Profile of current and potential employees of public administration in Latvia and Lithuania: empirical study

ENOrganisations have many challenges connected to Human Resource Management (HRM). Some of them are directly linked to the lack of knowledge on peculiarities of current and potential employees. According to the author’s previous studies, education on and work for Public Administration (PA) in Latvia and Lithuania has certain differences for a number of reasons including legislative circumstances and biased status of Public Administration employee in each of the countries. It is important to explore the profi le of each country’s current and potential PA employees. The major aspect of PA HRM that is a focus within the research presented is recruitment and retention. The aim of the research is to identify the main values and requirements of Public Administration study programs’ students in Latvia and Lithuania. The data are collected from a survey that was conducted in tertiary education institutions that provide PA or other relevant graduate and/or postgraduate study program in the countries. The core difference between the experiences of Latvia and Lithuania lays in study programs supply. Tertiary education institutions of Lithuania provide graduate PA study programs as well as postgraduate ones, while there are only Master’s programs available in Latvia. Respondents from both countries highlight as an important factor organisation’s employer brand and its social responsibility considering an employer. The most important areas that PA organisations need to pay attention is in for attracting and retaining employees are working environment and advancement/learning opportunities thus developing job advertisements. Organisations should particularly focus on a part with a list of offers for employee.