Section 5: Developing our Organisation
To achieve the outcomes identified in this Statement of Intent requires an ongoing programme to develop the capability of the Ministry. We have made good progress with the improvements to capability identified in last year’s SOI, and continue to refine our Organisational Development Strategy and its focus on key initiatives that will most help to achieve the Ministry’s goals.
The Organisational Development Strategy has a three-year timeframe. Over this time we will focus on building the capability needed to lead implementation of the Government’s economic development programme. We will extend our efforts to:
- Strengthen our leadership role
- Build an integrated organisation
- Develop our skills and expertise, and
- Improve our performance.
This section describes these initiatives in more detail. It also outlines the Ministry’s approach to managing risks which could threaten achievement of its Strategic Priorities and/or outcomes
Organisational Development Strategy
To achieve our Vision, Strategic Priorities and Business Environment Outcomes requires us to continue building a Ministry which is leading edge; responsive to the needs of government, business and the wider community; and widely recognised as expert in economic development.
Our Organisational Development Strategy spells out broad initiatives we will undertake to ensure we have the capability to achieve these goals. Its initiatives are grouped under four general headings:
- Strengthening our Leadership Role
- Building an Integrated Organisation
- Developing our Skills and Expertise
- Improving our Performance
Strengthening Our Leadership Role
The Ministry's Vision is that our role in fostering economic development is acknowledged by business leaders and successive governments. We want to be closely involved with the many sectors and groups who contribute to economic development.
As our Alignment Strategic Priority (SP1) explains, the Ministry is working to ensure that sustainable growth is seen as a priority across the public sector, and that there is common understanding of what this involves. To achieve this requires the Ministry to earn the respect of others, such that its leadership proves effective.
We need to be capable of working with and influencing other agencies by understanding and articulating the Government's growth and innovation framework and its implications for their work. We must assist other agencies to align their work with the Government's sustainable economic development agenda.
We also need to be good listeners, responsive to the needs of business, local communities and local government. We need to have a clear, shared understanding of the outcomes we are working towards so we can share this with others.
Key Action Points
We will:
- Foster understanding of the Growth and Innovation Framework and our contribution to it among external audiences, including state agencies, business and local government. This will be done through speeches, conferences, briefings, and also through our day-to-day contact with others. We will develop information packages and presentations to assist staff with this task.
- Build strong relationships with key departments and Crown entities through effective day-to-day interactions, building on and working towards shared outcomes and providing targeted training to our staff. We will manage relationships with key stakeholders to achieve agreed outcomes, and will seek their feedback on our performance.
- Reflect the significance of the Auckland economy to New Zealand's overall economic performance by creating a senior role based in Auckland. The appointee will work with business, local government and other Auckland stakeholders to identify and respond to economic development needs.
- Reflect the significance of the Australian economy to New Zealand, and both Governments' drive towards creating a single economic market, by creating a senior role based in Canberra. The appointee will analyse Australian business trends and the development of policy at both State and Federal levels.
- Build our research, development and evaluative capability to ensure that we have a richer understanding of what will achieve sustainable growth.
Building an Integrated Organisation
The Ministry's Vision is that we harness our wide expertise to advance economic development and prosperity. We want to organise ourselves to produce results; to prioritise our work; and to communicate well. Our Vision is also of an organisation in which staff are trusted in their judgements and have the resources and guidance needed to succeed.
The Ministry works across nine portfolios to deliver on the Government's economic development agenda. To be effective we need to ensure all parts of our organisation are working together to a common purpose. We are working to align our internal structures, systems and processes with our Strategic Priorities and Business Environment Outcomes.
Over the past year we have made significant progress in this regard. We have continued to reinforce a common vision and values across the Ministry, particularly emphasising a culture of innovation and knowledge sharing. Our planning system emphasises strategy setting by the Strategic Leadership Team, with branches responsible for translating our priorities into action. And we have created a single IT management and accountability structure for IT across the entire Ministry.
Key Action Points
We will:
- Continue to manage systems and processes which provide a shared understanding of the Ministry's strategy.
- Implement across the Ministry a role description system, so that roles are clearly defined and accountabilities are clear. We devolve decision making and responsibility as far down the organisation as practicable, freeing managers to focus on effective management of staff, external relations, complex issues and resources. We will build a strong cadre of managers with a common understanding of the Ministry's purpose and values.
- Further align our planning and performance management systems, so we focus effort on the things that matter most and reward people for delivering these things. The planning process will be integrated with processes for developing branch and business unit plans. There will be an agreed process for periodic review of progress against these plans.
- Embed our knowledge management strategy and use it as a tool to promote internal knowledge sharing, co-operative learning and effective production of outputs. Integrating knowledge across the Ministry's various work units and Votes will lead to better integration of advice to Ministers, ensuring a consistent focus on the Government's economic development agenda.
Developing Our Skills and Expertise
The Ministry's Vision is that our culture of excellence, enthusiasm and mutual support creates a magnet for talent. Capable people here and overseas want to work with us so they too can contribute to New Zealand's economic development and prosperity in a stimulating work environment.
The Ministry aims to recruit, retain and develop talented people with skills in economics, law, policy analysis, commerce, economic development and other relevant disciplines. We need an organisation of experienced and capable individuals who understand economic development and the role government and business play in growing our economy. There is a shortage of people with these key skills.
