Joining us virtually On the Couch Chief Executive, Environment Protection Authority (EPA), Tony Circelli, shared how this unique crisis situation called on his department to embrace different ways of providing service.

“The key thing is communication”

As highlighted by many public sector leaders in these sessions, Mr Circelli emphasised how vital communication is, both internally and externally, particularly during the early response to the pandemic. In these challenging circumstances, stakeholders and staff needed to know if services were continuing and what this would look like.

The health and wellbeing of both the EPA’s teams and customers are a big part of the culture at the EPA, Mr Circelli shared. From the initial stages of the pandemic, this mindset helped them recognise that everyone was going to respond differently to the changes brought about by working from home, distancing restrictions and impacts on businesses’ operations. From his department, there was a large effort to provide support to staff who needed it, especially younger employees or those entering the sector, who had not yet had the chance to form connections.

“The big cultural change to society, is that everyone has had to learn the technology”

As we now emerge into the recovery period, a key focus for Mr Circelli will be examining how we can embed the ‘new business as usual’ into what services will look like post-COVID, and how the delivery of those services may be changed for the better.

When asked what Mr Circelli and his department might do differently post COVID-19, he noted his enthusiasm for taking up new and existing technologies to save time and increase their ability to communicate. The new possibilities of working from home have changed the way recruitment and HR may work, where people in rural areas can access increased opportunities.

“Leadership is an area where you are focusing on change. It’s being prepared to change yourself. It’s being prepared to lead people through those changes”

Mr Circelli also shared his thoughts on important traits for leaders during this time of change. With all the new opportunities to shift the way things have been traditionally done, we can learn from Mr Circelli that now is the time to be exploring those new opportunities and being ready to take the leap.

During this Interview, Mr Circelli was asked the following questions…

1. Looking back at everything that has happened over the last 4 months, what has COVID-19 meant for your organisation?
2. What do you think the biggest challenges were?
3. Looking after each other will be an important part of how teams, workforces and communities get through the next few months, what have you done in the EPA to look after your staff?
4. What have you learnt about how you will do things differently?
5. What have your interactions been like the businesses you work with during COVID-19?
6. Is there a leadership tool, framework, or mantra that you use in times like this?
7. What is the approach of the EPA, toward those who breach regulations during COVID-19?
8. What are the big issues for environmental regulators over the next year or so?

Expand your learning with these professional development opportunities…

• Leading and Managing Change (face-to-face) – 15 October
• Leadership Communication Skills (online) – 29 October
• Emotional Intelligence and Beyond (online) – 13 November
• Maintaining Positive Focus in Changing Environments (face-to-face) – 17 November

“My hope is that we have a new way of working in the future, and be able to adapt” – Commissioner for Public Sector Employment, IPAA SA President, Erma Ranieri FIPAA

The word “unprecedented” has been thrown around a lot recently to describe the situation we have found ourselves in, both as a nation, and a public service. COVID-19 though has indeed brought unprecedented challenges and changes to the way we live and work.

For leaders and managers at all levels, there has been a demand to quickly adapt to new ways of managing teams remotely and ensuring business continuity even through the height of the pandemic.

As we learned from our Virtual on the Couch guests, the challenges leaders have faced and overcome have been substantial and even as we move into the recovery phase, key leaders share that the drastic shift in workplace paradigm will remain with us. The question for leaders here, is how do you apply the lessons from leading in crisis to support teams and reach goals in the ‘new normal’?

Be open to change

“Leadership is an area where you are focusing on change. It’s being prepared to change yourself. It’s being prepared to lead people through those changes” – Chief Executive, Environment Protection Authority, Tony Circelli

It’s simple to stick to what we know and feel comfortable with, and COVID-19 certainly did the job of pushing many people far beyond their comfort zone. Appreciate your own capacity to adapt, knowing that you have led through one of the biggest crises of recent times. As future opportunities for change and new ways of doing things emerge, keep this in mind and don’t be afraid to go outside your comfort zone, in order to embrace these changes and opportunities.

Communication is Key

“You have got to have clarity, you have got to have purpose and you have got to communicate, communicate, communicate” – Chief Executive, Department for Child Protection, Cathy Taylor

From all the public sector leaders that have joined us On the Couch one thing that has stood out is the importance of communication. We have seen across the sector and through messages to the public how vital it was that everyone felt informed and confident that they had the correct information. Looking forward, what lessons in communication can you apply to your role? Perhaps foremost is that in new work paradigms, where your team might not always be in close proximity, we need to engage in new methods and channels of communication. Staying connected with your team, even over distance, through digital platforms will help remote workers stay engaged and accountable.

