ndia people strategy 2017–2019 - apsc - apsc people strategy 2017-2019 page 2 table of contents....

NDIA People Strategy 2017-2019

NDIA PEOPLE STRATEGY2017-2019


Table of contents

4 Introduction 5 Background 6 Our ecosystem 8 Objective 10 Corporate objectives

12 13 Why do we need an NDIA People Strategy? 14 What are the guiding principles for the NDIA People Strategy?

Purpose

16 Scope 17 Our People 18 Our Leaders 19 Our Partners 20 The Elements

22 Culture and 23 People Impact Engagement 23 Current State 24 Strategic Alignment


26 Diversity and 27 People Impact Inclusion 27 Current State 28 Strategic Alignment

30 Learning and 31 People Impact Development 32 Current State 32 Strategic Alignment

34 Workforce 35 People Impact Planning 36 Current State 36 Strategic Alignment

38 Talent 39 People Impact 39 Current State 40 Strategic Alignment

42 Appendix 1 42 Our ecosystem

46 Appendix 2 46 Glossary of Terms


Introduction


Background

Following years of discussion about the need for a major reform of disability services in Australia, the National Disability Insurance Agency (the Agency or NDIA) was formed to build and deliver the National Disability Insurance Scheme (the Scheme or NDIS).

The Scheme began as a number of trial sites around Australia in July 2013. During this trial phase, the Agency was able to build the foundations for the Scheme, and test new ways of doing things to pioneer a new blueprint for Commonwealth service delivery.

Naturally, we experienced and overcame many challenges, and learned and grew as an Agency in the process.

The NDIS Quarterly Report for

NDISREADY

April-June 2016 showed that trial had been successfully completed on time and on budget, which was reflective of the effort, commitment and hard work of everyone involved.

“… [Our] staff have been most gracious under pressure, dealing with often inadequate systems, unclear processes while all of it was put in place. And doing a professional and courteous job and always focusing on how we best support the participants in the Scheme”. David Bowen, Chief Executive Officer, on Thursday, 30 June 2016

On 1 July 2016, the full Scheme was launched. It will continue to be rolled out in stages around Australia, as we progress towards maturity over the next three years.


Our ecosystem

The Agency cannot deliver the Scheme in isolation. It operates in a much larger environment, with a cross-section of stakeholders and interest groups united by a common goal. This is ‘our ecosystem’. Participants (current and future) are at the centre of this ecosystem.

We embrace our NDIS Partners in the Community (Partners) to redefine the delivery of disability services across Australia. We work with the sector and community, including mainstream services, to build capacity for people with disability to promote an ordinary life.

A key function of the Agency is to provide every Australian with the confidence that the Agency is available, relevant and responsive when needed, while being positioned as a ‘fall-back’ rather than preferred pathway to an ordinary life for participants.

To deliver the best possible experience and outcomes for our participants, their families and carers, we place their needs at the core.

Our people collaborate and co-create with:

X Commonwealth, state and territory governments;

X Community organisations and the sector delivering programs and activities to build community and individual capacity;

X NDIS Partners in the Community;

X Non-Government Organisations;

X Providers and Markets; and

X Shared Services (Assistive Technology, Technology Infrastructure

Systems, Property and contractual relationships).


On our journey to become world leading, we recognise our role as the custodian of the Scheme within the ecosystem.

The Agency must ensure the ecosystem remains sustainable and transparent for the benefit of our participants.

A well-functioning ecosystem provides scope to explore fresh opportunities within this environment. People working within the ecosystem have access to a broadened employment pathway of choice to work for the Agency or the wider Scheme.

The composition of our workforce has changed significantly since inception, and will continue to change, as we scale to full Scheme. This means that our workforce planning conversations and decision making will also evolve.

The Agency will champion and establish foundations for:

X A talent approach to recognise specialist technical capabilities to fit roles and to encourage portability and flow of valued talent;

X Compliance, insurance and public service delivery roles;

X Executive Placement Programs from within the ecosystem; and

X Secondments with Partners and government agencies.

For a detailed description of this ‘ecosystem’ infographic, go to Appendix 1.


Objective

We aspire to be a world leading service delivery Agency by rolling out the most significant social reform in a generation to change the lives of Australians with disability.

We need to balance this goal with the huge task of establishing 100 sites, nationally, and growing to an organisation of 3,000 employees with a Partner workforce in excess of 7,000 people by 2019.

This has never been done before, so during the transition to full Scheme, we are focused on laying the foundations for the Agency to be successful, sustainable and built upon a culture of high-performance, innovation and people-driven solutions.

The solutions and programs proposed in this NDIA People Strategy 2017-2019 (the Strategy) will be underpinned by progressive technology and people-centred design, which will support and develop our employees and Partners, and enable them to deliver the target Scheme outcomes.

The Strategy will concurrently address the identification and retirement of the ‘start-up’ and ‘pioneering’ type behaviours and processes that no longer serve the Agency’s purpose of providing sustainable and consistent service across the nation.

As an Agency, we are new and still maturing, and this Strategy will detail a specific program of work with clear objectives to anchor success as we grow. Core to the successful implementation of the Strategy will be purpose-designed engagement and communications strategies that are essential for success.

Many established organisations and government agencies already operate in ‘enhancing’ and continuous improvement modes, however, we are not yet at this point in our evolution. With this in mind, the Strategy will be reviewed on an annual basis to maintain relevance and focus on our objectives to reach this stage. Further, this Strategy acknowledges that some of the visionary projects planned will need to be implemented following a staged approach. In the immediate term, focus will be on ensuring a robust foundation for future initiatives is achieved.


Summary of staged approach to be adopted

High-level priorities

1. Develop a National Workforce Plan with increased relevance and agility, built out from accrued precedents and metrics, and reflecting improved workflows.

