CEITEC MU
OTM-R Checklist
Updated (December 2020)
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CEITEC MU was able to improve in the OTM-R checklist considerably (see Table 1 below) when comparing the HR Award application year (2018) and a year
of preparation of the Interim Assessment Report (2020). This shift can be mostly attributed to adopting the CEITEC MU recruitment policy that was designed
to be fully in line with the OTM-R principles.
Table 1: Comparison of OTM-R checklist in 2018 and 2020
2018 2020 Difference
Yes, completely 4 10 +6
Yes, substantially 5 6 +1
Yes, partially 9 6 -3
No 5 1 -4
Open, transparent and merit-based recruitment checklist1
Open Trans-
parent
Merit-
based
Answer:
++ Yes,
completely
+/-Yes,
substantially
-/+ Yes, partially
-- No
Suggested indicators (or form of
measurement)
OTM-R system
1. Have we published a version of our OTM-R policy
online (in the national language and in English)?
x x x ++ Yes,
completely
http://muni.ceitec.cz/en/hr-strategy-hrs4r/ (see
"Recruitment Policy" in the left side menu of the
web page)
2. Do we have an internal guide setting out clear
OTM-R procedures and practices for all types of
positions?
x x x -/+ Yes, partially CEITEC MU has a formal recruitment process
established. However, as the official recruitment
policy was approved in December 2020, the
reality does not yet fully reflect it.
CEITEC MU will adopt an amendment of the
Director's Measure 5/2016 on recruitment
procedure rules that will help to put the official
recruitment policy in practice.
1
http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess/index.cfm/services/researchPolicies
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Indicators:
- Amendment to the Director's Measure on
recruitment procedure rules issued
- Methodology guidelines setting out details of
the whole recruitment procedure formulated
3. Is everyone involved in the process sufficiently
trained in the area of OTM-R?
x x x -/+ Yes, partially In 2020, 21 hiring managers (group leaders,
core facility heads, and heads of departments)
were trained in the area of OTM-R – see action
no. 20 of the HR Award action plan. The training
was obligatory. For future new hiring managers
and members of recruitment committees who
haven't been trained yet, they have two
possibilities of passing the sufficient training – elearning
tool, or personal training, which will be
repeated at some point in the future.
Our aim is for everyone involved in the
recruitment process to be sufficiently trained in
the area of OTM-R.
Indicators:
- Share/number of hiring managers that
participated in OTM-R training
- The existence of a training programme for
OTM-R
4. Do we make (sufficient) use of e-recruitment
tools?
x x ++ Yes,
completely
Online call interviews are used as a standard
tool in the case of applicants from abroad. One
of the positive aspects of the coronavirus crisis
was an overall increase in the usage of online
meeting tools and the ability of employees and
candidates to use them effectively.
A new e-tool for the collection of applications
was developed by the University.
Indicator:
- Web-based e-tool for the collection of
applications
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5. Do we have a quality control system for OTM-R in
place?
x x x -- No The official recruitment policy was approved in
December 2020. The internal norm
implementing the policy principles is to be
approved in 2021. The formulation of the quality
control system is addressed by the 2021–2023
HR Award action plan.
Indicators:
- Quality control system for OTM-R is defined
and adopted
- As a part of the HR report for the management,
there is a section summarising outcomes of the
quality control system implementation, including
a proposal of actions to address the results
6. Does our current OTM-R policy encourage
external candidates to apply?
x x x ++ Yes,
completely
The share of international research staff is
continuously growing at CEITEC MU (39 % in
2019, compared to 33 % in 2017). Specifically,
23 % of group leaders, 74 % of postdocs, and
65 % of CEITEC PhD students are from abroad.
Indicators:
- An increasing trend in the share of applicants
from abroad – the HR monitoring includes
disaggregation per nationality (Czech applicants
/ applicants from abroad)
- An increasing trend in the share of applicants
from outside the organisation
7. Is our current OTM-R policy in line with policies to
attract researchers from abroad?
x x x ++ Yes,
completely
See point no. 6.
8. Is our current OTM-R policy in line with policies to
attract underrepresented groups?
x x x +/-Yes,
substantially
CEITEC MU pays attention to the support of
women in research. The Institute issued and
implemented its first Gender Equality Plan in
2016 as a part of the LIBRA project (H2020,
2016-2019, https://www.eu-libra.eu/). In 2021,
CEITEC MU plans to issue the third GEP for the
period of 2021–2023.