Leading Together

“Leadership is about making sure people feel they are in, whatever your missions is, together” – Acting Chief Executive, Department of Human Services, Lois Boswell

As we all banded together to face this crisis, cohesion and teamwork were at an all-time high, and a key challenge for us now will be how to maintain this in the recovery period. Change is hard to maintain, and you will need to use all your skills in communication and emotional intelligence to find new ways to enthuse and connect your team about projects you are undertaking. The pandemic has taught us that communication matters, and that when your team members feel considered and part of the process, then there is a much higher will to perform and engage.  As a leader, you will need to look for ways to bring your team together to reach goals, allocate work effectively and know where to build your team’s skills to enhance their confidence and ability to contribute.

Using Emotional Intelligence

“Healthier happier staff give you better returns as an organisation” – Chief Executive, Department of Treasury and Finance, David Reynolds

The experience of COVID-19 has been different for everyone, but whether big or small we have all been impacted in some way. As a leader, this may have meant a wake-up call to the different circumstances and challenges your team members are facing, where a high degree of emotional intelligence was needed to care for the health and mental wellbeing of your team. In the new normal, where flexible work and remote work becomes increasingly available, you should consider investing in building and developing greater emotional intelligence skills to communicate with people empathetically and effectively no matter what the future throws at you.

Modeling expected traits, flexibility, and adaptability

“If you create the space, leaders will step into it” – Rick Persse

Many leaders who have spoken with us have shared that longstanding silos have been seemingly demolished in the wake of the pandemic, bringing new opportunities for collaboration across departments. Leaders who excelled during this crisis demonstrated key attributes which they modeled to the rest of their team, including the expected behaviors to engage in, as well as how to hold a positive and resilient mindset. Adaptive leadership is perhaps the most apt term to describe the style of leadership required here, where teams are operating in often uncharted territory. Now is the time to build and develop your skills in adaptive leadership, as well as to understand how your leadership style impacts the performance and wellbeing of your team.

Performance Management and Checking in With Your Team

“Make sure that you are looking at them holistically, not just what they might be producing at their home or not” – Commissioner for Public Sector Employment, IPAA SA President, Erma Ranieri FIPAA

If we are embracing a new work model where remote work and virtual team management becomes part of normal practice, then you will encounter a need to shift your mindset around traditional styles of management and measures of performance. As many of the leaders who joined us On the Couch highlighted, performance can no longer be measured solely on the basis of ‘turning up’ each day. Instead, you need to look at the members of your team holistically- including their mental and social performance as well as their outputs. It has been noted throughout the pandemic that remote work has helped boost productivity levels, where people are getting more done in the day, removed from time eaters such as office chatter, etc. On the flip side of this however is that social isolation has had a negative impact on many people, so whilst we might be seeing increased productivity, we need to weigh this against mental wellbeing. If you are going to lead a remote team post-pandemic, you will need to make sure you have the skill set to help both yourself and your team;

 

• Create boundaries between work and home-life;
• Build and maintain connections with regular check-ins and catchups;
• Create a safe space to address issues around mental health as they arise.

Want to hear more? Our full Virtual on the Couch series is available to view here, where key SA public leaders share their insights on leadership styles, mantras and much more…

 

Resources

• Mentally Health Workplace Toolkit –  https://www.publicsector.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/292580/Mentally-Healthy-Workplaces-Toolkit_150920.pdf
• Remote Working for Productivity Managers Guide – https://www.publicsector.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/215227/002-Remote-Working-for-Productivity-Managers-Guide.pdf

 

The work of two Singapore-based researchers on the effects of ethical culture and ethical leadership on innovation as reported in the public sector has been published in the September 2020 Issue of the Australian Journal of Public Administration.

Examining the relationship between public sector ethics and public sector innovation is important because society has long expected employees and managers in public organisations to behave ethically, but increasingly also expects innovative and entrepreneurial behaviour. However, researchers have previously commented that these two behavioural expectations and the values they require may not necessarily align, and even compete in many cases.

Given that much of the evidence is rather anecdotal, and arguably outdated, Associate Professors Dr Zeger Van der Wal and Dr Mehmet Akif Demircioglu from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at The National University of Singapore, have empirically examined how ethical culture and ethical leadership are associated with realised innovation using 84,222 responses from the Australian Public Service Commission’s 2017 APS agency survey. This research has produced robust findings across agency, work location, job level, tenure, education, and gender and across different samples.

SO WHAT IS ETHICAL LEADERSHIP? AND WHY CHOOSE THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT AS THE FOCUS FOR THIS RESEARCH?

The researchers used a definition of ethical leadership described in 2005 by Brown, Treviño and Harrison as:

‘The demonstration of normatively appropriate conduct through the personal actions and interpersonal relationships, and promotion of such conduct among followers through two-way communication, reinforcement, and decision-making processes’.

The researchers believed that the Australian public sector would provide a suitable environment for studying the effects of leadership and culture on public sector innovation for a number of reasons.

