T - Department of Defence

employee empowermentS A S O L D I E Rshould be based on theDepartment's strategic plan toensure timely alignment withnew priorities and programmes.Topics such as understandingthe planning, strategy, budgeting,risk management, reportingframeworks and processes werediscussed in depth. The newDOD Enterprise RiskManagement Framework,which was promulgated inDecember 2010, was also discussed.The Directorate RiskManagement presented a standardisedrisk register, whichwill in future be used by allServices and Divisions.ment, sphere of Government and stateagency should therefore have planningcapacity.V Adm Johannes Mudimu, the Chief ofthe SA Navy, said that greater coherencein work between government departmentsand clusters across spheres couldonly be achieved if there was a commonunderstanding in enough detail of thelong-term objectives and direction of ourGovernment and the society it serves.He added: "In the context of the revisedGreen Paper of the GovernmentNational Planning Commission, theGovernment plans to achieve Vision2025. This spells out where we want tobe. As DOD planners, the leadership ofthe DOD/SANDF has great confidencein you, our resources, key institutionsand our employees. Longer term planningprovides longer term certainty, andAttendees of the DOD Professional Development Workshop on Planning,Reporting and Risk Management at the Peace Mission Training Centre inThaba Tshwane.At the closing of the workshop,Dr Mary Ledwaba, ChiefDirector Human Resources, andDr Thobekile Gamede, ChiefDefence Policy Strategy andPlanning, congratulated theworkshop participants andmentioned that Governmentrelied heavily on a matureadministration with a servicedelivery ethic, and each departimprovesthe quality of decision-makingto further facilitate the DOD's fulfilmentof its constitutional mandate and its roleto help strengthen our democracy."Speaking to SA Soldier, Ms Lea Annandale,Chief Risk Officer, mentioned thatthe link between the environmental analysis,planning and risk management wasvery important in understanding theorganisational context and conducting anenvironmental analysis to assist theDepartment in identifying key risk areasand differentiating between the types ofrisks, e.g. risks that are unique to a specificenvironment and transversal risks thatcut across the entire Department. Shebelieves that the workshop providedplanners with the necessary knowledgeand skill to manage and report on theirrisks in a pro-active manner, and toutilise frameworks and tools to turn risksinto opportunities.Ms Annandale continued: "Effectiverisk management allows departments tohave increased confidence that they candeliver desired outcomes, manage risksand threats to an acceptable degree andmake informed decisions about opportunities.It is imperative that top managementand high-level boards of theDOD be presented with information onrisk management that could affect longtermplanning, with the focus on strategicand transversal risks. If this is notdone in a constructive manner, riskassessments and state of the art risk registerswill serve no purpose."Workshop participants were taughthow to identify particular risks relevantto their goals, assess them in terms oflikelihood and impact, determine aresponse strategy and monitor progressto ensure that the DOD becomes a riskintelligentorganisation.J U N E 2 0 1 1 • s27