Designing an HR Architecture to improve leader led management.

Carina Konza – HR Director, Australian Public Service

16 September 2019

“To create, one must first question everything”Eileen Gray

• Advice is only as good as the consideration in detail it gives to implementation and execution.

• The only good strategies that are the ones that are implemented and work.

• There is a failure of public service management to enable real engagement.

Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon Scott Morrison MP, 19 August 2019 speech, Institute of Public Administration

“Everything is designed. Few things are designed well.”

Brian Reed

Hypothesis:

By increasing the quality and frequency of leader led management

activities rather than HR led management activities, and making

leaders and managers responsible and accountable for actions

impacting on their employees, a new HR Architecture will result in

better employee engagement, performance and productivity.

Quantitative

• Moderate - Number of strategies, policies and processes that have expired or contain incorrect information

• Moderate - Census results especially related to supervisor performance, following process, performance management, perceptions of immediate supervisor

• High - Issues escalated to HR

• High - Number of simple inquiries received

• High - Number of processes managed outside systems, or according to business rules.

Qualitative

• Staff sounding – inconsistent application of policies and processes

• Consultation with staff – desire for more engagement with managers / leaders

• Questions from employees and managers unable to find information, or don’t know resources exist

Business drivers

An established architecture will provide clear linkages between HR activities and the department’s organisational priorities and will allow for gaps to be identified and prioritised for action.

The redesign of the architecture will ensure HR processes, policies, and strategies will support and foster leader led management through aligning responsibility and accountability.

Through the HR Architecture redesign, quality direct engagement with employees will increase and result in corresponding improvements in productivity, and engagement, leading to increased organisational capability.

Business objectives

HR Architecture

Policy Guiding Principles

HR Measurement tool

Deliverables

o Policy, service and strategy audit.

o Strategic objectives of the organisation as provided through Branch strategic direction.

HR Architecture

HR Architecture

HR Architecture

The policies that were highlighted during consultation as not being an enabler of direct engagement where a moderate level of leader led management was required were recommended for stage two prioritisation

HR Architecture

Policy Guiding Principles

SUPPORTING RESEARCH

Benefits of leader led management include quicker decision making and improved employee relations by the employee engaging directly with the decision maker.

Devolved people management results in higher employee motivation, better prepared future leaders and more effective people management.

Higher levels of engagement seen with effective managers, linked to increases in customer loyalty, profitability and productivity, and decreases in absenteeism, turnover and safety incidents.

Higher engagement is also seen where business practices increase the line's involvement in people management.

Policy Guiding Principles

HR Measurement tool

HR Measurement tool

HR Measurement tool

Where corresponding positive improvements are seen in both categories, this will mean the project hypothesis is met (i.e. leader led management has increased organisational capability).

Outcome Indicators Examples

Increase to leader led management

Positive improvements in metrics tied to leader led management

• Lower average number of days unscheduled leave

• Lower numbers of non-compensation cases

• Higher number of employees feel HR policies are applied consistently

• Higher number of managers feel confident in finding and applying HR policies

• Lower number of cases escalated to deputy secretary

• Higher span of control for managers

Increased organisational capability

Positive improvements in metrics tied to organisational capability

• Increasing percentage of critical roles have successor identified

• Increasing percentage of employees are in top quartiles of talent matrix

• Increasing percentage of employees are rated as outstanding in performance appraisal

• Increasing percentage of eligible employees received performance based pay rise at last appraisal

• Agreement to implement the proposed HR Architecture at the Treasury.

• Endorsement of the guiding principles document for use in future HR policy development.

• Approval of the HR measurement tool.

• Runner up for the Ram Charan AHRI Practising Certification Award.

• Opportunity to apply a similar methodology with another agency.

Outcomes

“Recognising the need is the primary condition to design”Charles Eames

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