STRENGTHENING OUR CAPABILITY

The evolving Department of Labour needs to prioritise and re-prioritise its activity. To turn the new operating model into reality requires a strategic focus on building the capability, connections and tools required to create an agile organisation.

There are substantial areas where change is needed over a medium-term horizon to enable the Department to respond effectively to its environment and labour market needs. The organisational transformation that began in 2004 continued throughout 2005-06 and has involved further refinements to the organisational structure, a baseline review, a series of on-going capability enhancement projects, and identification of a series of strategic capability development projects.

Reorganisation

The Department’s structure has been adjusted slightly since last year, and is now organised into the following Groups:

Workforce focuses on people (including migrants), skills and participation.
Workplace focuses on how we work, raising productivity and the quality of working lives.
Work Directions has a strategic emphasis, focusing on supporting the Department to achieve the best labour market outcomes possible at a national, regional and sectoral level, through strategic analysis, engagement and comprehensive and tailored labour market information.
Corporate ensures we have the internal people, financial and technological capability to achieve and communicate our aims, and that we have the best systems in place to help us.
Legal ensures that we are able to understand and respond to our legal obligations and also manages the Department’s international labour-related interface.

Strategic baseline review

The Department is in the process of completing its Strategic Baseline Review in order to assess capability requirements into the future. The findings will be reported to Ministers in September 2006.

Strategic capability building

However, a number of strategic development tasks have begun, focusing on key areas that have already been identified as part of the strategic planning and baseline review processes. The priority areas to be focused on in the medium term include:

Sector leadership – The Department must have a single sector-leadership system that maximises the potential for effective relationships with key sector groups. The framework will be developed and implemented across the full work programme.
Knowledge – The Department must create a culture and process that encourages and allows the sharing of knowledge to facilitate the use of relevant and accurate information to inform business decisions.
Integration/connectedness – Work across the Department must be coherent. It must be driven by a shared set of principles that reinforce appropriate connections, both horizontally and vertically. It is critical to manage the risks and opportunity costs of dispersed capability. Areas that need to be informed by such principles include stakeholder management, policy development, ministerial servicing, information/knowledge systems and communications.
Our workforce/workplace performance – The Department must define, design and deliver a framework and system that provides the basis for ensuring it has the right workforce and workplace. The output will be a single workforce and workplace development system.

Ongoing capability enhancements

In addition to the strategic task work, there are a number of capability programme initiatives that will put in place sound core human resource systems for the Department. These will form the basis for building our people capability over time.

Code of Conduct – A new whole-of-Department Code of Conduct was released late last year. The Code outlines the standards of behaviour expected from the Department and all staff on and offshore. Workshops have been conducted for all managers and staff to discuss the implications of the Code on future practice in the Department.
Department of Labour People Plan – This high level plan sets out the framework for the human resource activities of the Department over the next five years. It is based on the life-cycle concept of an employee in an organisation and describes integrated best practice activity.
Recruitment – Recruitment is an opportunity to bring needed capability into the organisation or into new roles. It is an opportunity to select for hard-to-train attributes, and the selection process also provides rich information for individual development planning. Current recruitment policies and practices are being reviewed to ensure that the Department is attracting and selecting the best candidates for the role and ensuring that recruitment is part of wider people capability development rather than a stand-alone event.
Induction – A good induction is a way of ensuring that people become effective in their roles early. It sets the scene for the future productivity and engagement of our people. From March 2006 all new employees have access to a two-day induction programme that covers their obligations as Public Servants, the State Service and Departmental Codes of Conduct and an introduction to the Department. A Welcome Pack and guides to induction for both staff and managers has also been developed. A manager induction process is also under development.
Remuneration and Performance Management Systems – The Department has operated with a number of performance management and remuneration systems since before the restructuring two years ago. A standard remuneration system will be introduced over the next two years, with the initial framework being introduced by mid 2006. The remuneration system will be supported by a single organisational performance management model that is linked to the goals of the organisation. A new performance management system for the whole Department is being implemented in June 2006. This system focuses on ensuring staff understand how they contribute to the Department’s goals and good quality two-way conversations between managers and staff throughout the year. A key component is an individual development plan to ensure that all staff identify development needs and undertake that development. The remuneration and performance management systems will be supported by extensive training for both managers and staff.
Pay and Employment Equity Review – The focus of this review is on exploring gender equity in the Department with a focus on our culture, policies, processes and practices. This is a joint Department/PSA project and will provide a benchmark for other government agencies once it is completed. A response plan will be developed by the second half of 2006.
ACC Partnership Programme – This programme positions the Department for tertiary accreditation and ensures injured employees are supported to return to work.
Leadership Development – Effective leadership is critical to the Department achieving business outcomes. The development of leaders to ensure that they have the capability, support and understanding they need to lead people to achieve business goals is paramount. The Department has identified the leadership capabilities it will require to take it into the future. These capabilities will underpin a leadership development framework that will link with people capability systems
and include development programmes for managers.

A comprehensive leadership development strategy for managers is being developed and will be implemented over the coming years.

Internal Pacific Capability – The Department is looking at what capability is required in order to ensure we achieve better labour market outcomes for Pacific peoples, as outlined in the Pacific Strategy.
Building Maori Capability - In late 2005 the Department reviewed its Maori Strategy. As a result of the review, we are developing a new whole-of-Department s Maori Strategy with a greater emphasis on achieving better labour market outcomes for s Maori.

Responsibility for delivering the strategy lies clearly with each of the Department’s business groups – Workforce, Workplace and Work Directions – rather than with a centralised Maori Perspectives Unit as it did previously.

The strategy will be supported by building internal capability and improving relationships with key Maori groups.
Ethnic Responsiveness - The Department is well-placed to assist migrants to be work-ready, and to encourage workplaces to employ migrants and not discriminate on ethnic grounds.

Our Ethnic Responsiveness Strategy is being updated to look at how we can improve labour market outcomes for people from different ethnic backgrounds in New Zealand as well as improving our own capability, policies and practices.
Disability Strategy - The Department of Labour is involved in implementing the New Zealand Disability Strategy with a focus on achieving the full participation of disabled people in the labour market. It aims to do this through the policy advice, products and services it delivers. The Department is also improving its own capability, policies and practices in this area.
Partnership for Quality - The Department of Labour has made an explicit commitment to working with the Public Service Association (PSA) and has established a joint work programme to support Partnership for Quality activities in the Department. This work programme is managed by a joint steering group and supported by a Partnership for Qualtiy coordinator. Activities over the next year will include training for managers and delegates on Partnership for Quality, and work on key projects for both the PSA and the Department.
Govt3 – A Sustainability Programme - The Department committed to the Government’s Sustainability Programme, “Govt3”, last year. A major element in the Department’s commitment was the completion of a Sustainable Practice Action Plan in February. A comprehensive sustainability pilot is being undertaken on one floor in our National Office in Wellington to achieve and measure improvements in waste sent to landfill, and energy and paper use. Sustainability issues have also been incorporated into the Department’s new procurement policy and accommodation initiatives.