To make the most of our existing skills base we need to offer targeted development which will enrich the individual in their role and assist us to deliver on our strategy and outcomes. In addition to professional development we will offer targeted management development programmes. To take leadership of the Government's economic development agenda across the state sector requires our managers to be articulate and influential with others, both internally and in the wider community. Training and support will assist them to do this effectively.
Key Action Points
We will:
- Offer comprehensive leadership training to managers, focused on improving their practical management skills and ability to lead and influence others;
- Offer specialised development for staff in technical roles, relevant to their work responsibilities, which increases their skills and ability to produce effective outcomes for the Ministry.
- Conduct ongoing targeted recruitment of specialist skills to ensure we have the technical knowledge and experience to deliver in a range of areas, e.g. electricity, business law and how business works.
- Offer managed secondment opportunities for staff to build their knowledge and understanding in a range of business environments and the work of other government agencies.
Improving our Performance
The Ministry's Vision is that we thrive on intellectual curiosity, open debate and disciplined review. We share what we learn. This fosters innovation and creativity. We constantly seek new techniques and systems to help achieve our goals.
We will continually review our performance against the targets set in this Statement of Intent and, at the individual level, will review staff performance against targets set in performance agreements.
We will continue working to ensure our core structure, systems and processes are appropriate for the services we deliver. This will involve further working to provide efficient duplication of services and systems in support areas, and ensuring an appropriate balance between centrally provided and locally delivered systems. The overall aim is to produce better quality services from the available resources.
Key Action Points
We will:
- Develop improved systems for effective organisational performance review, risk management and reprioritisation.
- Continue to enhance elements of our core support structure, to ensure fitness for purpose, with a focus on streamlining services and systems. There will be a particular focus on enhancing IT services and systems.
- Provide a professional working environment with "fit for purpose" accommodation and facilities.
- Review our management information systems to reduce transaction costs and enhance the quality and accessibility of the information managers receive.
Risk Management
Why Assess Risk?
While needing to be constantly aware of the bigger picture, the Ministry needs to focus on the areas where we have most expertise and which are most closely related to our core purpose and outcomes. This requires rigorous priority setting, a well-developed understanding of economic development processes, and strategies to ensure that the Ministry maintains the capability to deliver. The outcomes and strategies outlined in this Statement of Intent provide that focus.
Risk management is integral to the Ministry's capability for anticipating and innovatively responding to change. As we identify goals and objectives we also pinpoint risks to their achievement and effective ways to manage these risks. Our planning processes incorporate risk profiling, and the Ministry's structure and systems promote risk management at all levels.
The Ministry's Risk Framework
We need to clearly identify risks to achieving our outcomes, develop risk management strategies and ensure these are applied at both strategic and operational levels. The Ministry hence is constantly anticipating problems, seeking to avert them or mitigating their effects as they arise.
At the strategic level these risks are identified through effective policy analysis; research of the international literature on what drives productivity improvement; and research and information on the main issues and challenges facing the New Zealand economy.
At the operational level, the Ministry faces inherent risks that it could in some circumstances be unable to meet its own performance standards and/or government and public expectations. These risks include possible failure of the Ministry's present or future capability.
We recently reviewed our risk management processes to ensure they support the development of innovative and practical outputs. This work has resulted in development of a revised Risk Management Framework. To achieve our vision the Ministry will continuously identify, assess and treat our risks. Effective risk management mechanisms must operate consistently across all branches to ensure we assess and manage risks specific to business areas, as well as those that are Ministry-wide.
Developing the Risk Management Framework is an iterative process. It builds on the strategy and planning frameworks and provides a basis for refining strategic priorities and business plan activities at all business levels. It ensures alignment with strategic priorities and cascades these down to business plan level, so that well-informeddecisions can be made. The Risk Management Framework provides managers and staff with tools to better identify and manage their risks on an ongoing basis.
The way in which branch risk profiles inform the Ministry-wide risk profile, and therefore the strategic debate, is illustrated below.
The Ministry faces various types of risk, and each may require a different treatment. The following risks could threaten achievement of the Ministry's strategic objectives:
- risk of underachieving relative to the Government's expectations, because of the comprehensiveness and speed of changes relating, among other things, to functions, sustainable economic development and e-Government; and
- risk of inappropriate advice in areas that could lead to systemic failure.
As noted above, the strategic and business planning processes have been strengthened to address these risks by improved direction setting, accountabilities, capability building, knowledge management strategies across the organisation, risk management and communication.
Further risks can arise from management systems, including failure of technology (e.g. delivery of on-line business registry services); individuals acting in a fraudulent or criminal manner; lack of probity of individuals in meeting their responsibilities as a public servant; and failure to prepare for incidents outside the Ministry's control (e.g. natural disasters).
The Ministry manages these risks through analysis of user needs and system risks, quality management principles, clear communication, business continuity planning, and control over suppliers.
The Ministry will continue to adopt strategies to ensure we can provide efficient and effective services to Ministers and third party fee-payers, within the resources available to us. To achieve this, the Ministry:
- maintains an effective corporate support environment that balances support for the Ministry with the corporate governance role to the Chief Executive;
- ensures our support structures are delivered efficiently and effectively;
- invests in people and systems to develop the skills needed to deliver;
- continually looks at ways to improve the efficiency of our own processes and systems to reduce costs to purchasers of our services; and
- ensures efficient decision-making and effective identification of financial implications and capital expenditure.
Strategic, policy and operational risks are therefore regularly identified, evaluated and addressed through the Ministry's planning and reprioritising process. These are aligned with the Ministry's external accountability requirements, and the associated budget process.
Ministry of Economic Development Organisational Chart
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