The fundamental changes associated with public management reforms are directed towards a more entrepreneurial, business-oriented culture and calls for a new type of human resources able to lead and implement the reforms. It is evident that current approaches to human resource development (HRD) are insufficient to ensure the development of a new set of competences of civil servants and to create an enabling environment within governmental institutions that enhance the organization’s capacity to take on a large scale the learning process associated with major cultural and procedural change. It is evident that HRD should assume a more strategic role and position in the governmental institutions. Therefore, the key challenge is to define the enabling characteristics for strategic HRD to emerge in the governmental institutions.

Keywords: human resource management, human resource development, public management reform, civil service