2. Develop a Work Health and Safety Framework, encompassing wellbeing, integrated into onboarding and line manager training and fully accessible for our people as ‘self-help’ modules.

3. Establish an Inclusion and Diversity Support Unit embedded within the Agency to create a best practice model for the ecosystem and community adoption.

4. Develop a Culture Framework with key measures of progress and underpinned by communications.

5. Develop speci ic training packages that are both adaptive and technical in nature, to build the leadership capability and diversity confidence of leaders and managers, based around a 70-20-10 model, which is also accessible to Partners.

6. Develop our NDIA Leadership Framework utilising guiding principles and an integrated approach to building our leadership at the individual and organisational levels.

Year 1 (2017)

X Define the foundation and architecture of programs and put in place evaluation methodologies to ensure ongoing reporting and early correction.

X Align People and Culture and stakeholder resources with priority deliverables, and build an implementation plan, following a consultative process with business to determine key milestones and delivery dates.

Year 2 (2018)

X Communicate, review and embed programs within the Agency and into the ecosystem.

Year 3 (2019)

X Evaluate programs implemented and assess opportunities to enhance and innovate.


Corporate objectives

The Corporate Plan 2016-2021 highlights the Agency’s continued focus with the following goals:

X Scheme sustainability;

X positive outcomes for participants; and

X building community trust, pride, confidence and ownership.

All pursuits in the Strategy must align with these goals to meet intrinsic corporate objectives while supporting our people.

The strategic risk for People is that the Agency fails to attract, retain and develop appropriate talented leaders and staff, and fails to build a culture that fosters continuous learning and accountability.

We work to mitigate the strategic risk to meet compliance and governance requirements to safeguard the Agency’s human, property and reputation assets.

To this end, we proactively manage the following frameworks:

Change Management

Enterprise Agreement

Employee Relations

First Offer Process

Employee Work Health and Safety


This Strategy serves to inform our people on how they will be supported to meet all of our objectives by 2020 and become a world leading National Disability Insurance Scheme. This will be achieved by building a positive and inclusive culture, and empowering our people to contribute to shaping the future of the Scheme.

It will also call out the responsibility of our people across the ecosystem to deliver outcomes in an increasingly mature and consistent manner. Making the Strategy fully accessible and transparent will position it as a core component of the Agency’s attraction, retention and engagement toolkit.

Finally, the development of our ecosystem thinking and strategies will be central to helping people initiate transition to ‘better fit’ roles outside the Agency (or from Partners to within the Agency).


Purpose


Why do we need an NDIA People Strategy?

The NDIA People Strategy 2013-16 met the immediate needs of the Agency, whilst building systems, capability and culture for full Scheme launch.

Moving forward, we need a new strategy to assign and guide the priorities for our people over the next three years of maturity and Scheme growth.

Alignment of Scheme objectives and the Strategy is essential. The Strategy creates a significant opportunity to position and cascade consistent performance and account-ability messages across the Agency, which is critical to Scheme success.

As identified in the Corporate Plan 2016-2021, a strong network of staff and business partners are required to enable the successful delivery of the Scheme. Therefore, the Strategy has a critical role in highlighting the initiatives and programs that will be put in place to meet Scheme objectives, with an emphasis on how our people (both in-cumbent and required) will be supported, and included in the Agency’s forward plan for 2017-2019.

The Strategy is also needed to prepare the Agency for anticipated future changes and to further define, source and build the capability of our people to deliver the Scheme on time and on budget; administrative expenses must be within seven per cent of the total operating budget.

Finally, there will be challenges and obstacles along the way, but we have a track record of being agile, resilient and highly passionate. For this reason, the Agency has every confidence that with the right skills and capabilities–in the right place at the right time–our people will be able to meet and deliver the Agency’s vision.


What are the guiding principles for the NDIA People Strategy?

X We are a leader-led Agency with visible leaders who espouse trust and transparency, and provide direction and stability.

X We are a values-based organisation where sharing information is actively encouraged and practiced to increase collective knowledge and achieve optimal outcomes.

X We are a torch-bearer for people-centred design in the workplace; we incorporate the human perspective into our work practices and ask employees to ‘come as they are’. We have a culture of inclusion and we are disability confident. We live by our mantra to listen, learn, build and deliver.

X We initiate and use the latest technology and digital solutions to streamline and automate business processes and maximise operational efficiency. Giving our people the technical support and infrastructure at their fingertips to manage an efficient and sustainable Scheme.

X Our people are agile and flexible to meet the complex needs of the Scheme and the ever-changing environment.


X Our people understand their role in delivering a consistent, high-performing service delivery model. We are redefining the blueprint of Commonwealth service delivery through our partnerships ‘in community for community’.

X Our people challenge the norm through innovative solutions for the benefit of participants, their families and carers.

X Our people make evidence-based decisions to deliver an equitable and sustainable Scheme for all Australians now and into the future, whilst providing choice and control for all participants.

X Our people utilise metrics and measurables to determine our realised benefits and identify improvements.

X Our people are provided with a strong governance framework to understand the parameters within we operate, how to manage risk, and formulate mitigation strategies where required.

X Our people manage the Scheme through sensible, equitable and sustainable planning.


Scope


Our PeopleThroughout this Strategy, reference is made to ‘our people’, which is defined as ongoing, non-ongoing and contracted employees of the Agency.

The Strategy recognises that there are different structures operating within the Agency, including infrastructure build and Shared Service delivery, which are outside the scope of this Strategy.

People are the Agency’s most important asset. We are united by a shared passion, singularity of purpose and sense of empowerment to deliver a world leading National Disability Insurance Scheme for all Australians.

The Strategy works to empower, motivate and retain our talent with:

X technological advances and improved processes;

X values-driven culture and superior work conditions; and

X development opportunities.

