The revolution continues unabated

The creation of the SES in 1984 marked the beginning of a sustained period of public sector reform that has led to fundamental changes in the way the APS operates. The APS is no longer change resistant, slow to move, rule bound, or unresponsive to community needs. This shift away from traditional ways of working and problem solving were driven by four key and enduring themes:

• a new management ethos;
• a new principles-based statutory framework;
• the need for new leadership capabilities; and
• a renewed focus on embedding a cohesive senior leadership group.

A new management ethos

According to the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Public Administration 1990 report, Development of the Senior Executive Service, ‘the establishment of the SES came early in a period of unusually intense change for the senior public service…’ the general direction of which was:

• an emphasis on devolution or ‘letting the managers manage’;
• a change in focus towards ‘management for results’;
• increased responsibility and accountability or ‘making the managers manage’.¹⁷

Each of these directions impacted directly on the roles and responsibilities of the newly created SES.

Letting the managers manage

The last 30 years has seen a progressive delegation and then devolution of resource management responsibilities from central agencies to individual departments.

Public sector reforms through the 1980s and 1990s in particular sought to reduce detailed intervention by central agencies within a framework of service wide standards and expenditure controls. Central agency management of the size of the APS was gradually replaced by direct control of employee numbers by individual agency heads, with closer integration into financial budgeting processes.

The devolution of responsibility for personnel management, policy development and financial management underpinned the Hawke Government’s clear desire to reassert political control over policy-making, while letting agency heads run their organisations. The reforms placed greater emphasis on responsiveness to government, parliament and the community, while still maintaining traditional public service ethics and values.

This culminated in the Public Service Act 1999 which vested employer powers in agency heads within a principles-based framework and the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 which reinforced agency head formal responsibility for the effective, ethical and efficient use of resources. As a result, individual departments and agencies and their senior leadership cadre now have opportunities for greater flexibility in how they manage their money and employees.

Compared to 1975 there is now little regulatory control from central agencies.

Managing for results

In the 1980s, Australia’s public sector reforms focused increasingly on improved efficiency and effectiveness and a stronger emphasis on results.

Consistent with the increasing focus on managing for results, financial reforms replaced process compliance with performance control. A key initiative in 1984 was the Financial Management Improvement Plan that sought to improve public service management and accountability. Underpinning the plan were the principles of the devolution of management to agency heads, improved corporate and business planning, increased public accountability, and greater emphasis on the evaluation of effective performance.

Managing for results remains a central focus of today’s SES. Today the Australian Government’s Budget creates a strong link between agency strategic plans and their funding.

Making the managers manage

According to a former Secretary:

The counterpart of devolution to allow the managers to manage were changes to make the managers manage by improving accountability for their performance. In particular the standards of reporting to parliament was greatly improved…while the quality of Annual reports was raised and the information was presented in a more accessible form than previously.¹⁸

Managing for results gave the SES clear responsibility for their agency’s performance and, consistent with this, mechanisms for measuring and assessing SES performance also evolved. Although early attempts to implement performance appraisal arrangements were unsuccessful, a performance culture was finally embedded by the late 1990s as SES employees moved progressively to individual industrial agreements.

The law catches up with practice—the Public Service Act 1999

The public sector reforms of the 1980s and associated changed management arrangements, practices and principles were at odds with the prescriptive and rules-based Public Service Act 1922. However, it took until 1999 for the statutory framework to catch up.

In 1996, the then Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service, the Hon Peter Reith MP, released a discussion paper, Towards A Best Practice Australian Public Service.

The paper is styled as a blueprint for reforming the delivery of government services…[and] notes the value and important role of the Senior Executive Service (created in 1984) but also criticises the SES in some respects, eg its performance in exhibiting and communicating a collective vision of the Service.

The Government is determined that the leadership potential of the SES be further developed. Commitment to devolution must be balanced by shared perspectives, effective communication, joint training and collegiality. Without collective leadership the traditional ethos of Public Service will be lost.

The success of the APS will increasingly depend on the ability of its executives to adjust to new challenges. The current SES selection criteria need review to ensure that they reflect what is needed for APS leadership and that they —and the selection processes employed—do not limit the ability of Agency Heads to select the executives best suited for the job. The objective is to ensure cohesive leadership not to impose inflexible selection methods.¹⁹

The Public Service Bill 1997 was introduced in June of that year and, following numerous amendments proposed by parliamentary committees, the then Opposition and minor parties, the Bill was finally passed by the Parliament and given assent on 11 November 1999.

The new Act was another watershed in public service leadership reform. It holistically updated the 1922 Act reducing it from nearly 300 pages to 56. This was possible because it represented a fundamental paradigm shift from a rules based, prescriptive approach to a principles-based approach. The new Act also caught up with the devolution of APS financial and human resource management to individual agencies.

The 1999 Act retains the concept of the Senior Executive Service but provides a more detailed description of its responsibilities, building on the 1984 reforms. The Act for the first time includes a clear statement of the APS-wide role of the SES.

