NATO Building Integrity: New Glossary of Human Resource Management in the Public Sector

Human resource (HR) management is critical for building integrity. It is one of the main functional areas of the institutional framework of the public service. A robust and well-functioning system of HR management is indispensable for embedding the principles of integrity and professionalism in the defence and related security sector, reducing corruption risk and ensuring that corporate ethical leadership culture is well mainstreamed. 

The development of effective and transparent personnel structures and practices in the defence forces is one of the main principles of defence institution building as elaborated in NATO’s 2004 Partnership Action Plan on Defence Institution Building. It is an inseparable part of integrity-building and anti-corruption efforts and is one of the areas of analysis in the NATO BI Self-Assessment Questionnaire and Peer Review Process. 

This glossary has been designed as a practical tool to guide NATO BI efforts in strengthening the focus on human resource management. It provides an easy reference for the broad range of terms and concepts used in this area.  It is also a living document, given the dynamic nature of HR management as a growing field of research and practice. As such, the glossary can benefit from first-hand expertise of researchers and practitioners and is expected to advance knowledge within the NATO BI community of practice.

This glossary, like other NATO BI key reference documents, will be made available in the two official NATO languages (English and French), as well as other languages in which NATO BI is implemented.