We are fortunate and proud to have such a rich and dynamic mix of people from the Commonwealth, state and territory governments, the private sector, not-for-profit organisations, new hires from schools and universities, and our Partners.

We also boast the highest proportion of employees with disability (approx. 15 per cent) and the highest proportion of women through all levels (approx. 74 per cent) in the Australian Public Service (APS) sector.

We are striving toward increased employment opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and people from Culturally And Linguistically Diverse backgrounds (CALD).


We also recognise other diversity groups in the community, including age, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity, which will be priorities for the Agency in future, along with other subsets as these arise.

The combined knowledge and skills of our people delivered the full Scheme launch, but we have a journey ahead between now and 2020.

The progressive rollout of the Scheme means our workforce will grow and change significantly, as we expand, nationally, to service about 460,000 participants.

We foster a high-performing culture for our people to inspire our teams to be highly focused on their goals and to achieve superior business results.

Therefore, we must build capabilities and robust systems to support and facilitate this exponential growth, while maintaining the ongoing sustainability of the Agency.

Our LeadersThroughout this Strategy, reference is made to ‘our leaders’, which is defined as team leaders, Executive Level and Senior Executive Service (APS 6, EL and SES) employees of the Agency.

Our Agency leaders inspire a high-performance culture for our people. They harness and direct our passion and capability to deliver the Scheme; our efforts will be fuelled by passion and driven by performance. Leaders will support our people and prioritise wellbeing. We understand that managing people is as important as managing delivery.

The DNA of an Agency leader is being visible and standing by ‘gutsy decisions’; that is, leaders who are courageous, confident and collaborative.

In progressing towards maturity it is increasingly important that leaders promote discipline, consistency and accountability in service delivery.

The DNA of an Agency leader is within us all–we each have a shared responsibility to live the Agency Values, Capabilities and Behaviours though our interactions with each other, our Partners and our participants, their families and carers. They champion our commitment to be a world leading National Disability Insurance Scheme by living our Values and bringing our people along with them on the journey.


Our PartnersThroughout this Strategy, reference is made to ‘our Partners’, which is defined as organisations within the community, working in partnership with the Agency, to deliver Local Area Coordination (concept) (LAC) and Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI) services to our participants and the wider Community.

The Agency has established Partner networks in the community with generalist LAC and specialist ECEI organisations throughout Australia who have established and trusted relationships in the disability sector.

We will continue to engage with organisations that have exceptional ‘in community for community’ disability service delivery, and along the journey with our Partners, we are redefining the blueprint for Commonwealth service delivery. Consistent with the ecosystem thinking, this Strategy proposes to deepen and strengthen those relationships by establishing new interactions, such as secondments, across the ecosystem.


The ElementsThe Strategy comprises five core elements. They interweave and crossover with other work functions such as Change Management, Employee Relations, Wellbeing and Work Health and Safety, and a deep commitment to ongoing innovation.

1. Culture and Engagement

Delivering a high-performing, accountable and capable Agency. We have a supported values-led workforce with a collective work focus that is balanced with employee wellbeing. We exploit the power of positive feedback to develop our employee engagement and retention. Our leaders advocate the behaviours that support a positive and dynamic culture.

2. Diversity and Inclusion

Building a culturally intelligent and inclusive organisation that attracts, supports and retains people from diverse backgrounds and people with disability. As an Agency, we acknowledge and are mindful that not all diversity is overtly visible.

3. Learning and Development

Building on a foundation of adaptable and real time training solutions, as we become a ‘learning organisation’ that develops, supports and provides opportunities to its people. This approach empowers people to take responsibility for personal learning and development to build capability and Scheme knowledge to better perform individual roles.


4. Workforce Planning

Identifying and analysing the Agency’s needs in terms of capacity and capability to achieve our objectives and inform our current, transition and future impact of the external and internal environments. With this knowledge the Agency is best placed to understand the potential of our ecosystem (including Partners and other organisations in the sector) and able to make informed decisions in re-shaping the staff profile, when needed, through transition planning. This enhances the Agency’s resilience to structural and cultural changes, and better positions the Agency to meet future goals.

5. Talent

The Agency’s priority is to source the best people, invest in talent, and manage expectations and high-performance. This function covers all stages of the employee lifecycle including: attraction, selection, retention, performance, succession planning and deployment opportunities for permanent and non-ongoing employees. Talent will work closely with Workforce Planning and share an active role in workplace flexibility demands and requirements going forward.

The Agency, as custodian of the Scheme, guides its people and Partners to meet our commitment to participants, governments and the community. To meet this commitment we must operate at a sustainable and optimal level. The measurement of our performance and quality are fundamental discussion points across the Agency. The foundation products provide the direction and tools to start and build on this conversation.


Culture and Engagement


People Impact

The Agency is committed to cultivating a high-performing, engaged, informed and supported values-led workforce through strong and consistent leadership, which empowers our people to make decisions and be accountable.

This is achieved by providing all employees with the tools, resources and capabilities to ensure that the culture of the Agency is centred on values and behaviours, which permeate everything we do.

The wellbeing of employees is supported by sound, capable and holistic contemporary leadership behaviours, Work Health and Safety protocols, as well as reward and recognition programs.

These are all vital to the health of the Agency’s people and systems, while perpetuating the culture. For this reason, the development of a more sophisticated wellbeing strategy is needed.

Current StateThe NDIA Narrative depicts the key themes and pursuits of the Agency from inception to future state, including:

X a values-driven culture;

X the right balance of performance and passion;

X participants at the centre of everything we do;

X education and employment of people with disability as central to Scheme success; and

X building a sustainable, Commonwealth Agency.


Elements of the NDIA Narrative have been incorporated in values messaging communicated via the Intranet and fortnightly newsletter. The implementation plan for the NDIA Narrative supports the embedding of culture in our everyday business.

