Organisational Development
To achieve the outcomes identified in this Statement of Intent requires an on-going programme to develop the capability of the Ministry. We have made good progress with the improvements to capability flagged in last year's SOI, and have refined our organisational development strategy to 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 to achieve our role in leading the 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.
Strengthen Our Leadership Role
To achieve the Government's economic development goals requires action across a wide range of public sector activities. The aim is to create an environment in which people can contribute and businesses can grow. The Ministry of Economic Development cannot itself create this environment - it requires a consistent and concerted effort right across the public sector.
This SOI therefore places significant emphasis on the Ministry's role in leading the implementation of the Government's growth and innovation framework and assisting with the alignment of economic development activities across the public sector.
To do this we must work closely with other agencies, be outward looking, listen and to learn from others, and be capable of influencing their thinking. This requires us to take a leadership role, through developing and articulating the growth policies at a more detailed level, and assisting other agencies to ensure their contributions align with the overall goal.
So we must devote more effort to working with a wide range of agencies and leading cross agency teams. We must also continue building links with business and local government and developing key relationships nationally and internationally.
Such a leadership role requires the Ministry to develop its communication, negotiation and influencing skills. We also need to have the range of capability to work with and understand other agencies, local government, businesses and iwi.
Key Action Points
We will:
- build a strong external profile with businesses and other stakeholders through inviting external experts into the Ministry, speaking at conferences, seconding staff to and from other organisations and improving access to, and providing information through, our internet and e-business services;
- provide training in leadership, advanced negotiation, Treaty and Tikanga, and presentation skills for managers and staff; and
- build strong relationships with key departments and Crown entities through secondments, working together towards shared outcomes, and working closely with Trade and Enterprise New Zealand, Tourism New Zealand and others.
Build an Integrated Organisation
The Ministry of Economic Development was established a little over three years ago from the Ministry of Commerce. The Ministry of Commerce itself was formed over the years from various other organisations. We have further work to do in integrating our activities within the economic development role, while also continuing to develop centres of excellence in particular aspects of economic development, such as infrastructure and regulatory policy.
To ensure better internal alignment we are focusing on leadership and clarity of purpose. We will continue to reinforce a common vision and values across the Ministry, particularly emphasising a culture of innovation and knowledge sharing. We will support and enhance our new performance management system. We will invest further in the capacity of managers to lead and develop the organisation, and will continue to develop our medium-term thinking and understanding of the drivers of economic development across the organisation.
Confident, demanding consumers play an important role in a thriving innovative economy. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs will complete its review so that it is well positioned to provide high quality consumer policy advice and services that foster an environment where consumers can transact with confidence.
We will continue to develop our strategy and planning systems so that our strategic priorities in this SOI reinforce an integrated approach across the Ministry. The linkages between our medium-term thinking, the SOI and our branch business plans will also be strengthened. We will continue to review how we present ourselves to other parties so that all the parts of the Ministry are clearly identifiable to stakeholders as part of the same organisation.
Key Action Points
We will:
- enhance our strategy development processes and improve our focus and branch planning in relation to our strategic priorities across the Ministry's many Votes and Ministers;
- work to expand understanding across the Ministry of the drivers and enablers of sustainable economic development including:
- analysing the contribution of business practices to firm performance;
- analysing New Zealand's productivity performance; and
- consolidating what we know about sectoral productivity trends in New Zealand;
- review our risk management processes so they support the development of innovative and practical outputs; and
- build leadership capability by clarifying roles and accountabilities, optimising our organisational design.
Develop Our Skills and Expertise
To achieve our desired outcomes requires us to harness a wide range of expertise to advance economic development. We will build our capacity around understanding economic development and business growth processes, and ensure that we effectively deploy those skills within the organisation. At the same time, we need to work with the whole organisation to develop staff to deliver high quality operations and policy advice across a broad front of activities.
Our demand for key technical skills and high quality policy advice has increased, and we need to continue strengthening our economics, law and policy skills. We will also recruit more people with experience outside central government i.e., from business, development agencies, local government, and so on. We also need to develop skills around communication and engagement, particularly as we reach out to connect and build relationships with a broader range of groups including local government, central government, small business, and the wider community.
Effective sharing of our internal knowledge and expertise will also be essential to achieving our outcomes. We will create a culture of knowledge sharing and debrief, so we can all learn from our successes and mistakes. We will create opportunities for areas of excellence to be shared across the organisation.
Key Action Points
We will:
- develop specific plans for the recruitment, knowledge development and career development of key occupational groups;
- put in place a secondment programme to encourage links to other organisations so we share our knowledge and learn from others;
- integrate knowledge management into our day-to-day business through project debriefs, invited speakers programme, and redesigning our intranet.
Improve Performance
Systems that support the continuous improvement and review of our organisational performance are essential to achieving our outcomes. We will establish systems to more effectively review our progress against the goals in this SOI and allow reprioritisation of activities to support them.
We will continue streamlining our structure, and will integrate our internal service delivery to allow maximum resources to go to the priorities identified in the SOI.
Addressing the duplication of services and systems in support areas and developing a more integrated service delivery model with local delivery and support where appropriate, will enable a more efficient structure to be put in place that delivers better quality service from the resources available. The key issue here will be ensuring "fit for purpose" and getting the balance right between centrally provided and locally delivered systems.
As part of our outreach/external leadership strategy we are seeking to consolidate the Ministry presence where appropriate. Currently we are seeking to bring together on one site our office space in regions, as opportunities arise. Over the next three years we will progressively open-plan our office space in Wellington, to support knowledge sharing and create a professional working environment.
Key Action Points
We will:
- review our IT systems across the Ministry so there is a "whole of organisation" IT system that meets the Ministry's business needs;
- progressively review support service delivery within the Ministry, including integrated structures for communications, financial, administrative and legal services;
- develop systems for effective organisational performance review and reprioritisation; and
- refurbish our Wellington accommodation to create a more open and interactive environment, and bring together our business units in each region.
Ministry of Economic Development Organisation Chart
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