further nurture capable female managers in public service.

It was confirmed once again that the cultivation of female managers in public offices should be promoted by supporting capability-based career development. Based on the aforementioned research results, the following policy suggestions have been presented:

First, a capability enhancement program customized for female government employees’ empowerment should be developed by identifying female public officials’ capabilities against key standards by level. Second, a fair HR management system (performance appraisal system, etc.), a female personnel management system including an effective knowledge management scheme, and a career development system (position management by life cycle, etc.) should be established. Third, women’s development promotion programs such as a gender quota system for higher managerial positions and a system for ensuring women’s representation in senior civil service should be operated, offering institutional support to effectively promote work-life balance.