There has been much review and discussion surrounding the evolution of the APS Workforce and what must change to overcome the challenges identified of an un-unified leadership team, a lack of common purpose and a traditional and bureaucratic hierarchy inhibiting the integration of teams and stifling new ways of working and thinking.
Indeed, to achieve the objective set out in the APS Workforce Strategy 2025: “operating as one enterprise, with a high-performing workforce to deliver effectively and efficiently for the Government, the Parliament and the Australian public”, a significant transformation needs to take place.
The outcomes of a much-needed transformation were further expressed in The State of Service 2020-21 Report, which called out the APS needs of increased responsiveness, adoption of more agile ways of working, a review of structures to accommodate diverse functions and drive better outcomes, increased performance and accountability, and the flexibility to support both employee wellbeing and operational needs.
The bigger picture – taking an agile operating model approach
To be positioned for the future and able to operate efficiently and effectively in continuing times of turbulence and uncertainty, it’s clear that the APS must adopt more agile and collaborative ways of working. And to do this, the APS needs to apply core agile enterprise principles to transform from a traditional organisation, steeped in bureaucratic hierarchy, into an adaptive and responsive organisation, characterised by a network of teams that are unified with a common purpose and configured around delivering outcomes. i.e. An agile operating model.
As McKinsey & Company explains, “Agile operating models configure teams based on facilitating outcomes instead of on function and expertise. This orientation can boost productivity and engagement by limiting handoffs between functional silos and focusing a wider array of skills on a shared objective.”
The outcomes of such a transformation for the public sector are clear. You gain the flexibility to respond quickly to changing and uncertain circumstances and have the ability to reconfigure your value chain to create and protect value that in turn, delivers services more effectively and efficiently. But to realise these transformational benefits, there’s a holistic journey to take and it’s one that’s both comprehensive and iterative in nature.
Taking the long road
For an agile transformation to be successful, you need to go beyond solely focusing on organisation structure. This isn’t going to get you to your destination. To transform how the public sector plans, operates and delivers value to citizens at scale, a far more powerful approach is needed. With the help of our BE HOLISTIC framework™, this consists of analysing every aspect of the organisation and representing this visually, showing the combination of elements (such as people, processes and systems) required to deliver value to customers. This holistic visualisation is known as the operating model and this serves as your blueprint as it understands how all of the moving parts fit together across your value chain.
Once you have established your operating model, it’s essential that it’s iterative and that involves piloting and scenario testing modifications. This ensures that areas can be identified where improvements over time would be necessary.
An agile operating model approach in action
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The task
As part of the economic stimulus recovery from COVID-19, the NSW Government sought out CorbettPrice to help establish a Faster Assessments Program to reduce timeframes for regionally significant development applications (RSDAs). This work involved revolutionising the operating model which spanned NSW Government proponents, local councils and assessment panels to improve and sustain these timeframes in the long term.
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The process
We formed a design group to evaluate the value chain and determine what worked well and what could be improved. During this process it was identified that major gains could be made by shifting the NSW Government’s role along critical parts of the value chain. This shift resulted in significant changes to the operating model, along with standardising procedures to free up capacity, allowing teams to be realigned to deliver better customer service.
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The result
23% operational capacity was freed up, with teams having a better connection with their stakeholders and clarity on their accountabilities. Assessment timeframes were also improved by 30% helping regional communities to create thousands of new homes and jobs.
Overcoming the cultural roadblock
Significant change can bring significant challenges when it comes to implementing a new operating model. Especially when changes result in new ways of working in a sector that’s been traditionally rigid in its hierarchical design and cultural mindset.
“Culture can make or break agile transformations. Indeed, organizations that fail to complete an agile transformation cite culture as the primary obstacle”. McKinsey & Company
When employees connect what they are doing with why they are doing it, it drives employee engagement which results in a strengthened company culture. This is why an operating model is important as it serves as the blueprint, bringing clarity to your organisation across key factors such as purpose, work environment, enabling practices and leadership.
The key themes of culture and capability are currently prioritised by the APS with the release of the APS Hierarchy and Classification Review, setting out how the APS can reduce hierarchy and adopt new ways of working to best utilise the skills and capabilities of staff. Further, The Secretaries’ Charter of Leadership’s “DRIVE” behaviours sets the benchmark for great leadership qualities for a more modern public sector.
Other key characteristics of agile enterprises can go against the very nature and design of the public sector. These can include budget planning, performance review cycles and interagency conflicts in terms of funding allocations which encourage competition, not collaboration, a key for achieving agility.
