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CONCLUSIONS

Through the APS Values, the PS Act provides an ethical framework that allows agencies the flexibility to develop their own approaches to their business and management environment, without detailed central prescription, while still remaining faithful to fundamental principles of public service. Clearly, the success of this approach relies on a proper understanding of the Values by agencies and employees, and their integration into agency systems, procedures and culture. This year’s employee survey results reflect the success that agencies have had in creating commitment to the APS Values. They indicate that the vast majority of employees feel they are familiar with the APS Values and view them as relevant to their daily work.

The agency survey results show that agencies have modestly increased their level of investment in training and development related to the Values, and have taken strong steps to integrate the Values into their performance management systems. This was a significant issue identified in last year’s report, and the progress made in this area is particularly pleasing. The agency survey indicates that 80% of agencies currently require that, in assessing individual performance, a judgement is made about the extent to which employees demonstrate and consistently apply some or all of the APS Values or agency-specific values/behaviours–a significant increase from the previous year. Perhaps even more importantly, all but one large agency has adopted this approach, which indicates that the great majority of APS employees are now working under such an arrangement.

This year’s survey results also confirm the previous finding that those employees who are familiar with the APS Values are more likely to have agreed that their agency has a clear set of values about the behaviour expected of them. Employees who rated their level of familiarity with the Values as high were also more likely to consider that the Values are highly relevant to the organisation’s business and to daily work, and to have agreed that those around them act in accordance with the Values. This finding should provide an incentive for agencies to continue to invest in activities that develop the awareness and understanding of the Values among their own staff.

However, while the findings in this year’s report about the Values and the efforts that agencies are making to embed them in their processes and workplace cultures are generally positive, a number of concerns remain. The most obvious of these is that although the great majority of APS employees are confident that their immediate managers and colleagues act in accordance with the APS Values, they continue to have a significantly lower level of trust that their senior managers do so. Even after acknowledging that some of this relates to the tendency for scepticism of staff in organisations about senior management, there is clearly a problem here to be addressed.

The importance for agencies to get this right should not be underestimated. If the leadership group is seen to model and champion the APS Values, other staff in the agency will actively engage with them. Where senior managers are silent or indifferent, other employees may treat the Values as empty rhetoric. The matter requires constant attention.

Future reports will continue to address progress made by agencies towards adopting an integrated approach to embedding the APS Values.