Firstly, the Australian government has been among the most highly ranked globally in terms of innovation and effectiveness for years (see the 2017 work of the OECD and Pollitt & Bouckaert). Secondly, it was also an early adaptor of New Public Management, implementing private sector practices and ideas from the 1980s onwards. And thirdly, the country’s public sector has consistently ranked highly in the Corruption Perception Index run by Transparency International.

Continue reading the full article and access the research paper via the IPAA National website.

Erma Ranieri FIPAA, South Australia’s Commissioner for Public Sector Employment and IPAA SA President, joined IPAA ACT in the latest episode of their ‘Work with Purpose: A National Perspective’ podcast. In this interview Dr Gordon de Brouwer PSM FIPAA, IPAA National President, discussed the COVID-19 pandemic in South Australia.

“The clear message at the end of the day was that you keep talking to people”.

As highlighted by Commissioner Ranieri, while the pandemic presented a series of challenges it also showcased the real capability of the South Australian public sector.

“The innovation and resilience of the public sector were on display during this time, as they worked to support and collaborate with SA Health, SAPOL and other agencies to mobilise the sector to meet the unique needs of the pandemic. As the Mobilisation Coordinator, Commissioner Ranieri noted that this played a key role in the agile response to the pandemic.

“We have connected more than we have ever connected before”.

“COVID has shown what is possible within the public service”.

COVID-19 has also brought about a change to the existing paradigm for leadership and performance management in the workforce.  The Commissioner is encouraged to see great outcomes in flexible work arrangements which are “reshaping the workforce to be more adaptable and diverse”. Commissioner Ranieri’s office and IPAA SA will continue to focus on fostering the skills and capabilities leaders need to adapt to this rapid shift in the workplace.

The Commissioner also highlighted the importance of awareness of mental health and wellbeing and the materials available to help leaders and employees to manage the COVID-19 pandemic:

• a Manager Toolkit  has been released to assist leaders navigate the challenges of COVID-19
• a Mentally Healthy Workplaces Framework and Toolkit has been released to provide practical information and resources to support wellbeing strategies, and additional supporting guidance for the COVID-19 context.

The Office of the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment continues to work with agencies to implement a peer support program and develop an online training program for new peer support officers to build on the existing skills of employees trained in mental health first aid.

The COVID-19 Mental Wellbeing Interview Series, also offers valuable new resources for those working in the public service, with advice and tips from experts in the field

LISTEN HERE

 

 

RESOURCES

Open Your World.sa.gov.au

 

VIDEOS

– COVID-19 Mental Wellbeing Interview Series with Forensic Psychologist, Luke Broomhall

– COVID-19 Mental Wellbeing Interview Series with Chief Psychiatrist, SA Health, Dr John Brayley

– Virtual on the Couch with Commissioner Erma Ranieri

– All Virtual on the Couch interviews

 

 

How are city administrations responding to the COVID-19 pandemic? And how might cities change as a result of the coronavirus?

Australia’s major cities have felt the full force of the health and economic crises brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. It has challenged the assumptions of city officials towards the services they provide to the community, the way people interact within cities, and has come at significant financial cost to local governments.

Two recent interviews provide different perspectives on the impacts of COVID-19 to the cities and communities of Adelaide and Melbourne.

The first interview with Mark Goldstone — Chief Executive Officer with the City of Adelaide — was part of IPAA South Australia’s Virtual on the Couch series.

The second interview with Andrew Wear — Director of Economic Development at the City of Melbourne and author — was for the IPAA Victoria Public Sector Perspectives podcast.

In this article available through the IPAA National website we explore the unique experience of COVID-19 from the perspective of two different capital city councils. Read the full article here.

Forensic Psychologist, Luke Broomhall joins us in the latest instalment of the COVID-19 Wellbeing – Interview Series. Mr Broomhall shares his tips and advice for leaders, managers and team members on how they can look after their own mental health and that of others.

 

How can leaders check in on the mental health of their team members?

Mr Broomhall urges us to look out for behaviours that sit outside the norm for that person, such as bouts of tearfulness, withdrawal, or anger. If so be prepared to sit down and open up a conversation with this person on the behaviours, you have noticed.

You might like to start the conversation by saying…

“  [Name} I have noticed lately that you seem a bit more [describe the behaviour e.g. withdrawn and quiet] and [these goals or items haven’t been met] and I’m a bit concerned about you and I just want to know if you’re okay and if there’s anything I can do?”

The role of the manager or leader when handling the response to this question is to have a human response grounded in empathy, but to also understand what they can and can’t control, and in turn to provide resources for the individual to access that will support them. When you encounter a strong emotional response from an individual you can respond to them as described below:

1. Demonstrate empathy for the emotion that is occurring by acknowledging the emotion exists and that you can see that they are experiencing this.
2. Affirm that their experience of this emotion is valid and okay, and that you are there to listen and help in whatever ways that you can control.

