Handover Management as an Organizational Issue
Ensuring Administrative Continuity and Preserving Institutional Know-how
Nowon District in Seoul (District Mayor Oh Seungrok) has established a systematic handover management system ahead of the regular personnel appointments scheduled for January 1 next year.
The district announced that, prior to the regular personnel appointments announced on the 26th, it had distributed an official document outlining handover compliance requirements to all departments and neighborhood offices on the 19th of this month. This measure was developed through a fact-finding survey and a process of gathering opinions from the labor union and junior staff members, which began in August.
Nowon District public officials are explaining the details of work handover. Provided by Nowon District.
The core elements include clarifying the roles of managers such as department heads and team leaders, and ensuring a sufficient handover period. The district has shifted its perspective to view handovers as an organizational issue to be managed, rather than a matter between individual staff members.
Team leaders are required to familiarize themselves in advance with the pending work, key tasks, and unresolved issues of those scheduled for transfer, and to finalize the handover between the predecessor and successor through internal departmental approval. In particular, for sensitive or urgent matters expected to generate multiple civil complaints, team leaders and section chiefs must identify these issues in advance. After the handover is complete, department heads confirm the staff member’s understanding of their responsibilities through individual performance reviews.
A physical period is also provided to ensure a smooth handover. The mandatory transfer period currently operated by the district is two years and six months, with a possible extension of six months in unavoidable cases.
Except for those subject to mandatory transfer, those requesting transfer due to personal circumstances, and those being promoted, the district has minimized the number of personnel changes. This is because low predictability regarding one’s own appointment can also lead to inadequate handovers.
To prevent situations such as “appointments announced yesterday afternoon, new department attendance this morning,” the district has advanced the timing of appointment announcements and, after appointments, guarantees a minimum handover period of five days per department, depending on the situation.
In the public sector, where job rotation is established, inadequate handovers have led to the loss of organizational know-how and administrative errors. In fact, various surveys have cited confusion during the handover process as a major challenge for junior public officials.
Oh Seungrok, Mayor of Nowon District, stated, “This is the first attempt to shift the perception of handovers from an issue dependent on individual goodwill to one managed at the organizational level,” adding, “We will continue to improve by reviewing the results of handovers during this round of regular personnel appointments.”
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