The new Act also codifies, for the first time, 15 APS Values that form the ethical framework that defines the APS, rather than rules and processes set by a central employer. It therefore places specific obligations on the SES to, by personal example and other means, promote the APS Values and compliance with the APS Code of Conduct.

The ‘right stuff’—an emphasis on capability

Successive government reforms have changed the way in which the APS works and impacted directly on the skills required by senior public servants.

Initially corporate managerialism required the public service to develop a cadre of generalist managers with good program skills. Later, the shift to becoming more responsive meant that public servants needed to hone their negotiation and diplomatic skills as they increasingly worked with community groups and various forms of contractors. And the change in the nature of regulation required public servants to develop a more sophisticated understanding of markets.²⁰

These changes have been reflected in the progressive development and refinement of SES core competencies.

The 1983 white paper, Reforming the Australian Public Service, proposed that departments develop and introduce staff appraisal programs for SES employees.

The first phase (endorsed by Secretaries in 1985) was the identification of the core job skills important to effective performance. These core competencies would establish a shared understanding of the critical success factors for performance in APS leadership roles.

After extensive consultation with SES employees, the first core SES selection criteria were agreed. They included five competencies:

• human relations skills
• strategic thinking
• conceptual, analytical and creative skills
• adaptability / flexibility
• achievement orientation.

These were ‘adopted as representing the qualities sought for SES positions across the APS’²¹ in November 1987, and were used as the basis for all SES selections.

The process of standardising selections lays a very sound basis for equitable and fair decisions—one that is lacking when only criteria specific to the position are used. It facilitates lateral mobility as officers in the selection process can be identified as ‘suitable at level’.²²

The selection criteria were reviewed and updated once more in 1990–91, but evolved into their current form ten years later. In 1998–99, a Senior Executive Capability Framework was developed which raised the bar higher by articulating in detail the skills, capabilities and qualities every SES employee was expected to exhibit. Portfolio Secretaries unanimously endorsed the framework to replace the previous SES core competencies in 2001.

The five key elements of the framework were also adopted as a new set of SES core selection criteria:

• shapes strategic thinking
• achieves results
• exemplifies personal drive and integrity
• cultivates productive working relationships
• communicates with influence.

The framework provides an integrated approach to selection, development, performance assessment and succession planning for the APS and remains in use today.

A recent survey of all SES employees confirmed that the framework continues to be relevant. Those surveyed strongly agreed that all five capabilities are important for today’s SES, and were likely to be required in five years’ time. Notably, SES employees strongly agreed that the need for two capabilities—strategic thinking and cultivate productive relationships—would increase markedly in five years.²³

Embedding a new culture—One APS–One SES

One of the key purposes of the creation of the SES in 1984 was to reshape APS leaders into a ‘unified, cohesive senior staffing group’. This goal was revitalised in 2005 after recommendations were made in a report investigating APS workforce issues.

This report was overseen by the Management Advisory Committee (MAC), a forum of Secretaries and Agency Heads established under the Public Service Act 1999, which advises the Australian Government on matters relating to the management of the APS. As a result of the report’s recommendations, MAC released a statement for the SES that focused on helping them to understand their role in promoting a strong common identity across the APS.

The One APS–One SES statement provides the most detailed articulation of the responsibilities and expectations of the SES to date and reiterated a:

…commitment to a single SES across a single, devolved APS. … all senior executives [are expected] to exhibit common capabilities, share common values, common ethical standards and a common commitment to development and collaboration.²⁴

It warned that:

The APS operates in a rapidly changing, devolved environment which demands significant organisational agility and responsiveness, and a flexible, collaborative approach to public administration.²⁵

The statement expects the SES to play a key role in modelling and promoting core ethics; to actively foster a collegiate, collaborative and supportive culture; and to be committed to self-development.

What is expected of the SES (extract from One APS–One SES)

Senior executives in the APS should be working actively to advise and support the government of the day. They do this through well formulated policies, sensible regulation, delivery of effective services, well functioning governance structures and active engagement with stakeholders. This requires an agile and flexible operating style focused on collaboration and the pursuit of practical solutions.

As part of each agency’s senior leadership team, we rely on the SES to:

• serve their Ministers with dedication, building relationships founded on trust with Ministers and their offices and an understanding of their respective roles
• have a thorough understanding of the legislative, regulatory and ethical framework that governs their actions and to be able to work effectively within that framework to deliver the Government’s agenda
• model the APS Values and promote compliance with the Code of Conduct
• position their work in its context: to know the business of their organisation and of the Government, and contribute to the agency’s broader responsibilities in the Australian community and abroad
• be results oriented and drive forward work-based reforms
• connect with other agencies to leverage better outcomes, including through whole of government strategies
• manage stakeholder relationships in an open and ongoing manner
• plan for and invest in the current and future workforce to meet changing labour market needs and changing government and community expectations
• make themselves available to serve on recruitment and selection committees for positions at lower levels
• integrate both workforce planning and management of line responsibilities with improvements in service delivery to, and employment of, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
• contribute to their agency’s corporate strategy and directions and champion those strategies and directions in their day-to- day operations

 

Next: Who are we now?