Governing the City State - Chief Minister and Treasury Directorate ...

To become an exceptional Strategic Board, Directors-General will need to work intentionallyto develop themselves and their colleagues. Chris Thomas, from Egon ZehnderInternational 314 believes that:Board members need a series of core competencies if they are to be successful. Thesecompetencies include results orientation, strategic orientation, collaboration, andintegrity and independence. In addition, the Chairman needs the skills to be able tolead the Board, to mentor and work effectively with the chief executive and themanagement team, and to ensure that the management and the Board both view theirrespective roles as ones with a fundamental accountability.If the ACTPS is to continue to move beyond the conventional task-finish approach thenexecutives will need to subordinate their Directorate’s self-interest to a whole of ACTPSapproach.In the context of a 2008 executive workshop, Chief Executives identified the fragility and‘thinness’ of the ACTPS as a weakness and a threat to current and future capability to deliverquality services to the community. At the time, the ACTPS was feeling the impact of a tightlabour market, skills shortages and the inability to replace key talent and leaders. Inrecognition of the need for leadership enablers, and building on work done by Dr Julie Westof Workplace Research Associates on a major employee engagement survey and report, theACT Government invested in its Attraction and Retention Framework. It is specificallydesigned to improve the effectiveness of ACTPS officials, through professional developmentand implementation of targeted attraction and retention strategies. The programs offeredfocus on improving leadership and managerial capability and providing ACTPS employeeswith opportunities to grow and develop.At the time of this Review, nearly 45 percent of ACTPS executives and over seven percent ofSenior Office Grade A/Bs have participated in a learning and development program under theAttraction and Retention Framework. Participation in these programs alone will not deliverimproved, efficient and bold ‘top tier’ ACTPS leadership – they must be complemented by awhole of government approach to investing in leadership capability. The CorporateLeadership Council characterises the environment for “top tier” leadership as one where thereis:• senior executive commitment to development;• organisational reinforcement of development;• hiring for organisational compatibility;• exacting performance standards;• full business exposure for rising executives; and• selection of successors for their leadership ability.314Thomas, C. (2010) Board Performance Appraisals http://www.ceoforum.com.au/article-detail.cfm?cid=6303&t=/Chris-Thomas-Egon-Zehnder-International/Board-Performance-AppraisalsCapability, Capacity and Effectiveness: 245