At the Agency, we are fortunate to hold three sets of values and principles:

X APS Values;

X Agency Values; and

X The Agency mantra to Listen, Learn, Build, and Deliver.

Our culture and brand is evolving and becoming increasingly recognisable. Our passion and enthusiasm is shared by both our people and our Partners. More recently, the heightened emphasis on delivery and accountability is evident and role modelled, particularly through the Senior Leadership Group.

Strategic Alignment

SchemeThe Agency Values, APS Values and NDIA Narrative–firmly embedded in our behaviours and people–foster both a safe and responsive workplace. In this environment, our people will act in a professional, positive and responsible manner for the good governance and sustainability of the Scheme.

As an Agency, we pause and reflect on the environment in which we operate, to listen and learn from our mistakes and successes; this is powerful and allows our people to build and deliver a change culture that is adaptive and responsive.

ParticipantThe Agency culture and Values promote our client-centred service focus with positive outcomes for the end-participant. This extends to our Partners and people to ensure consistent service and messaging is delivered to all participants. We further recognise those potential participants who–with community support–are able to live an ‘ordinary life’ outside the Scheme.


CommunityEntrenched, mature Agency Values are aligned with community and APS expectations. The Agency models behaviour and cultural intelligence that is reflective of local communities. Community interests are represented through engagement activities undertaken by our LAC and ECEI Partners and inherent community pathway programs.

PartnersOur Partners through their ‘in community for community’ engagement approach will strengthen the collective Agency culture and Values. Moving forward, Partner appointment and engagement strategies will reflect deeper relationships, as part of a developing ecosystem culture, which encourages career movement.

KEY PRIORITIES1. Build a Culture Framework incorporating a model to

regularly measure efficacy and integration

2. Build Our NDIA Leadership Framework incorporating the 11 guiding principles

3. Define and workshop ‘high-performing culture’ driven by performance fuelled by passion

4. Implement a Health and Wellbeing Plan

5. Espouse and role model Agency Leader DNA at all levels


Diversity and Inclusion


People Impact

The Agency recognises that in order to attract, support and retain people from diverse backgrounds and disabilities, we must embrace the principles of diversity and inclusion to build a truly inclusive and culturally intelligent organisation.

A polished, diverse and inclusive workplace will positively influence the collective behaviours and approaches of our people and Partners through strategies and policies developed.

The Agency is also working to be a leader for the development, employment and advancement of people with disability, and to be reflective of all communities of which we are part. We want our people to ‘come as they are’ to the workplace, so they can bring their whole self to work every day.

Across all dimensions, the Agency will be the leader within the ecosystem and provide facility for people to move easily across the system.

Current StateThe Agency is striving to achieve a diverse workforce that is reflective of the communities we serve:

X People with disability – be the employer of choice for people with disability, with the Agency’s commitment to 15 per cent by 2017;

X Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people – three per cent in line with the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) goal by 2018;

X Culturally And Linguistically Diverse – employee base, which is reflective of the local communities we serve; and


X Gender balance – 74.4 per cent of our workforce are female, which compares well to APS workforce representation of 58 per cent. Our female senior leadership comprises 65.9 per cent of all ongoing positions, compared to APS SES statistic of 43 per cent in 2016 (State of the Service Report 2015-16).

We recently worked with the Australian Network on Disability (AND) to become an exemplar accredited ‘disability confident recruiter’. In doing so, we confidently recruit talent from diverse groups, including people with disability. We make adjustments to the recruitment process for all candidates who have disability and provide an excellent candidate experience for all candidates.

However, there is a need to further:

X Define diversity goals and expand diversity thinking and understanding;

X Educate, skill and develop managers;

X Remove unconscious bias;

X Increase support, improve employment opportunities and retention; and

X Ensure our practices and workplace environment are ‘inclusive’ in respect to accessibility (property and outputs), assistive technology, mental health and workplace supports.

Strategic Alignment

SchemeThe Agency has engaged a diverse and inclusive workforce to successfully build and manage the Scheme through lived experience.

ParticipantOur people provide valuable insight and shared experiences to enrich participants’ journeys and build relationships to deliver exceptional service. A diverse workforce and inclusive culture ensures key resources are attracted and retained, and ensures the right people are delivering service with full understanding of the diverse needs of our participants.


CommunityOur workforce should be representative of the communities whom we serve. The Agency models its behaviour in line with changing community expectations and norms to build community confidence, pride and trust.

PartnersOur Partners are strongly connected to our communities, and the cultural intelligence developed within our regions, provides continuity of support for those most vulnerable.

KEY PRIORITIES1. Develop a Diversity and Inclusion Framework to support the

following diversity groups:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians;• Families;• LGBTIQ;• Mature age workers and inter-generational workforce ;• People from CALD backgrounds; and• People with disability.

2. Develop an Executive Placement Program and other development programs to increase representation of people with disability and other diverse groups at all levels

3. Establish an Inclusion and Diversity Support Unit to support and partner with our people with disability


Learning and Development


People Impact

The Agency is focused on establishing itself as a ‘learning organisation’ to continuously improve the support and development opportunities for our people and Partners.

Coaching, experiential and peer-to-peer learning will be encouraged. The latest techniques and technology will be used to build the capability. Technical learning for role capability will continue to be a priority. This will also have the effect of increasing the Scheme knowledge of our workforce, which will optimise job performance.

Employees will be empowered to take ownership for personal learning and on-the-job development. Formal training packages will be developed, centrally and within regions, and adapted into ‘shareable’ and ‘sellable’ products to other government agencies and Partners. The Agency will follow the 70-20-10 for learning and provide content accordingly.

Referencing the MyPlace Portal Implementation Review recommendations, training content needs to be both technical and adaptive. Technical training will be provided as foundational and critical learning, which will be supplemented with adaptive and inclusive modules that can be customised to individuals’ skills and needs. The Learning and Development function has a clear focus on the implementation of core learning modules that are accessible, timely and provide our people with competency for delivery. Additionally, the capture of employee learning records is a priority to track capacity build and better understand potential workforce flexibility.