The recruitment policy was prepared based on
recommendations on how to ensure an open,
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transparent recruitment procedure with specific
attention to gender equality and equal
opportunities as formulated by the LIBRA
Recruitment Handbook (available at
https://www.eu-libra.eu/work-packages/recruit-
without-gender-bias).
Indicator:
- An increasing trend in the share of applicants
among underrepresented groups (frequently
women)
9. Is our current OTM-R policy in line with policies to
provide attractive working conditions for
researchers?
x x x +/-Yes,
substantially
Indicator:
- An increasing trend in the share of applicants
from outside the organisation
10. Do we have means to monitor whether the most
suitable researchers apply?
-/+ Yes, partially In 2021, we decided to include as a part of each
particular recruitment procedure an inquiry on
how satisfied hiring managers were with the
quality of candidates – how suitable the
researchers applying for a job seemed to them.
Indicators:
- Regular monitoring, quality control
- As part of the recruitment procedure, all hiring
managers will be asked to evaluate the quality of
applicants
Advertising and application phase
11. Do we have clear guidelines or templates (e.g.,
EURAXESS) for advertising positions?
x x +/-Yes,
substantially
See action no. 23 of the HR Award action plan:
Universal templates for advertising various
positions (according to the career system
categories) were updated in both Czech and
English, and include a frame of advertising with
all of the stylistic and informational
requirements. The head of the workplace only
fills in the part that informs the applicant about
the scope of work and the requirements that the
candidate should meet. The templates were
reviewed for compliance with gender-sensitive
language. The action is to be completed after a
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final review by the HR Award Working Group in
1Q 2021.
Indicator:
- Approved templates for all career system
categories (e. g. group leader, postdoc, core
facility manager)
12. Do we include in the job advertisement
references/links to all the elements foreseen in the
relevant section of the toolkit? [see Chapter 4.4.1 a)
of the OTM-R expert report2]
x x -/+ Yes, partially Aspects currently not being implemented:
• selection criteria (and possibly their respective
'weight'), including knowledge and professional
experience (distinguishing the 'required' and
'desirable')
• type of contract, salary
• professional development opportunities
• career development prospects
• a reference to the institution's OTM-R policy
• a reference to the institution's equal
opportunities policy (e.g., positive discrimination,
dual careers, etc.)
This point relates to the HR Award action
plan – action no. 23 with a deadline 1Q 2021.
Indicator:
- Templates of job advertisements implementing
the relevant section of the toolkit – chapter 4.4.1
a) of the OTM-R expert report
13. Do we make full use of EURAXESS to ensure
our research vacancies reach a wider audience?
x x ++ Yes,
completely
The EURAXESS jobs database is used for the
promotion of all research positions.
Indicators:
- The share of job adverts posted on
EURAXESS
- An increasing trend in the share of applicants
recruited from outside the organisation/abroad
2
https://cdn1.euraxess.org/sites/default/files/policy_library/otm-r-finaldoc_0.pdf
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14. Do we make use of other job advertising tools? x x ++ Yes,
completely
We do use all possible job advertising tools.
Indicators:
- List of used job advertising tools
15. Do we keep the administrative burden to a
minimum for the candidate? [see Chapter 4.4.1 b) 45]
"The request for supporting documents should be
strictly limited to those which are really needed in
order to make a fair, transparent and merit-based
selection of the applicants. Moreover, in cases where
certain documents are legally required, applicants
should be allowed to make a declaration in which
they engage to provide the proof after the selection
process is concluded. For example, applicants
should not have to provide original or translated
certificates related to qualifications with their initial
application. It is strongly recommended to allow the
transmission of supporting documents by electronic
means and possibly to develop an e-recruitment
tool."
x ++ Yes,
completely
All steps of the recruitment procedure were
reviewed regarding the minimisation of the
administrative burden and a new e-tool for the
collection of applications was developed by the
University.
