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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 6:
Department of Transport and Regional Services:
Leading in DOTARS
Background
Between 1998 and 2000, the Department of Transport and Regional Services (DOTARS) focused on a series of generic leadership programs for staff throughout the organisation. Leadership had appeared as an issue in previous staff surveys, but was again raised in the 2000 Departmental Staff Survey. To explore the issue more fully the department held a number of focus groups with staff at all levels. As a result, a decision was made to introduce a corporate citizenship program with a focus on ethics, values, leadership and emotional intelligence as part of a move toward a high-performance culture for all staff.
The program-Leading in DOTARS-is the foundation component of the DOTARS leadership agenda.
Description
The Secretary's vision for DOTARS is summarised as 'a high performing organisation and a great place to work'. To support this vision, the Leading in DOTARS Program focuses on good corporate citizenship. It includes a session on ethics, the APS Values and DOTARS' values, and provides awareness of the changing management and policy directions of the Department to encourage creativity and wider participation in corporate activities.
This program seeks to maximise the capacity of all staff to lead and focuses on behaviours the department seeks to foster to achieve its objectives. As such, it focuses on the behavioural change required by every staff member to play a stronger leadership role in the department's work environment.
All staff are encouraged to attend the program, which provides participants with the opportunity to develop and extend their leadership capabilities in, among other things:
- influencing others
- understanding the impact of ethics and values on decision making
- managing changes that affect the work environment.
Key program objectives are to help staff to:
- understand major policy priorities and recent management initiatives
- be more confident in dealing with change
- understand leadership in the context of ethical behaviour, the APS Values and DOTARS' values
- extend networks and build relationships across DOTARS
- understand how leadership can be demonstrated at all levels.
Leading in DOTARS opens with a half-day introductory session in the first week, an action learning project in the second and third weeks, and a three-day workshop at the end of the third week. The Secretary joins most courses for an informal evening discussion during the three-day workshop. Staff at a variety of levels and from different parts of the organisation are represented at each workshop.
The first Leading in DOTARS workshop was held in June 2001 and the forty-sixth, and final, workshop was held in June 2003. By the end of December 2002, 867 staff (from a total of 950) had participated in a workshop. The department is now looking at an independent evaluation of the program and at the design of its next stage.
For more information please contact:
HAZEL BERG
PHONE 02 6274 7562
hazel.berg@dotars.gov.au
