Reform of Australian Government Administration
Expect the unexpected
The Australian Public Service is constantly challenged to become more responsive, agile and flexible to meet the rising expectations of government and citizens in a complex and uncertain world. Taxpayers expect no less. A public service that aspires to be the best expects no less of itself.
The Advisory Group on Reform of the Australian Public Service, of which I was a member, has identified a number of challenges that are increasing the degree of difficulty of modern public service.
These challenges could create a perfect storm for the public service, which simultaneously faces rising expectations and rapid technical change which opens up new possibilities, in a world of increasing complexity, a tight labour market for talent and constrained resources, particularly because of the post-crisis fiscal position. To tackle these challenges, the public service needs to get ahead of the game a goal captured in the title of our report, released yesterday, Ahead of the Game, Blueprint for Reform of Australian Government Administration.
Ahead of the Game offers a way to weather the storm by driving change in the public service in four areas, namely: become better at delivering services; become better at providing strategic advice, effective service delivery and leadership; become better at developing a more capable workforce; and become more efficient and achieve high standards. Achieving these goals will secure a public service that is responsive, agile, flexible and focused on meeting the evolving needs of citizens as the social and economic context changes over time.
The 28 recommendations in Ahead of the Game will help achieve this by adapting and improving the public service's tools, structures and culture, and the Australian Public Service Commission is expected to play a key role in promoting this change.
Ahead of the Game recommends that the role of the APSC be strengthened to provide expertise, guidance, performance monitoring and some centralised services to all the agencies in the public service and to support secretaries in our joint responsibility as stewards of the APS. Bolstering the APSC would not return us to the old Public Service Board, which second-guessed the judgments of agency heads for many years until it was abolished in 1987. But it would reverse the steady decline over the past quarter century in central oversight of human capital development.
In the view of the advisory group, the devolution of authority to individual agencies has merit and will not be systematically reversed.
However, the challenges now facing government require greater monitoring, transparency and accountability across the public service and stronger support for better human capital planning and development and that is a role for the APSC. In essence we have moved beyond ''people management'' as we have traditionally defined it to a more holistic approach that recognises that the capability of our organisations needs to be planned for and systematically developed.
This recognises that good people management underpins an effective human capital strategy, which in turn underpins the APS's ability to achieve its strategic objectives and meet the evolving needs of citizens. The principal focus of earlier reforms, now some decades ago, was to clarify our responsibilities towards the government of the day and to achieve results (not simply comply with process requirements).
Both thrusts were entirely appropriate in the context in which they were initiated.
We now recognise, however, that in redressing an earlier imbalance in our understanding, we have underplayed our stewardship responsibilities; that is, to build and nurture the APS's capability to meet emerging needs and to respond to the unexpected. These stewardship responsibilities relate to the operations of an individual department. They also relate to the APS at large.
These responsibilities are reinforced by Ahead of the Game which proposes to amend the Public Service Act to make them more explicit, and has specific recommendations to strengthen the governance of the APS.
A Secretaries Board (comprising secretaries and the commissioner) is to have specific responsibilities in this respect. We need to take a different approach to planning our workforce, and if the Government accepts the recommendations, the APSC will drive this by facilitating a more consistent approach to workforce planning and capability development.
We need to build simple frameworks that leverage their individual components to achieve an outcome that is ''greater than the sum of its parts'' and add value to decision-making. Such approaches and innovative recruitment practices will also assist to secure a workforce that reflects the diversity of the population whose needs we seek to anticipate and serve.
The APSC is also encouraged to develop more coordinated approaches to developing skills and addressing gaps at the whole-of-APS level.
Public servants will find it easier to move more readily between agencies giving them broader opportunities, and better skills and new arrangements will be developed and introduced in collaboration with secretaries to manage performance effectively, including, critically, to foster talent and develop potential. The APSC's support for leadership and development programs will also be overhauled and their alignment with the strategic priorities of the APS enhanced. Ahead of the Game recommends that work is necessary to identify areas where the bargaining framework for public servants could give better support to a unified public service.
In particular, it should consider whether there should be more commonality of terms and conditions to allow easier movement between agencies and improve perceptions of pay equity.
Drawing on the experience of other jurisdictions, especially Britain, the report also recommends that the APSC should facilitate a review (led by an external reviewer) of the capability of the major public service agencies. These reviews should take place every five years, and would cover all aspects of capability, including strategy, leadership, workforce capability, service delivery, and organisational effectiveness.
Strengthened leadership skills and improved coordination across the public service will also help the public service to improve its strategic advice to the Government. The Secretaries Board will provide a forum to discuss complex policy problems and build the capability of the public service.
Secretaries themselves will have strengthened responsibilities to find ways to provide more joined-up policy development and services to citizens.
If we can achieve all these changes, the public service will be much better equipped to meet the mounting challenges we face. We must expect the unexpected, and be ready to respond. The public service needs to be flexible and agile enough to respond to problems that emerge more quickly than before.
If we can do all that, we will not only be a good public service by world standards, we will be the best.
Steve Sedgwick is head of the Australian Public Service Commission, and was a member of the advisory group that prepared Ahead of the Game.
Author: Steve Sedgwick
Publication: The Canberra Times (11,Tue 30 Mar 2010)