Commissioner’s PresentationWednesday29October

‘Looking Within – Building Internal Capacity’– IPAA 2014 International Conference

Introduction

  • In keeping with the theme of the Conference “The Shape of Things to Come”, my focus for this session is on the imperative for the public sector to continue to build its own capacity in an ever-changing context.
  • Increasingly governments are looking to hybrid models of service delivery with outsourcing, private public partnerships and partnering with the not for profits becoming more common. However, each of these models depends upon a highly effective and responsive public sector to make them work.
  • Fiscal constraint is one certainty all jurisdictions face, with revenue sources becoming less stable and expenditure continuing to have upward pressure. In this equation the critical cost drivers are our people.
  • In the WA public sector salaries dominate State Government spending. In the case of my own organisation it is in excess of 70 per cent.

Positioning the sector

  • It is clear we need to get better at running ourselves – and in particular positioning the sector for the future. It is central to our stewardship of the public sector.
  • First and foremost, it means being much more strategic about the employment relationship, from decisions made prior to recruitment through to the conclusion of the relationship – no matter how that relationship ends.
  • With this in mind we need a different approach to designing and describing jobs– and recruiting to them.
  • It is essential we have a strong sense of what the future might look like and recruit for skills, values and attributes capable of meeting changing scenarios. Agility, flexibility, mobility, appropriate risk taking and preparedness to question ‘why’ are some of the characteristics that need to be front and centre in decision making.
  • Too much we are locked into designing jobs and recruiting for the here and now without sufficient regard for where the sector needs to be.

  • Aligned with strategic recruitment of course is the need to be much more strategic in how we go about developing the people resources. I think public sectors generally can be criticised for a history of adhockery in the development of their employees.
  • I know there are exceptions, as the uniform cultures tend to be more systematic and structured in the way they go about development, but generally agencies tend to allocate dollars to have their staff attend programs, without a real sense of what the longer term intent should be. That is, there is no strategic connection of the capability dots.
  • Moreover, it is these very funds which are ‘raided’ for other purposes when budgets tighten up. Again the ‘here and now’ imperatives take over and often result in critical investment in the future such as graduate and traineeship programs being curtailed.
  • We have seen this response in the WA public sector over the last
    25 years. It has resulted in a significant demographic blip, most notably in our senior echelons with the average age of the SES being 53 years.
  • I suggest this is the very time to focus on the future through these programs. We will be in a less competitive world and stand a better prospect of securing graduates to ‘win their hearts and minds’ and retain them in the future when the external environment again becomes highly competitive.

Centre for Excellence

  • Against this background the Commission has adopted a different approach to the professional development of the WA public sector, known as the ‘blended learning model’ or the 70:20:10 approach. We encourage 70% of development through significant ‘on the job’ experiences, 20% through relationship building and 10% through formal programs.
  • We are supporting this approach through a Centre for Excellence, in which I am supported by a quality Advisory Board comprising CEOs from State, Local and now the Commonwealth government.
  • Among other features there will be a focus on design and delivery by public sector leaders and practitioners, capturing relevant expertise in a way that hasn’t occurred previously.
  • This model should reduce costs and encourage agencies to engage in more strategic recruitment and development of their workforces. It is early days, but I am confident that this is the right approach.

Looking forward

  • In looking at the design of the public sector for the future, the traditional bureaucratic model seems unsustainable. It is clear that organisations will need to be more agile and flexible with fewer layers. Delayering or flatter structures will mean people will not own jobs in the traditional way.
  • I would illustrate my point by reference to my own agency in which matters for my consideration as a statutory officer make their way through four or more levels. The value adding of layers two, three, and four is not always apparent nor indeed is the extent of the risk such an arrangement is addressing – put bluntly, is it worth the cost?
  • With less organisational layers, the management relationship can become quite different making meaningful and relevant performance management much more likely.
  • I suggest it provides an important pre condition for another imperative for the public sector of the future – better management of sub-optimal behaviour, including discipline and sub-standard performance. Currently neither would be regarded as the strong suit for most agencies – despite significant reform to the Public Sector Management Act framework in recent years.
  • Stronger internal capacity of the public sector is dependent upon creating and nurturing a culture of curiosity which encourages and supports the participants from CEOs down, to ask critical questions of the ‘here and now’ and rewards creative and innovative behaviour.
  • Public sector employees should be supported in asking fundamental questions such as:
  • Does this need to be done?
  • Do we need to do it or could some other arrangement work?
  • How can this be done differently and better?
  • The public sector leadership and management culture needs to reflect and take this approach. With this of course goes some additional risk which must be managed appropriately, but this is not beyond the wit of mankind!
  • In particular the move to this culture must be underpinned by two key elements which must be present for maintenance of trust and confidence in the emerging public sector.
  • The first of these is better governance which at times is not well understood, or indeed practised, particularly given myriad boards and committees which oversight much of the public sector’s activities.
  • Good governance is dependent upon the various players – Ministers, CEOs, Board Chairs, Board members, other government agencies and clients understanding the relationships, what the various roles entail, having or acquiring the necessary skills to undertake the roles and most importantly sticking to their roles and not trying to usurp others.
  • The second necessary element to underpin the public sector of the future is safeguarding the integrity of the system.
  • Public sector effectiveness is dependent on all stakeholders, including the community, the Government, Parliament and the sector itself having trust and confidence in the system.
  • Trust and confidence are fragile states – it takes time and ‘runs on the board’ to achieve and maintain these states. This of course can be undone by one bad call. Sometimes it can be a pattern of behaviour which destroys this confidence which we have witnessed through high profile inquiries conducted by ICAC, CMC and,of course, our own CCC.
  • As a consequence we have seen public trust eroded and take some time to re-establish. In WA at least, the public sector (a naturally risk averse institution), indulged in risk averse behaviour compounded by poor decision making.
  • The ethical dimension of the public sector will continue to be as important for the public sector of the future as it is today. It must continue to be a focus of our capability building.

Conclusion

  • So to sum up – what we will be looking for in the public sector is:
  • strategic recruitment and development of staff with a view to the future – not looking in the rear view mirror
  • greater agility and mobility
  • fewer layers in agencies
  • better, and more realistic performance management
  • creating and sustaining a culture of curiosity and innovation
  • strong governance, and
  • robust integrity.
  • This not only has implications for the sector as a whole, but also for central agencies like mine which I believe should be more open to managing the framework differently with more focus on devolution and associated quality assurance.
  • The fiscal outlook is both the opportunity and the imperative to reshape the capability of public sectors.

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