Chapter 8: Mobilising capability

Key points

  • Mobility can foster diversity of thinking, contestability of ideas and assist in capability development.
  • Most APS employees (72 per cent) have only worked for one agency.
  • Mobility within the ACT was higher than in other jurisdictions.
  • Most movements occurred between, and into, policy agencies.
  • Just more than half of respondents to the APS employee census agreed their agency supports mobility within the agency.

From a system perspective, mobilising people across the APS as and where required is an important means to building collective capability. Mobility can foster diversity of thinking, contestability of ideas and assist in capability development, lifting overall APS capability, not just individual capability.

In his first speech to the APS, the Senator the Hon Mathias Cormann, Minister for Finance and the Public Service, tasked the APSC to look at ways to rotate public servants through state and territory governments, private sector companies and the community sector. Such rotations are a way of building understanding and familiarity across sectors of the economy.

The APS has experience in providing such rotations. The Jawun APS secondment program is a successful example of the benefits of short-term mobility opportunities for APS employees outside the APS.

… how can we be confident that we are providing well-informed and integrated advice to government on Australia’s place in the world, or the transformation of the Australian economy, if the bulk of the APS has only worked in one department?

Dr Heather Smith PSM, Secretary, Department of Industry, Innovation and Science71

Jawun APS secondment program

The Jawun program enables APS employees to work alongside others from government, corporate, philanthropic and Indigenous organisations within an Indigenous organisation. The program aims to provide secondees with a deeper understanding of Indigenous culture and communities while helping to build the capacity of Indigenous leaders and organisations.

Since 2011, more than 430 secondees from more than 50 APS agencies have participated in Jawun, with most secondments being for six weeks. In 2017–18, 28 senior executive visits were undertaken and 72 EL employees from 26 agencies placed within one of the 10 Jawun regions. Many secondments are in remote or regional Australia; some are in Sydney.

The professional and personal development reported by participants includes:

  • improved flexibility and readiness to adapt to new routines and situations
  • increased tolerance of ambiguity
  • improved self-awareness
  • improved interpersonal and engagement skills
  • improved resilience.

The impact of the Jawun experience has far reaching implications for how secondees work when they return to their agency.

‘I learned a lot from interacting with Government, as opposed to being part of Government. In particular, roadblocks and issues that Government practices and processes can cause and the impact of communication styles and approaches,’ said one secondee.

‘It was a great opportunity to see how policy is made from the other side of the table’.

Degree of APS mobility

The headline mobility rate, measuring the proportion of employees who have moved between agencies in a year, is 2.5 per cent. This number has remained constant over the past 15 years.

Data is not consistently captured to allow reporting of internal agency movements because agencies often have difficulty in recording and reporting on this data. If internal mobility was included, it is likely that mobility would be significantly higher than the reported 2.5 per cent.

Most APS employees, 72 per cent, have only worked for one agency (Figure 49).

Figure 49: APS employees by number of agencies worked in

Figure 49 presents the proportion of APS employees who have worked in multiple agencies. The majority of APS employees, 72 per cent, have only worked in one agency. Eighteen per cent had worked in two agencies, while six per cent had worked in three.

Source: APSED

When viewing these numbers, it is easy to conclude there is little mobility in the APS. There is, however, more detail to this story and, to an extent, it is a story of two regions: the ACT and non-ACT.

Mobility within the ACT is significantly higher than it is in other jurisdictions. In 2017–18, 79 per cent of total movements were attributed to the ACT. Higher mobility in the ACT contrasts with most APS employees (62 per cent) working outside the territory.

The greatest proportion of the ongoing workforce is at the APS 1-6 classifications (Figure 49). These roles are primarily based outside the ACT, and most of these employees are in service delivery. From the EL 1 classification upwards, employees are more likely to be located in the ACT where mobility occurs.

Figure 50: Location of ongoing APS employees by classification

Figure 50 presents the work location of APS employees at each classification level. APS 3 classification level employees were most likely to be located outside the ACT. Eighty-nine per cent of employees of this level worked outside the ACT,

Source: APSED

Policy agencies attract the most movements between agencies. In 2017–18, 45 per cent of all transfers were into agencies focused on policy development (Figure 51). Most of these are primarily located in Canberra. This is consistent with the majority of movements between agencies being reported in the ACT.

Figure 51: Proportion of transfers of ongoing employees into an agency by type

Figure 51 presents the proportion of APS employees who worked in each type of agency. In order of proportions: 45 per cent of APS employees worked in policy agencies, 28 per cent in larger operational agencies, 11 per cent in smaller operational agencies,

Source: APSED

APS employees that belong to more technical or specialised job families are more likely to only work for one agency. Those belonging to the organisational leadership and strategic policy job families are most likely to have worked for multiple agencies (Figure 52).

These two most mobile job families are also primarily based in the ACT, with 59 per cent of organisational leadership and 89 per cent of strategic policy roles being based in the territory.

While promotions also provide opportunity for mobility, they are far more likely in an employee’s current agency than into a different agency. Of the 9,564 promotions reported for ongoing APS employees in 2017–18, 90 per cent were in an employee’s current agency.

The 2018 APS employee census sought feedback from employees on whether internal mobility was encouraged. Fifty-two per cent of respondents agreed their agency provided opportunities for mobility within the agency. Slightly less, 50 per cent, reported their supervisor actively supported opportunities for mobility. Less again, 32 per cent, agreed their agency provided opportunities for mobility outside their agency.

When agencies were asked about how they give visibility to their mobility initiatives, the most common responses were through expressions of interest, intranet-based job boards and mobility registers. Some agencies reported they use internal mobility to deliver project work by matching required capabilities with project needs. Agencies tended to express a preference towards using internal expertise before looking externally.

Figure 52: Number of agencies worked by an APS employee by job family

Figure 52 presents the proportion of APS employees of each job family who have worked in multiple agencies. Employees within the engineering and technical job family were most likely to have worked in one agency (91%).

Source: APSED

71 IPAA, 22 March 2018.

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