Therefore, the Agency will be adopting stepped changes going forward to manage training in two tranches. The first will cover formal training to ensure our people are job-ready and proficient (role-specific), and have been inducted and onboarded effectively. The second tranche covers the maintenance and development of employees across individual career pathways through embedded 70-20-10 methodology and provides tools and knowledge for our people to be adaptive, as roles and environments change.


Current State X Effective induction program covering foundation and Disability Confidence

training, however, further support and training is required post-commencement.

X Self-directed learning is delivered by training modules, which cover a variety of topics on the LEAP platform.

X The leadership capabilities of managers, as well as the development of our people into managers, are areas requiring improvement. Broader management development is required with wider business-to-business exposure, covering relationship management with our Partners.

X Established conduit with business implementation stakeholders to ensure efficient flow of product catalogues to our workforce and withdrawal of superseded documents.

X Embedded Agency commitment to Listen, Learn, Build and Deliver, with consideration given to the measurement of outcomes. Priority is also given to the development of relevant metrics to evaluate progress.

Strategic Alignment

SchemeEmbedded delivery streams between Practice Implementation (business) and Learning and Development to ensure employees have access to the most current learning packages; these can be adapted into ‘shareable’ products for Partners and other government agencies. Further, our leaders nurture open and honest conversations with our Partners on what they need and want, with an appropriate degree of co-creation.


ParticipantsEffective learning and development programs in place to ensure we have a capable workforce to deliver the right service to our participants in the most effective, consistent and efficient way.

CommunityWorld leading National Disability Insurance Agency delivering on community expectations, through diverse and inclusive learning and development opportunities, with people-centred design at its heart. The Agency recognises the need to work closely with the community to provide people with an ordinary life. This supports wellbeing and defers, as appropriate, transition into the Scheme as a direct participant.

PartnersSpecific Partner training and access to the full suite of Agency eLearning modules ensure our Partners are proficient in Agency systems. These tools allow our Partners to provide a high standard of service to connect communities and participants to the Scheme, in line with the Agency’s expectations.

KEY PRIORITIES1. Develop a ‘Learning Organisation’ that embeds the 70-20-10

methodology with shared responsibility for ongoing professional development

2. Build leadership and management capability, through specific team leader and manager toolkits that are adaptive, technical and relevant, to support diversity in the workplace and become world leading

3. Build knowledge management and learning tools that are pragmatic, engaging, non-traditional and innovative, and deliver critical content


Workforce Planning


People Impact

Workforce Planning is the architecture that informs the Agency’s capacity and capability of our people to make the Scheme workable.

It is underpinned by analytics and mapping of the national approach to achieve the optimal volume and composition of our workforce.

This function also extends to growing and developing competencies to plan for the future, as the Agency matures and structures change.

The reality of Workforce Planning is that contractual arrangements of First Offer and bilateral agreements have shaped the profile of our workforce with the benefit of achieving knowledge transfer from the states and territories. Progression to full maturity highlights the need for future development of our workforce and may challenge current arrangements with the states and territories.

Workforce Planning plays a lead role in creating movement and opportunity across the ecosystem, while acting as the Agency’s voice in development of capability within the market. Our workforce over the next three years will see a shift in opportunities across the ecosystem, which will facilitate the buy, build and borrowing of talent.

Workforce Planning has responsibility for determining the capacity and capability of delivering the Scheme to participants into the future. This responsibility will be increasingly informed from precedents and statistics from across the Agency and Partner network. It will be critical that capacity is in line with demand and that head count space is identified within the Agency.


Current State X Planning to date has been limited by bilateral agreements and

the First Offer process invoked for ongoing employment.

X Focus on managing the Agency’s Service Delivery Operating Model (the model) and rollout of regional hubs and sites, in line with this model and bilateral commitments.

X Movement into implementing the analytical design of future workforce planning.

X Future planning considers the scaling back of National Office and expansion of service delivery staff and Partners required to roll out the Scheme.

X Workforce Strategy is defined against a Workforce Maturity Model.

Strategic Alignment

Scheme X The Workforce Planning framework and business needs to operate efficiently with

capable and agile people to meet agreed seven per cent of operating budget.

X Manage and report on forecasted job families, workforce volumes and alignment to the model Full Time Equivalent (FTE) requirements and budget.

ParticipantManage and build Agency relationships to provide a sustainable Agency footprint to deliver services for participants up to the age of 65 years. Continuity of support will apply for people aged over 65, through the NDIS or Commonwealth aged care system, dependent on individual circumstances.


CommunityDemonstrate participant focused Scheme with analytic measurables tracked and reported through the annual report. Highly engaged LAC Partners will leverage ‘in community, for community’.

PartnersOur Service Delivery Operating Model planning includes our Partner network to ensure resources are allocated effectively.

KEY PRIORITIES1. Develop a National Workforce Plan to mobilise effectively

2. Define linkages between role descriptions and job families to inform broader HR functions

3. Investigate exit strategies and transient workforce concepts


Talent


People Impact

The Agency will expand current offerings and systems to support our people across all stages of the employee lifecycle, incorporating: attraction, selection, retention, and succession planning, performance, and deployment opportunities for employees.

Specifically, actions will be recommended to enhance the experience for prospective and new employees, and efforts will be coordinated with Workforce Planning to ensure the right people are in the right position and right location at the right time. Additionally, new services and initiatives will provide our people with more resources to manage and support employee talent and performance.

We need to build the confidence and capability of leaders in recognising what roles and services could be procured or subcontracted to the advantage of the Scheme and participants. Furthermore, strategies need to be developed and introduced to assist in the transition of identified roles to outsourced arrangements. This will aid in reducing administrative expenses within our target of seven per cent of total operating budget.

