Implementation priorities

Immediate Priorities

• Building on the establishment of the APS Academy, the APSC and Departments upgrade substantially the investment in training for EL2s and those with future supervisory responsibilities.
• APS Commissioner’s role as Chief People Officer be strengthened immediately, with resourcing and a mandate to implement this review.
• Secretaries Board develops and implements the Charter of Leadership Behaviours.
• Make new Classification Rules in early 2022.
• Secretaries/Agency Heads design and implement structural changes appropriate for their organisations by the end of 2023, following APS-wide consultation.

Decisive and comprehensive implementation of coordinated change is key to success and minimising disruption. A strong theme through consultation was that an implementation plan that is too extended risks losing momentum and intent. Leaders must provide certainty to the APS workforce that a single enterprise approach will be taken.

Roles and responsibilities

Accountability for successful implementation must be led by Secretaries Board and shared by leaders across the APS, including Agency Heads, the COO Committee and Heads of Professions. This should be accompanied by a strong, consistent narrative articulated across the APS workforce. A lesson from other public sectors, both Australian and international, was the importance of ministerial endorsement and support in driving urgent and sustained change. Support from Ministers and Ministers’ Offices will be critical in ensuring decision-making is pushed down appropriately and the right expertise are involved, regardless of rank.

A strengthened role for the APS Chief People Officer provides clear mechanisms for information sharing, collaboration and the provision of guidance to align implementation across agencies and ensure that an enterprise-wide focus is brought to transition and ongoing reforms.

Successful implementation of the recommendations relies on the urgent investment in enhancing EL2/Manager capability to reposition these roles as APS powerhouses – particularly looking at capabilities in risk management, ministerial engagements, strategic HR and change management. Learning and development of this cohort needs to be considered both in the transitional period as well as the continuum for the service moving forward. 

Investment in leadership and management training for supervisors at all levels will also be critical for implementation, so they are well-placed to manage more agile, flexible and collaborative teams.

The HR Profession will play a critical role in ensuring comprehensive and consistent implementation across the service. The APS must ensure it has the HR expertise for successful implementation, including organisational design, strategic HR and change management.

Actions

• The APSC to work with agencies, the Secretaries Board, the COO Committee, HR professionals and others, to develop a detailed implementation plan incorporating all the governance and change management functions required to assist agencies to deliver the reforms.
   
• Making new Classification Rules early in 2022 will signal clear appetite for change, maintain momentum and set the expectation of enterprise-wide transformation. It will also provide opportunity for clear, consistent messaging across the sector on the intent, timing and expectations of reforms.
   
• Investment in leadership development will enhance and strengthen the capability and role of EL2/Managers and will be critical for implementation and ensuring they are well placed to manage more flexible, agile and collaborative teams.
   
  • Drawing on the APS Academy and APS Professions groups, the APSC will work with agencies to build on training opportunities for EL2s and those with supervisory responsibilities.
  • Training programs will provide skills in effective leadership, risk management, delegation and collaborative ways of working to create cohesive and productive teams.
     
• Urgent uplift in change management capability and support for the APS leadership will support sustained, enterprise-wide organisational change, acknowledging the complexity of implementing system-wide structural and cultural change.
   
• Enterprise-wide rules should allow for agency-level variation within reason, whilst maintaining and reinforcing the ‘One APS’ ethos for consistency, fairness, mobility and career progression. 
   
  • Noting the diversity of the APS, Agency Heads/Secretaries will retain flexibility to structure their organisation to optimise their business needs to meet the needs of Government and the community. Mechanisms that may be used to support flexibility include: intra-band reporting, use of broadbanding at non-SES levels and Agile teams and taskforces.
  • Note the Panel is not recommending the loss of any terms or conditions, or any changes to staffing levels in the implementation of these recommendations; although it notes decisions taken by Agency Heads in implementing the new structures could result in efficiencies over time.
     
• The APSC should lead in-house support, governance and change management functions to assist agencies to deliver change.

Recommended Implementation Milestones

The recommended implementation timeline is provided in Figure 11.

Figure 11 | Implementation timeline