Key chapter findings

Through the Values, the Act provides an ethical framework that allows agencies to manage risk and develop their own approaches to their business and management environment without centralised prescription. The success of this approach depends on the successful integration of the Values and the Code into an agency and integrating the Values into daily decision-making and behaviour.

The role of SES and EL employees is important in helping to integrate the Values into an agency’s systems, procedures and culture. A very high percentage of SES employees (99%) reported that the Values were at least moderately relevant to their daily work. Ninety-two per cent reported that the Values were highly relevant to their daily work. For EL employees these two figures drop to 96% and 80%, respectively. This suggests that there may be a need to lift awareness of the importance of the Values amongst EL employees.

The agency survey shows an upward trend over the last three years in the proportion of agencies using online training, induction and/or orientation sessions on how the Values and the Code should operate as part of their agency learning and development activities.

Responses to the employee survey continue to show a high level of variability among the large agencies in relation to the proportion of employees who reported having received Values training. In nine of the 21 large agencies less than 30% of employees reported such training.

While on the whole agencies are directing the same degree of effort towards embedding the Values and the Code into their processes and workplace cultures, and the majority of employees feel that they are familiar with the Values and view them as relevant to their daily work, the concerns noted last year remain:

• although the great majority of employees are confident that their immediate managers and colleagues act in accordance with the Values, they continue to have a significantly lower level of trust in their senior managers
• employee confusion between agency-specific values and the Values.

It can be expected that employees’ perceptions of the leadership group’s active engagement with the Values and the Code will influence perceptions and behaviours throughout the APS.

Building trust is something important for all APS employees but particularly for the leadership group. While there may be other factors that contribute to these results there is still a need for continued promotion, discussion and modelling of the Values. The Commission is aware of this need and has recently developed a learning and development kit called Being Professional in the Australian Public Service—Values Resources for Facilitators. This kit enables training activities on the Values and the Code to be tailored to best meet the needs of the diverse range of APS employees including those in the leadership group.

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