“I understand you are feeling this way, tell me more about your experiences and what you are going through at the moment”

1. Take the time to listen and not jump in too soon with solutions.
2. Act to change what you can for the wellbeing of the individual and provide access to support resources and persons as needed.

Returning to the Workplace

In the transition back into the physical workplace there are several measures and tips that leaders and managers can employ to ease people into the ‘new normal’ of post-COVID-19 work.

• Be patient while employees’ transition.
• Ensure workplaces do not grow complacent with preventative COVID-19 measures.
• Be aware that not all staff members will be positive about the return to the workplace and should be aware of this as a flag for potential issues around conflict, bullying and other concerns.
• Encourage the access of Employee Assistance Programs for early intervention.
• Develop and grow the mental health literacy of leaders and managers.

How Can We Help a Colleague or a Friend Who is Struggling?

We all want to be able to help and support our friends and colleagues when we can see they may be experiencing mental distress. Mr Broomhall shares that we can all take an active role in checking in with others during this time, but firstly you must:

1. Fit your own oxygen mask first – make sure you are in a balanced and centered place and ask yourself continuously ‘Am I coping okay myself?’, as it is very hard to look after other people if we are in a difficult space ourselves.
2. Focus on the behaviours you can see when discussing your concerns, refrain from saying that they seem more depressed or anxious, instead note that they may have been more withdrawn tearful, etc.
3. Provide an opportunity for them to speak openly with you, for example go for a casual coffee or walk together building on social connection.

If you have had a chance to view this interview, please provide your thoughts here.

The Australian and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) will be presenting a three-part webinar series on ‘Leading People Through Disruption’, beginning on 25 August 2020.

The series will be presented by Dr Jo Cribb — one of the youngest people ever appointed as a chief executive in the New Zealand public service in 2012. Her work has focused on advancing the cause of vulnerable in society, spearheading some of the most difficult issues of our time, including child abuse, child poverty, family violence and vulnerable women.

The webinar series will give participants insights into how to make decisions during a time of crisis and maintain an inclusive and positive style of leadership.

Dr Cribb said that effective leaders created change in a values-based way, and the best were able to empower their staff and admit the limits of their own knowledge and ability.

‘Leadership is about mobilisation, bringing people together and making things better than they were before. You can have that influence at every level and everyone can be part of the leadership team’.

Dr Cribb also said that organisations were too complex and the problems that they had to deal with were too difficult for one person to have all the answers. Leaders needed to be honest and admit they don’t know everything —something particular true in the context of the COVID-19 crisis.

‘It is really important for authorities to be honest about what they don’t know when they communicate with the public.

This has been the experience in New Zealand and it has actually strengthened trust in government. We have been able to communicate really complex judgement-based policies and do so effectively.’

The first webinar will focus on leading people through disruption (25 August 2020).

The second webinar will explore what it means to be an inclusive leader under pressure (3 September 2020).

And the third webinar will look at ways to build an inclusive culture during crises (17 September 2020).

Those interested in participating in this series can register on the ANZSOG website.

Author: Frank Exon, Executive Director, IPAA National

For Chief Executive, Department for Health and Wellbeing, Dr Chris McGowan, the pandemic response has been a showcase of collaboration and innovation. In this Virtual on the Couch interview, Dr Chris McGowan discussed how his department structured their response to the COVID-19 pandemic by identifying 6 streams of work to achieve their 3 goals being “Flatten the Curve, Optimise the Public Health System and Keep Public Confidence”. Dr McGowan was interviewed by Tricia Tebbutt, Partner, PwC, where they explored Dr McGowan’s insights into the pandemic and responded to questions from the IPAA SA community and broader public sector.

Questions to Dr McGowan included…

• Looking back on the last 3 months, what where the biggest challenges you faced and how did you respond?
• Communication is key. What are some examples of how you communicated with your team and the wider SA Community?
• What was it like in your department during the early weeks of the pandemic?
• Where there some surprises during the early weeks that you weren’t expecting?
• What do you think are some of the opportunities that have occurred that you want to take with you into the future?
• What did you learn about yourself as a leader over the last few months?
• How do you think SA can help demonstrate further support in developing leadership and emerging future leaders?
• What’s the focus and priorities of SA Health over the next 6 months as we move into recovery?
• What do you think would be the lasting legacy of COVID-19, both positive and negative?
• The stabilization of the COVID-19 situation means moving from prioritizing suppression to focusing on detection to protect SA as we move into the recovery period.

As highlighted by Dr McGowan, support for emerging and developing leaders is essential. Learning and capability development is an important steppingstone in the leadership journey, providing the opportunity for self-reflection and growth. If you would like to learn more about leadership training opportunities are available both through the South Australian Leadership Academy and IPAA SA.

If you have watched this interview please feel free to leave your feedback and comments here.