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

Often, to avoid these costs, business managers in the ACT Government, systemicallyunderestimate the complexity of ICT enabled projects and the need for specialisedproject management skills. Relatively junior administrative staff are nominated asproject managers for what are wrongly judged as “simple technology” projects,leading to poor project outcomes through delays and escalating costs.ICT workforce planning should be part of the mandate of the proposed Chief Minister’sDepartment. This workforce planning requires a balance between permanent employees andcontract staff, periodic decisions as to which ICT functions are best undertaken “in house”which should be delivered through partners and an acute awareness of the changingtechnological skill sets required. The planning will also include growing a skilled set ofbusiness resources that can parachute into a Directorate to assist or oversee projectmanagement on behalf of the client business area. This would reflect an approach alreadyimplemented in recognition of the growing challenges of ICT projects, by the Department ofEducation and Training which has created an Information Services Branch to providebusiness leadership to projects.Officials also advocated for a more flexible and tailored approach to procurement processes.Officials also heavily criticized the current funding model stating that the standard contractadministration fee (four per cent) charged by ACT Procurement Services for constructionprojects is excessive, not competitive with the private sector, and not in proportion to thelevel of resources allocated by Procurement Solutions to manage projects. Moreover, theregulatory and service delivery roles performed by Procurement Solutions are not separatelyidentified in the fee structure, something that needs to be rectified.The lack of clarity around Procurement Solutions’ role in procurement, contractadministration and project management is a core inhibitor of high quality services. Thesethree functions are fundamentally different, requiring different core skills and expertise.Officials from across the service have highlighted deficiencies in the operational “HR”systems – notably the failure to process long service leave, to respond to graduated return towork arrangements and provide detailed superannuation information on pay slips.Staff turnover and lack of training have amplified the challenges faced by Shared Servicesand identified opportunities for further improvement in the areas of employee relations(particularly investigative standards), injury prevention and injury management.Critically, the operational deficiencies manifesting in the transactional functions of SharedServices are magnified by the lack of strategic policy stemming from the workforcecapability and capability functions.Consideration could be given to embedding Shared Services staff within Directorates todevelop a better understanding of their core business.Capability, Capacity and Effectiveness: 293