All of this is supplemented by the role of Employee Relations to ensure the rights of employees are respected and reflected fairly in our organisational policies, as well as governing agreements to support the objectives of the Agency.

Current State X Talent is recruited, nationally, in accordance with APS legislation,

respective bilateral agreements and incumbent First Offer processes.

X The Expected Vacancy Register (EVR) holds the applications of job seekers internal and external to the Agency.


X The Agency supports graduate and internship programs, and actively encourages people with disability and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates to apply.

X RecruitAbility is used to attract people with disability. Affirmative measures and identified positions are used to attract and employ people with disability and also people from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds.

X The performance of employees is measured in the 100 Day Plans, however, this mechanism could be improved and expanded to make it a more effective performance management tool.

Strategic Alignment

SchemeThe Agency needs to capitalise on its appeal to attract the right balance of talent, coupled with sophisticated recruitment and onboarding for new and transitioning employees to manage and deliver the Scheme.

Employees will be supported and valued through a robust Human Resource Information System (HRIS) – our HR Business Partner mechanism – incorporating Work Health and Safety, Employee Relations and recognition of service. The continued development of a tiered HR support capability ensures that our HR Business Partners are doing valuable work and self-help is well provisioned.

Lastly, an enhanced change framework provides a practical and business-centric approach to change management. It also provides a repeatable pattern blueprint of change initiatives that can be applied to any change and goes beyond the typical ‘training and communications’ considerations.

ParticipantOur people are instilled with a high-performing service delivery ethos. We are committed to providing a participant-focused approach, which includes funding high quality, equitable and effective supports over a person’s lifetime.


CommunityWorld leading National Disability Insurance Agency that meets community expectations of diversity employment targets (i.e. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, CALD and people with disability).

PartnersOur people will collaborate, share knowledge and experiences with our Partners. This will follow a design model to optimise scaling opportunities, drive consistency and remove confusion. Our Partners have proven expertise in disability services in local communities and these learnings will provide opportunities for our people to drive service delivery improvements.

Our people will work with our Partners within the disability employment ecosystem to build and develop identified learning capabilities. We will move towards a Partner best practice and benchmarking approach with open sharing and collaboration between the Agency and Partners, motivated by shared participant and community support objectives.

KEY PRIORITIES1. Balance talent acquisition (recruitment) with First Offer to

get the ‘best people’

2. Invest in talent development, performance and succession planning processes

3. Determine and publish an Employee Value Proposition (EVP) that is unique, valuable, hard to imitate and highlights support offered to employees and high-performance expectations

4. Develop HR Operating Model


Appendix 1: Our ecosystem

The infographic represents ‘our ecosystem’, a term used to describe the operating environment of the Scheme and all the key parties involved to make it work and deliver the best possible service to participants, nationally.

All stakeholders within our ecosystem promote an ordinary life for our participants and have a role in ensuring the broader community and mainstream supports are available and fully accessible to people with disability.

Creatively, the ecosystem is depicted as a large jigsaw puzzle with individual pieces used for each stakeholder group in the ecosystem. The jigsaw metaphor is used to demonstrate that all stakeholders are connected, interdependent and work together in a collaborative way to deliver the Scheme. One cannot operate without the other.

At the centre of the jigsaw puzzle is an oversized magnifying glass, labelled ‘Scheme’. It focuses on participants who are at the centre of everything we do. The magnifying glass is held up by Agency and Partner workers, and features a tickertape encircling the inside of the glass rim, which reads:

X 2013 Trial commenced;

X 2016 National rollout started;

X 2019 and beyond 460,000 participants, $22 billion Scheme, 100 sites, 3,000 Agency staff, and 7,000 Agency Partner network nationwide.

Each of the stakeholder groups are described next.


X The National Disability Insurance Agency: our people build and manage a financially sustainable Scheme to support an ordinary life for all Australians with permanent and significant disability, their families and carers.

X The Commonwealth, state and territory governments appear inside a map of Australia to signify that all these groups contribute to creating a truly national Scheme and assisting the Agency in achieving our goal to become a world leading National Disability Insurance Agency.

X Information, Linkages and Capacity building: promotes inclusion by building an individual’s capacity to live an ordinary life and creating opportunities in the community to do so. This will be done by supporting organisations through grants. People are shown transporting gold between the Scheme and Information, Linkages and Capacity, which represents the flow of funding to build communities’ capacity to support people with disability. Programs delivered locally build the capacity of individuals in communities, who then may not require access to the Scheme, which also results in long-term cost savings.

X NDIS Partners in the Community: existing and future NDIS Partners are on the ground, providing LAC and ECEI services ‘in community for community’.

X Non-government organisations: provide support and education for people with disability, their families and carers, and connect the Agency with the community.

X Providers and Markets: individuals or organisations that deliver a support or a product to a participant in the NDIS. Stylised stick figures are portrayed turning cogs, which symbolises collaboration and supporting participants.

X The Community: communities have ownership, confidence and pride in the NDIA and NDIS. Stylised stick figures are show holding up the Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and LGBTIQ flags, as well as a person with a wheelchair and group of people throwing around a ball.

Finally, our Agency Values of Assurance, Empowerment, Responsibility, Learning and Integrity are watermarked on a single jigsaw piece, as well as scales balancing performance and passion, which are both crucial to the success of the Strategy and achievement of Scheme objectives.

NDIA People Strategy 2017-2019 Page 46

Appendix 2: Glossary of Terms

100 Day Plans are goal-setting plans that are valid for 100 days, which every employee at the NDIA must complete (and have a current plan in place). Hence, this is known as a ‘100 Day Plan’. Individuals record their personal and career goals for the short, medium and long term in the online LEAP platform. All goals must align to the NDIA’s strategic and organisational objectives, as individual performance is measured against these goals. Once this period expires, the 100 Day Plan is reviewed by employees’ supervisors, and feedback provided. The employee then re-drafts a new plan to cover the proceeding 100 days.

