Competency Framework: Can it be a Tool for Improving Public Administration in Nepal

Rapid changes in the public sector environment largely instigated under the banner of ‘New Public Management (NPM)’ demand flexible human resource strategies. In many contexts, reforms have remained ineffective in practice and resulted in unintended consequences as the focus was more on structural and procedural improvements. For instance, the implementation of accrual accounting, international public sector accounting standards (e.g. IPSASs) and performance budgeting, reporting and auditing have continued to pose several challenges at the implementation phase in a large number of developing countries (Adhikari et al., 2019). Public administrators are at the central position in implementing any changes and it is rather naïve to believe that any such changes would be materialised without shifting a focus at the agency level. Empowering public administrators by keeping them in a learning loop has become an issue of utmost importance.