The notion of a global public service has been put forth in the literature as a means of addressing a number of policy issues that can no longer be addressed by a nation-state in isolation. This article sets out to address whether it is possible to formulate and implement a leadership competency model that could be used to select, develop and reward these global public servants and, if so, what leadership competencies they would require. Evidence will be drawn from both the literature on the competencies required for global managers/leaders as well as various public sector leadership competency models. It is argued that more thought needs to be given to how a leadership competency framework might be fruitfully employed to buttress such a cadre of individuals. Points for practitionersPublic services around the world have been embracing the use of leadership competency models as part of their human resources management frameworks for the past few decades. This research examines a number of the various models that have been employed with the intent of identifying key competencies that would be more universal in nature. Additional research needs to be conducted to ensure that such models reflect the distinctiveness of the public sector.

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Purpose Public services around the world are grappling to enhance their leadership capacity. One approach is to provide leadership training and development to public servants, while another would be to target and hire individuals with proven leadership ability. The purpose of this paper is to focus on that latter strategy by critically examining the concept of branding the public service as an employer of choice as a means of recruiting and retaining sufficient leadership capacity. Design/methodology/approach The paper begins by outlining the challenge faced by governments to recruit the best and brightest employees into the public service. It then reviews the literature on the concept of branding as an employer of choice, including its perceived advantages and limitations, before undertaking a case study analysis of the 2007 public sector branding initiative of the Canadian federal government. Findings It is very difficult to develop a single, master brand given the diversity and complexity of the hundreds of organizations that comprise the public sector. While it may be a popular concept for private sector organizations, the concept of branding the public sector as an employer of choice has yet to demonstrate its merit. Canada, which was ostensibly the vanguard in terms of public sector branding, has been unable to position the federal public service as an employer of choice. Originality/value There is very little research on the use of branding as an employer of choice in the public sector. This paper contributes to the knowledge about the limitations of such strategies for ensuring that the public sector has the requisite leadership capacity.