Accessibility refers to the design of products, devices, services or environments to provide people with the ability to access and benefit from a system or entity. This concept focuses on enabling access for people with disabilities and enabling access through the use of assistive technology; however, accessible design and development benefits to everyone.

Affirmative measures – within a disability employment context – strengthen and expedite measures in legislation to (positively) restrict the eligibility of identified position vacancies to people with intellectual disability only or people with disability who would otherwise be unable to compete on merit. Additionally, Indigenous employment affirmative measures exist to identify any vacancy as open only to Indigenous applicants. This measure can be used in conjunction with the Disability Employment Affirmative Measure to employ Indigenous people with disability. For further information and to read the Commissioner’s Directions 2016, please go to the APSC website.

Agile in this Strategy refers to the characteristic of a workforce that is able to adapt and respond, swiftly, to solve urgent business needs. This can be achieved in a variety of ways, such as maintaining a talent pool or transient workforce, with specialist skills and competencies that can be resourced for temporary assignments to fulfil sudden needs.

http://www.apsc.gov.au/priorities/directions


Assistive technology is the technological supports provided to people with disability who require supports to perform their roles equitably in the workplace.

Australian Public Service (APS) Values have been established by the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) and these expectations apply to all government agencies (and respective APS employees) that operate within the APS:

X Impartial X Committed to service X Accountable X Respectful X Ethical

For further information and a more detailed description of the APS Values, please go to the APSC website.

‘Boot camp’ style learning is a disciplined approach to learning with products designed and delivered in a structured way to achieve a very specific result (determined from the outset). This style of learning also holds employees to account throughout the process, much like a personal trainer during a boot camp training session!

Casualisation is the transformation of a workforce that is employed primarily on a permanent (ongoing) basis to a workforce that is engaged on a short-term, temporary (non-ongoing) basis.

‘Come as they are’ is the positive and inclusive attitude that the NDIA adopts, to accept all people as they are, understanding that diversity enriches our cultural fabric. The expectation is that people will adhere to the Code of Conduct and both the APS and NDIA values, without compromising personal beliefs, differences and ideals.

Cultural intelligence or cultural quotient (CQ) is a term used in business, education, government and academic research, and is defined as the capability to relate and work effectively across cultures and in culturally diverse situations.

http://www.apsc.gov.au/working-in-the-aps/your-rights-and-responsibilities-as-an-aps-employee/aps-values


Culture is a set of shared assumptions about how to think, feel and act; it is the way work gets done. In an organisational setting, the culture is a function of the people within and the behaviours in which they engage.

Deployment is defined as the methodical procedure of introducing an activity, process, program or system to all applicable areas of an organisation. In reference to this Strategy, deployment refers to assigning people (voluntarily or otherwise) to serve in various locations for a particular purpose.

Disability Confident Recruiter (DCR) is an accreditation administered by the Australian Network on Disability (AND). Once obtained, this asserts an employer’s steadfast commitment to provide best practice recruitment conditions for people with disability. Employers seeking this accreditation must sign a DCR charter and meet the prescribed conditions. Per the AND, a DCR performs the following:

X Recruit from the entire talent pool by allowing skilled jobseekers with disability to compete on a level playing field.

X Make adjustments to the recruitment process for candidates who have disability.

X Provide an excellent candidate experience for all candidates.For more information on the Disability Confident Recruiter accreditation go to the AND website.

Emotional intelligence or emotional quotient (EQ) is the capability to recognise, understand and manage emotions in ourselves and others. This capability allows individuals to gather ‘emotional information’, which can be used to guide thinking and behaviour, and adjust emotions to achieve goals and adapt to changing environments.

Ethos is the spirit or essence of a culture, era or community, as manifested in its attitudes and aspirations.

‘Fast start’ style learning refers to the creation of quick, but sufficiently detailed learning solutions, which provide employees with the information required to develop a desired (or minimum level of) understanding and skill, as soon as practicable.

http://www.and.org.au/pages/disability-confident-recruiter.html


Feedback culture is a culture founded on open and honest communication and people systems. This environment is created by developing people’s capacity to give and receive feedback–to and from each other–in an open and safe setting. This practice needs to become a regular part of workplace interactions, and all managers and leaders should be actively providing effective and constructive feedback, for the betterment of individuals and the organisation as a whole.

First Offer process is the mandatory recruitment process imposed by the bilateral agreements, signed with State, Territory and Commonwealth Governments. The process requires that ongoing position vacancies–in the first instance–be prioritised and offered to existing employees from relevant states and territories. Thus, existing government employees are provided with reasonable opportunity to transition to the NDIA, if they possess the requisite skills and experience, as assessed in a formal interview with NDIA and local state or territory government representation.

Gutsy leadership is the characteristic of a leader who is courageous, confident and collaborative, while promoting discipline, consistency and accountability in service delivery. A gutsy leader makes decisions that are right for the Agency and Scheme participants, and are within their authority and the Agency’s strategic framework.

High-performance culture is a culture that fosters and inspires teams and virtual groups to be highly focused on their goals and achieve superior business results.

Human Resources Information System (HRIS) combines Human Resources (HR) and Information Technology to create a software package or system that allows HR activities and processes to occur electronically. This ‘system’ includes benefits administration, payroll, recruiting and training, and performance analysis and review. As a result of implementing a HRIS, end-to-end processes are automated and streamlined, which maximises efficiency and quality of service, while minimising costs and resources.


‘In community for community’ refers to the Agency’s goal to deliver the Scheme, nationally, in partnership with the community, while working to benefit the community and provide people with disability with the opportunity to lead an ordinary life. The Agency recognises that by working with the community, the collective knowledge and outreach of the Scheme is greater, and so is the positive impact upon our participants. Our network of NDIS Partners in the community, providers, non-government organisations, and local groups, clubs and volunteers means that we can harness and understand the fabric of the local communities to deliver the best possible outcomes for participants.

