Lifting Performance in the South Australian Public Sector

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Lifting Performance in the South Australian
Public Sector

• 19 March 2009

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What a difference a year makes!

• Government is back. Before the crisis government
  was the problem. Today everyone looks to
  government for solutions.
• Market fundamentalism has failed completely and
  our reliance on sound public institutions has
  been underlined.
• We are moving toward a new balance where public
  institutions will be more vital than ever.
• But what should that balance be?

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• What is our model for the new public sector?
• Its not a identikit of the past, but a model
  that recognises as times change, so must we.
• In SA context, PSPC has been working on this and
  our ideas were used by the Economic Development
  Board in the Economic Statement released
  yesterday.

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• Government is more important in a globalised
  world, and particularly today
• As a service provider - meeting essential
  community needs, but also remembering public
  sector is dominant service provider and services
  are dominant in advanced economies.
• As an effective regulator protecting the
  general interest but also making sure regulation
  addresses problems cost effectively ensuring
  third party access to infrastructure.
• As a strategic leader, organiser and facilitator,
  marshalling resources and partnerships
  particularly where private interests acting alone
  would not meet all the objectives (eg. Planning
  review).
• Providing foundations for economic growth through
  infrastructure provision, education and
  application of knowledge.
• SA needs a Public Sector that is the best it can
  be, not the biggest it can be.

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Role of PSPC

• Help ensure South Australians benefit from having
  a public sector which is high performing and is
  regarded as amongst the best alongside comparable
  jurisdictions.
• Provide to government the building blocks of a
  high performance public sector.
• PSPC is a doing organisation fewer reports
  more projects.
• Some projects will result in a framework for
  application across the public sector other
  projects will be driven and delivered by the PSPC
  itself.
• All will be time-bound projects with clear
  objectives, aims and performance measures.
• Vital to meeting SASP targets.

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PSPC work overseen and guided by board

• Professor Jennifer Westacott, senior partner,
  KPMG, and chair
• Professor Roy Green, Dean of Business, Faculty of
  Business, University of Technology, Sydney.
• Ms Estelle Bowman, Chartered Organisational
  Psychologist and consultant.
• Professor Barbara Pocock, Centre for Work Life,
  University of South Australia.
• Dr Tom Stubbs, Consultant and former Chief
  Executive of the Government Reform Commission.
• Mr Jim Hallion, Chief Executive of the Department
  of Transport, Energy and Infrastructure
• Mr Mal Hyde, South Australian Police
  Commissioner.
• Reports to the Minister Assisting the Premier in
  Cabinet Business and Public Sector Management and
  through him to the Premier as Chairman of the
  Executive Committee of Cabinet (ExComm).

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Key broad issues and challenges

• The public sector exists to
• Help secure the economic, social and
  environmental wellbeing of all South Australians.
• Ensure a strong future for the State.
• A globalised world means that we must anticipate
  and respond to change at ever faster rates, and
  recognise that economic, social and environmental
  performance are intertwined and interdependent,
  not separate.

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Key broad issues and challenges (cont.)

• We need
• Public sector leadership of high calibre that is
  outward and forward-looking and capable of
  anticipating and adapting to changing
  circumstances, and helping to shape the future.
• Partnerships (business, education and community)
  and mobilising of knowledge and energy a public
  sector with porous borders.
• Strong service orientation and Citizen-Centric
  government how do we hear the voice of the
  community in everything we do?
• To do more within constrained envelope of
  resources productivity and performance
  improvement vital.

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What must we address to drive higher public
sector performance?

• Leadership and strategic capacity
• Innovative capability
• Collaboration
• Citizen Centric Government
• Productivity and performance
• Workforce planning and development

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1. Leadership and strategic capacity

• How do we build high calibre leaders with drive
  who
• understand where we need to be in 5-10 years and
• what we need to do to get there?
• High performance demands outward looking
  leadership with the capacity, skills and drive to
  tackle complex problems and challenges, and to
  capitalise fully on opportunities.
• Advance the South Australian Executive Service by
  ensuring strong focus on leadership capabilities,
  high performance, structured development
  pathways, and a clear line of sight to key goals
  and benchmarks, e.g. SA Strategic Plan.

