Appendix D International public sector analysis

Panel Engagements

The UK is undergoing significant public sector reform, with a reform statement co-signed by the Prime Minister and Head of Civil Service. The challenges of dealing with Brexit and COVID-19 experiences has triggered greater mobility and new ways of working across the service. They have identified the need for a sector that has maximum agility; and as such, are moving to a more matrixed, smaller and flatter workforce. The new structure will see them aiming for 6-7 layers and spans of control of 8-10.

• As part of the reform, the service is focusing on recruiting and uplifting capabilities to align with future of work. For example, it wants to create people who are highly digitally literate, understand data and can undertake project management.
• They are currently working to lift workforce planning capability and increase knowledge capture, to minimise use of contingent labour/consulting to where it is most needed.
• The UK Civil Service noted the importance of constant deliverables along the reform journey, to demonstrate progress and bring people along and remove cynicism. Seeing the public sector as a partnership, not a corporation, fosters collaboration across the system. Building collaboration at the ‘team’ level across departments requires leadership and encouragement. There should be no barriers to sharing or being open source, and deploying as quickly as possible as a single enterprise.

The Canadian Public Service is focused on job security, career progression and retaining what was gained from the COVID-19 response, such as greater flexibility and mobility. Treasury Board of Canada (TBC) identified the current classifications system as too rigid for transfers and secondments. Learning from previous reform attempts, TBC noted the focus should be placed on the flow of the work.

• Classifications are considered a barrier to moving forward. The classification specialists are risk averse due to working with the existing classification tools for so long. The focus for systemic change is on reducing the number of classification tools and making them multi-disciplinary.
• Past attempts at classification reform in Canada have underpinned the importance of implementation. TBC regularly engages HR heads and HR specialists across the sector to ensure they are trained and well-equipped to support their department. HR specialists have a governance requirement to TBC and provide direct data to ensure change is implemented successfully.

In the Singapore Public Sector, initiatives exist to help foster a culture of innovation and agility. Work is underway to review the way the workforce is organised and structured, focused on the 3W’s of Work, Workforce and Workplace.

• The Singapore Public Service provides leadership development opportunities for leaders at all organisational levels, anchored around a set of leadership competencies for different leadership tiers. They have a set of core competencies all public service officers need to develop, including adoption of a ‘one public service’ mindset and effective collaboration across organisations.
• In order to attract specialists, the civil service pays competitive salaries at all levels of seniority, across different skill areas. Salaries are regularly benchmarked with comparable job families in the private sector and adjusted where appropriate. Work to uplift the capability of specialists includes implementing career development roadmaps, facilitating deployment/rotations across the service and short term talent attachments into the private sector.

The New Zealand Public Service currently works under a devolved system where individual departments consider workforce issues. They recently commenced work to develop WLS for application across the policy profession, with a view to aid mobility, workplace planning and provide common pathways for staff.

Desktop Research

The review included a desktop review of approaches to classification across other countries and within Australia (Appendix E | Comparisons with Australian State and Territory public services refers). The aim of this analysis was to understand the APS’s current approach to classification relative to other jurisdictions. The intention was not to seek alignment with other jurisdictions, rather to understand what can be learned from current practice. Based on findings from this analysis, the review proposes that the APS be at the forefront of classification reform that enables more collaborative, flexible and dynamic ways of working.

The review found that the APS’s universal classification system sets it apart from other countries. For example, Canada, New Zealand and Singapore organise roles based on occupation groups, while the UK links classifications more closely to its professions model. However, such approaches provide targeted career pathways for people with technical and specialist skillsets (Figure 13).

Figure 13 | Approach to classification structures across selected international jurisdictions