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Last updated: 25 August 2003
Embedding the APS Values: Case studies and other supporting material
Please note: These documents are for reference purposes only and are no longer considered by the APS Commission to be current. They may contain good practice advice and/or advice on the transitional arrangements between the 1922 and 1999 Public Service Acts.
Useful references
Case study 2:
Department of Defence:
A strategic approach to building and fostering leadership
Background
The Defence Renewal Program was initiated by the then Secretary of the Department of Defence in late 1999. It is aimed at transforming the way Defence goes about its business with a focus on the Results through People leadership philosophy.
The program's objectives are to build sustainable organisational capability and to facilitate strategic response to change in the Defence environment. The first stages of Defence Renewal have re-focused and strengthened the leadership culture at SES level and their equivalents (star rank military officers).
The three priority themes of Defence Renewal highlight a need for:
- improved alignment with government's strategic direction
- clearer accountability for results
- a leadership culture that promotes trust and teamwork.
New ways of working in Defence, including shaping the new leadership culture, could not have been effectively achieved without taking account of the government's policy directions for Defence and integrating desired behaviours with the performance management framework.
This case study describes the development of the Defence Renewal Program and the approach taken to building the new leadership culture.
Description
Defence Renewal began with a series of workshops with Defence SES employees and military equivalents (the Senior Leadership Group) hosted by the Secretary of the Department of Defence and the Chief of the Defence Force. The early workshops identified and explored the critical strategic management issues for Defence. At the time, there was widespread dissatisfaction with Defence's performance from stakeholders including ministers, central agencies within the public service, industry and, as the workshops demonstrated, from within Defence itself. The workshops and key stakeholder views demonstrated that a different management approach was needed urgently.
The Secretary believed that confidence needed to be restored and, apart from budget and financial priorities, the most significant organisational issue faced by Defence was leadership.
The second series of workshops in early 2000 discussed an approach to completing the new Defence White Paper, the first since 1994, and the supporting Defence Capability Plan. The plan is a detailed costed plan of the capability requirements of the Australian Defence Force over 10 years. It gives Defence a clear and specific direction of what is required to implement the government's White Paper.
The workshops also provided the foundation for discussion and debate about the nature of the relationship a Defence department should have with government, and how to deliver quality policy advice and service to ministers. The Chief of the Defence Force and the Secretary of the Department of Defence are accountable to government for Defence's performance. The Minister for Defence, having civil control of the military, has overall responsibility for all matters covered by the Defence portfolio.
A third set of workshops in mid-2000 developed three alternative purpose statements for Defence, one of which-To defend Australia and its national interests-became Defence's new mission statement reflecting the outcome sought by government. At these workshops, the Results through People leadership philosophy was proposed as an important component of Defence Renewal.
At the same session, the Senior Leadership Group developed six values to guide behaviour and apply to SES employees and the military. These are: professionalism, loyalty, innovation, courage, integrity and teamwork. For civilian employees the Defence values complement the APS Values, but do not override them. It was critical to Defence Renewal that fundamental links needed to be made between government policy and the department's corporate strategy. Achieving results and making performance count became an important part of Defence's governance and accountability framework that included a new business model from 1 July 2000. The business model, and consequent restructuring, focused on two key dimensions of Defence's relationship with government:
- government as the purchaser of outputs (largely Defence capabilities, but also including policy advice)
- government as the owner of Defence. As such, it is interested in Defence's ability to sustain its delivery of its outputs and to achieve or better its budgeted operating results.
Internal customer-supplier (purchaser-provider) arrangements were also introduced and charters developed between the Secretary of the Department of Defence and the Chief of the Defence Force and the head of each of Defence's Services and Groups to establish clear responsibilities and accountability, as well as organisational alignment.
The new structure also included a sharpening of the role of senior Defence committees to reflect their advisory role in accountability and decision making. The two senior committees, the Chiefs of Service Committee and the Defence Committee, are chaired by the Chief of the Defence Force and the Secretary of the Department of Defence respectively.
Work has been completed on the new enterprise risk management framework and a new performance-based Defence Matters Balanced Scorecard that integrates financial and non-financial performance reporting.
In mid-2000 the Senior Leadership Group developed Defence's People Leadership Model as the cornerstone of building a leadership culture and translating values into behaviours. The notion of People First was given formal effect through staff agreements with codified arrangements for a performance exchange process which APS employees undertake twice a year. The aim was to build a clear line of sight between an individual's contribution to their workgroup and the Defence outcomes and outputs. Individual performance targets could then be linked with the outcomes required by government.
The Secretary of the Department of Defence and the Chief of the Defence Force also made clear that they would not tolerate leaders in Defence who achieved results at the expense of other people and quality working relationships. Moreover, technical competence alone would not ensure promotion.
A new approach to leadership development was initiated for SES Band 1 employees and their military equivalents. A leadership program (Capstone) was devised which was designed to have a strategic focus, being:
- Defence Committee driven
- reality-based
- consciousness-raising
- strategy-connected
- values-based
- leadership capability linked.
The Defence Committee's role in Capstone was essential, recognising the importance of the role of top managers in developing leaders. The program includes coaching and mentoring by a mentor approved by the Secretary of the Department of Defence or the Chief of the Defence Force.
Recently, workshops have progressed for more than 2000 staff who report directly to the Senior Leadership Group. Leadership programs have also been developed for executive level employees in Services and Groups within Defence. For example, the Quantum program in the Defence Materiel Organisation (see case study no. 34).
For more information please contact:
RANDY KNISPEL
PHONE 02 6265 7112 randy.knispel@defence.gov.au or defence.renewal@defence.gov.au