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2. Innovative capability

• How do we capture and use knowledge to do things
  better?
• A high performance public sector is always using
  knowledge to find new or better ways of doing
  things. It learns from experience - its own and
  others'. A high performance public sector depends
  on its capacity to capture knowledge and use it
  to drive change throughout the sector.
• Committing to best practice and being prepared to
  change
• Piloting new ideas to show what works and how to
  do things better.
• Assembling teams of the best and brightest
  thinkers and doers from across government,
  business and the community to address specific
  problems.

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3. Collaboration

• How do we build partnerships and collaboration to
  overcome
• siloed practices where they impede higher
  performance?
• Finding solutions to today's problems means
  finding new ways to work together, forming
  partnerships and collaborations between
  government, the community and business.
• A high performance public sector uses strong
  partnerships that harness collective knowledge
  and mobilise the energies of people across
  government, the community, the education sector
  and business.
• We need to develop the skills for collaboration.
• We need to recognise and reward effective
  collaboration.

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4. Citizen Centric Government

• How do we engage with and learn from the
  community? How do
• we hear the voice of the citizen and community?
• Citizen and Public Engagement pilot projects.
• Look at successful models elsewhere.
• Helping citizens come to the table with
  solutions, not just problems.

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5. Productivity and performance

• How do we achieve high productivity and embed
  continuous
• productivity improvement across the Public
  Sector? How do we
• meet the public expectations for better service
  from within a
• constrained envelope of resources?
• To be high performing and sustain best practice,
  the South Australian public sector needs to be
  able to measure its performance.
• Look at successful productivity and performance
  improvement here and elsewhere.
• Tackle barriers use pilot programs implement
  strategies develop context sensitive measuring
  tools.

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6. Workforce planning and development

• What workforce will we need in ten years and how
  do we achieve
• it?
• Work now happening on
• Obtaining key data.
• Major recruitment reform considering
• Single or general intakes
• More targeted recruitment and attraction
  mechanisms
• Order of merit
• E-recruitment
• Enhance trainee and graduate recruitment.
• Retention strategies, including flexible
  arrangements for older workers.

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6. Workforce planning and development (cont)

• Establish costs and benefits of existing practice
  and alternatives (killer data) do not assume
  current practice to be the most efficient.
• Longer term
• Develop and implement strong workforce planning
  and development strategy.

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Leadership development Active approach

• Executive Service and Leadership Action Team
  Pilot strong
• approach to talent and leadership development in
  3 agencies
• Trial new stronger competencies framework
  identify talent for likely further development,
  including future Chief Executives or very high
  leadership level.
• Work with education and training providers to
  develop robust suite of education and development
  opportunities require them to collaborate and
  specialise.
• Start intensive executive leadership development
  program and establish completion targets and
  dates.
• Commence development of key executive cohort,
  including leadership of Action Teams and other
  major projects.
• Leads broader executive development.

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Leadership Development Pathway
High Potential Admission Centre
CE and Agency Role
CE and SMC Role
Coach Mentor
Minimum competencies eg read a balance sheet,
write a Cab sub, do public presentations,
Understand budget processes And financial
management
Identified Leaders Pool
Action Team Projects
Strong high level leadership cohort
Leadership Development
Identification Cohort list Pathways Competencies M
entors Program of development
Targeted Specific Development
Very high Potential
Aspirants
SAES members
High performers, specialists
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Action Teams

• Action Teams to operate on issues that require
  collaborative and targeted solutions. Use as
  leadership development tool. Require support of
  SMC (sponsoring CEs), sponsoring Minister, (in
  some cases) the Premier and Cabinet.
• Action Teams to consist of brightest and best
  doers and thinkers from across the Public Sector,
  with opportunities for collaboration with private
  sector and community.

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Action Teams have been established in

• Leadership Development
• Productivity and performance improvement in the
  Public Sector
• Innovation
• Citizen Centric Government
• Stronger Families addressing service linkages
• Intensive induction day held last month. PSPC
  Board has received presentations from each Action
  Team today.

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Leadership Development Action Team

• Sponsor Scott Ashby
• Champion Estelle Bowman
• Project Leader Elizabeth Young
• As described earlier, strengthen competencies
  framework, sharpen talent identification, develop
  robust leadership programs and trial evaluate
  them.
• Use Action Teams as key element of executive
  leadership development.