“For agencies (defined as stand-alone government entities with distinct missions), cross-functional collaboration holds great potential. Most agencies are structured around functional or sector expertise, but departments cannot achieve their organizations’ full objectives without collaboration.” McKinsey & Company.
Interagency collaboration for responsiveness
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The task
The NSW government hired CorbettPrice to develop an interagency operating model that would provide fast and targeted assistance to businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic, while also preparing them for future disruptive events.
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The process
We first established a group of representatives from different government agencies to define the value chain for allocating grants. Next, we were able to work through important matters that included how to quickly and easily assess who was eligible for grants, as well as how to make the application process seamless.
A critical factor in our process was to evaluate each agency’s strengths in order to ensure that tasks were allocated to the appropriate people and that teams knew how to collaborate to effectively and efficiently execute that allocation. Once the model was established, we piloted it and scenario tested modifications to highlight where improvements would need to be made in the future.
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The result
The results are in and the benefits are being realised by businesses and the community. The new interagency operating model delivers a more streamlined and targeted approach to allocating grants, and agencies are working together effectively to provide assistance to those who need it the most.
The NSW government is now better prepared to respond rapidly and effectively to future disruptive events, with a proven model that can be quickly activated to provide the necessary support.
Agile government at scale
“Agile is about creating high-performance teams, and as such can be well suited for use within large government agencies. Agile is about bringing out the very best in people, both on the business side and the technical side, to work together to solve real business problems.” Deloitte Insights, Agile in Government
The advantages of high performing teams that work across interagency boundaries are transformative. Complex societal problems can be addressed differently with the alignment and integration of information and resources around a cluster of specific needs. This can result in better outcomes for citizens, businesses and the community at large. Without the cooperation and collaboration amongst leaders across agencies teams this isn’t possible and results in expenditure waste.
Laying the groundwork - ensuring that implementation is successful
Agile transformations are challenging and organisations can fail in the implementation of an agile operating model. Here are 5 key steps to making implementation successful:
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For organisations to be successful in the implementation of a new agile operating model, it starts with a common and agreed purpose. This can only be achieved through collaborative consultation with both leaders and staff to ensure that everyone is headed in the same direction and a plan is followed. If teams start taking ‘off roads’ to the destination set your implementation may fail.
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Implementation must follow the piloting phase of your operating model. The piloting phase needs to include scenario testing to ensure that it can be rolled out successfully across your organisation. Transformation can’t be realised if implementation is only limited to parts of the organisation. Careful rollout and scaling across the organisation requires forward planning and adjustment along the way.
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Be wary of focusing too much on having a formal structured approach when implementing an agile operating model. Having a framework that’s too rigid will result in the inability to experiment and adapt as you go. Keep in mind that the overall objectives of an agile transformation are to achieve new ways of working through enabling innovation to deliver outcomes and experimenting is a part of that.
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Key steps in the process of designing an agile operating model is evaluating a team’s strengths and then looking at how tasks could be consolidated, simplified and effectively allocated. For teams to deliver high performance, they need clearly defined roles and empowerment to collaborate effectively and efficiently when executing allocated tasks. Key considerations also need to be factored into implementation in terms of how staff will be supported and managed through the transformation and into the future.
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Agile transformation is more than changing an approach to managing siloed projects. Leaders must shift their mindset and be anchored in agreement about the way forward. To proceed successfully you need to have a collective understanding on how the moving parts of your organisation fit together across your value chain. Further, you need to discover and understand the subtle interactions that could also be affected when change is implemented. An agile operating model acts as your blueprint and will guide you through the phases of your transformation.
Are you there yet?
Like with any journey, having the correct coordinates before you take off is essential. You can’t arrive at your destination if you don’t know where you’re heading to begin with! As we’ve explained, agile transformations are comprehensive and take considerable change for implementation to be successful. To ensure that this is the right approach for your organisation, consider the following:
Are the needs of your stakeholders; including customers, changing rapidly? Is your organisation finding it difficult to respond effectively and efficiently to these changing needs?
Have the digitisation strategies you’ve adopted been aligned across your end-to-end value chain? Are they truly achieving transformational outcomes for the future?
Do you have a need for increased accountability and transparency of information with your customers? Does your organisation struggle to deliver this working across various departments and teams?
Are you struggling to build high-performing teams and retain top talent with the traditional structure that your organisation operates within? Are you struggling with how to approach a restructure of your teams to deliver more value to your customers?
Getting started
At CorbettPrice, we have the expertise and experience in helping organisations and governments achieve their strategic objectives through applying agile methodologies across the operating model. Read more in our Operating Model article here or reach out if you would like to know how you can get started.