Job families are the highest tier in a hierarchy of job segmentation within a workforce. The purpose of job families is to split the workforce into logical and practical segments, which allow for deeper workforce analysis to occur. A job family is a grouping of similar jobs at the highest level that usually consists of several job functions. For example, a possible job family might be ‘Administration, facilities and property’. For more information on job families please go to the APSC website.

LEAP (from ‘LEarning And Performance’) is the online platform that the Agency uses to record employee goals, measure employee performance, deliver learning modules and schedule training sessions.

Learning organisation is the business term, devised by Peter Senge, which describes an organisation that adopts innovative solutions to facilitate continuous learning of its employees, in response to a rapidly changing environment. Solutions are based upon the experience of the organisation and experimentation in the delivery methods used and content of learning materials.

Liquid workforce is the concept of developing a workforce that is able to rapidly adapt and change based on the environment. It does not assume that employment is permanent or ongoing, rather it promotes a more accessible concept of work, embracing a fluid workforce structure.

NDIA or the National Disability Insurance Agency (the Agency) is an independent statutory agency that has been charged to govern and implement the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), which will support a better life for hundreds of thousands of Australians with a significant and permanent disability and their families and carers.

http://www.apsc.gov.au/publications-and-media/current-publications/job-family-model


NDIA Values are: X Assurance X Empowerment X Responsibility X Learning X Integrity

For more information on the NDIA Values, Capabilities and Behaviours go to the NDIS website.

NDIS or the National Disability Insurance Scheme (the Scheme) is the new way of providing support for Australians with disability, their families and carers. The NDIS will provide about 460,000 Australians under the age of 65, with a permanent and significant disability, with the reasonable and necessary supports they need to live an ordinary life. As an insurance scheme, the NDIS takes a lifetime approach, investing in people with disability early to improve their outcomes later in life. For more information on the NDIS go to the NDIS website.

Onboarding is the process followed to welcome and train new employees to the organisation. New employees are introduced to the social and performance aspects of their new jobs, and provided with the opportunity to learn the attitudes, knowledge, skills, and behaviours required to work effectively within the organisation and contribute to business needs.

Participants are Australian citizens (or permanent residents of Australia) who have made an access request under the NDIS Act 2013 and meet the following access criteria, per the NDIS (Becoming a Participant) Rules 2016, as they apply to the geographic area in which the person resides:

X age requirements;

X residence requirements; and

X either the disability requirements or the early intervention requirements.

For more information on the relevant legislation go to the NDIS website.

https://ndis.gov.au/document/our-values-capabilities-and-behaviours.html

https://ndis.gov.au/about-us/what-ndis.html

https://ndis.gov.au/about-us/governance/legislation.html


People-centred design is a creative approach to problem-solving by involving the human perspective in all steps of the process, which starts with the people that the process is being designed for (whether it’s participants, employees or Partners) and ends with new and innovative solutions that are tailored to suit their needs.

RecruitAbility is a scheme that aims to attract and develop applicants with disability and also facilitate cultural changes in selection panels and agency recruitment. RecruitAbility can be applied to all vacancies across the APS. Job applicants with disability who opt into the scheme–and meet the minimum requirements of a vacancy advertised under the scheme–are advanced to a further stage in the selection process. For more information on the RecruitAbility scheme go to the APSC website.

Service Delivery Operating Model (the model) provides certainty on how the Agency will operate in the full Scheme and defines:

X to whom the Agency provides services;

X what services the Agency provides;

X what channels through which the Agency provides its services;

X how the Agency does its work through business processes and procedures; and

X how the Agency enables these business processes and procedures through its underpinning capabilities.

Succession planning is a process of identifying and developing employees to transition smoothly into key roles within the organisation, when current employees occupying these positions either change roles, resign or retire.

This allows for continuity of performance and ensures the organisation can meet current and future needs. Through the succession planning process, organisations recruit the right people, develop their knowledge, skills, and abilities, and prepare them for advancement or promotion into new and challenging roles.

Transit lounge concept is a workforce strategy that is designed to facilitate the ‘coming and going’ of people to and from the Agency. The concept operates on both a ‘push and pull’ basis across the ecosystem, and manages the flow of talent when and where it is required.

http://www.apsc.gov.au/managing-in-the-aps/disability/recruitability


Unconscious biases are social stereotypes about certain groups of people that individuals form outside their own conscious awareness. Everyone holds unconscious beliefs about various social and identity groups, which stem from one’s tendency to organise social worlds by categorising.

Unconscious bias is far more prevalent than conscious prejudice and often incompatible with one’s conscious values. In some cases, certain scenarios can activate unconscious attitudes and beliefs. For example, biases may be more prevalent when multi-tasking or working under time pressure.

Virtual teams (also known as a geographically dispersed team, distributed team, or remote team) refers to a group of individuals who work together from different geographic locations and rely on communication technology, such as email and video or voice conferencing services, in order to collaborate.

White label (product) is a product or service produced by one organisation (the producer) that other organisations (the marketers) can re-brand, to make it appear as if they had made it, or adjust the product to better suit their business needs and audience.

The Agency seeks to create white label learning and development products, which must be kept materially the same for consistency. However, the ‘marketers’ (Partners and other government agencies) will be permitted to make slight adjustments and tailor the learning products to meet their needs.

It is suggested that an 80:20 rule be applied; that is, the core 80 per cent of learning products will not be changeable, but the residual 20 per cent will be adaptable for the respective organisation’s needs.


Notes


For any enquiries, contact: Organisational Strategy

People and Culture DivisionNational Disability Insurance Agency

Email: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

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