Indicators:
- All steps of the recruitment procedure reviewed
from the perspective of minimisation of the
administrative burden
- Web-based e-tool for the collection of
applications
Selection and evaluation phase
16. Do we have clear rules governing the
appointment of selection committees? [see Chapter
4.4.2 a) 45]
x x +/-Yes,
substantially
Recruitment policy formulates standards for the
recruitment committees' appointment. For the
full implementation of point no. 16, the Institute
will adopt an internal norm (Director's Measure
on recruitment procedure rules).
Indicator:
- Issued amendment to the Director's Measure
on recruitment procedure rules
17. Do we have clear rules concerning the
composition of selection committees?
x x +/-Yes,
substantially
Recruitment policy formulates standards for the
recruitment committees' composition. For the full
implementation of points no. 17 and 18, the
Institute will adopt an internal norm (Director's
Measure on recruitment procedure rules).
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Indicators:
- Statistics on the composition of panels
(internal/external, gender)
- Issued amendment to the Director's Measure
on recruitment procedure rules
18. Are the committees sufficiently gender-
balanced?
x x -/+ Yes, partially Recruitment policy formulates standards for the
recruitment committees' composition. For the full
implementation of points no. 17 and 18, the
Institute will adopt an internal norm (Director's
Measure on recruitment procedure rules).
There were three open calls for a group leader
position between 2017 and 2019, and two open
calls for a core facility head (CF head). Taking
the data as a starting point, for the gender
composition of the selection committees,
CEITEC MU starts with having app. 22 % female
members of the selection committees for the
group leader position, and more than 57 %
female members of the selection committees for
the CF head position.
Indicators:
- Statistics on the composition of panels
(internal/external, gender)
- Issued amendment to the Director's Measure
on recruitment procedure rules
19. Do we have clear guidelines for selection
committees which help to judge 'merit' in a way that
leads to the best candidate being selected?
X +/-Yes,
substantially
CEITEC MU benefits from its participation in the
LIBRA project (H2020) that focused inter alia on
the recruitment practices. One of the essential
outcomes of the LIBRA project was the LIBRA
Recruitment Handbook. The handbook pays
explicit attention to recruiting people in line with
gender equality principles, and in line with
recruiting people without any bias – therefore
based on the merit-based approach. The LIBRA
Recruitment Handbook was used for the
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formulation of the CEITEC MU recruitment
policy. We believe its principles are helping to
fulfil the aim of point no. 19 of the OTM-R
checklist.
Indicators:
- Issued CEITEC MU recruitment policy
- Provided training for members of selection
committees
- Number of participants of training for selection
committee members
Appointment phase
20. Do we inform all applicants at the end of the
selection process?
x ++ Yes,
completely
The HR department informs all applicants at the
end of each selection procedure. It is also
embedded in the recruitment policy.
Indicator:
- The fulfilment of this point will be under regular
quality control
21. Do we provide adequate feedback to
interviewees?
x ++ Yes,
completely
Adequate feedback regarding the interview is
provided upon a candidate's request. In such a
case, the HR department ensures it is in
cooperation with the chair of the selection
committee.
Indicator:
- The right to feedback is set up in the
recruitment policy
22. Do we have an appropriate complaints
mechanism in place?
x ++ Yes,
completely
There is a clear system of submitting and
processing complaints at Masaryk University,
which applies to and is used by CEITEC MU too.
Rector's Directive No. 3/2008, Submitting and
processing complaints at MU:
https://www.muni.cz/en/about-us/official-notice-
board/submitting-and-processing-complaints
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CEITEC MU has not yet received any complaint
regarding the recruitment process during its
existence.
Indicator:
- Statistics on complaints
- Rector's Directive No. 3/2008, Submitting and
processing complaints at MU, in force
Overall assessment
23. Do we have a system in place to assess whether
OTM-R delivers on its objectives?
-/+ Yes, partially The system to assess whether OTM-R delivers
on its objectives is to be included in the
monitoring and quality control system of the HR
department.
The official recruitment policy was approved in
December 2020. The internal norm
implementing the policy principles is to be
approved in 2021. The formulation of the quality
control system is addressed by the 2021–2023
HR Award action plan.
CEITEC MU performs regular annual HR reports
to the management.
Indicators:
- Quality control system for OTM-R is defined
and adopted
- As a part of the HR report for the management,
there is a section summarising outcomes of the
quality control system implementation, including
a proposal of actions to address the results