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Productivity and Performance Action Team

• Sponsor Brian Cunningham
• Champion Jim Hallion
• Project Leader Belinda Wood
• Do pilot projects in selected agencies starting
  with the Department of Health.
• Look at productivity and performance measurement
  improvement here, nationally and
  internationally.
• Develop recommendations for further action.
• Start by reviewing outpatient services.

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Innovation Action Team

• Sponsor Ray Garrand
• Champion Roy Green
• Project Leader Michael Milligan
• Looking at key initiatives and projects to embed
  innovation, optimum government structures to
  support high innovation in the community,
  government service and project delivery.
• Look at risk reward structure for innovation in
  the public sector and work on removing
  impediments.
• Recommend framework to help sustain high private
  sector innovation.

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Citizen Centric Government Action Team

• Sponsor Jos Mazel
• Champion Tom Stubbs
• Project Leader Mychelle Curran
• Work on citizen and public engagement pilot
  projects.
• Look at local, national and international models
  of community and citizen engagement.
• Recommend ways of aligning South Australia to
  best practice.

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Stronger Families Action Team

• Sponsor Tony Sherbon
• Champion Mal Hyde
• Project Leader Dana Shen
• Look at clusters of high users of child, family
  and other services.
• Look at an effective service delivery model for
  high users pilot program.
• Look at system change and workforce reform.

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Action Teams

• Exist to do 3 things
• To do projects to help find new practical
  solutions to key challenges and opportunities
• Where the old ways do not work anymore.
• Where we need to cut through.
• Where we need targeted and collaborative
  approaches.
• To help develop public sector leaders
• AT members selected as bright doers and thinkers
  for further leadership development.
• To enable better collaboration
• Finding solutions to todays problems means
  finding new ways of working together.
• Real projects time-bound strong project
  management.

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Basic Steps for Action Teams

• Real projects with committed sponsor(s) from SMC.
  SMC to have major management role.
• Proposal to SMC then Cabinet from sponsoring
  Minister and Agencies.
• Each team has sponsoring CE and designated member
  of PSPC Board.
• Extent and nature of external involvement
  considered
• Action Team is convened and does its work.
• Interim report back to sponsoring agencies, then
  to SMC, then to Minister(s), then to Cabinet.
• Then final report with implementation plan.
• Action Team dissolves.

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Other Key Projects

• Organisational Performance Survey tools,
  baselines and framework feeds broader
  performance and productivity agenda.
• Partnerships with academia and private sector
  public sector with porous walls.
• Public value and community engagement.
• Broad Executive Service development and
  recruitment.

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Why this work is urgent?

• A perfect storm is coming
• (regardless of the global financial crisis)
• Challenging public sector demography (median age
  is 45.4 years).
• Impact of major projects on availability of
  employees.
• Increased community demand for services within
  constrained resources.
• Many of the old ways will not work modern
  problems do not conform to old boundaries.
• Changing financial relationships between States
  and Commonwealth.
• Productivity, performance and leadership more
  critical than ever.

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The Future

• The Economic Development Boards Economic
  Statement was a
• major vote of confidence in the SA economy. The
  EDB expects SA
• to recover from the downturn more strongly than
  the National
• Average.
• Immediate problem
• Falling demand industry and business sustainment
  during downturn counter cyclical policy.
• Medium to long term
• Ensuring supply skills, infrastructure and
  natural resources in stronger demand (big switch
  from the past)
• State maintaining strong investment profile.
• Active role of government as strategic leader,
  organiser and facilitator more vital than ever
  bringing people and businesses together, building
  alliances to serve common goals.

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Some Questions for the Panel

• What does a high performance public sector look
  like?
• How can we measure productivity in a public
  sector context?
• How should we do community engagement how do we
  hear the communitys voice?
• What are some of the best ways of breaking
  through barriers?
• On leadership, should we have a training
  guarantee for our Executives? Should we be a
  more demanding customer of our universities?
• How do we do this in financial hard times?
• What should all Executives be able to do, at a
  minimum?
• How do we get better at collaborating across the
  public sector and how do we build better
  partnerships with business and others?
• Are we on the right track? Where to from here?