The challenge: Change a government bureaucracy
A state government department undertook a major organisational renewal program over three years to transform its relationships with stakeholders, its capacity to deliver services to government and the community, and its overall skills and capabilities. Driven by the Director-General and Board, the change program was implemented by Global Learning using six major focus areas: leadership, corporate planning, communication, people and learning, information management and external relations.
The process
Key initiatives were:
- Having a Global Learning change consultant work onsite within the Department and reporting directly to the Director -General
- Team and leadership workshops for senior management and functional teams
- Coaching for all seniors executives and directors
- Co-ordination of the change process with other management and HR initiatives
- An intense focus on increasing effective communication internally and externally
The results
In its first year, the project saw major restructuring of the top-40 directors, improved response from both internal and external stakeholders, more cohesive leadership, a performance management process for the whole organisation, a targeted skills development program, and new products and processes in planning and the delivery of planning services. One of the most significant outcomes was the agency’s increased capacity to grow and adapt to satisfy stakeholder expectations. The strong increase in both formal and informal communication was enthusiastically supported by staff at all levels, building a strong organisational morale and change adept culture.